Effectiveness of compacted soil liner as a gas barrier layer in the landfill final cover system

A compacted soil liner (CSL) has been widely used as a single barrier layer or a part of composite barrier layer in the landfill final cover system to prevent water infiltration into solid wastes for its acceptable hydraulic permeability. This study was conducted to test whether the CSL was also effective in prohibiting landfill gas emissions. For this purpose, three different compaction methods (i.e., reduced, standard, and modified Proctor methods) were used to prepare the soil specimens, with nitrogen as gas, and with water and heptane as liquid permeants. Measured gas permeability ranged from 2.03x10(-10) to 4.96x10(-9)cm(2), which was a magnitude of two or three orders greater than hydraulic permeability (9.60x10(-13) to 1.05x10(-11)cm(2)). The difference between gas and hydraulic permeabilities can be explained by gas slippage, which makes gas more permeable, and by soil-water interaction, which impedes water flow and then makes water less permeable. This explanation was also supported by the result that a liquid permeability measured with heptane as a non-polar liquid was similar to the intrinsic gas permeability. The data demonstrate that hydraulic requirement for the CSL is not enough to control the gas emissions from a landfill.     

Toxicity of carbaryl,diquat dibromide,and fluoranthene,individually and in mixture,to larval grass shrimp,Palaemonetes pugio

This study examined the toxicity of two pesticides (carbaryl and diquat dibromide) and one polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (fluoranthene), both singly and in mixture, to grass shrimp larvae (Palaemonetes pugio). These three chemicals are all present in coastal environments and can easily enter estuarine ecosystems. Fluoranthene was the most toxic chemical with a 96-h LC₅₀ value of 32.45 μ g/L, followed by carbaryl (43.02 μ g/L) and diquat dibromide (1624 μ g/L). In the chemical mixture tests, the binary carbaryl/diquat dibromide mixture and the ternary carbaryl/diquat dibromide/fluoranthene mixture had additive results.     

Soot Control During the Combustion of Polystyrene

This paper describes an experimental study on the control of soot formation during the combustion of polystyrene (PS). A stable, twodimensional flame generated by using a Wolfhard-Parker type diffusion flame burner was used to simulate practical combustion situations. The combustion characteristics, effects of operating conditions on soot formation, and the effectiveness of various metallic additives as soot suppressants were investigated. It was found that soot yield could not be significantly reduced by controlling the oxidizer (air) flow rate. Increasing the O₂ mole fraction of the oxidlzer increased soot yield under typical operating conditions. However, soot yield could be greatly reduced by adding small amounts of air into the pyrolysis zone of the flame. The additional air would probably increase the combustion reaction rate while decreasing the soot precursor formation rate, thereby causing the observed effect. It was thus suggested that effective soot control could be accomplished by improving mixing between air and the PS devolatilizatlon products In practical combustion situations. The metallic additives tested in this study were the salts of Na, K, Ca, and Ba. Among these salts, Ca was the least effective in reducing soot, and K and Na were nearly equally effective. Ba was much more effective than all the others, and Its effectiveness was strongly dependent on its addition rate.     

Toxicity of propargylic alcohols on green alga--Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata

The present study evaluates the toxicity of 34 propargylic alcohols, including primary, primary homo-, secondary, and tertiary alcohols, based on their effects on phytoplankton. A closed-system algal toxicity test was applied because the closed-system technique presents more realistic concentration-response relationships for the above compounds than the conventional batch tests. The green alga, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, was the test organism and final yield and growth rate were chosen as the test endpoints. Among all the propargylic alcohols tested, 1-pentyn-3-ol is the most toxic compound with its EC50 equal to 0.50 mg L(-1), which can be classified as a "R50" compound (very toxic to aquatic organisms, EC50/LC50 < 1 mg L(-1)), following the current practice for classification of chemicals in the European Union (EU). There are several other compounds including 2-decyn-1-ol, 3-decyn-1-ol, 1-hexyn-3-ol, 3-butyn-2-ol, and 3-hexyne-2,5-diol, which deserve more attention for their possible adverse impact on the aquatic environment, because these alcohols can be classified as "R51" compounds (toxic to aquatic organisms, EC50/LC50 between 1 and 10 mg L(-1)). Compared to the base-line toxicity relationship (narcosis QSAR) derived previously, tertiary propargylic alcohols can be identified as nonpolar narcotic chemicals, while secondary alcohols and primary alcohols with low molecular weight generally exhibit obvious excess toxicity in relation to the base-line toxicity. Finally, quantitative structure-activity relationships were established for deriving a preliminary estimation of the toxicity of other propargylic alcohols.     

