Characterization of soil fauna under the influence of mercury atmospheric deposition in Atlantic Forest,Rio de Janeiro,Brazil

The increasing levels of mercury (Hg) found in the atmosphere arising from anthropogenic sources, have been the object of great concern in the past two decades in industrialized countries. Brazil is the seventh country with the highest rate of mercury in the atmosphere. The major input of Hg to ecosystems is through atmospheric deposition (wet and dry), being transported in the atmosphere over large distances. The forest biomes are of strong importance in the atmosphere/soil cycling of elemental Hg through foliar uptake and subsequent transference to the soil through litter, playing an important role as sink of this element. Soil microarthropods are keys to understanding the soil ecosystem, and for such purpose were characterized by the soil fauna of two Units of Forest Conservation of the state of the Rio de Janeiro, inwhich one of the areas suffer quite interference from petrochemicals and industrial anthropogenic activities and other area almost exempts of these perturbations. The results showed that soil and litter of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil tend to stock high mercury concentrations, which could affect the abundance and richness of soil fauna, endangering its biodiversity and thereby the functioning of ecosystems.     

Assessment of Water Quality in a Border Region Between the Atlantic Forest and an Urbanised Area in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil

The preservation of water resources is one of the goals of the designation of parks that act as natural reservoirs. In order to assess the impact of the presence of humans in an environmental preservation area bordering urban areas, the presence of four pathogenic enteric viruses [group A rotavirus (RV-A), norovirus (NoV), human adenoviruses (HAdV), and hepatitis A virus (HAV)], as well as the physico-chemical parameters, and Escherichia coli levels were assessed in riverine water samples. From June 2008 to May 2009, monthly monitoring was performed along the Engenho Novo River. RV-A, NoV, and HAdV were observed in 29 % (31/108) of the water samples, with concentrations of up to 10³ genome copies/liter. The natural occurrence of infectious HAdV was demonstrated by Integrated Cell Culture-PCR (ICC-PCR). This study confirms the suitability of using the detection of fecal-oral transmitted viruses as a marker of human fecal contamination in water matrices and indicates the spread of pathogenic viruses occurring in an alleged area of environmental protection.     

Environmental Surveillance of Polioviruses in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil, in Support to the Activities of Global Polio Eradication Initiative

Wild polioviruses still remain endemic in three countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria) and re-emergency of wild polio has been reported in previously polio-free countries. Environmental surveillance has been used as a supplementary tool in monitoring the circulation of wild poliovirus (PVs) and/or vaccine-derived PVs even in the absence of acute flaccid paralysis cases. This study aimed to monitor the presence of polioviruses in wastewater samples collected at one wastewater treatment plant located in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From December 2011 to June 2012 and from September to December 2012, 31 samples were collected and processed. RD and L20B cell cultures were able to isolate PVs and non-polio enteroviruses in 27/31 samples. Polioviruses were isolated in eight samples (type 1 Sabin = 1, type 2 Sabin = 5, and type 3 Sabin = 2). Vaccine-derived polioviruses were not detected nor evidence of recombination with other PVs or non-polio enterovirus serotypes were observed among the isolates. The Sabin-related serotypes 2 and 3 presented nucleotide substitutions in positions associated with the neurovirulent phenotype at the 5′-UTR. Changes in important Amino acid residues at VP1 were also observed in the serotypes 2 and 3. Environmental surveillance has been used successfully in monitoring the circulation of PVs and non-polio enteroviruses and it is of crucial importance in the final stages of the WHO global polio eradication initiative. Our results show the continuous circulation of Sabin-like PVs and non-polio enteroviruses in the analyzed area during the study period.     

Gastroenteric Viruses Detection in a Drinking Water Distribution-to-Consumption System in a Low-Income Community in Rio de Janeiro

Food and Environmental Virology - The availability of drinking water is one of the main determinants of quality of life, disease prevention and the promotion of health. Viruses are important agents...     

