Evaluation of the Impact of the Natural Forest Protection Program on Rural Household Livelihoods

In this study, we estimated the impact on local household livelihoods of the Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP), which is the largest logging-ban program in the world, which aims to protect watersheds and conserve natural forests. In doing so, we used a series of microeconometric policy-evaluation techniques to assess the impacts of the NFPP on two interrelated facets of household livelihoods: income and off-farm labor supply. We found that the NFPP has had a negative impact on incomes from timber harvesting but has actually had a positive impact on total household incomes from all sources. Furthermore, we found that off-farm labor supply outside the village has increased more rapidly in NFPP than in non-NFPP areas. Based on these results, policy implications for household livelihoods were drawn and are presented herein.     

Polyfluoroalkyl compounds in landfill leachates

Polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) are widely used in industry and consumer products. These products could end up finally in landfills where their leachates are a potential source for PFCs into the aqueous environment. In this study, samples of untreated and treated leachate from 22 landfill sites in Germany were analysed for 43 PFCs. ΣPFC concentrations ranged from 31 to 12,819 ng/L in untreated leachate and 4-8060 ng/L in treated leachate. The dominating compounds in untreated leachate were perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) (mean contribution 27%) and perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) (24%). The discharge of PFCs into the aqueous environment depended on the cleaning treatment systems. Membrane treatments (reverse osmosis and nanofiltrations) and activated carbon released lower concentrations of PFCs into the environment than cleaning systems using wet air oxidation or only biological treatment. The mass flows of ∑PFCs into the aqueous environment ranged between 0.08 and 956 mg/day.     

Constructing a Strategic, National Resource: European Policies and the Up-Scaling of Water Services in the Algarve, Portugal

Water management has been significantly reshaped throughout recent decades in Europe and worldwide. Vivid examples of this restructuring include Southern European coastal zones which have been transformed into the European “pleasure periphery” over the last 40 years, requiring significant changes in water service provision. Taking it as an illustrative case of the Southern European coastal freshwater crisis and the way different European Member States have dealt with it, the article provides an account of the Algarve, indicative of typical Portuguese dynamics, and compares it with developments in other European countries. Expanding demands on water services in this region led to a crisis situation throughout the nineties, which was resolved by shifting physical infrastructures and competencies to the supra-local level. The re-scaling of water management was instrumental to expanding national control over the sector at the expense of local authorities and privatization. The national level used European funds and regulations to re-configure the institutional and infrastructure set-up in order to provide for tourism and agricultural expansion. Quality tourism was constructed as a decentral, hegemonic state spatial project, with the Algarvian’s entire water resource base being put at its disposal. The solution found illustrates a modified version of the supply side and surface water oriented “hydraulic paradigm” in Portugal: geared towards tourism and urban areas and the maintenance of irrigation agriculture. Delays in infrastructures, ideological preferences, maintaining national control over strategic water services and territoriality contributed towards the construction of water services as part of this hegemonic state spatial strategy for tourism expansion.     

Comparison of satellite observed tropospheric NO2 over India with model simulations

Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) plays a key role in the chemistry of the atmosphere and is emitted mainly by combustion processes. These emissions have been increasing over India over the past few years due to rapid economic growth and yet there are very few systematic ground based observations of NO₂ over this region. We thus take recourse to satellite data and compare tropospheric NO₂ column abundances simulated by a chemical transport model, MOZART, with data from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) for a few locations in India that have seen a rapid economic growth in the last decade. The model generally simulates higher columnar abundances of NO₂ compared to GOME observations and does not reproduce the features of the observed seasonal behaviour. The combined uncertainties of the emission inventory and retrieval of the satellite data could be contributing factors to the discrepancies. It may be thus worthwhile to develop emission inventories for India at a higher resolution to include local level activity data. The ten year data (1996–2006) from GOME and SCIAMACHY (SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY) show increasing trends for Indian cities where rapid industrial and vehicular traffic growth has been observed during this period.     

