Does ISO 14001 work in Brazil?

As a result of increasing global awareness about the importance of the environment, depletion of natural resources and legal pressures for companies to manage their processes in a sustainable manner, ISO 14001 systems have been gaining increasingly more importance in the organizational scenario. These elements are even more critical in emerging nations due to less awareness and fewer demands by governments and the population in relation to environmental issues. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to verify the benefits and difficulties of Environmental Management Systems based on ISO 14001 at industries in the state of São Paulo – Brazil (an emerging country) by conducting a survey to subsidize the proposal for actions in the public, academic and private sectors to promote the use of this standard of reference and strengthen its results in Brazil. A questionnaire was sent to 194 companies from the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality database. 69 answered, representing a return rate of 35.36%. The main benefits identified are related to the development of preventive environmental actions, reduction in the consumption of power, water, gas and fuel oil, and a positive influence on other internal management processes. The main difficulties are related to cost increases from ISO 14001 management systems and the constant changes in environmental legislation in Brazil. Some actions are proposed at the end of the analyses to intensify the use and improve the results of this standard, such as changes in government legislation and its collective development and implementation in industries.     

Soil erosion types in the loess hill and gully area of China

ＳｏｉｌｅｒｏｓｉｏｎｔｙｐｅｓｉｎｔｈｅｌｏｅｓｓｈｉｌｌａｎｄｇｕｌｌｙａｒｅａｏｆＣｈｉｎａＦｕＢｏｊｉｅ（ＲｅｓｅａｒｃｈＣｅｎｔｅｒｆｏｒＥｃｏ－ＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌＳｃｅｉｅｎｃｅｓ，ＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＡｃａｄｅｍｙｏｆＳｃｅｉｅｎｃｅ...     

Elaborations of the influencing factors on the formation of secondary inorganic aerosols in a heavily polluted urban area of China

In this study, online water-soluble inorganic ions were detected to deduce the formation mechanism of secondary inorganic aerosol in Xianyang, China during wintertime. The dominant inorganic ions of sulfate(SO₄^2-), nitrate(NO₃^-), and ammonium(NH₄⁺)(the sum of those is abbreviated as SNA) accounted for 17%, 21%, and 12% of PM_2.5mass, respectively.While the air quality deteriorated from excellent to poor grades, the precu...     

Ecological planning of land use in the central area of Tianjin,China

ＥｃｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｐｌａｎｎｉｎｇｏｆｌａｎｄｕｓｅｉｎｔｈｅｃｅｎｔｒａｌａｒｅａｏｆＴｉａｎｊｉｎ，Ｃｈｉｎａ￥ＬｕＹｏｎｇｌｏｎｇ（ＲｅｓｅａｒｃｈＣｅｎｔｅｒｆｏｒＥｃｏ－ＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌＳｃｉｅｎｃｅｓ，ＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＡｃａｄｅ...     

An evaluation of mercury emissions from the chlor-alkali industry in China

1　ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＴｈｅｃｈｌｏｒｉｎｅ ａｌｋａｌｉｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｙｉｓｏｎｅｏｆｔｈｅｓｕｂｓｔａｎｔｉａｌｐａｒｔｓｏｆｔｈｅｃｈｅｍｉｃａｌｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｙ .Ｎｏｗ ,ｔｈｒｅｅｔｙｐｅｓｏｆｅｌｅｃｔｒｏｌｙｔｉｃｃｅｌｌｓａｒｅｕｓｅｄｔｏｐｒｏｄｕｃｅｃｈｌｏｒｉｎｅｇａｓａｎｄｃａｕｓｔｉｃｓｏｄａ:ｔｈｅＨｇｃｅｌｌ,ｔｈｅｄｉａｐｈｒａｇｍｃｅｌｌ,ａｎｄｔｈｅｍｅｍｂｒａｎｅｃｅｌｌ.Ｃｈｉｎａｉｓｕｓｉｎｇｔｈｅｄｉａｐｈｒａｇｍｃｅｌｌａｓｔｈｅｍａｉｎｔｙｐｅ.Ｎａ…     

Phosphorus release： A biogeochemical insight from a restored lakeside wetland in the Yangtze-Huaihe region, China

