Sustainability: a Dissent

Abstract:  Broadly conceived and considered in its many usages, sustainability has grave defects as a planning goal, particularly when used by conservationists: it confuses means and ends; it is vague about what is being sustained and who or what is doing the sustaining; it is uninspiring; it is little more than Pinchot-era conservation (and thus ignores the many lessons learned since then); it need not be linked to land, to the land's functioning, or to any ecological science; it need not include a moral component; it is consistent with the view of humans as all-powerful manipulators of the planet; and, in general, it is such a malleable term that its popularity provides only a facade of consensus. When sustainability is defined broadly to include the full range of economic and social aspirations, it poses the particular risk that ecological and biodiversity concerns will be cast aside in favor of more pressing human wants. Given these many defects, the conservation movement should discard the term in favor of a more alluring goal, attentive to nature and its ecological functioning. A sound goal would incorporate and distill the considerable ecological and moral wisdom accumulated since Pinchot's day while giving conservationists the rhetorical tools needed to defend the land against competing pressures. In our view, conservation would be well served by an updated variant of "land health," Aldo Leopold's ecologically grounded goal from the 1940s. Land health as an independent understanding should set the essential terms of how we live and enjoy the earth, providing the framework within which we pursue our many social and economic aims.     

The use and abuse of scientific studies

In response to Evelyn Pluhar'sWho Can Be Morally Obligated to Be a Vegetarian? in this journal issue, the author has read all of Pluhar's citations for the accuracy of her claims and had these read by an independent nutritionist. Detailed analysis of Pluhar's argument shows that she attempts to make her case by consistent misappropriation of the findings and conclusions of the studies she cites. Pluhar makes sweeping generalizations from scanty data, ignores causal explanations given by scientists, equates hypothesis with fact, draws false cause conclusions from studies, and in one case claims a conclusion opposite of what the scientist published. Such poor reasoning cannot be the basis of an argument for moral vegetarianism. A broader search of the literature and attention to reviews and textbooks in nutrition shows that each of Pluhar's claims is suspect or incorrect. Pluhar has not undermined my central claims: even if animals have certain rights and well-planned vegetarian diets are safe in complex industrialized societies, these diets cannot be so regarded if the presuppositions of high levels of wealth, education, and medical care do not exist; and, women, children, the aged and some ill persons are at greater risk on restrictive vegan diets. Thus, any duty of moral vegetarianism is not categorical but provisional in nature.     

An Evaluation of the Effects of Soil Characteristics on Mitigation and Restoration Involving Blue Elderberry, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sambucus mexicana</Emphasis>

We conducted field surveys and laboratory analyses to test the effects of soil characteristics in habitat mitigation sites and natural sites on the growth and condition of blue elderberry (Sambucus mexicana), which is the sole host plant for the federally threatened Valley elderberry longhorn beetle (Desmocerus californicus dimorphus). Thirty mitigation and 16 natural sites were selected throughout the range of the beetle. We found that although plant relative growth rates were comparable between mitigation sites and a natural site, mitigation sites contained substantially less soil nutrients than mitigation sites. Within mitigation sites, elderberry health and growth were positively correlated with the amount of total nitrogen in soils and less strongly with other soil nutrients and soil moisture. Analyses demonstrated reductions in the relative growth rate of elderberry as mitigation sites aged, and that soil nutrients and soil moisture became depleted over time. For mitigation sites, it took approximately seven years to develop basal stem diameters that have been linked to successful beetle colonization. Mitigation sites have smaller shrubs than natural sites and growth slows as mitigation sites age, thus delaying convergence of conditions between natural and mitigation sites. Analyses of soil particle size and whether sites were within the 100-year floodplain (as an indicator of riparian conditions) were inconclusive. We recommend investigating fertilizing and optimum planting densities for elderberry at restoration and mitigation sites, as well as increasing the duration of irrigation and monitoring.     

Health impact and noise exposure assessment in the cricket bat industry of Kashmir,India

Aim. The aim of the present study was to identify and evaluate predominant noise sources in the cricket bat industry of Kashmir, India. Methods. Sound levels were measured at operator’s ear level in the working zone of the workers of seven cricket bat factories. The impact assessment was made through personal interviews with each worker separately during their period of rest. Results. On average, 62.5% of the workers reported difficulty in hearing and 24.1% of the workers have become patients for hypertension. Only 58.1% of the workers complained of headache due to high noise level. Conclusions. The workers engaged in the cricket bat industry of Kashmir are exposed to high noise levels. It is suggested that personal protective equipment like ear plugs and ear muffs be used by these workers as a protection against this hazard.     

