Public perception of air pollution sources across Europe

Air pollution is one of the primary concerns of our society for its effect on human health and the environment. Among the policy measures that can be put in place to limit air pollutant emissions, end-of-pipe technologies and/or regulatory instruments may be implemented through legislative acts. Also, equally important are behavioural measures, requiring citizens’ active involvement. The success of any measure to limit pollutant emissions requires the acceptance by the citizens that, in turn, implies a correct perception of the main pollutant emission drivers. We present here the comparison between the public perception of air pollution sources and the real-world situation through a survey carried out in seven European countries and involving 16 101 respondents. Our study shows a dramatic underestimation of the contribution of the agri-food sector to air pollution. This result is common to all respondents in the seven countries examined and only to a small extent depends on gender, age and socio-economic status of the respondents.     

Numerical simulation of far-field blast loads arising from large TNT equivalent explosives

Large TNT equivalent explosions usually arise from accidents occurring during the transportation, storage, and manufacturing of chemicals relevant to process industries. The blast wave generated by the explosion will spread and interact with the surrounding factories and storehouses, damaging the building structures within several kilometers and causing significant casualties and property losses. This study aims to develop an efficient numerical simulation method to predict blast loads to estimate the consequences of accidents involving far-field free air bursts or surface burst explosions. Before its interaction with the interested target, a blast wave is generated in the numerical model by specifying the initial and boundary conditions of the disturbed air. Based on empirical data of incident overpressure, an explicit formula to calculate the air particle velocity is derived from the governing equations of a perfect inviscid gas. A simplified path line method is proposed to calculate the air density. The proposed method is applied to the LS-DYNA CESE solver to simulate the blast loads on building structures in the far field. Validations against empirical data and experiments indicate that the proposed method is sufficiently accurate for engineering applications and, through a case study, presents a more efficient performance than the LOAD_BLAST_ENHANCED (LBE) and mapping methods.     

Using hydrochemical signatures to characterize the long-period evolution of groundwater information in the Dagu River Basin,China

• The long-period groundwater evolution was identified by hydrochemical signatures. • The dominant processes in the groundwater evolution were verified. • Groundwater quality in the coastal areas was susceptible to deterioration due to SI. • Groundwater contamination arose from fertilizer, livestock manure & domestic sewage. The evolution of hydrochemical compositions influenced by long-period interactions between groundwater and the geo-environment is a fundamental issue for exploring groundwater quality and vulnerability. This study systematically investigated the hydrochemical processes and anthropogenic interference occurring in the river basin by bivariate plots, Gibbs diagrams, saturation index, and the major ions ratios. Apparent changes in groundwater hydrochemistry have been observed in the study area, illustrating the origins of major ions are affected by various internal and external factors. Results highlighted that TDS varied from freshwater to brackish water, ranging between 187.90 and 2294.81 mg/L. Ca²⁺ and HCO₃⁻ are the dominant ions in the studied samples. The results gained by Gibbs diagrams, bivariate plots, saturation index, and the major ions ratios demonstrated that minerals dissolution/precipitation, cation exchange, and human inputs play crucial roles in the unconfined aquifers. Moreover, the overuse of nitrogen fertilizer, livestock manure, and industrial/domestic sewage led to nitrate and nitrite contamination and brought significant challenges to the surrounding hydrogeo-environment. The present study could make an unambiguous identification of natural processes and anthropogenic interventions influencing groundwater hydrochemistry’s long-period evolution and create a preliminary strategy for groundwater resources management.     

高氯酸铁可见分光光度法测定水中叠氮化物研究

基于Fe~(3+)显色技术,建立了测定地表水、地下水、生活污水和工业废水中叠氮化物的高氯酸铁分光光度法。研究结果表明:N_3~-与Fe~(3+)反应生成的棕红色络合物的特征吸收峰为454 nm;氨基磺酸铵可有效掩蔽NO_2~-的干扰,蒸馏能消除色度、CN~-、SCN~-硫化物等对测定的影响;当取样体积为150 mL、蒸馏定容体积为100 mL、使用10 mm比色皿时,方法检出限为0.08 mg/L(以N_3~-计),测定下限为0.32 mg/L;平均回收率为88.0%~104%,相对标准偏差(n=6)为0.3%～5.6%。对实际工业废水样品进行了测定,结果为1.37 mg/L。该方法准确度高、精密度好、操作简单,能够满足水污染物排放标准中叠氮化物的测定要求。     

Institutional quality,financial development and sustainable economic growth among lower income countries

This article postulates strong endogenous relationships in lower income countries between institutional quality, financial development and sustained economic growth. These associations were investigated using the vector-error correction model (VECM) and Granger causality method for a sample of 79 countries from 2005 to 2022. The findings show that (1) these variables reinforce each other in the short run. (2) In the long run, both institutional quality and financial development can fuel economic growth. (3) The positive effect of institutional quality on economic growth is greater than that of financial development. Policy implications of these findings are that careful attention should be paid to co-development policies to enhance the institutional quality and the financial system in these economies. Policies should also consider economic growth strategies to enable sustainable economic growth rates.     

