Minimizing irrigation water demand: An evaluation of shifting planting dates in Sri Lanka

Climate change coupled with increasing demands for water necessitates an improved understanding of the water–food nexus at a scale local enough to inform farmer adaptations. Such assessments are particularly important for nations with significant small-scale farming and high spatial variability in climate, such as Sri Lanka. By comparing historical patterns of irrigation water requirements (IWRs) to rice planting records, we estimate that shifting rice planting dates to earlier in the season could yield water savings of up to 6%. Our findings demonstrate the potential of low-cost adaptation strategies to help meet crop production demands in water-scarce environments. This local-scale assessment of IWRs in Sri Lanka highlights the value of using historical data to inform agricultural management of water resources when high-skilled forecasts are not available. Given national policies prioritizing in-country production and farmers’ sensitivities to water stress, decision-makers should consider local degrees of climate variability in institutional design of irrigation management structures.     

Food nitrogen footprint reductions related to a balanced Japanese diet

Dietary choices largely affect human-induced reactive nitrogen accumulation in the environment and resultant environmental problems. A nitrogen footprint (NF) is an indicator of how an individual’s consumption patterns impact nitrogen pollution. Here, we examined the impact of changes in the Japanese diet from 1961 to 2011 and the effect of alternative diets (the recommended protein diet, a pescetarian diet, a low-NF food diet, and a balanced Japanese diet) on the food NF. The annual per capita Japanese food NF has increased by 55% as a result of dietary changes since 1961. The 1975 Japanese diet, a balanced omnivorous diet that reportedly delays senescence, with a protein content similar to the current level, reduced the current food NF (15.2 kg N) to 12.6 kg N, which is comparable to the level in the recommended protein diet (12.3 kg N). These findings will help consumers make dietary choices to reduce their impacts on nitrogen pollution.     

Glyphosate application increased catabolic activity of gram-negative bacteria but impaired soil fungal community

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Glyphosate is a non-selective organophosphate herbicide that is widely used in agriculture, but its effects on soil microbial communities are highly...     

Greenhouse effect of NOX

Through various processes the nitrogen oxides (NO_X) interact with trace gases in the troposphere and stratosphere which do absorb in the spectral range relevant to the greenhouse effect (infrared wavelengths). The net effect is an enhancement of the greenhouse effect. The catalytic role of NO_X in the production of tropospheric ozone provides the most prominent contribution. The global waming potential is estimated as GWP (NO_X = 30 – 33 and 7 – 10 for the respective time horizons of 20 and 100 years, and is thereby comparable to that of methane. NO_X emissions in rural areas of anthropogenically influenced regions, or those in the vicinity of the txopopause caused by air traffic, cause the greenhouse effectivity to be substantially more intense. We estimate an additional 5–23 % for Germany’s contribution to the anthropogenic greenhouse effect as a result of the indirect greenhouse effects stemming from NO_X. Furthermore, a small and still inaccurately defined amount of the deposited NO_X which has primarily been converted into nitrates is again released from the soil into the atmosphere in the form of the long-lived greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N₂O). Thus, anthropogenically induced NO_X emissions contribute to enhanced greenhouse effect and to stratospheric ozone depletion in the time scale of more than a century.     

Effect of arsenic on chloroplast ultrastructure and calcium distribution in arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata L

This study investigated the impacts of arsenic (As) on the chloroplast ultrastructure and calcium (Ca) distribution in Chinese brake (Pteris vittata L.) mainly by histochemical methods, with an emphasis on the possible function of Ca in As detoxification and accumulation in P. vittata. P. vittata was grown in an artificially contaminated soil added with different concentrations of Na(2)HAsO(4) (0, 100, 300 and 800 mg kg(-1) As dry soil) for 24 weeks in a greenhouse. The addition of As did not affect the chloroplast ultrastructure of young pinna, meanwhile most of the membrane systems of chloroplasts in mature pinna were severely damaged under high As condition. Calcium concentration in the fronds of P. vittata was not significantly affected by the addition of As, but Ca concentration in the mature pinna significantly increased by As addition, consistent with the position appearing As toxicity. When no As was added, most of calcium precipitates distributed around the inner membrane of vacuole. But when the pinna appeared plasmolysis, more calcium precipitates resided outside the cell membrane and bigger particles evenly distributed in the cytoplasm. All the results indicated that Ca had a close relation with As toxicity in P. vittata.     

