Estimation of methane and nitrous oxide emission from animal production sector in Taiwan during 1990-2000

To investigate the greenhouse gases emissions from the feeding and waste management of livestock and poultry, methane and nitrous oxide emissions were estimated from the local measurement and IPCC guidelines during 1990-2000 in Taiwan. Hog is the major livestock and is followed by goat and cattle, while chicken is the major poultry and is followed by duck and geese. Methane emission from enteric fermentation of livestock was 30.9 Gg in 1990, increased to 39.3 Gg in 1996, and then decreased gradually to 34.9 Gg in 2000. Methane emission from the waste management was 48.5 Gg in 1990, reached the peak value of 60.7 Gg in 1996, and then declined to 43.3 Gg in 2000. In the case of poultry, annual methane emission from enteric fermentation and waste management was 30.6-44.1 ton, and 8.7-13.2 Gg, respectively. Nitrous oxide emission from waste management of livestock was 0.78 ton in 1990, increased to 0.86 ton in 1996, and then decreased to 0.65 ton in 2000. Nitrous oxide emission from waste management of poultry was higher than that of livestock with 1.11 ton in 1990, 1.68 ton in 1999, and 1.65 ton in 2000. There is an urgent need to reduce methane emission from enteric fermentation and recover methane from anaerobic waste treatment for energy in livestock and poultry feeding in Taiwan.     

Proactive industrial strategies for the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990

The Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments of 1990 was signed into law by President Bush on November 15, 1990. These amendments potentially will have a major impact on virtually every industrial and many commercial facilities throughout the country. The regulations developed to implement this legislation will encompass new approaches to nonattainment, air toxics, accidental releases, acid rain, permits and enforcement. Because of the impact of this legislation the regulations will be implemented over a ten-year period. This paper is an overview of the amendments and recommended proactive strategies for industry.     

Proactive Industrial Strategies for the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990

The Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments of 1990 was signed into law by President Bush on November 15, 1990. These amendments potentially will have a major impact on virtually every industrial and many commercial facilities throughout the country. The regulations developed to implement this legislation will encompass new approaches to nonattainment, air toxics, accidental releases, acid rain, permits and enforcement. Because of the impact of this legislation the regulations will be implemented over a ten-year period. This paper is an overview of the amendments and recommended proactive strategies for industry.     

Multi-pronged research on endemic chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology in Sri Lanka: a systematic review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Increasing prevalence of endemic chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) in Sri Lanka is a major health problem since the 1990s. Despite...     

Impacts of population growth and economic development on water quality of a lake: case study of Lake Victoria Kenya water

Anthropogenic-induced water quality pollution is a major environmental problem in freshwater ecosystems today. As a result of this, eutrophication of lakes occurs. Population and economic development are key drivers of water resource pollution. To evaluate how growth in the riparian population and in the gross domestic product (GDP) with unplanned development affects the water quality of the lake, this paper evaluates Lake Victoria Kenyan waters basin. Waters quality data between 1990 and 2012 were analyzed along with reviews of published literature, papers, and reports. The nitrate-nitrogen (NO₃-N), soluble phosphorus (PO₄-P), chlorophyll a, and Secchi transparencies were evaluated as they are key water quality indicators. The NO₃-N increased from 10 μg l^?1 in 1990 to 98 μg 1^?1 in 2008, while PO₄-P increased from 4 μg l^?1 in 1990 to 57 μg l^?1 in 2008. The population and economic growth of Kenya are increasing with both having minimums in 1990 of 24.143 million people and 12.18 billion US dollars, to maximums in 2010 of 39.742 million people and 32.163 billion US dollars, respectively. A Secchi transparency is reducing with time, indicating an increasing pollution. This was confirmed by an increase in aquatic vegetation using an analysis of moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) images of 2000 and 2012 of Kenyan waters. This study found that increasing population and GDP increases pollution discharge thus polluting lakes. One of major factors causing lake water pollution is the unplanned or poor waste management policy and service.     

Economic upheaval in 1990-93 and the ecological situation in central Germany

German reunification in 1990 resulted in economic and social upheavals in all of the newly-formed German states. One typical example is the Leipzig-Halle-Bitterfeld region, where many of the industrial plants were fully or partly demolished for economic and technical reasons. Additionally, changes in the political climate led to the closure of a number of major military bases. Despite generally improved environmental standards, dismantling was sometimes accompanied by substantial emissions of chlorinated insecticides and other persistent organic pollutants, as is highlighted for the first time in the present paper. Our analyses are based on a regional biomonitoring net covering 7500 km2 in the Leipzig-Halle-Bitterfeld area during the time period 1990-93. The results enable increased concentrations of airborne contaminants to be attributed to processes linked to the economic upheaval of this time.     