Investigation of long-term river water quality variations using different urbanization indices and assessment of common scientific perspectives of urbanization on water quality

This study investigated the water quality variation spanning 30 years (1986–2017) in 16 catchments of Hong Kong against different urbanization indices, namely, built area fraction; population; and product of population and built area fraction. Pearson correlations of three different periods of time (1988–1990, 1998–2000, and 2015–2017) indicated that water quality trends were dependent on the urbanization index. Total solids, nitrite-nitrogen, total phosphorus, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and flow rate had significant deteriorative trends (Pearson r > 0.5 and p < 0.05) with population and product of built area and population. Results also interpreted that built area fraction and product of built area and population were the worst and best indices that represented urbanization and/or its impacts, respectively. Mann-Kendall test for the entire 30 year period showed that water quality had improved with time with respect to certain water quality parameters (e.g., dissolved oxygen, ammoniacal nitrogen and total suspended solids). The results portrayed that although the urbanization of catchments had increased with time, the river water quality with respect to many parameters showed signs of improvement and the legislative measures implemented seemed to be effective in controlling pollution.     

液液萃取-气相色谱/串联质谱法测定水中五氯酚及其钠盐

采用液液萃取处理水样,用气相色谱-串联质谱法测定样品中五氯酚及其钠盐,通过优化测定条件,使方法在1.00μg/L~500μg/L范围内线性良好。检出限和定量限分别为1.00μg/L和5.00μg/L,空白水样五氯酚钠3个质量浓度水平的加标回收率为89.8%~98.4%,5次平行试验测定结果的RSD为5.5%~10.7%。     

Temporal trends in agricultural water use and the relationships to hydroclimatic factors in the High Plains aquifer region

The High Plains aquifer (HPA) is the primary water source for agricultural irrigation in the US Great Plains. The water levels in many locations of the aquifer have declined steadily over the past several decades because the rate of water withdrawals exceeds recharge, which has been a serious concern to the water resources management in the region. We evaluated temporal trends and variations in agricultural water use and hydroclimatic variables including precipitation, air temperature, reference evapotranspiration, runoff, groundwater level, and terrestrial water storage across the HPA region for different periods from 1985 to 2020 at the grid, county, or region scale. The results showed that water withdrawals decreased from 21.3 km³/year in 1985 to 18.2 km³/year in 2015, while irrigated croplands increased from 71,928 km² in 1985 to 78,464 km² in 2015 in the entire HPA. The hydroclimatic time-series showed wetting trends in most of the northern HPA, but drying and warming trends in the southern region from 1985 to 2020. The groundwater level time-series indicated flat trends in the north, but significant declining in the central and southern HPA. Trends in irrigation water withdrawals and irrigation area across the HPA were controlled by the advancement of irrigation systems and technologies and the management of sustainable water use, but also were affected by dynamical changes in the hydroclimatic conditions.     

2019年扬州市公共场所健康危害因素监测结果分析

为了提升扬州市公共场所卫生状况和传染病防控能力,按照国家标准于2019年对扬州市宾馆(酒店)类、沐浴类、理发店类、美容店类和候车室类5类公共场所的健康危害因素(空气质量和公共用品用具)进行监测,按照《公共场所卫生指标及限值要求》(GB 37488—2019)进行评价。结果表明,共监测空气质量样品216份,合格率为84.26%,共监测公共用品用具1 414份,合格率为96.46%,不同场所的空气质量合格率和公共用品用具微生物指标合格率差异均具有统计学意义(P 0.05)。不同类型公共用品用具监测项目中,金黄色葡萄球菌的合格率最高(100%),而真菌总数的合格率最低(93.75%)。各类公共用品用具中,拖鞋合格率最低(91.67%),床单相对较高(99.70%)。扬州市公共卫生状况总体良好,在空气质量监测中,物理项目和微生物项目合格率较低,在公共用品用具监测中,细菌总数和大肠菌群存在不合格现象。     

衡阳市区和衡山背景站臭氧浓度变化规律的对比分析

选取衡阳市区和衡山背景站臭氧自动监测数据,分析两地的臭氧污染特征。对空气质量的优良率情况、臭氧作为首要污染物的变化情况、臭氧浓度的日变化特征、典型时段的浓度变化特征、臭氧浓度的月际变化特征和臭氧与PM_(2.5)的关联情况等进行了分析。结果表明,多云及阴雨天气时,衡阳市区的臭氧浓度日变化幅度大于衡山背景站。夏季,衡阳市区和衡山背景站的臭氧浓度的日变化特征规律差异较大,臭氧浓度分布比较分散,前者为典型的单峰形,后者则波动平缓。冬季,日变化幅度不大,但衡阳市区的臭氧浓度明显低于衡山背景站。衡山背景站和衡阳市区的臭氧基本同步变化,但日均值高于衡阳市区。