农田重金属污染修复新技术展望与探索

目前,土壤重金属污染已成为全球各国共同面临的棘手问题。土壤重金属污染具有隐蔽性、滞后性、积累性、持久性等特点,已严重危害到人类的健康。本文在全面了解国内外重金属污染土壤修复研究动态的基础上,对纳米多孔磁性螯合材料用于农田重金属污染土壤修复的新技术进行展望与探索研究,为国内这一领域的工作开展提供借鉴参考。     

西安市区主要大气污染物暴露水平及健康风险评价

为探索西安市区主要大气污染物暴露水平及健康风险状况,基于空气质量监测数据和问卷调查数据,使用GIS方法、美国国家环境保护局健康风险评价模型和多元线性回归模型,对2015—2020年西安市区6种主要大气污染物(PM_2.5、PM₁₀、SO₂、NO₂、CO和O₃)的时间和空间变化特征,以及年均健康风险、季均健康风险及其影响因素进行了分析和评价。结果表明:①西安市区2015—2020年PM_2.5、PM₁₀和NO₂年均浓度值均超出了环境空气质量二级标准。除O₃外,其余5种污染物的年均浓度在2020年最小,整体呈下降趋势,说明西安市区空气质量逐年好转。②PM_2.5、PM₁₀、CO的空间分布特征基本一致,SO₂和O₃的空间分布特征基本一致。经开区和阎良区监测点空气污染较严重,兴庆小区(碑林区)和曲江文化产业集团(曲江新区)监测点空气质量相对较好。③PM_2.5、PM₁₀、SO₂、NO₂和CO等5种污染物的非致癌风险指数(HI)在冬季最高,在夏季最低;O₃的HI在夏季最高,在冬季最低。在冬季,PM_2.5和PM₁₀的HI平均值均大于1,存在非致癌健康风险;SO₂、NO₂、CO和O₃等4种污染物的HI平均值均小于1,不存在非致癌健康风险。在夏季,O₃存在一定的非致癌健康风险,超阈值天数占4%;其余5种污染物的HI平均值和最大值均小于1,不存在非致癌健康风险。从年均值来看,6种污染物的HI年均值均小于1,不存在非致癌健康风险。④男性、户外劳动者和老年人面临更高的大气污染物健康风险。     

便携式XRF在污染地块土壤金属元素调查中的应用

研究了便携式X荧光光谱仪（PXRF）测定土壤中砷、铅、铬、铜、锌和镍的性能,评估其检出限、精密度和准确度,探索了土壤水分和粒径对测定结果的影响程度,并与常规实验室分析方法测定结果进行比对。结果表明,PXRF测定土壤中砷、铅、铬、铜、锌和镍的检出限为5~15mg/kg,标准物质测定结果的相对标准偏差（RSD）≤8.6%,相对误差在±15%以内。随着土壤水分含量的增加,各金属元素测定结果均呈下降趋势,而RSD有上升趋势。土壤粒径对测定结果的影响较小,随着土壤粒径减少,各金属元素测定结果的RSD略有下降趋势。PXRF可以简单、快速地测定多种重金属元素,适用于污染地块重金属元素的现场实时监测。     

基于污染源导向的庐江县地表水中金属元素健康风险评估

水体金属污染对人体健康构成严重威胁,建立金属污染源与健康风险间的关联对金属污染的精准治理至关重要.在安徽省庐江县采集177个地表水样品并测定14种金属元素浓度,采用绝对主成分得分-多元线性回归（APCS-MLR）和基于蒙特卡罗模拟（Monte Carlo simulation）的健康风险评估模型识别地表水中金属的污染源并评估其健康风险.结果表明,庐江县地表水中Al、Be、Co、Cr、Cu、Fe、Mg、Mn、Ni、Pb、Sn和Zn的平均浓度北高南低,Sr呈相反的空间分布特征,而As的空间差异不明显.Be、Fe、Mn和Ni的平均浓度超过《地表水环境质量标准》（GB3838-2002）中的Ⅲ类水质类别限值.APCS-MLR确定了3个污染源,包括交通源、自然源以及农业与矿业混合源,方差贡献率分别为41.94%、18.06%、11.23%.交通源对所有人群造成致癌与非致癌风险的概率均超过80%,对健康风险的贡献率也高于50%.摄入率（IR）和体重（BW）是控制婴儿和儿童健康风险的最敏感参数,Ni和Be浓度分别是导致其他年龄段居民高致癌和非致癌风险的关键元素.     

Strategies for determining soil-loss tolerance

Excessive soil losses due to erosion or lateral displacement by machinery impair productivity. Some soil loss is tolerable, but not so much that plant productivity diminishes. Thus productivity is the dominant concern in determining soil-loss tolerance. The effects of soil loss on productivity, however, are difficult to determine. Therefore, two alternatives are discussed for determining the limits of soil loss, or soil-loss tolerance. These alternatives are the maintenance of soil organic matter and, for shallow and moderately deep soils, the maintenance of soil depth. They are not new strategies, but our rapidly increasing knowledge of the dynamics of soil organic matter and the rates of soil formation from bedrock or consolidated sediments warrants the reconsideration of these alternatives. Reductions in either soil organic matter or the depth of shallow or moderately deep soils will lead to declining productivity. Soil organic matter, considered to be a surrogate for productivity, is much easier to monitor than is productivity. Also, there are many computer models for predicting the effects of management on soil organic matter. Recently compiled data on rates of soil formation suggest that soil losses of 1 t/a (2.24 Mg/ha yr) are greater than the rate of replenishment by the weathering of lithic or paralithic material in all but very wet climates.