Impact of socioeconomic and meteorological factors on reservoirs’ air quality: a case in the Three Gorges Reservoir of Chongqing (TGRC), China over a 10-year period

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The Three Gorges Dam’s construction and industrial transfer have resulted in a new air pollution pattern with the potential to threaten the...     

A material flow analysis on current electrical and electronic waste disposal from Hong Kong households

A material flow study on five types of household electrical and electronic equipment, namely television, washing machine, air conditioner, refrigerator and personal computer (TWARC) was conducted to assist the Government of Hong Kong to establish an e-waste take-back system. This study is the first systematic attempt on identifying key TWARC waste disposal outlets and trade practices of key parties involved in Hong Kong. Results from two questionnaire surveys, on local households and private e-waste traders, were used to establish the material flow of household TWARC waste. The study revealed that the majority of obsolete TWARC were sold by households to private e-waste collectors and that the current e-waste collection network is efficient and popular with local households. However, about 65,000 tonnes/yr or 80% of household generated TWARC waste are being exported overseas by private e-waste traders, with some believed to be imported into developing countries where crude recycling methods are practiced. Should Hong Kong establish a formal recycling network with tight regulatory control on imports and exports, the potential risks of current e-waste recycling practices on e-waste recycling workers, local residents and the environment can be greatly reduced.     

Biological treatment of anaerobically digested palm oil mill effluent (POME) using a Lab-Scale Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR)

The production of highly polluting palm oil mill effluent (POME) has resulted in serious environmental hazards. While anaerobic digestion is widely accepted as an effective method for the treatment of POME, anaerobic treatment of POME alone has difficulty meeting discharge limits due to the high organic strength of POME. Hence, subsequent post-treatment following aerobic treatment is vital to meet the discharge limits. The objective of the present study is to investigate the aerobic treatment of anaerobically digested POME by using a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The SBR performance was assessed by measuring Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) removal as well as Sludge Volume Index (SVI). The operating pH and dissolved oxygen concentrations were found to be 8.25–9.14 and 1.5–6.4 mg/L, respectively, throughout the experiment. The experimental results demonstrate that MLVSS, OLR and sludge loading rate (SLR) play a significant role in the organic removal efficiency of SBR systems and therefore, further investigation on these parameters was conducted to attain optimum SBR performance. Maximum COD (95–96%), BOD (97–98%) and TSS (98–99%) removal efficiencies were achieved at optimum OLR, SLR and MLVSS concentration ranges of 1.8–4.2 kg COD/m³ day, 2.5–4.6 kg TSS/m³ day and 22,000–25,000 mg/L, respectively. The effluent quality remained stable and complied with the discharge limit. At the same time, the sludge showed good settling properties with average SVI of 65. It is envisaged that the SBR process could complement the anaerobic treatment to produce final treated effluent which meets the discharge limit.     

Measuring bulky waste arisings in Hong Kong

All too often, waste authorities either assume that they know enough about their bulky waste stream or that it is too insignificant to deserve attention. In this paper, we use Hong Kong as an example to illustrate that official bulky waste figures can actually be very different from the reality and therefore important waste management decisions made based on such statistics may be wrong too. This study is also the first attempt in Hong Kong to outline the composition of bulky waste.It was found that about 342 tonnes/day of wood waste were omitted by official statistics owing to incomplete records on actual bulky waste flow. This is more than enough to provide all the feedstock needed for one regular-sized wood waste recycling facility in Hong Kong. In addition, the proportion of bulky waste in the municipal solid waste (MSW) streams in Hong Kong should be about 6.1% instead of the officially stated 1.43%. Admittedly, there are limitations with this study. Yet, present findings are suggestive of significant MSW data distortion in Hong Kong.     

Cover Image

The cover image is based on the Original Article Noninvasive prenatal paternity testing by means of SNP-based targeted sequencing by Jacqueline Chor Wing Tam et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/pd.5595 .

