Development and experience in the monitoring,assessment and control of environmentalpollutants in Hong Kong

The late start of environmental protection in Hong Kong was discussed in the light of problems encountered during the development of environmental protection legislation in Hong Kong for the past 20 years. The collaboration in monitoring and assessment of environmental pollutants between the University of Hong Kong and various governments were descrbed in parallel with the progress in environmental protection in Hong Kong. The developments of new analytical techniques for environmental monitoring and analysis is given and their application in environmental control described. The joint projects in assessment and control of environmental pollutants carried out in collaboration with local industries and other organizations within and without the university are given and discussed. The problems and possible solution facing Hong Kong in development control equipment for small scale industries are discussed and areas of development identified. The development and experience in the monitoring assessment and co     

Concentrations and distribution of novel brominated flame retardants in the atmosphere and soil of Ny-Ålesund and London Island, Svalbard, Arctic

Novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) were investigated in Arctic air and soil samples collected from Ny-Ålesund and London Island, Svalbard, during Chinese scientific research expeditions to the Arctic during 2014–2015. The concentrations of Σ₉NBFRs in the Arctic air and soil were 4.9–8.7 pg/m³ (average 6.8 pg/m³) and 101–201 pg/g dw (average 150 pg/g dw), respectively. The atmospheric concentration of hexabromobenzene (HBB) was significantly correlated with that of pentabromotoluene (PBT) and pentabromobenzene (PBBz), suggesting similar source and environmental fate in the Arctic air. No significant spatial difference was observed among the different sampling sites, both for air and soil samples, indicating that the effects of the scientific research stations on the occurrence of NBFRs in the Arctic were minor. The fugacities from soil to air of pentabromoethylbenzene (PBEB), 2,3-dibromopropyl 2,4,6-tribromophenyl ether (DPTE), and decabromodiphenylethane 1,2-bis (pentabromophenyl) ethane (DBDPE) were lower than the equilibrium value, indicating a nonequilibrium state of these compounds between air and soil, the dominant impact of deposition and the net transport from air to soil. The correlation analysis between the measured and predicted soil-atmosphere coefficients based on the absorption model showed that the impact of the soil organic matter on the distribution of NBFRs in the Arctic region was minor. To the best of our knowledge, this work is one of the limited reports on atmospheric NBFRs in the Arctic and the first study to investigate the occurrence and fate of NBFRs in the Arctic soil.     

Study on the response of wheat to lead, cadmium and zinc

Ｓｔｕｄｙｏｎｔｈｅｒｅｓｐｏｎｓｅｏｆｗｈｅａｔｔｏｌｅａｄ，ｃａｄｍｉｕｍａｎｄｚｉｎｃＭｅｎｇＬｉｎｇ，ＴａｎＤｅｙｏｎｇ，ＷａｎｇＨｕａｎｘｉａｏ，ＤｕａｎＣｈａｎｇｑｕｎ，ＤｕａｎＰｅｉｓｈａｎｇ，ＧａｏＳｈａｎｇｙｉＤｅｐａｒ...     

Fate of organophosphate esters from the Northwestern Pacific to the Southern Ocean:Occurrence,distribution, and fugacity model simulation

Eleven organophosphate esters (OPEs) in the air and seawater were investigated from the northwestern Pacific Ocean to the Southern Ocean during the 2018 Chinese 34th Antarctic Scientific Expedition.The concentration of total OPEs ranged from 164.82 to 3501.79 pg/m³in air and from 4.54 to 70.09 ng/L in seawater.Two halogenated OPEs,tri(chloropropyl) phosphate (TCPP) and tri (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP),were generally more abundant than the non-halogenated OPEs.A level Ⅲ fugacity mo...     

Characterizing the solid–solution partitioning coefficient and plant uptake factor of As,Cd, and Pb in California croplands

In risk assessment models, solid–solution partition coefficient, K_d, and plant uptake factor, PUF, are often employed to depict the fate and transport of trace elements in soils. The trustworthiness of risk assessments depends on the reliability of the parameters used. In this study, we examined K_d and PUF for As, Cd and Pb based on soils and plant tissues obtained from 70 crop production fields in California. We also examined the California portion of a nationwide survey of trace elements in cropland soils conducted by the Soil Survey, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA. Results showed that the K_d and PUF for cropland soils are probabilistic in nature and follow log-normal distributions. The trace element concentration of the soil solution did not appear to be a more appropriate estimator of PUF than the total soil element content. The K_d used in the CDFA (California Department of Food and Agriculture) study had a much wider range than that could occur in California croplands while the PUF used in the CDFA risk assessment was comparable to patterns observed in the field measurements.     