Eco-industrial park initiatives in the USA and the Netherlands: first lessons

Since the introduction of the industrial ecology concept by Frosch and Gallopoulos in 1989, and the apparent success of the Kalundborg Industrial Symbiosis project, attention to planned eco-industrial park (EIP) development projects has grown all over the world. This article includes data from six of these EIP development projects. Three of the projects discussed are located in the Netherlands and three in the US. This article compares the differences in project approach and results on a national level. The approach suggested is derived from the available EIP development literature.Initial research indicates that the Dutch EIP projects are more successful than their US counterparts. This difference in success can be, mostly, attributed to the fact that the US projects are initiated by local and regional governments that see the project as a way to improve the local/regional economy with access to substantial government funds. Because of this heavy government involvement, US companies are, in general, not interested in the project. The more successful Dutch projects, on the other hand, are mostly initiated by the companies themselves with financial and advisory support from the local and regional government.     

Emergy as a tool for Ecodesign: evaluating materials selection for beverage packages in Brazil

The life of a product begins with the initial product design concepts; the costs and potential impacts of a product are heavily influenced by the final design, the production processes, the economic and environmental costs of all raw materials. Additionally, both of these factors are very much affected by how the products are managed during and after consumer usage. Thus, there is an urgent need for a tool to facilitate the integration and assessment of environmental and economic demands into the product planning and development processes. The introduction of environmental accounting based on emergy as a tool to assist in product design is proposed. This complementary tool may be inserted into the conventional design methodology to facilitate in the selection of materials and processes as well as in the actual design of the products. To illustrate the application of the proposed method for material selection, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles and aluminum cans for beverage packaging are compared. Despite the exceptional condition of aluminum recycling in Brazil, results show that the best option for beverage packages is the PET bottles.     

“截获未来”是为了可持续发展——法国国际环保工业展(Pollutec)与世界环保产业

如何在发展经济的同时保持生态体系的平衡?如何在工业化、城镇化的过程中维护、乃至优化生活环境、提高生活天然质量?如何继承前人生态遗产并为子孙后代的进一步发展预留广阔空间?这些都是当代人必须认真思考的问题,并需要我们提出具体的解决方案.它山之石可以攻玉.中国的现代化进程就是中国对外开放度进一步提高、不断借鉴这个星球上现代化先行国家经验和教训的过程.在治理环境问题方面,我国也在不断地扩大与其他国家的交流,取长补短.交流是需要平台的,有影响的国际展览会就是促进交流的好平台,法国国际环保工业展览会(Pollutec)为其中之一.     

生物酶技术——可持续发展的催化剂——诺维信(中国)投资有限公司的可持续发展之道

2012年,诺维信再次荣登道琼斯可持续发展指数生物技术行业分榜榜首,这是诺维信第十一次获此殊荣。入围道琼斯可持续发展指数排行榜并保持排名对任何公司而言都是一个挑战,了解一下道琼斯可持续发展指数的情况就可略见一斑。道琼斯可持续发展指数是由全球领先的股市、金融和经济信息提供商道琼斯,以及瑞士投资公司SAM控股集团联合推出的一个得到全球认可的可持续     

美丽,与众共享 欧莱雅集团发布2020年可持续发展新承诺

<正>【2013年·巴黎】欧莱雅集团董事长兼首席执行官安巩先生宣布了欧莱雅集团面向2020年的可持续发展新承诺,致力于在实现商业抱负的同时,优化可持续发展进程。实现可持续增长在美丽普及化战略的指导下,欧莱雅的宏远目标,是在未来赢得10亿新消     