The heavy intensification of agriculture in East China since the 1980s caused the decrease of lake area and water storage capacity with impediment of regulation, lake eutrophication and frequent floods. Many restoration projects have been conducted. However, the knowledge of biogeochemical factors that drive nutrient cycles during the early stage of restoration is still limited. We studied the effect of the remediation of a patch of near-shore shallow wetland on the northern bank of Chaohu Lake in the Yangtze-Huaihe region, China, which was used as rice paddy for many years, on the behavior of phosphorus. Redox potential (ORP), temperature and dissolved oxygen were monitored in situ from May 2006 to November 2007. Samples of soil pore water were collected during this time for the determination of different forms of iron and phosphorus. ORP showed a clear transition of the wetland soil from an oxidized state in winter to a reduced state in summer. The decrease of ORP correlated with the release of large amounts of Fe and P. The maxima of total dissolved Fe and total dissolved P in the summer of the second year were (13.8 ± 6.8) mg/L and (0.88 ± 0.27) mg/L, respectively. It is worth noticing that P concentration far exceeded the critical value of lake eutrophication (0.02 mg/L). The pressure of P release to the adjacent lake during the first two years of wetland restoration from rice fields should be taken into account by environmental policy makers.     

Landscape planning in an East Asian coastal region: the Hangzhou Bay area, China

１ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＭｃＨａｒｇｓｓｕｉｔａｂｉｌｉｔｙｅｖａｌｕａｔｉｏｎａｐｐｒｏａｃｈｔｏａｌａｎｄｕｓｅｐｌａｎｎｉｎｇｋｎｏｗｎａｓ“ｅｃｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｐｌａｎｎｉｎｇ”ｈａｓｐｒａｃｔｉｃｅｄｉｎｓｏｍｅｃｏｕｎｔｒｉｅｓｏｆＥ...     

Eco-environment contribution of agroforestry to agriculture development in the plain area of China—Huai''''an Prefecture, Jiangsu Province as the case study area

IntroductionSincethe 195 0s ,manyforestshavebeenplantedintheplainareasofChinafortheimprovementoftheenvironmentalqualityandensuringthesupplyofwoodandnon timberforestproducts.Forestrydevelopmenthasplayedanimportantroleinadjustingtheruraleconomicstructure ,i…     

The characters for the boundary layer and mechanism of acid rain formation in the Qingdao area,China

ＴｈｅｃｈａｒａｃｔｅｒｓｆｏｒｔｈｅｂｏｕｎｄａｒｙｌａｙｅｒａｎｄｍｅｃｈａｎｉｓｍｏｆａｃｉｄｒａｉｎｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎｉｎｔｈｅＱｉｎｇｄａｏａｒｅａ，ＣｈｉｎａＬｉｕＢａｏｚｈａｎｇ，ＬｉＪｉｎｌｏｎｇｅｎｔｅｒｏｆＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａ...     

Does leaf flushing in the dry season affect leaf traits and herbivory in a tropical dry forest?

We report a small hawk-like diurnal bird from the early Oligocene (30–31 million years ago) of Poland. Aviraptor longicrus, n. gen. et sp. is of a size comparable with the smallest extant Accipitridae. The new species is characterized by very long legs, which, together with the small size, suggest an avivorous (bird-eating) feeding behavior. Overall, the new species resembles extant sparrowhawks (Accipiter spp.) in the length proportions of the major limb bones, even though some features indicate that it convergently acquired an Accipiter-like morphology. Most specialized avivores amongst extant accipitrids belong to the taxon Accipiter and predominantly predate small forest passerines; the smallest Accipiter species also hunts hummingbirds. Occurrence of a possibly avivorous raptor in the early Oligocene of Europe is particularly notable because A. longicrus coexisted with the earliest Northern Hemispheric passerines and modern-type hummingbirds. We therefore hypothesize that the diversification of these birds towards the early Oligocene may have triggered the evolution of small-sized avivorous raptors, and the new fossil may exemplify one of the earliest examples of avian predator/prey coevolution.