林可霉素制药废水的臭氧氧化处理

考察了臭氧氧化对林可霉素的效价削减效果。在初始抗生素浓度为100 mg·L⁻¹时,林可霉素效价削减50%所需消耗的臭氧量为0.118 mg·mg⁻¹抗生素,降解过程符合一级降解动力学特征。进一步采用林可霉素实际废水考察了污水化学需氧量(COD)和pH对抗生素臭氧氧化处理的影响,发现废水的COD每增加100 mg·L⁻¹,则单位抗生素实现50%削减需要增加的臭氧量约为1.64 mg。碱性条件下,臭氧可催化分解生成羟基自由基等活性基团而加速林可霉素的降解。同时,臭氧氧化后林可霉素生产废水的厌氧可生化性提高了98.51%。研究结果可以为林可霉素生产废水的处理技术选择提供参考。     

PRB技术同步去除地下水中硝酸盐和镉

为评估可渗透反应墙(PRB)技术同步去除复合污染地下水中硝酸盐和重金属的可行性,选取蛭石、活性炭、固定化微生物为PRB反应介质,采用批实验和柱实验在不同填装方式及不同水力停留时间等条件下,考察PRB技术对硝酸盐和Cd2+的同步去除效果。结果表明：PRB介质为蛭石或活性炭与固定化微生物组合型填料时,Cd2+对PRB去除复合污染水体中的硝酸盐影响甚微,可实现高效的同步去除;当进水NO3-N浓度为50 mg·L-1、Cd2+浓度为10 mg·L-1时,活性炭与固定化微生物的组合型反应介质对NO3-N和Cd2+去除率分别可达93.13%和95.80%,蛭石与固定化微生物的组合型反应介质对NO3-N和Cd2+去除率分别可达92.70%和99.50%,经处理后的水质可达到地下水Ⅲ级质量标准(GB/T 14848-2017)。以蛭石+固定化微生物、活性炭+固定化微生物作为反应介质的PRB技术可以实现NO3-N和Cd2+的同步去除,该技术可应用于处理硝酸盐和重金属复合污染地下水。     

三维多孔碳海绵催化臭氧氧化有机染料

针对目前催化臭氧氧化催化剂效率较低、易损失等缺点,通过高温煅烧制备了三聚氰胺碳海绵,以廉价易得的三聚氰胺泡沫直接碳化制备出柔性碳海绵,探讨其在催化臭氧氧化降解印染废水反应中的应用潜力;采用SEM观察、比表面积测定、傅里叶红外光谱和X-射线光电子能谱对碳化前后泡沫进行了表征,探讨了碳化前后泡沫微观结构的变化与催化降解印染废水性能与机理。结果表明：氮气氛围下高温煅烧获得了兼具微孔/介孔结构的三维碳骨架,为催化反应提供充分暴露的活性位点和高效的传质通道;在催化臭氧氧化染料的过程中,973 K下制备的碳泡沫呈现出最为优异的催化活性,显著高于均相臭氧氧化和常规活性炭催化臭氧氧化;自由基捕获实验表明催化过程由羟基自由基(·OH)所主导,超氧自由基(·O₂^-)则发挥了次要作用;富含多孔结构的碳海绵对于活性自由基的生成起到了积极贡献,从而在实际印染废水处理中具有良好的降解性能。研究为开发低成本的三维碳材料用于催化臭氧降解有机污染废水提供了新思路。     

Insights into aqueous carbofuran removal by modified and non-modified rice husk biochars

Biochar has been considered as a potential sorbent for removal of frequently detected pesticides in water. In the present study, modified and non-modified rice husk biochars were used for aqueous carbofuran removal. Rice husk biochars were produced at 300, 500, and 700 °C in slow pyrolysis and further exposed to steam activation. Biochars were physicochemically characterized using proximate, ultimate, FTIR methods and used to examine equilibrium and dynamic adsorption of carbofuran. Increasing pyrolysis temperature led to a decrease of biochar yield and increase of porosity, surface area, and adsorption capacities which were further enhanced by steam activation. Carbofuran adsorption was pH-dependant, and the maximum (161 mg g^?1) occurred in the vicinity of pH 5, on steam-activated biochar produced at 700 °C. Freundlich model best fitted the sorption equilibrium data. Both chemisorption and physisorption interactions on heterogeneous adsorbent surface may involve in carbofuran adsorption. Langmuir kinetics could be applied to describe carbofuran adsorption in a fixed bed. A higher carbofuran volume was treated in a column bed by a steam-activated biochar versus non-activated biochars. Overall, steam-activated rice husk biochar can be highlighted as a promising low-cost sustainable material for aqueous carbofuran removal.     

Bringing together raptor collections in Europe for contaminant research and monitoring in relation to chemicals regulations

Raptors are good sentinels of environmental contamination and there is good capability for raptor biomonitoring in Europe. Raptor biomonitoring can benefit from natural history museums (NHMs), environmental specimen banks (ESBs) and other collections (e.g. specialist raptor specimen collections). Europe’s NHMs, ESBs and other collections hold large numbers of raptor specimens and samples, covering long periods of time. These collections are potentially a valuable resource for contaminant studies over time and space. There are strong needs to monitor contaminants in the environment to support EU and national chemical management. However, data on raptor specimens in NHMs, ESBs and other collections are dispersed, few are digitised, and they are thus not easy to access. Specimen coverage is patchy in terms of species, space and time. Contaminant research with raptors would be facilitated by creating a framework to link relevant collections, digitising all collections, developing a searchable meta-database covering all existing collections, making them more visible and accessible for contaminant research. This would also help identify gaps in coverage and stimulate specimen collection to fill gaps in support of prioritised contaminant monitoring. Collections can further support raptor biomonitoring by making samples available for analysis on request.