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     

Assessing the impact of air pollution sources in Hong Kong, a densely populated city

As the simple dispersion model tested is not sufficiently accurate to predict the SO2 concentration in complex terrain commonly encountered amongst high rise buildings in Hong Kong, and the lack of comprehensive local wind data at most sites prevents the use of more advanced dispersion model to assess the impact of major air pollutant sources, a receptor model approach is adopted for the apportionment of air pollution sources in Hong Kong. The preliminary results obtained are presented and discussed.     

Effect of land-use and land-cover change on nutrients in soil in Bashang area,China

The Bashang area is a water-source area and ecological barrier zone for Beijing and Tianjin. The area is located at 200 km from Beijing and Tianjin and is a typical agriculture-pasture-interlacing zone, in which theis vulnerable and hence it is sensitive to anvironmental change. The area is relatively lagged in social and economic development, where the traditional cultivation mode is predominatedin agriculture and animal husbandry, but the disturbance by human activity is relatively small. Therefore, in order to reveal the interrelation between eco-environmental change in the area and environmental change in Beijing and Tianjin area, it is fairly necessary to study the effect of land-use and land-cover change on nutrients in soil in this area. According to the actual situation of changed land use for the limited time period, five series of changed land plots were selected and 4 samples were collected from each series for the study. The samples were collected from different soil-forming levels at the same site in different time. Analysis of the collected samples indicates that in the process of change of land use and land cover, the nutrients in soil, such as organic matter, total N, total P, total K, and available N, P, K, and B, Mo, Mn,Zn, Cu, and Fe, have regularly changed. When the land had changed from grassland and non-irrigated farmland into woodland, and from non-irrigated farmland into irrigated field, the nutrients in soil totally increased. But there exists some exception, i.e. quick-acting N, P, K, and some micreelements have appeared to be inconsistent with the mentioned above regularity in some cases.     

Assessment of toxicity potential of metallic elements in discarded electronics: A case study of mobile phones in China

The electronic waste (e-waste) is increasingly flooding Asia,especially China.E-waste could precipitate a growing volume of toxic input to the local environment if it was not handed properly.This makes the evaluation of environmental impact from electronics an essentially important task for the life cycle assessment (LCA) and the end-of-life management of electronic products.This study presented a quantitative investigation on the environmental performance of typical electronics.Two types of disposed mobile...     

Concurrency: a system design approach to environmental management and sustainability

The lessons of history indicate that mismanagement of natural resources and the environment often leads to potentially adverse consequences.The increasing interest in economic development,particularly in the developing countries of the world coupled with increasing population pressures and the globalization of economic activity is placing noticeable stresses on the ultimate sustainability of both human and environmental systems.Sustainable development is not a new concept.It has been an area of concern for different elements of society for some time.Yet efforts to understand the implications of sustainable development have not,until recently,been formalized.We have focused singularly on economic development and environmental quality as if they were mutually exclusive.This paper focuses on the concept of concurrency as both a conceptual framework and practicable method of understanding and implementing the ecology and economy of sustainability.     

Identification of high oxygen-consuming substances in stormwater drainage systems illicitly connected with sewage system

The dissolved oxygen content in water is an important indicator for assessing the quality of the water environment, and maintaining a certain amount of dissolved oxygen is essential for the healthy development of the ecological environment. When a water body is anoxic, the activity of anaerobic microorganisms increases and organic matter is decomposed to produce a large number of blackening and odorizing substances, resulting in black and odorous water bodies, which is a very common and typical ...     

Developing chemical signatures of particulate air pollution in the Pearl River Delta region, China

