Beyond Substantial Equivalence: Ethical Equivalence

The concept of substantial equivalence,introduced for the risk assessment of geneticallymodified (GM) food, is a reducing concept because itignores the context in which these products have beenproduced and brought to the consumer at the end of thefood chain. Food quality cannot be restricted to meresubstance and food acts on human beings not only atthe level of nutrition but also through theirrelationship to environment and society. To make thiscontext explicit, I will introduce an ``equivalencescale' for the evaluation of food chains (GM or notGM). By contrast with substantial equivalence, whichinvolves mainly quantitative, analytical methods ofevaluation, ``qualitative equivalence' refers to ``less'or non-substantial factors that require new methodsof evaluation based on qualitative principles.``Ethical equivalence' refers to factors that show themoral value contained in food products. To analyze thedifferent levels at which ethics is needed in foodchains, I will use the French principles: ``Liberty,Equality, Fraternity,' or freedom, equality,solidarity, and add a fourth principle:sustainability. Sustainability, solidarity, andfreedom can be applied to the evaluation ofenvironmental, socio-economic, and socio-culturalethical equivalence, respectively. Equality refers tojustice and should operate so as to guarantee thatsustainability, solidarity, and freedom are satisfied.I suggest that ethics can provide a basis for arenewal of the food chain concept. Besides QualityAssurance, it is now essential to develop an ``EthicalAssurance' and this equivalence scale could provide abasis to set up ``Ethical Assurance Standards' (EAS)for food chains.     

Are the Precautionary Principle and the International Trade of Genetically Modified Organisms Reconcilable?

This paper seeks to find possibilities forreconciliation of the implementation of theprecautionary principle and the promotion ofinternational trade of genetically modified organisms,based on the assumption that a sustainabledevelopment is a right objective to strive for. Itstarts with an explanation of the background and therole of the precautionary principle, and describes inwhat way measures based on the precautionary principlecan easily lead to the creation of trade barriers. Thearticle then examines to what extent the WTO (WorldTrade Organisation) Agreements allow theimplementation of the precautionary principle. Inaddition, structural conflicts between the perceptionof the precautionary principle and the concept oftrade liberalisation will be evoked. The last sectionof the paper analyses to what extent the WTO rulesprovide possibilities to avoid or solve theseconflicts in order to attempt to answer the mainquestion: are the precautionary principle and theinternational trade of genetically modified organismsreconcilable?     

改性沸石用于饮用水除氟的试验研究

试验针对存在的氟污染饮用水问题,将天然沸石用NaOH和Al2（SO4）3溶液改性制成除氟材料.静态试验研究表明：改性沸石除氟吸附反应快,其最佳pH值范围为5～9,而且对氟离子具有较好的离子选择性能.通过动态试验研究发现,降低进水流量和原水浓度可以增大滤层的吸附容量.两种再生方式对比试验表明：用Al2（SO4）3溶液再生效果优于用NaOH和Al2（SO4）3溶液联合再生.     

Investigation on Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd fractions in the natural surface coating samples and surficial sediments in the Songhua River, China

Natural surface coating samples （NSCSs） from the surface of shingles and surficial sediments （SSs） in the Songhua River, China were employed to investigate the relationship between NSCSs and SSs in fractions of heavy metals （Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, and Cd） using the modified sequential extraction procedure （MSEP）. The results show that the differences between NSCSs and SSs in Fe fi＇actions were insignificant and Fe was dominantly present as residual phase （76.22% for NSCSs and 80.88% for SSs） and Fe-oxides phase （20.33% for NSCSs and 16.15% for SSs）. Significant variation of Mn distribution patterns between NSCSs and SSs was observed with Mn in NSCSs mainly present in Mn-oxides phase （48.27%） and that in SSs present as residual phase （45.44%）. Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd were found dominantly in residual fractions （〉48%）, and next in solid oxides/hydroxides for Zn, Pb and Cd and in easily oxidizable solids/compounds form for Cu, respectively. The heavy metal distribution patterns implied that Fe/Mn oxides both in NSCSs and SSs were more important sinks for binding and adsorption of Zn, Pb and Cd than organic matter （OM）, and inversely, higher affinity of Cu to OM than Fe/Mn oxides in NSCSs and SSs was obtained. Meanwhile, it was found that the distributions of heavy metals in NSCSs and SSs were similar to each other and the pseudo-total concentrations of Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd in NSCSs were greater than those in SSs, highlighting the more importance for NSCSs than SSs in controlling behaviours of heavy metals in aquatic environments.     

改性沸石对焦化废水中COD的去除研究

本文研究了沸石经NaCl、NaOH、HDTMA(溴化十六烷基三甲胺)改性后对焦化废水中的COD的去除效果.比较得出HDTMA改性沸石对COD的去除能力较好,而且废水的色度明显减小.接着进一步研究了该废水处理过程中的影响因素,包括吸附时间、烘干温度、改性剂HDTMA的浓度、pH值等.结果表明,HDTMA改性沸石处理焦化废水可使其COD的浓度降低至150mg/L以下,这到污水综合排放二级标准.     

跌水曝气——改进型填料(滤料)排水系统处理屠宰废水的设计

对屠宰厂原有的排水管道系统进行改造和革新 ,使之成为沉淀、厌氧好氧生物接触氧化与过滤的新型排水系统 ,用于屠宰废水处理 ,实现了达标排放     

改性稻草吸附铜离子的动力学机理

研究表明稻草改性后吸附铜离子的能力得到很大提高。研究表明吸附相当好地符合假二级吸附速率模型,测定了在4个温度下(15℃,27℃,37℃,50℃)的吸附速率常数。吸附平衡可用Langmiur吸附模型和Freundlich吸附模型处理。讨论了pH对吸附的影响。     

HDTMA改性粘土吸附固定沉积物间隙水中多环芳烃的模拟研究

选用经过十六烷三甲基溴化铵(HDTMA-Br)改性的粘土矿物为吸附剂,探讨其对水中多环芳烃类有机污染物的吸附性能。结果表明,HDTMA改性土吸附固定水中多环芳烃的能力比天然沉积物要高得多且吸附稳定。本文还讨论了环境温度、pH值、盐度、振荡时间、污染物初始浓度以及投土量对吸附性能的影响以确定吸附的适宜条件。根据实验结论,将HDTMA改性土投到实际间隙水样品中,经过充分的吸附,结果显示,经HDTMA改性粘土吸附后的间隙水中多环芳烃的含量均在检出线以下,说明HDTMA改性土可以有效地吸附固定沉积物间隙水中的多环芳烃,降低其迁移性,防止其释放产生二次污染。     

改性纤维球处理炼油废水的应用研究

通过用改性纤维球处理炼油废水的试验,对纤维球过滤技术的处理效果和反冲洗特性进行了详细的研究,试验结果表明,炼油废水经处理后,出水中油的含量小于4 mg/L、悬浮物含量小于6 mg/L,出水可达标排放,并且经过改性后的纤维球在含油废水处理中可以通过反冲洗再生并重复使用.     

改进型EGSB处理配置污水的小试研究

通过对不同上升流速下改进型EGSB和EGSB处理人工配置城市污水效果的比较研究,提出了一种更为有效的处理城市污水的反应器--改进型EGSB反应器,在上升流速为5.41m/h时,其出水的COD值稳定在60mg/L左右,出水SS明显要低于未改进的EGSB。同时还考察了运行期间改进型EGSB反应器内颗粒污泥的胞外多聚物、辅酶变化等,在高的上升流速下,改进型EGSB反应器中颗粒污泥的胞外多聚物含量和辅酶F420含量比未改进EGSB中的要高。