Status quo of e-waste management in mainland China

In China, the use and obsolescence of both electronic and electrical equipment have increased rapidly in recent years. China has also begun to take measures to cope with this problem since it began experiencing a rapid process of industrialization and urbanization in the 1990s. In this paper, the profile of the electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) problem in China is depicted from such aspects as domestic e-waste and imported e-waste, along with their recycling systems, policies, and regulations. Based on statistics of the consumption of major household appliances and personal computers, a forecast is made of the numbers of obsolete major household appliances and personal computers. The results show that currently the number of electrical and electronic products in use in China is tremendous. An investigation on household appliances and personal computers in Beijing was made to assess the use and obsolescence of these products. Also, the legal issues relating to e-waste in China are summarized, and these will be the juristic foundation for the solution of e-waste problems.     

Methane recovery from acidic tofu wastewater using an anaerobic fixed-bed reactor with bamboo as the biofilm carrier

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Wastewater generated during acid coagulation in tofu processing has high organic concentrations and low pH. Several small industries in Indonesia...     

Two lactones in the androconial scent of the lycaenid butterfly Celastrina argiolus ladonides

Male adult butterflies of many species have characteristic odors originating from the disseminating organs known as androconia. Despite the fact that androconia exist in several species, there have been few investigations on adult scents from the lycaenid species. Celastrina argiolus ladonides (Lycaenidae) is a common species in Eurasia. We have reported that male adults of this species emit a faint odor, and the major components causing this odor have been newly found in the Insecta. By using field-caught individuals, we determined the chemical nature and location of this odor in the butterfly. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analyses revealed that two lactone compounds, lavender lactone and δ-decalactone, are present in the extracts of males but absent in those of the females. On an average, approximately 50 ng of each compound was found per male. Chiral GC analyses performed using enantiomerically pure standards revealed that the natural lavender lactone was a mixture of two enantiomers with an R/S ratio of 32:68, whereas the natural δ-decalactone contained only the R-enantiomer. When the analyses were conducted using different parts—forewings, hindwings, and body—of three males, the lactones were more abundantly found on the forewings and hindwings than on the body. Microscopic observation of the wings demonstrated that battledore scales known as androconia are scattered on the upper surface of both the wings of C. argiolus ladonides males. These results indicate that the specialized scales on the wings of males serve as scent-disseminating organs.     

Lead poisoning in swans in Japan

We investigated the occurrence, source and exposure time of lead poisoning in whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus cygnus) and Bewick's swans (Cygnus columbianus bewickii) in Japan during the winters of 1984-1987. Concentrations of lead in various tissues and physiological evidence of lead shot in some birds indicated that lead shotgun pellets were the source of lead, and exposure occurred after the birds arrived in Japan. Mortality probably occurred within 30 days after exposure to, and retention of, lead shot in the gizzard.     

Identification of settling and early postlarval stages of mussels (Mytilus spp.) from the Pacific coast of North America, using prodissoconch morphology and genomic DNA

 Detailed inventories of the benthos and field studies of the settlement and recruitment processes of marine benthic invertebrates require accurate identification of newly settled larvae and early juvenile stages. We provide morphological criteria, visible under a good quality dissecting stereomicroscope, by which to discriminate between species of the settling larval and early postlarval stages (∼250 to 700 μm shell length) of mussels of the genus Mytilus on the west coast of Vancouver Island and Southern California. Compared to the bay mussel (M. trossulus), the sea mussel (M. californianus) has: (i) a shallower and flatter umbo, the latter corresponding to a significantly less pronounced prodissoconch I (PI) curvature and (ii) a greater PI length; as well as (iii) a wider separation between the provincular lateral teeth (PLT). The PLT distance is a new term denoting the separation between the midpoint of two reddish pigment spots of the provinculum (larval hinge apparatus) region of settling larvae and early postlarvae of Mytilus spp. from the East Pacific Coast. These spots mark the larger provincular lateral teeth, situated at either end of the provinculum. We confirmed the validity of morphological criteria by comparing PCR products of genomic DNA of provisionally identified postlarvae. Furthermore, measurements of PI lengths and PLT distance from well-preserved postlarvae of sea mussels (M. californianus) and of bay mussels (M. galloprovincialis) from Southern California indicate that the PI morphology and morphometry, and PLT distance criterion apply for that region as well. The criteria presented here can also apply to the advanced (competent) veliger stages, as the latter may settle (i.e. become the “settling” stage) upon encountering a suitable substrate. Our present and previously published work provide economical and effective identification methods that can be used to discriminate among early life history stages (∼250 μm to 5.0 mm shell length) of Mytilus spp. along the west coast of North America. Received: 10 November 1999 / Accepted: 6 September 2000     

Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) residues in foodstuffs collected from traditional markets in Indonesia

