Uranium-238 and thorium-232 series concentrations in soil, radon-222 indoor and drinking water concentrations and dose assessment in the city of Aldama, Chihuahua, Mexico

High-resolution gamma spectrometry was used to determine the concentration of 40K, 238U and 232Th series in soil samples taken from areas surrounding the city of Aldama, in Chihuahua. Results of indoor air short-time sampling, with diffusion barrier charcoal detectors, revealed relatively high indoor radon levels, ranging from 29 to 422 Bq/m3; the radon concentrations detected exceeded 148 Bq/m3 in 76% of the homes tested. Additionally, liquid scintillation counting showed concentrations of radon in drinking water ranging from 4.3 to 42 kBq/m3. The high activity of 238U in soil found in some places may be a result of the uranium milling process performed 20 years ago in the area. High radon concentrations indoor and in water may be explained by assuming the presence of uranium-bearing rocks underneath of the city, similar to a felsic dike located near Aldama. The estimated annual effective dose of gamma radiation from the soil and radon inhalation was 3.83 mSv.     

Exposure Programme on Atmospheric Corrosion Effects of Acidifying Pollutants in Tropical and Subtropical Climates

Many national exposure programmes have been performed in tropical and subtropical climates during the last 50 years. However, ambitious programmes involving more than a few countries are scarce. In this paper a recently formed network of test sites is described involving 12 test sites in Asia (India, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and China including Hong Kong) and four test sites in Africa (South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe). This effort is part of the 2001–2004 Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) funded Programme on Regional Air Pollution in Developing Countries (RAPIDC). Corrosion attack after one (2002–2003) year of exposure (carbon steel, zinc, copper, limestone and paint coated steel) are presented together with environmental data (SO₂, NO₂, HNO₃, O₃, particles, amount and pH of precipitation, temperature and relative humidity) for all the test sites. The obtained corrosion values are substantially higher than expected for limestone, higher than expected for carbon steel and lower than expected for zinc compared to values calculated using the best available dose–response functions.     

The Achievement of a Decentralized Water Management Through Stakeholder Participation: An Example from the Drôme River Catchment Area in France (1981–2008)

Different water Acts (e.g., the European Water Framework Directive) and stakeholders involved in aquatic affairs have promoted integrated river basin management over recent decades. However, few studies have provided feedback on these policies. The aim of the current article is to fill this gap by exploring how local newspapers reflect the implementation of a broad public participation within a catchment of France known for its innovation with regard to this domain. The media coverage of a water management strategy in the Drôme watershed from 1981 to 2008 was investigated using a content analysis and a geographic information system. We sought to determine what public participation and decentralized decision-making can be in practice. The results showed that this policy was integrated because of its social perspective, the high number of involved stakeholders, the willingness to handle water issues, and the local scale suitable for participation. We emphasized the prominence of the watershed scale guaranteed by the local water authority. This area was also characterized by compromise, arrangements, and power dynamics on a fine scale. We examined the most politically engaged writings regarding water management, which topics of each group emphasized, and how the groups agreed and disagreed on issues based on their values and context. The temporal pattern of participation implementation was progressive but worked by fits and starts.     

京津冀大气污染传输通道区大气污染时空格局研究

客观理解京津冀大气污染传输通道城市（“2+26”城市）空气污染时空格局对于区域大气污染联合防治具有重要意义.本研究采用遥感数据反演的PM_2.5浓度产品，利用趋势分析法和重心分析法，揭示了京津冀城市大气污染传输通道区2000~2015年大气污染时空格局演化特征.结果表明：（1）区域PM_2.5平均浓度整体呈现出太行山脉区域较低，太行山脉以东较高的格局，城镇地区明显高于周边地区.（2）2000~2015年区域PM_2.5年均浓度总体呈增加趋势，主要表现在2000~2007年，呈显著增加趋势的面积占全区的88.48%，之后呈稳定状态.（3）区域PM_2.5污染重心位于衡水、邢台和德州3市交界处，区域北部大气污染较严重.本研究可为京津冀及周边地区大气污染防治政策制定和措施实施提供参考与支持.     

Human factors and tidal influences on water quality of an urban river in Can Tho, a major city of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

In this study, we focused on water quality in an urban canal and the Mekong River in the city of Can Tho, a central municipality of the Mekong Delta region, southern Vietnam. Water temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, BOD₅, COD_Cr, Na⁺, Cl^?, NH₄ ⁺?N, SO₄ ^2??S, NO₃ ^??N, and NO₂ ^??N for both canal and river, and tide level of the urban canal, were monitored once per month from May 2010 to April 2012. The urban canal is subject to severe anthropogenic contamination, owing to poor sewage treatment. In general, water quality in the canal exhibited strong tidal variation, poorer at lower tides and better at higher tides. Some anomalies were observed, with degraded water quality under some high-tide conditions. These were associated with flow from the upstream residential area. Therefore, it was concluded that water quality in the urban canal changed with a balance between dilution effects and extent of contaminant supply, both driven by tidal fluctuations in the Mekong River.     