Spatial distribution of ciguateric fish in the Republic of Kiribati

Ciguatera is food poisoning caused by human consumption of reef fish contaminated with ciguatoxins (CTXs). The expanding international trade of tropical fish species from ciguatera-endemic regions has resulted in increased global incidence of ciguatera, and more than 50 000 people are estimated to suffer from ciguatera each year worldwide. The Republic of Kiribati is located in the Pacific Ocean; two of its islands, Marakei and Tarawa, have been suggested as high-risk areas for ciguatera. The toxicities of coral reef fish collected from these islands, including herbivorous, omnivorous and carnivorous fish (24% [n = 41], 8% [n = 13] and 68% [n = 117], respectively), were analyzed using the mouse neuroblastoma assay (MNA) after CTX extraction. The MNA results indicated that 156 fish specimens, or 91% of the fish samples, were ciguatoxic (CTX levels >0.01 ng g⁻¹). Groupers and moray eels were generally more toxic by an order of magnitude than other fish species. All of the collected individuals of eight species (n = 3-19) were toxic. Toxicity varied within species and among locations by up to 10 000-fold. Cephalapholis argus and Gymnothorax spp. collected from Tarawa Island were significantly less toxic than those from Marakei Island, although all individuals were toxic based on the 0.01 ng g⁻¹ threshold. CTX concentrations in the livers of individuals of two moray eel species (Gymnothorax spp., n = 6) were nine times greater than those in muscle, and toxicity in liver and muscle showed a strong positive correlation with body weight. The present study provides quantitative information on the ciguatoxicity and distribution of toxicity in fish for use in fisheries management and public health.     

Soil nitrogen transformations under elevated atmospheric CO₂ and O₃ during the soybean growing season

We investigated the influence of elevated CO₂ and O₃ on soil N cycling within the soybean growing season and across soil environments (i.e., rhizosphere and bulk soil) at the Soybean Free Air Concentration Enrichment (SoyFACE) experiment in Illinois, USA. Elevated O₃ decreased soil mineral N likely through a reduction in plant material input and increased denitrification, which was evidenced by the greater abundance of the denitrifier gene nosZ. Elevated CO₂ did not alter the parameters evaluated and both elevated CO₂ and O₃ showed no interactive effects on nitrifier and denitrifier abundance, nor on total and mineral N concentrations. These results indicate that elevated CO₂ may have limited effects on N transformations in soybean agroecosystems. However, elevated O₃ can lead to a decrease in soil N availability in both bulk and rhizosphere soils, and this likely also affects ecosystem productivity by reducing the mineralization rates of plant-derived residues.     

Development of a hybrid microbial fuel cell (MFC) and fuel cell (FC) system for improved cathodic efficiency and sustainability: the M2FC reactor

In an effort to improve the efficiency and sustainability of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology, a novel MFC reactor, the M2FC, was constructed by combining a ferric-based MFC with a ferrous-based fuel cell (FC). In this M2FC reactor, ferric ion, the catholyte in the MFC component, is regenerated by the FC system with the generation of additional electricity. When the MFC component was operated separately, the electricity generation was maintained for only 98 h due to the depletion of ferric ion in the catholyte. In combination with the fuel cell, however, the production of power was sustained because ferric ion was continually replenished from ferrous ion in the FC component. Moreover, the regeneration process of ferric ion by the FC produced additional energy. The M2FC reactor yielded a power density of up to 2 W m⁻² (or time-averaged value of approximately 650 mW m⁻²), density up to 20 times (or approximately six times based on time-averaged value) higher than the corresponding MFC system.