     

Estimation of the radionuclide distribution in sediment in coast area

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＴｈｅｒａｄｉｏｎｕｃｌｉｄｅｓｉｎｌｏｗ ｌｅｖｅｌｒａｄｉｏａｃｔｉｖｅｌｉｑｕｉｄｗａｓｔｅ (ＬＬＷ)ｆｒｏｍｃｏａｓｔａｌｎｕｃｌｅａｒｆａｃｉｌｉｔｉｅｓｏｒｎｕｃｌｅａｒｐｏｗｅｒｐｌａｎｔｓｗｉｌｌｂｅｄｉｌｕｔｅｄ ,ｄｉｆｆｕｓｅｄａｎｄｔｒａｎｓｐｏｒｔｅｄｉｎｔｈｅｃｏａｓｔａｒｅａ .Ａｎｄｔｈｅｙｗｉｌｌａｌｓｏｄｅｐｏｓｉｔｉｎｔｈｅｓｅｄｉｍｅｎｔ.Ｈｏｗｔｏｅｓｔｉｍａｔｅｔｈｅｅｆｆｅｃｔｏｆｄｅｐｏｓｉｔｒａｄｉｏｎｕｃｌｉｄｅｓｉｓａｖｅｒ…     

Does the inertia of a body depend on its heat content?

Einstein's assertion that, based on the relativity principle, inertial mass is to be associated with all forms of energy, was contested by Planck, who showed that a transfer of heat is to be associated with a transfer of inertial mass. The equivalence between mass and energy is interpreted in terms of the equivalence of the rate of heating of a body and the rate of increase of its inertial mass. In an adiabatic process, where the proper mass remains constant, it is the heat content, and not the energy, which is conserved because the pressure, and not the volume, is Lorentz-invariant. There are two categories of relativistic quantities: inertial and thermodynamic, which are transformed into one another by the work necessary to keep the body in motion at a constant velocity. In a non-adiabatic process, the rate of heating is Lorentz-invariant, and it must always be greater than the power that it generates. Therefore, the amount of heat developed in the rest frame has a corresponding inertial mass.     

Ancient paddy soils from the Neolithic age in China’s Yangtze River Delta

Identifying prehistoric irrigated rice fields and characterizing the beginning of paddy soil development are important for a better understanding of human development and agricultural history. In 2003, paddy soils and irrigated rice fields buried at a depth of 100–130 cm were excavated at Chuo-dun-shan in the Yangtze River Delta, close to Suzhou, China. The fields of sizes between 1.4 and 16 m² were surrounded with ridges that were connected to ditches/ponds via outlets to control the water level within the fields. Many carbonized and partly carbonized rice grains with an age of 3,903 B.C.(measured ¹⁴C age 5,129±45 a BP) were recovered. The surface layers of these buried paddy fields showed a high content of soil organic matter and a considerable high density of rice opals. The latter were identified to derive from Oryza spp. Solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed aromatic carbon (C) as the predominant organic C form in the fossil surface layer. This is expected, if the major source represents burnt rice and straw. In summary, our data are in agreement with new evidences indicating that in China, paddy soils and irrigated rice cultivation were initiated and developed more than 6,000 years ago.     

Nutrient cycling characteristics of Quercus acutissima and Pinus massoniana mixed forest in the Three-Gorge Reservoir area, China

The cycling characteristics of nitrogen(N), phosphorus(P) and potassium(K) of the Quercus acutissima and Pinus massoniana mixed forest, which is the most common forest type in the Three Gorge Reservoir areas in China, were systematically analyzed. The results showed that N, P and K accumulated in the plant pool and in the litter pool, while total N, P, and K were deficient in the soil pool and in the forest systems. Contents of N in the soil of depth 20-40 cm were the key factor limiting growth of trees. The biological outside cycling coefficients were 8.78, 72.5 and 11.7 times of inside cycling coefficients of N, P and K, respectively. 33.92, 10.26 and 15.88 kg of N, P and K return to the litter pool from branches, leaves and throughfall per year, but, 14.31, 1.32 and 10.48 kg of N, P and K return to the soil from litter pool per year respectively. It is clear that 58% of N, 87% of P, and 34% of K are lost by surface runoff per year. 5.49%, 1.30%, and 8.34% of N, P and K withdraw from leaves to branches, 4.99%, 1.99% and 7.30% of N, P and K withdraw from branches to trunks per year,respectively.     

Environmental problems in a coal mining area affected by coal fires ——A case study in Ruqigou Coalfield, Ningxia, China

１ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＡｓｏｎｅｏｆｔｈｅｍｏｓｔｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｔｓｏｕｒｃｅｓｆｏｒｐｏｗｅｒｇｅｎｅｒａｔｉｏｎ，ｃｏａｌｍｉｎｉｎｇｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｙｉｓｓｔｉｌｉｎｃｒｅａｓｉｎｇｗｉｔｈｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎｇｒｏｗｔｈａｎｄｅｃｏｎｏｍ...     