Interactions of copper,cadmium and molybdenum in buffalo calves:the levels of trace element in blood,urine and tissues

Ten male buffalo calves were randomly allotted into five groups of two each. Four groups were fed with cadmium, molybdenum, cadmium-molybdenum, and copper-cadmium-molybdenum respectively for 130 days to determine the elements' metabolic interactions in calves. These results indicated that cadmium and molybdenum could increase the accumulation of molybdenum and cadmium in liver and kidneys in buffalo calves, but copper could not. reduce to normal the levels of molybdenum and cadmium in liver and kidneys caused by cadmium-molybdenum. In addition, we found the copper concentrations in liver and kindeys was significantly greater in treatment calves than in controls.     

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

ＴｈｅｃｈａｒａｃｔｅｒｓｆｏｒｔｈｅｂｏｕｎｄａｒｙｌａｙｅｒａｎｄｍｅｃｈａｎｉｓｍｏｆａｃｉｄｒａｉｎｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎｉｎｔｈｅＱｉｎｇｄａｏａｒｅａ，ＣｈｉｎａＬｉｕＢａｏｚｈａｎｇ，ＬｉＪｉｎｌｏｎｇｅｎｔｅｒｏｆＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａ...     

Effects of nature organic matters and hydrated metal oxides on the anaerobic degradation of lindane,p,p''''-DDT and HCB in sediments

IntroductionLindane ,p,p’ DDTandHCBaresemivolatileandlipophilic ,andtheyfallintotheclassofcompoundsdescribedaspersistentorganicpollutants.Moreover,thesecompoundshavebeenidentifiedaspotentendocrinedisrupters(Smith ,2 0 0 2 ;Willett,1 998;Robert,2 0 0 1 ) .Ithasbeenreportedchlorinatedorganiccompoundscanbedecomposedveryslowlyinsedimentsthroughvariousreactions(Niesl,1 990 ) .Factorsinfluencingthebiodegradationofcompoundsarevarious.Amongthem ,itwasreportedthattheeffectsofnaturalorganicmatters…     

Effect of allelochemicals sustained-release microspheres on the ingestion,incorporation, and digestion abilities of Daphnia magna Straus

Allelochemicals sustained-release microspheres (ACs-SMs) exhibited great inhibition effect on algae,however,few studies have focused on ACs-SMs toxicity on invertebrate.In this study,the effects of single high-concentration ACs (15 mg/L,SH-ACs),repeated low-concentration ACs (3×5 mg/L,RL-ACs) and ACs-SMs containing 15 mg/L ACs exposure on the ingestion,incorporation,and digestion of Daphnia magna Straus (DS) were investigated by stable isotope¹⁵N labeling method.Meanwhile,the diversit...     

Study on the proposed environmental guidelines for Cd, Hg, Pb and As in soil of China

This paper deals with the soil-environmental standard. According to the current situation of researching on the soil-environmental quality guideline at home and abroad, and on the basis of the foundations and principles of enacting the soil-environmental standard, the soil environment quality guideline values of Hg, Cd, Pb and As were suggested.     

Effect of monotoxicity and mixtoxicity of nitroaromatics to the green algae, Scienedesmus obliquus

In general, many pollutants co-exist in natural aquatic ecosystems. They affect each other and occur different results, such as synergism, addition and antagonism. So the research at mixtoxicity of contaminants to aquatic organism is more important than monotoxicity. In this paper, 50％ effectual inhibition concentration 48h EC50 values of 6 kinds of nitroaromatic compounds to the green algae, Scenedesmus obliquus, were investigated. Mixtoxic experiments, in which any combination of 2,4-DNT and other 6kinds of compounds, indicate: (1) synergisms between 2,4-DNT and 4-NAn, as well as 4-NAnis, 1,4-DNB; (2) antagonisms between 2,4-DNT and 4-NT, as well as 4-NPh, 4-NCB.     