Brominated flame retardants in the Australian population: 1993-2009

Brominated flame retardants, including hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used to reduce the flammability of a multitude of electrical and electronic products, textiles and foams. The use of selected PBDEs has ceased, however, use of decaBDE and HBCD continues. While elevated concentrations of PBDEs in humans have been observed in Australia, no data is available on other BFRs such as HBCD. This study aimed to provide background HBCD concentrations from a representative sample of the Australian population and to assess temporal trends of HBCD and compare with PBDE concentrations over a 16 year period. Samples of human milk collected in Australia from 1993 to 2009, primarily from primiparae mothers were combined into 12 pools from 1993 (2 pools); 2001; 2002/2003 (4 pools); 2003/2004; 2006; 2007/2008 (2 pools); and 2009. Concentrations of ∑HBCD ranged from not quantified (nq) to 19 ng g(-1)lipid while α-HBCD and γ-HBCD ranged from nq to 10 ng g(-1)lipid and nq to 9.2 ng g(-1)lipid. β-HBCD was detected in only one sample at 3.6 ng g(-1)lipid while ∑(4)PBDE ranged from 2.5 to 15.8 ng g(-1)lipid. No temporal trend was apparent in HBCD concentrations in human milk collected in Australia from 1993 to 2009. In comparison, PBDE concentrations in human milk show a peak around 2002/03 (mean ∑(4)PBDEs=9.6 ng g(-1)lipid) and 2003/04 (12.4 ng g(-1)lipid) followed by a decrease in 2007/08 (2.7 ng g(-1)lipid) and 2009 (2.6 ng g(-1)lipid). In human blood serum samples collected from the Australian population, PBDE concentrations did not vary greatly (p=0.441) from 2002/03 to 2008/09. Continued monitoring including both human milk and serum for HBCD and PBDEs is required to observe trends in human body burden of HBCD and PBDEs body burden following changes to usage.     

Landscape multifunctionality: a powerful concept to identify effects of environmental change

The interdisciplinary concept of landscape multifunctionality provides a suitable platform to combine or disentangle effects of multiple environmental stressors acting on the landscape. The concept allows mapping of trade-offs, synergies, and priority conflicts between individual landscape functions, thus providing easily accessible, hands-on means to communicate findings of environmental research to decision makers and society. This rapid communication provides an overview of current developments and potential future research avenues in landscape multifunctionality.     

Some heterocyclic aromatic compounds are Ah receptor agonists in the DR-CALUX assay and the EROD assay with RTL-W1 cells

Purpose  

Heterocyclic aromatic compounds containing nitrogen, sulfur, or oxygen heteroatoms (NSO-HET) have been detected in air, soil, marine, and freshwater systems. However, only few publications are available investigating NSO-HET using in vitro bioassays. To support better characterization of environmental samples, selected NSO-HET were screened for dioxin-like activity in two bioassays.     

Remediation of heavy metal polluted sediment by suspension and solid-bed leaching: estimate of metal removal efficiency

Remediation of heavy metal polluted sediment by extracting the metals with sulfuric acid can be performed as follows: abiotic suspension leaching, microbial suspension leaching, abiotic solid-bed leaching, and microbial solid-bed leaching. Abiotic leaching means that the acid is directly added, while microbial leaching means that the acid is generated from sulfur by microbes (bioleaching). These four principles were compared to each other with special emphasis on the effectiveness of metal solubilization and metal removal by subsequent washing. Abiotic suspension leaching was fastest, but suspending the solids exhibits some disadvantages (low solid content, costly reactors, permanent input of energy, high water consumption, special equipment required for solid separation, large amounts of waste water, sediment properties hinder reuse), which prevent suspension leaching in practice. Abiotic solid-bed leaching implies the supply of acid by percolating water which proceeds slowly due to a limited bed permeability. Microbial solid-bed leaching means the generation of acid within the bed and has been proven to be the only principle applicable to practice. Metal removal from leached sediment requires washing with water. Washing of solid beds was much more effective than washing of suspended sediment. The kinetics of metal removal from solid beds 0.3, 0.6 or 1.2m in height were similar; when using a percolation flow of 20lm(-2)h(-1), the removal of 98% of the mobile metals lasted 57-61h and required 8.5, 4.2 or 2.3lkg(-1) water. This means, the higher the solid bed, the lower the sediment-mass-specific demand for time and water.     

Post-combustion syntheses of PCDD/F and PBDD/F from halogen-rich fuel is suppressed by a pebble heater technology