Hazardous waste disposal in the UK

Custom and practice have exerted a powerful influence on waste management in the UK. A notable feature is the role of local government, which remains dominant despite expanding legislation and the increasing technical complexity of waste management. The private sector has long had a major role in the transporting and disposal of hazardous waste. The Environmental Protection Act of 1990 represented a major revision of UK environmental legislation. A significant advance in the handling of hazardous wastes was the imposition of a new principle of 'Duty of Care' on all concerned parties.     

Degradation of chlordecone and beta-hexachlorocyclohexane by photolysis, (photo-)fenton oxidation and ozonation

Intensive use of chlorinated pesticides from the 1960s to the 1990s has resulted in a diffuse contamination of soils and surface waters in the banana-producing areas of the French West Indies. The purpose of this research was, for the first time, to examine the degradation of two of these persistent pollutants – chlordecone (CLD) and beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) in 1 mg L^?1 synthetic aqueous solutions by means of photolysis, (photo-) Fenton oxidation and ozonation processes. Fenton oxidation is not efficient for CLD and yields less than 15% reduction of β-HCH concentration in 5 h. Conversely, both molecules can be quantitatively converted under UV-Vis irradiation reaching 100% of degradation in 5 h, while combination with hydrogen peroxide and ferrous iron does not show any significant improvement except in high wavelength range (>280 nm). Ozonation exhibits comparable but lower degradation rates than UV processes. Preliminary identification of degradation products indicated that hydrochlordecone was formed during photo-Fenton oxidation of CLD, while for β-HCH the major product peak exhibited C₃H₃Cl₂ as most abundant fragment.     

People on the land: changes in global population and croplands during the 20th century

This study reviews the major changes in global distribution of croplands during the 20th century. During the 20th century, the cropland base diminished greatly (from approximately 0.75 ha person-1 in 1900 to approximately 0.35 ha person-1 in 1990). This loss of croplands was not globally uniform: more than half the world's population, living in developing nations, lost nearly two-thirds of their per capita cropland base. The distribution of croplands has become increasingly skewed--in 1990, 80% of the population lived off less than 0.35 ha person-1. While agricultural yields have generally increased, they have barely kept pace with population growth in developing nations. Overall, the global food production system is becoming increasingly vulnerable to regional disruptions because of our increasing reliance on expensive technological options to increase agricultural production, or on global food trade.     

A greenhouse gas emissions inventory for Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory presented in this paper provides detailed estimates of emissions and their sources for the six major categories of GHGs. The inventory was compiled using the current U.S. Environment Protection Agency methodology, which applies emissions factors to socioeconomic data, such as fossil energy use, vehicle miles traveled, and industrial production. The paper also contains an assessment of the methodology and suggestions for improving accounting with respect to process, sectoral, and geographic considerations. The study found that Pennsylvania emitted 77.4 million metric tons carbon equivalent of GHGs in 1990 and that this total increased by 3% to 79.8 million metric tons carbon equivalent by 1999. Despite this increase, however, the state's percentage contribution to the United States total declined during the decade. Pennsylvania's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels represented 92.4% of 1990 totals and declined to 90.5% in 1999. Electricity generation was the largest single source of CO2 emissions, being responsible for 38% of fossil fuel CO2 emissions in 1990 and 40% of the total in 1999. Transportation emissions accounted for the largest increases in emissions between 1990 and 1999, whereas industrial emissions accounted for the largest decrease. The overall trend indicates that Pennsylvania has been able to weaken the relationship between GHG emissions and economic growth.     

A Summary of the APCA/EPA International Specialty Conference

Atmospheric change has emerged as a major global environmental issue of national and international concern in the 1990's. The dominance of the legislative and regulatory perception of atmospheric processes over their scientific understanding has left both regulators and atmospheric scientists ill-prepared to respond to emerging atmospheric-environmental issues. A view of clean air is presented whereby the legislative/regulatory and scientific perception of the physical and chemical processes of the atmosphere are linked to achieve the goal of a healthy atmosphere and sustainable environment.     