Effect of monotoxicity and mixtoxicity of nitroaromatics to the green algae, Scienedesmus obliquus

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｃｏｎｔａｍｉｎａｎｔｓｍａｙｈａｖｅｔｏｘｉｃｅｆｆｅｃｔｓｏｎｍａｎｙｄｉｆｆｅｒｅｎｔｏｒｇａｎｉｓｍｓａｎｄａｆｆｅｃｔｂｉｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｐｒｏｃｅｓｓｅｓａｔｃｅｌｌｕｌａｒ,ｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎ ,ｃｏｍｍｕｎｉｔｙａｎｄｅｃｏｓｙｓｔｅｍｌｅｖｅｌｓｏｆｏｒｇａｎｉｚａｔｉｏｎ .Ｍｏｓｔｒｅｃｅｎｔｈａｚａｒｄｅｖａｌｕａｔｉｏｎｐｒｏｇｒａｍｓｒｅｃｏｍｍｅｎｄａｌｇａｅｔｏｘｉｃｉｔｙｔｅｓｔｓｆｏｒｅｖａｌｕａｔｉｏｎｓｏｆｃ…     

Landscape ecological assessment and eco-tourism development in the South Dongting Lake Wetland, China

1　ＴｈｅｇｅｎｅｒａｌｓｉｔｕａｔｉｏｎｏｆｔｈｅＳｏｕｔｈＤｏｎｇｔｉｎｇＬａｋｅＷｅｔｌａｎｄＬｏｃａｔｅｄｉｎｔｈｅｎｏｒｔｈｏｆＨｕｎａｎＰｒｏｖｉｎｃｅａｎｄｔｈｅｓｏｕｔｈｂａｎｋｏｆｔｈｅＹａｎｇｔｚｅＲｉｖｅｒｍｉｄｄｌｅｒｅａｃｈｅｓ ,ｔｈｅＤｏｎｇｔｉｎｇＬａｋｅｉｓｏｎｅｏｆｔｈｅｆｉｖｅｌａｒｇｅｓｔｆｒｅｓｈｗａｔｅｒｌａｋｅｓａｎｄｏｆｔｈｅｓｅｖｅｎｍｏｓｔｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｔｌａｎｄｓｃａｐｅｓｏｆｉｎｔｅｒｎａｔｉｏｎａｌｌｙｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｔｗｅｔｌａｎｄｓｉ…     

Cold-loving microbes, plants, and animals—fundamental and applied aspects

Microorganisms, plants, and animals have successfully colonized cold environments, which represent the majority of the biosphere on Earth. They have evolved special mechanisms to overcome the life-endangering influence of low temperature and to survive freezing. Cold adaptation includes a complex range of structural and functional adaptations at the level of all cellular constituents, such as membranes, proteins, metabolic activity, and mechanisms to avoid the destructive effect of intracellular ice formation. These strategies offer multiple biotechnological applications of cold-adapted organisms and/or their products in various fields. In this review, we describe the mechanisms of microorganisms, plants, and animals to cope with the cold and the resulting biotechnological perspectives.     

Effects of lead , cadmium , mercury chlorides and aquaticenvironmental samples on the growth of Escherichia coli

In this paper it was reported that PbCl₂ , CdCl₂ , HgCl₂, and aquatic environmental samples containing Al, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sr, Zn and other heavy metal ions as well as organic chemicals suppressed thegrowth of E. coli only at higher exposed concentrations. The stimulative effects of PbCl₂ and HgCl₂ on thegrowth of E. coli were clearly showed at lower concentrations and longer time. It suggested that the toxic effects of heavy metal ions and other pollutants on the growth of E. coli are variable according to the differentexposed levels.     

Seasonal,diurnal and nocturnal variations of carbonyl compounds in the semi-urban environment of Orléans,France

Atmospheric carbonyls were measured at a semi-urban site in Orléans, France, from October 2010to July2011. Formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acetone were found to be the most abundant carbonyls, with average concentrations of 3.1, 1.0, 2.0 ppb, respectively in summer, 2.3, 0.7, 2.2 ppb, respectively in autumn, 2.2, 1.0, 2.1 ppb, respectively in spring,and 1.5, 0.7, 1.1 ppb, respectively in winter. Photo-oxidation of volatile organic compounds(VOCs) was found to make a remarkable contribution to atmospheric carbonyls in the semi-urban site based on the distinct seasonal and diurnal variations of the carbonyls, as well as the significantly positive correlations between the carbonyls and ozone. The significantly negative correlations between NO x and O_3 as well as the carbonyls and the positive correlations between wind speed and O_3 as well as the carbonyls implied that the carbonyls and O_3 at the semi-urban site were probably formed during air mass transport from neighboring cities.     

Thermogravimetric,kinetic study and gas emissions analysis of the thermal decomposition of waste-derived fuels

A wide range of wastes can potentially be used to generate thermal and electrical energy.The co-combustion of several types of waste as part of water-containing waste-derived fuels is a promising method for their recovery. In this research, we use thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry to study the thermal behavior and kinetics of coal slime, biomass, waste oils, and blends on their basis. We also analyze the concentrations of gaseous emissions. The results show that bi...