Nutrient cycling characteristics of Quercus acutisima and Pinus massoniana mixed forest in the Three Gorge Reservoir area, China

ＮｕｔｒｉｅｎｔｃｙｃｌｉｎｇｃｈａｒａｃｔｅｒｉｓｔｉｃｓｏｆＱｕｅｒｃｕｓａｃｕｔｉｓｉｍａａｎｄＰｉｎｕｓｍａｓｏｎｉａｎａｍｉｘｅｄｆｏｒｅｓｔｉｎｔｈｅＴｈｒｅＧｏｒｇｅＲｅｓｅｒｖｏｉｒａｒｅａ，ＣｈｉｎａＷｕＧａｎｇＤｅｐａｒｔｍｅｎ...     

Does providing technical assistance for toxics use reduction really work? A program evaluation utilizing toxics use reduction act data to measure pollution prevention performance

The 1989 Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act (TURA) instituted a preventive approach to chemical pollution and wastes: reducing toxic chemicals at the source through prevention planning, public reporting of chemical input, and fees for chemical use. The act also created the Massachusetts Office of Technical Assistance for Toxics Use Reduction (OTA), a voluntary program, to make onsite visits to companies that request assistance. OTA staff review the use of toxic chemicals at the facility, and make recommendations for either using substitutes, or using the chemicals more efficiently. Because TURA requires covered companies (large quantity toxics users) to report chemical input (what they use), output (resulting chemical waste), and a production index, it is possible to measure trends in toxics use relative to production, and waste byproduct per pound of chemical use input. These are uniquely precise measurements of a company's ability to accomplish the form of pollution prevention known as toxics use reduction.From 1993 to 2002, companies used approximately 500 million pounds (227 million kg) less toxic chemicals than they were expected to use, based on past performance. Those companies that received onsite technical assistance visits from OTA made substantially greater improvements in TUR performance than those not visited, and as compared to their own performance after being visited. They reduced an average of 9.4% more toxics use after being visited than before, and the difference was statistically significant. More companies in the visited group made progress than companies not visited, and had greater reductions than those not visited by nearly all measures.The results of two additional studies supported these findings of program effectiveness. One study examined companies that dropped out of the system, and found that those that were visited employed toxics use reduction to achieve below-threshold use amounts more frequently than those that were not visited. The other study, an independent research project using econometric methods to determine the causative relevance of provided assistance, found OTA's service to be an explanatory factor associated with significant toxics use and byproduct reductions.     

Treated wastewater irrigation effect on soil, crop and environment： Wastewater recycling in the loess area of China

A study was carried out at the Loess Plateau in Dongzhi,China,to test the feasibility of using secondary treatment sewage effluent and to determine whether the water quality would then meet the recommended irrigation norm.Seven crops,including celery,wheat, maize,millet,apples,rapeseed and yellow beans,were tested in the study.Physical and chemical properties of the soil,crop yield and quality and leachate at different soil depths were measured.In most cases,the quality of the crops that made use of treated sewage was not distinctively different from those that did not use treated sewage.However,yields for the former were much higher than they were for the latter.Leachates at different soil depths were analyzed and the results did not show alarming levels of constituents.For a period of approximately 14 months,the treated sewage irrigation had no significant effect on the loess soil and no cases of illness resulting from contact with the treated sewage were reported.With treated sewage irrigation,a slight increase in the organic content of the soil was observed.     

Precipitation-chemistry measurements from the California Acid Deposition monitoring program, 1985–1990

The configuration of the California Acid Deposition Monitoring Program (CADMP) precipitation network is described and quality assurance results summarized. Comparison of CADMP and the National Acid Deposition Program/National Trends Network (NADP/NTN) data at four parallel sites indicated that mean depth-weighted differences were less than 3 μeq ℓ⁻¹ for all ions, being statistically significant for ammonium, sulfate and hydrogen ion. These apparently small differences were 15–30% of the mean concentrations of ammonium, sulfate and hydrogen ion. Mean depth-weighted concentrations and mass deposition rates for the period 1985–1990 are summarized; the latter were highest either where concentrations or precipitation depths were relatively high.