Visibility trends in Korea during the past two decades

Temporal trends and spatial distributions of visibility measured by the human eye over 60 stations in Korea between 1980 and 2000 are analyzed and discussed. Generally, visibility is lowest on winter mornings and highest on summer afternoons throughout Korea. Visibility in Seoul is now in an increasing trend while it has decreased nationwide, especially in clean coastal areas. Spatial distribution of visibility in the 1990s was related negatively to that of relative humidity (RH). However, visibility generally decreased despite an overall decrease in RH throughout the country. Air pollutants should have played a role in this dissonant variation, particularly in relatively clean areas and on summer afternoons. It was interpreted that the visibility increase in major metropolitan areas, including the greater Seoul area, in the 1990s was caused mainly by the reduction in pollutant emissions by rigorous government policy. But the effect of the emission reduction was manifested with decreasing RH.     

Visibility Trends in Korea during the Past Two Decades

Abstract

Temporal trends and spatial distributions of visibility measured by the human eye over 60 stations in Korea between 1980 and 2000 are analyzed and discussed. Generally, visibility is lowest on winter mornings and highest on summer afternoons throughout Korea. Visibility in Seoul is now in an increasing trend while it has decreased nationwide, especially in clean coastal areas. Spatial distribution of visibility in the 1990s was related negatively to that of relative humidity (RH). However, visibility generally decreased despite an overall decrease in RH throughout the country. Air pollutants should have played a role in this dissonant variation, particularly in relatively clean areas and on summer afternoons. It was interpreted that the visibility increase in major metropolitan areas, including the greater Seoul area, in the 1990s was caused mainly by the reduction in pollutant emissions by rigorous government policy. But the effect of the emission reduction was manifested with decreasing RH.     

In vitro methylation of DNA by the fumigant methyl bromide

Abstract

Investigations have shown that the physical state of the DNA strongly influences the pattern of methylation observed when DNA or a substance containing DNA is treated with the fumigant methyl bromide. 1‐Methyl‐adenine and 7‐methylguanine were identified, after hydrolysis, as the major methylated bases of DNA which had been treated in the solid state. 3‐Methylcytosine, 3‐methyladenine and 7‐methyladenine were found as minor products. The overall methylation pattern was similar to that observed earlier for DNA of maize and wheat which had been fumigated. In contrast, when buffer solutions of DNA were treated with methyl bromide, the N‐7 position of guanine was the major site and the N‐3 position of adenine was the second most important site of methylation. This result corresponds to that previously observed in similar studies with buffer solutions of DNA and other methylating agents.     

The effect of solvents on metal ion adsorption by the alga Chlorella vulgaris

The dead dried alga, Chlorella vulgaris, was used for metal ion sequestering. The uptake of each of Cu(II), Cd(II), Fe(III), and Sn(IV) from their aqueous solutions decreased upon reuse of the biomass. Introducing mixed ethanol/water (50% v/v) metal ion solutions in batch systems enhanced the metal uptake of the exhausted biomass by 90% for iron, 40% for tin and only 14% for cadmium. In the column system, 20% v/v ethanol/water proved to be superior to acetone/water and isopropanol/water metal solutions in enhancing metal uptake. This increase in uptake offers a new method for regeneration of the algal capacity to remove metal ions from their solutions. Mossbauer results of iron and tin loaded algae from aqueous and mixed ethanol water solutions exhibited the characteristic doublet for (FeCl4-) at 0.350-0.565 mms(-1) respectively and the major doublet for inorganic Sn(IV) moieties at -0.217 to -0.365 mms(-1) respectively, excluding the possibility of microprecipitation of iron and tin, which is expected at such high concentrations of metals in the alga.     

Temporal variation of fluoride concentration in antlers of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) living in an area exposed to emissions from iron and steel industry, 1948-2000