生物炭施用量对紫色水稻土温室气体排放的影响

为探究生物炭施用量对紫色水稻土温室气体排放的影响,通过盆栽试验,采用静态暗箱/气相色谱法,研究了不施肥对照(CK)、常规施肥(NPK)、10 t·hm-2生物炭+NPK(LBC)、20 t·hm-2生物炭+NPK(MBC)、40 t·hm~(-2)生物炭+NPK(HBC)这5种处理下温室气体的排放规律.结果表明:(1)生物炭施用显著降低了土壤CH_4排放通量,其排放通量大小顺序为:NPKCKLBCMBCHBC,各处理CH_4排放通量均呈单峰型曲线,峰值主要集中在水稻的生长后期,整个观测期CH_4的排放通量在-0.05~47.34 mg·( m~2·h)~(-1)之间;各处理CO_2排放通量变化较复杂,介于32.95~1 350.88mg·( m~2·h)~(-1)之间,除LBC和MBC处理呈双峰型曲线外,其余处理均呈单峰型,不同生物炭施用量处理均延后了CO_2排放通量峰值出现的时间;N_2O的排放通量在-309.39~895.48μg·( m~2·h)~(-1)之间,除LBC处理呈双峰型曲线变化外,其余处理均呈单峰型曲线;(2)与空白对照处理相比,生物炭处理均可显著降低CH_4的累积排放量,而促进了CO_2和N_2O累积排放量,CH_4、CO_2和N_2O的平均累积排放量从大到小分别为CKLBCMBCHBC处理、LBCMBCHBCCK处理和HBCMBC≈LBCCK处理;与常规施肥处理相比,不同施用量生物炭添加均可显著降低CH_4和CO_2的排放,且生物炭添加量越多,对CH_4和CO_2排放的减缓作用越明显,但是对N_2O排放的抑制作用尚不明显;(3)在100 a时间尺度上各生物炭处理可显著降低温室气体的综合增温潜势,表明生物炭配施化肥是一种有效的减排措施.     

Specialization of the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema scapterisci with its mutualistic Xenorhabdus symbiont

The level of specialization of the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema scapterisci with its native Xenorhabdus symbiont was investigated by testing (1) the influence of non-native bacterial strains on nematode fitness within an insect-host (Galleria mellonella) and (2) specificity of the association between the nematode infective juveniles and non-native bacteria. All non-native Xenorhabdus spp. or Photorhabdus spp. strains tested were mutualistically associated with other entomopathogenic nematodes in nature. We showed that most of the Xenorhabdus spp. strains tested led to an insignificant difference of the nematode's fitness compared to the one obtained with the native bacterium. Conversely, Photorhabdus spp. strains almost entirely abolished nematode reproduction. The phylogenetic analysis of bacterial strains tested, showed that there was a negative correlation between S. scapterisci's reproduction rate with a bacterial strain and the genetic distance of this bacterial strain from the native one. We also showed that the native bacterium was the only one which was transmitted by S. scapterisci's infective juveniles. All these results, suggested a specialization between S. scapterisci and its native Xenorhabdus. As the same phenomenon was already demonstrated in the association between S. carpocapsae and X. nematophila, specialization between partners would not be an exception in entomopathogenic nematode-bacteria interactions. Nevertheless, S. scapterisci showed a dramatically higher compatibility with non-native Xenorhabdus spp. strains than did S. carpocapsae, suggesting differences in the co-evolutionary processes between nematodes and bacteria in these two model systems.Table 1 List of the bacterial strains, native nematode species with their geographical origin, accession numbers of bacterial 16S rDNA partial sequences and number of combination experiments for each bacterium tested

Spatial characterization of surface water vulnerability to diffuse pollution related to pesticide contamination: case of the Gimone watershed in France

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The preservation of natural resources via the management of diffuse pollution is currently considered to be a significant challenge in France....     

燃煤电厂烟塔合一排烟风洞试验与数值模拟对比分析

近年来,燃煤电厂烟塔合一烟气排烟对近距离环境影响的不确定性,使其在国内的推广过程受到一定限制。准确判断烟塔合一排烟的环境影响,对于我国现有燃煤电厂烟气污染物的排放有着巨大的工程价值和明显的现实意义。利用国家环境保护某重点实验室中风洞试验平台,对燃煤电厂烟塔合一烟气污染物在近距离的扩散和传输行为,进行物理风洞试验以及数值模拟计算,并进行对比分析。结果表明:德国Austal2000模式的浓度预测并不精确;数值风洞也有其差异性,而物理风洞的结果在很大程度上符合现有的理论及国内工程实际。     

Modeling of Cs migration in soils using an 80-year soil archive: role of fertilizers and agricultural amendments

An 80-year soil archive, the 42-plot experimental design at the INRA in Versailles (France), is used here to study long-term contamination by ¹³⁷Cs atmospheric deposition and the fate of this radioisotope when associated with various agricultural practices: fallow land, KCl, NH₄(NO₃), superphosphate fertilizers, horse manure and lime amendments. The pertinence of a simple box model, where radiocaesium is supposed to move downward by convectional mechanisms, is checked using samples from control plots which had been neither amended, nor cultivated since 1928. This simple model presents the advantage of depending on only two parameters: α, a proportional factor allowing the historical atmospheric ¹³⁷Cs fluxes to be reconstructed locally, and k, an annual loss coefficient from the plow horizon. Another pseudo-unknown is however necessary to run the model: the shape of historical ¹³⁷Cs deposition, but this function can be easily computed by merging several curves previously established by other surveys. A loss of ∼1.5% per year from the plow horizon, combined with appropriate fluxes, provides good concordance between simulated and measured values. In the 0–25 cm horizon, the residence half time is found to be ∼18 yr (including both migration and radioactive decay). Migration rate constants are also calculated for some plots receiving continuous long-term agricultural treatments. Comparison with the control plots reveals significant influence of amendments on ¹³⁷Cs mobility in these soils developed from a unique genoform.