     

Population dynamics of the acorn barnacles, Tetraclita squamosa and Tetraclita japonica (Cirripedia: Balanomorpha), in Hong Kong

Tetraclita squamosa and Tetraclita japonica are common, intertidal barnacles. In Hong Kong, the population dynamics of the two species exhibited spatial and temporal variation on two semi-exposed shores. T. squamosa produced egg masses from May–June and annual settlement and recruitment occurred from June–July. In contrast, settlement and recruitment of T. japonica was sparse from March–May, but intensified in July–October. Mature gonads and egg masses were, however, only present from September–November, suggesting the larvae from the two settlement pulses originated from other locations as well as Hong Kong populations. Settlement intensity and post-recruitment mortality of the two species varied between sites, possibly due to spatial variation in free rock space, physical transport of larvae and abundance of food in the water column.Communicated by T. Ikeda, Hakodate     

Distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls in effluent from a large municipal wastewater treatment plant: Potential for bioremediation?

This study involved an evaluation of the potential for bioremediation of polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) in the effluent from a large municipal wastewater treatment plant. It was focused on the presence of PCBs in two types of effluents: the continuous effluent present during dry weather conditions and the intermittently present effluent that was present during wet weather due to incoming stormwater. The annual discharge of PCBs for both types of effluent was calculated based on a five-year dataset(2011–2015). In addition, the toxicity and bioremediation potential of the PCBs in the effluent were also assessed. It was found that the continuous effluent was responsible for the majority of the discharged PCB into the receiving river(1821 g for five years), while the intermittent effluent contributed 260 g over the five years.The average number of chlorine per biphenyl for the detected PCB congeners showed a 19%difference between the two types of effluent, which indicated a potential for organohalide respiration of PCBs during the continuous treatment. This was further supported by a high level of tri-, tetra-and penta-chlorinated congeners accounting for 75% of the anaerobically respired PCBs. Potential for aerobic degradation and thus biomineralization of PCBs was identified for both effluents. Furthermore, toxicity of 12 dioxin-like PCBs showed that normal operation of the wastewater reduced the toxicity throughout the wastewater treatment plant.     

稻-麦轮作模式下不同钝化材料对镉污染农田土壤的原位钝化效应

为明确大田条件下施用钝化材料对镉(Cd)污染农田土壤的原位钝化效应及其持续性,以秸秆生物炭、 YH粉、粉煤灰、海泡石和页岩粉(粒径均<0.2 mm,施用量均为2.25kg·m^-2)这5种钝化材料为研究对象,连续监测3 a稻-麦轮作模式下原位钝化处理对土壤养分、土壤酸碱度、土壤Cd污染状况和种植作物籽粒Cd含量的影响,探讨其钝化效应及持续性,为有效控制农田土壤Cd污染、保证作物安全生产提供理论依据和数据支撑.结果表明：(1)稻-麦轮作模式下,施用5种钝化材料对土壤养分含量影响较小,但均可提高土壤pH,促使土壤Cd由酸提取态向残渣态转化,降低土壤Cd有效性,其中秸秆生物炭与YH粉处理下当季土壤有效Cd含量的降幅最大(20.42%～22.53%),是其它钝化处理的1.07～1.84倍.(2)稻-麦轮作模式下,首年施用5种钝化材料后均显著降低了水稻和小麦籽粒Cd含量,降幅分别达19.88%～48.77%和5.06%～24.00%.施用秸秆生物炭、粉煤灰和YH粉后作物籽粒Cd含量显著低于对照和其它钝化材料,该处理条件下的水稻籽粒ω(Cd)(0.195、0.197和0....     

Studies on design of heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel production

The production of biodiesel is gaining momentum with the ever increasing demand of the fuel. Presently, limited literature is available with respect to well designed solid heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production considering all the characteristics, process and operation parameters. Hence, a study was conducted to design effective heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production. Further, the significant impact of different catalysts, different feed stock, various reaction conditions such as temperature, methanol oil molar ratio, catalyst concentrations and stability/inactivation of the catalysts, are detailed out for transesterification process of biodiesel production. Based on the studies it can be concluded that well designed heterogeneous catalyst can yield high throughput of biodiesel.