GOAL, SCOPE AND BACKGROUND: Changes in German and European legislation shifted processing of polymer-rich shredding residues (SR) from landfill to thermal treatment. However, when waste of electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) is the source of SR, thermal treatment is complicated by halogens as well as the presence of polybrominated dioxins and furans (PBDD/F) and brominated flame retardants (BFR). Hence, WEEE requires high temperature incineration with sufficient residence times. Post-combustion synthesis of polyhalogenated dioxins and furans (PXDD/F) is dominant in the temperature range between 250-450 degrees C. Thus, a very rapid gas cooling from 450 degrees to 250 degrees C is important for proper raw gas treatment. The pebble heater technology developed by ATZ Entwicklungszentrum (Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Germany) might serve as an alternative to the state-of-the-art quench cooling. It is based on the application of a pebble bed of natural bulk material, which the exhaust gases flows through radially. It provides an excellent heat transfer and a temperature gradient in the range of 1,500-2,000 K/m. The paper presents data of a pilot application of the pebble heater technology for the treatment of raw gas derived from the incineration of polymeric materials from WEEE. METHODS: A liquid fuel was chosen in order to minimise technical modifications of the plant. It was analysed for halogens by x-ray fluorescence, for brominated flame retardants by HPLC-UV/MS and for PXDD/F by GC-HRMS. Combustion gases were rapidly cooled down to temperatures below 200 degrees C and emissions of PBDD/F and PCDD/ F were estimated without further off-gas treatment. PBDD/F emissions were computed as PCDD/F toxicity equivalents applying two different calculation approaches. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: PCDD/F emissions accounted for 0.04 ng I-TEQ/Nm3 and are in compliance with European emission limits. Calculated PBDD/F toxicity equivalents exceeded the emission limit of 0.1 ng I-TEQ/Nm3 by factors of 75 and 208 depending on the calculation approach. A mass balance of PBDD/F and PCDD/F congeners revealed an efficient elimination of more than 95% in most cases. Lower reduction rates (76% for 2,3,7,8-TeBDF and 82% for 1,2,3,7,8-PeBDF) were attributed to incomplete combustion. An intended recovery of halogens by one-stage scrubbing downstream of the pebble heater was ineffective, recovering 28% of the applied chlorine and 9% of the bromine, only. CONCLUSIONS: Our pilot incineration test indicates that the pebble heater technology can effectively suppress a post-combustion synthesis of PCDD/F and PBDD/F, resulting in low PCDD/F emission levels without further off-gas treatment. The presented data state that WEEE is sensible to incomplete combustion, which will lead to increased PBDD/F emissions without increasing PCDD/F emission limits. This finding is especially relevant for small and low-technical incineration appliances, which have been reported to treat WEEE in developing countries and are considered to serve as a significant source of PXDD/F these days. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: Monitoring of PCDD/F emissions only might considerably underestimate the total emission of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds. It is therefore an ineffective means for assessing resulting health risks, at least for those waste treatment plants which are considered to handle the increasing amounts of PBDD/ F-containing polymers from WEEE in future. Consequently, it is recommended to initiate a screening programme for PXDD/F emissions in large scale incineration facilities which are capable of treating WEEE shredder residues.     

Effective pine bark composting with the dome aeration technology

In South Africa garden refuse is primarily disposed of in domestic landfills. Due to the large quantities generated, any form of treatment would be beneficial for volume reduction, waste stabilization and resource recovery. Dome Aeration Technology (DAT) is an advanced process for aerobic biological degradation of garden refuse and general waste [Paar, S., Brummack, J., Gemende, B., 1999a. Advantages of dome aeration in mechanical-biological waste treatment. In: Proceedings of the 7th International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium, Cagliari, 4-8 October 1999; Paar, S., Brummack, J., Gemende, B., 1999b. Mechanical-biological waste stabilization by the dome aeration method. Environment Protection Engineering 25 (3/99). Mollekopf, N., Brummack, J., Paar, S., Vorster, K., 2002. Use of the Dome Aeration Technology for biochemical stabilization of waste prior to landfilling. In: Proceedings of the Wastecon 2002, Waste Congress and Exhibition, Durban, South Africa.]. It is a non-reactor open windrow composting process, with the main advantage being that the input material needs no periodic turning. A rotting time of only 3-4 months indicates the high efficiency. Additionally, the low capital/operational costs, low energy inputs and limited plant requirements provide potential for use in aerobic refuse stabilization. The innovation in the DAT process is the passive aeration achieved by thermally driven advection through open windrows caused by temperature differences between the degrading material and the outside environment. This paper investigates the application of Dome Aeration Technology to pine bark composting as part of an integrated waste management strategy. A full-scale field experiment was performed at the Bisasar Road Landfill Site in Durban to assess the influence of climate, waste composition and operational conditions on the process. A test windrow was constructed and measurements of temperature and airflow through the material were taken. The process monitoring revealed that prevailing climatic conditions in a subtropical location do not affect the high efficiency of this technology. However, the composition of the input material can be detrimental for production of high quality compost because of a lack of nitrate.