The need for global coordination in sustainable development

Natural resources are being depleted at faster rates than ever; this highlights the need for global audits and actions to reverse the depletion. Coordinated efforts by various organizations are essential to quantify reserves and demands in such audits in order to enable the development and implementation of strategies for sustainable recovery, usage, and recycling of natural resources. This paper discusses such audits in several industries and puts forward analytical and technical methods and policies for sustainable recovery, usage and recycling of resources in those industries. Scenario analysis can help to provide better future directions for industries whilst eco-industrial parks could improve the efficiency of usage of available resources and waste products through synergies among different industries on a regional basis. Sustainable manufacturing within industries such as micromachining, cement and leather could further reduce consumption of natural resources. New technologies in mineral recovery could help to recover valuable minerals present in concentrates generated by various processes such as reverse osmosis of sea water, chemical processing of minerals, and domestic and industrial wastewater treatments. These areas are discussed in this special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production. It is imperative that the efforts by various organizations toward sustainable management of natural resources should compliment each other to minimize duplication; furthermore policy makers should play greater roles in developing and implementing policies and procedures to support such sustainable development oriented approaches simultaneously throughout the world in a coordinated and proactive manner for the short and long term future.     

University research for sustainable development: definition and characteristics explored

University research is pivotal for sustainable development, but to succeed, new ways of conducting research are needed. Only recently has the field of “sustainability and higher education” (SHE) started to deal with the issue. In this paper we define “university research for sustainable development” comprehensively as “all research conducted within the institutional context of a university that contributes to sustainable development”, and propose a set of twenty two preliminary characteristics of this concept. We provide foundational information in particular for various university stakeholders, and those of higher education in general, considering the (re)orientation of research towards sustainable development and offer a beginning of dialogue on the subject, within SHE.     

The concept of sustainable islands: cleaner production, industrial ecology and the network paradigm as preconditions for regional sustainable development

This paper introduces a bottom-up approach towards sustainability which is called the Island approach. The basic assumption of ‘Islands of Sustainability’ is that development towards sustainability can be introduced starting from small sustainable regions. An Island is an area where sustainability is reached locally. Key points to create a sustainable region are communication activities, such as exchange of matter, energy, information, culture, capital and persons within the regional network and with the environment. One of the main theses is that sustainability is linked to the complexity of the regional network. The intensity, the speed and the comprehensive of internal and external interactions, as well as the connectedness of the regional network, have to be changed in order to reach local sustainability.Relations between different approaches such as the Cleaner Production approach, the Industrial Ecology approach and the Island approach are investigated. It is assumed that a combination of these approaches will lead to sustainability, which might not be the case with one approach in isolation. All concepts are based on the new Network Paradigm, which is a reduction of the holistic world view. Cooperation on different hierarchical levels, from the interfirm level up to the interregional level, becomes an important part of behaviour. Networks, such as information networks or matter-flow networks, are introduced and become most important with regard to sustainability.     

Towards sustainable development in Austria: renewable energy contributions

Besides energy conservation, theexploration of renewable energy sources, inparticular biomass and solar energy, arecentral aspects of the Austrian energypolicy, regarded as an optimal option forachieving CO₂-emission reductionobjectives.The market penetration of RenewableEnergy Technologies in the last twentyyears was supported by the AustrianEnergy Research Programme. The result ofsuccessful developments of biomass heating,solar thermal, solar electrical and windenergy technologies is the key for themarket development of these renewableenergy technologies.With the market penetration of renewableenergy technologies new business areas wereestablished and employment created.Today, some renewable energy technologiesin Austria have reached economiccompetitiveness. Some technologies notreached commercialisation, and need moredevelopment to improve efficiency,reliability and cost to become commercial.This would include material and systemdevelopment, pilot plants or fieldexperiments to clarify technical problems,and demonstration plants to illustrateperformance capabilities and to clarifyproblems for commercialisation.     

Product development and responsible consumption: designing alternatives for sustainable lifestyles

This paper presents insights from a research project that examines the notion of ‘responsible consumption’, its relationship to consumer preferences and expectations, and its implications for product design and development. The paper discusses the issue of sustainable consumption in relation to product development and summarizes initial findings from a study conducted among people who consider themselves responsible consumers. Notably, four different profiles of ‘simplifiers’ are described. The study shows that people who took part in the research adopt more sustainable lifestyles not only because of an ecological consciousness, but also because of perceived personal factors or benefits. The study also reveals that participants have both a close and distant relationship to objects and that they prefer products that allow them to be engaged in the activity of “doing”. Product development strategies informed by these insights are explored. The paper suggests that product designers can support and encourage those already active or interested in orienting their consumption habits towards more sustainable solutions by envisioning appropriate ecologically and socially responsible product alternatives.     