A total 23 of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) residues were determined in five groups of foodstuffs, i.e.: vegetables (carrot, potato, cucumber, corn, and onion), rice, pulses (green bean and soybean), nuts (peanut), and fish (milkfish), which collected from traditional markets in three big cities of Indonesia; Jakarta, Bogor, and Yogyakarta. OCPs were only detected in fatty foodstuffs, such as soybean, peanut, and milkfish. The concentration of HCB (expressed as ng g^?1 on a whole basis), ΣDrins, ΣDDTs, ΣHeptachlors, and ΣHCHs were in the range of <0.3–0.74 ng g^?1, <0.03–0.42 ng g^?1, <0.02–0.41 ng g^?1, <0.03–0.14 ng g^?1, and <0.03–0.06 ng g^?1, respectively, which were far below the maximum residue limits (MRLs) as established by FAO/WHO. These very low concentrations of OCPs residues in foodstuffs indicated that OCPs were used only in past time and no recent input into the environment. Furthermore, the estimated daily intake (EDI) of HCB, ΣDDTs, ΣDrins, ΣHeptachlors, and ΣHCHs in five group foodstuffs, which were 60% of total daily diet of Indonesian, were 0.09 ng kg^?1 bw d^?1, 0.04 ng kg^?1 bw d^?1, 0.01 ng kg^?1 bw d^?1, 0.003 ng kg^?1 bw d^?1, and 0.002 ng kg^?1 bw d^?1, respectively. These results were far below the acceptable daily intake (ADI) as established by FAO/WHO, which indicated that consumption of foodstuffs from Indonesia were at little risk to human health in term of OCPs at present.     

Utilization of regenerated iron oxide for treatment of organotin compounds in seawater

We examined the removal and degradation efficiencies of regenerated amorphous iron oxide on tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPT) in seawater. It was confirmed that following contact with iron oxide at 20 and 60?°C, the half-lives of TBT and TPT were shortened. These half-lives were from one-thousandth to one-tenth for natural environment conditions. Dibutyltin and benzene were identified as the reaction products from TBT and TPT, respectively, indicating that the degradation pathways were mainly dealkylation and dephenylation. These results indicate that the treatment method by natural energy will enable the economical and rapid reduction of organotin compounds (OTCs). For OTCs in seawater will be adsorbed on the iron oxide by the ebb and flow of the tide and solar energy will be heat source for degradation when iron oxide is prepared in coastal locations.     

我国安全生产法制对策研究

分析了国内外安全生产法制现状，总结提出了我国存在的职业安全与健康分离、没有系统和规划、适用和衔接性差等特点和问题。阐述了安全生产法规体系建设的指导思想、基本原则以及基本框架，并提出了定期制定安全生产法规规划、梳理与评估法规体系实施效果、制定统一的劳动安全与健康法、编制安全生产计划、健全职业健康配套规定、保险与安全生产互动、以明确综合监管和专项监管以及安全生产规划、完善隐患治理、安全使用机械、健全企业自主管理体制等为重点对《安全生产法》进行修订的对策。     

Risk evaluation with waste scenario: lead emissions in solder waste treatment

In this work, an estimate of the elevation of airborne lead concentrations via the lead solder contained in domestic electricity installations and an investigation into the effects of human exposure were conducted using a simulation method. The elevation of airborne lead concentrations due to incineration was calculated to be 0.001 µg/m³ maximum. The simulation results of the calculations indicated that blood lead concentrations could reach as high as 10⁻⁵ µg/dl. These concentrations could primarily be attributed to the inhalation of airborne lead particles. In addition, we discuss the influences of lead solder disposal on the ecosystem via soil and water.     

Residue level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Japanese paddy soils from 1959 to 2002

The residue level of 21 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the temporal changes in this level were investigated in paddy soils collected from particular experimental sites in Japan from 1959 to 2002. The average total PAH concentration in all the samples was 496 microg kg(-1), and it ranged from 52.9 to 2180 microg kg(-1). The residue level of the PAHs was the highest during the 1960s, rapidly decreased during the 1970s, and remained almost constant thereafter. Relatively high PAH concentrations were observed in soils from areas that experienced heavy snowfall and that had relatively low air temperature. The predominant PAHs were phenanthrene, fluoranthene, naphthalene, and pyrene, and their concentration overall and in relation to that of the total PAHs decreased each year since the 1960s. Similarities in the PAH profiles among the locations were determined using the concentration correlation matrix and cluster analysis, and ratios of the levels of specific PAH pairs were also calculated to determine their origin. The collected data suggested that the origins of soil PAHs changed chronologically from the burning of agricultural wastes such as stubble before the mid-1970s to the combustion of fossil fuel and its secondary products after the mid-1970s.