Temporal changes of environmental fluoride concentration in the industrialized area of Siegen, western Germany were assessed by studying the fluoride content of antlers (n=116) collected between 1948 and 2000 from the resident roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) population. During the analyzed period, major fluoride emission sources in the study area have been iron- and steelworks. Fluoride concentrations in the antlers ranged between 118 and 5428 mg/kg of bone ash. There was an overall increase in antler fluoride content from the late 1940s/early 1950s to the late 1950s/mid-1960s. Thereafter, antler fluoride levels overall steadily declined. For statistical analysis, the data were grouped into five periods (1948–1959, 1960–1969, 1970–1979, 1980–1989, and 1990–2000). Geometric mean fluoride concentrations of the samples ranged from 323 (period 1990–2000) to 2096 mg/kg of bone ash (period 1960–1969). Sample means for the periods 1980–1989 and 1990–2000, respectively, were always significantly lower than those of older samples. The decrease in antler fluoride concentrations during recent decades suggests a drop of ambient fluoride levels, that is hypothetically attributed to a reduction in the number of emission sources in the area and a decline of fluoride discharges from both local and more distant sources due to improved emission control measures. Comparison with antler fluoride data for other roe deer populations from western Germany further suggests that the roe deer from the Siegen area were recently exposed to an only moderate additional fluoride load from industrial sources. Studying antler fluoride concentrations is a convenient and cost-effective method of monitoring temporal changes in ambient fluoride levels.     

Research and Evaluation of Organic Hazardous Air Pollutant Source Emission Test Methods

Abstract

Title III of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 has increased the need for well defined and tested stationary source emission sampling and analysis methods. The Methods Branch of the Air Measurements Research Division of U.S. EPA's Office of Research and Development is responsible for a major methods development and evaluation program intended to help fill that need. This paper summarizes recent developments from several of the component projects of that program. Primary emphasis is placed on status and references for methods for organic hazardous air pollutants, such as phosgene, methanol, chloroform, acetonitrile, isocyanates, aldehydes, halogenated organics, non-halogenated organics, and volatile organic material     

Butyltin concentrations in oysters from the Gulf of Mexico from 1989 to 1991

Oyster samples from 53 Gulf of Mexico coastal sites were collected and analyzed for butyltins during 1989, 1990, and 1991. The geometric-mean tributylin concentrations were 85, 30, and 43 ng Sn/g for 1989, 1990, and 1991, respectively. The tributyltin concentrations are best represented by a log-normal distribution. A decline in the butyltin concentrations at sites with relatively low butyltin concentrations for 1989 compared with 1990 and 1991 was observed, and, at relatively high butyltin concentrations (> 400 ng Sn/g), there was hardly any difference between 1989 and 1991, but lower concentrations were present in 1990. Continued monitoring is needed in order to determine if butyltin contamination of the coastal marine environment is decreasing in response to use limitations.     

Integrated assessment of the control of wastewater pollution in Zarqa Governate, Jordan

Zarqa, the second largest city in Jordan and home of 52% of the industries in the country, suffers the worst water shortage and pollution. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the potential problems associated with the pollution by industrial and municipal wastewater in Zarqa region and the possibilities for its control. The paper examines the major causes of pollution, the qualities and the quantities of pollutants, and the major obstacles facing the existing practices in the Kherbit As-Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant. The physical, chemical, biological and hydraulic overloading of As-Samra cause the station to be inefficient. Development of alternative solutions, taking into consideration all technical, financial, social, geographical and political constraints, is a challenge for the decision-makers in the water industry. The analysis and findings of this paper will lay the ground and assist decision-makers in setting up programmes to control wastewater pollution in the region.     

Assessing the risk of impact of farming intensification on calcareous grasslands in Europe: a quantitative implementation of the MIRABEL framework

Intensification of farming practices is still a major driver of biodiversity loss in Europe, despite the implementation of policies that aim to reverse this trend. A conceptual framework called MIRABEL was previously developed that enabled a qualitative and expert-based assessment of the impact of agricultural intensification on ecologically valuable habitats. We present a quantitative update of the previous assessment that uses newly available pan-European spatially explicit data on pressures and habitats at risk. This quantitative assessment shows that the number of calcareous grasslands potentially at risk of eutrophication and overgrazing is rapidly increasing in Europe. Decreases in nitrogen surpluses and stocking densities that occurred between 1990 and 2000 have rarely led to values that were below the ecological thresholds. At the same time, a substantial proportion of calcareous grassland that has so far experienced low values for indicators of farming intensification has faced increases between 1990 and 2000 and could well become at high risk from farming intensification in the near future. As such, this assessment is an early warning signal, especially for habitats located in areas that have traditionally been farmed extensively. When comparing the outcome of this assessment with the previous qualitative MIRABEL assessment, it appears that if pan-European data are useful to assess the intensity of the pressures, more work is needed to identify regional variations in the response of biodiversity to such pressures. This is where a qualitative approach based on regional expertise should be used to complement data-driven assessments.