The water supply footprint (WSF): a strategic planning tool for sustainable regional and local water supplies

This paper introduces a new methodological approach of the ecological footprint explicitly addressing the sustainability of water supplies, which we call the water supply footprint (WSF). The WSF calculates the catchment area or water supply hinterland of a certain society and can serve as a strategic planning tool for local or regional water supplies linking the water demand with the water supply in a water supply footprint matrix. Based on regional water balances it estimates how much water can be appropriated for human use in an environmentally sustainable way.The proposed method is tested on the South East Queensland water supply in Australia, an area where water use restrictions are regularly imposed on the population. Applying the proposed method indicates that supply shortages may be avoided by considerably changing the organisation of water supply, thereby reducing and possibly even avoiding the necessity for large-scale supply side measures like additional sweet water reservoirs or desalination plants. In that way it is demonstrated that the WSF method is applicable at an early and strategic stage of water supply planning.     

Ecotoxicological assessment of diffuse pollution using biomonitoring tool for sustainable land use in Thailand

As a developing country, Thailand has a significant issue with diffuse pollution of the soil ecosystem due to an indiscriminate use of agrichemicals and poorly regulated disposal of a wide variety of hazardous wastes. Practical risk assessment tools based on locally-occurring species are needed to assess the effects of diffuse pollutants on the soil ecosystem in Thailand because reliance on soil criteria developed for overseas conditions may provide inadequate protection. Native soil organisms in Thailand may be more or less sensitive to contaminants compared to overseas test species. This article described a biological indicator approach for ecological risk assessment of diffuse pollution in the soil ecosystem of Thailand from pesticide application with the aim of developing standardized protocols using native species and locally generated data to better evaluate the ecological risks of non-point source soil pollution. It was found that ecotoxicological assessment provided a better understanding of the ecological impacts that diffuse pollution induced on Thai environmental conditions. Thai soil biota species were more sensitive to soil contaminants than similar species overseas. Soil series also had an influence on the ecotoxicology of contaminants to soil biota. Collembolan, Cyphoderus sp., was demonstrated as a useful alternative test species to Folsomia Candida (international test species) for terrestrial ecotoxicological testing of Thai soils. In addition, the soil biota activities such as soil respiration and earthworm avoidance including soil biodiversity and the litter bag decomposition technique are also good tools to assess the effects of diffuse pollution by pesticides on the soil ecosystem of Thailand.     

Reforming the CDM for sustainable development: lessons learned and policy futures

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has successfully demonstrated that market-based mechanisms can achieve some cost effective emissions reductions in developing countries. However the distribution of CDM projects has been extremely uneven across countries and regions, and a few technologies and sectors have dominated the early stages of CDM experience. This has caused some to question whether the CDM has fallen short of its potential in contributing to sustainable development. We review the broad patterns of CDM project approvals and evaluate 10 CDM projects according to their sustainability benefits. The difficulty of defining “sustainable development” and the process of defining criteria by individual non-Annex 1 governments has meant that sustainable development concerns have been marginalized in some countries. Given these observed limitations, we present possible CDM policy futures, focusing on the main proposals for a post-2012 climate regime. Five options for enhancing the sustainable development benefits in the CDM are discussed, including proactive approaches to favour eligibility of emission reduction projects which ensure such co-benefits.     

The growth discourse,growth policy and sustainable development: two thought experiments

This paper addresses three aspects of ‘growth’: the discourse, the policy, and the impacts. The growth discourse claims that the central factor for social, economic, political and environmental progress is economic growth – it is assumed to create wealth, and provide the necessary means for social and environmental purposes. On the basis of the growth discourse, different growth policies can be derived, based on different economic and political ideologies.In order to reveal the implications of de facto degrowth, two thought experiments are conducted, for physical and economic end-to-growth strategies. The latter is capable of meeting environmental objectives, but implies significant social tensions and hardships and calls for transition strategies consisting of carefully designed steps.