PM2:5 samples were collected in a regional sampling network with three sites in Hong Kong and four sites in the adjacent inland Pearl River Delta (PRD) or Guangdong Province during four months/seasons from 2002–2003. Trans-boundary transport between Hong Kong and the inland PRD is inevitable under the influence of Asian monsoon. In summer, Hong Kong serves as the upwind site of the inland PRD while during other seasons it is under the influence of continental emissions. Previous studies have recognized the importance of using chemical signatures to differentiate local vs. regional contributions to air pollutants in Hong Kong such as the CO/NOx ratio, ratios of different VOC species. In this study, detailed chemical speciation by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was performed with PM2:5 samples to identify new chemical signatures to distinguish aerosols in Hong Kong from those from the inland PRD. Since Hong Kong is not influenced by the continental emissions from the inland PRD during summer, comparison focused on chemical data obtained from this season for chemical signatures. The new ratios developed from the current study include LCPI/HCPI ratio of alkanes (0.39 0.02 in Hong Kong vs. 0.78 0.08 in the inland PRD), pyrene to benzo[ghi]perylene ratio (0.97 0.21 in Hong Kong compared to 0.20 0.06 in the inland PRD), and the ratio of 1,2-benzenedioic acid to 1,4-benzenedioic acid (1.8 0.1 in Hong Kong vs. 0.6 0.05 in the inland PRD). Results from this study also revealed that Hong Kong was impacted by ship emissions as reflected by substantially high V/Ni ratio (9 2) while this ratio was about 1–2 at all sites in the inland PRD, which is very close to typical ratios from residual oil combustion.     

Influence of new town development on the urban heat island - The case of the Bundang area

Five new towns have been developed around the Seoul metropolitan area since 1996. However, these new towns generate lots of traffic and related problems in the areas including those new towns and Seoul as a result of increases in population and a lack of ecological-self-sufficiency. Currently, construction of another new town is under deliberation, and what should be a major consider is the notion that the new town be located within a wide, green zone. Many studies have revealed that green space can play an important role in improving urban eco-meteorological capability and air quality. In order to analyze the urban heat island which will be created by the new urban development, and to investigate the local thermal environment and its negative effects caused by a change of land use type and urbanization, Landsat TM images were used for extraction of urban surface temperature according to changes of land use over the last 15 years. These data are analyzed together with digital land use and topographic information. As a study result, it was found the urban heat island of the study area from 198.5 to 1999 rapidly developed which showed a difference of mean temperature above 2.0. Before the Bundang new town construction the temperature of the residential area was the same as a forest, but during the new town construction in 1991 analysis revealed the creation of an urban heat island. The temperature of a forest whose size is over 50% of the investigation area was lowest, and thus the presence of a forest is believed to have a direct cooling effect on the urban environment and its surroundings. The mean temperature of the residential and commercial areas in the study was found to be 4.5 higher than the forest, and therefore this part of land use is believed to be the main factor causing the temperature increase of the urban heat island.     

Antimony speciation in the environment: Recent advances in understanding the biogeochemical processes and ecological effects

Antimony(Sb) is a toxic metalloid, and its pollution has become a global environmental problem as a result of its extensive use and corresponding Sb-mining activities. The toxicity and mobility of Sb strongly depend on its chemical speciation. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the biogeochemical processes(including emission, distribution,speciation, redox, metabolism and toxicity) that trigger the mobilization and transformation of Sb from pollution sources to the surrounding environment. Natural phenomena such as weathering, biological activity and volcanic activity, together with anthropogenic inputs, are responsible for the emission of Sb into the environment. Sb emitted in the environment can adsorb and undergo redox reactions on organic or inorganic environmental media, thus changing its existing form and exerting toxic effects on the ecosystem. This review is based on a careful and systematic collection of the latest papers during 2010–2017 and our research results, and it illustrates the fate and ecological effects of Sb in the environment.     

Environmental influence of Wuhan urban agglomeration development and strategies of environmental protection

In Wuhan urban agglomeration （WUA）, the population growth and concentration, the industrial development and urban sprawl have been affecting the environment ftmdamentally. Comparing with Yangtze delta metropolitan region, the level of urbanization and industrialization of WUA has lagged behind for about 10 years; but the problems in environmental protection and rehabilitation are commonly serious. In the future, WUA should avoid unnecessary mistakes and seek a win-win strategy for economy and environment in its large-scale development stage. Based on the analysis of the changing of main environmental pollutants and the coupled curves in past decades, the paper discussed the important links among the urban environmental pollutions, industry growth and urban sprawl in WUA. It is concluded that the integration of economic and environmental policies in urban development is more required and significant at the large urban agglomeration region. Four proactive and long-term strategies need to be adopted to provide prior guidance and better protection for the development of WUA.