Inter-annual and intra-annual variations in water quality and its response to water-level fluctuations in a river-connected lake,Dongting Lake,China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The hydrological conditions of river-connected lakes are complex primarily owing to their considerable water-level fluctuations (WLFs). Water quality...     

Effect of applying persulfate on the accumulation of arsenic in rice plants grown in arsenic-contaminated paddy soil

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Arsenic is known to be a notorious human carcinogen and rice consumption is becoming the primary human exposure route for As, especially in many Asian...     

Indoor air pollution from solid fuel on children pneumonia in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

An updated systematic review was conducted to assessing on the association between indoor air pollution caused by household energy consumption and childhood pneumonia in low- and middle-income countries. We performed a meta-analysis from the electronic databases of PubMed, Cochrane library, Web of Science, EMBASE. Studies were selected when they reported childhood pneumonia or ALRI in relation to indoor air pollution resulted from solid fuel. Studies must provide results on exposure prevalence of children aged below 5 years from Asia or Africa. We devoted ourselves to identifying randomized controlled experiments and observational epidemiological researches, which revealed the relation between household usage of solid fuel and childhood pneumonia. Among 1954 articles, 276 were reviewed thoroughly and 16 conduced to such a meta-analysis. It was found that there is a significant relationship between the solid fuel combustion and increasing risk of childhood pneumonia (OR?=?1.66, 95%CI 1.36–2.02). The summary odds ratios from biomass use and mixed fuel use were, respectively, 1.86 (95%CI 1.15–3.02) and 1.58 (95%CI 1.38–1.81), with substantial between study heterogeneity (I²?=?87.2% and 29.2%, respectively). According to the subgroup analysis along with the meta-regression analysis, the risk of using solid fuel in Asian regions is higher than that in African regions. Studies based on non-hospital participates (I²?=?49.5%) may also a source of heterogeneity. We found that indoor air pollution generated by the usage of solid fuel might be a significant risk factor for pneumonia in children and suggested improving the indoor air quality by promoting cleaner fuel will be important in undeveloped countries.

     

Ambient halocarbon mixing ratios in 45 Chinese cities

During this study 158 whole air samples were collected in 45 Chinese cities in January and February 2001. The spatial distribution of different classes of halocarbons in the Chinese urban atmosphere, including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Halon-1211, and other chlorinated compounds is presented and discussed. Most of these compounds were enhanced compared to background levels. However, the mean enhancement of CFCs was relatively small, with CFC-12 and CFC-11 increases of 6% (range 1–31%) and 10% (range 2–89%), respectively, with respect to the global background. On the contrary, strongly enhanced levels of CFC replacement compounds and halogenated compounds used as solvents were measured. The average Halon-1211 concentration exceeded the background of 4.3 pptv by 75% and was higher than 10 pptv in several cities. Methyl chloride mixing ratios were also strongly elevated (78% higher than background levels), which is likely related to the widespread use of coal and biofuel in China.     

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urban atmosphere of Hong Kong

The assessment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has become a major issue of air quality network monitoring in Hong Kong. This study is aimed to identify, quantify and characterize volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in different urban areas in Hong Kong. The spatial distribution, temporal variation as well as correlations of VOCs at five roadside sampling sites were discussed. Twelve VOCs were routinely detected in urban areas (Mong Kok, Kwai Chung, Yuen Long and Causeway Bay). The concentrations of VOCs ranged from undetectable to 1396 microg/m3. Among all of the VOC species, toluene has the highest concentration. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) were the major constituents (more than 60% in composition of total VOC detected), mainly contributed from mobile sources. Similar to other Asian cities, the VOC levels measured in urban areas in Hong Kong were affected both by automobile exhaust and industrial emissions. High toluene to benzene ratios (average T/B ratio = 5) was also found in Hong Kong as in other Asian cities. In general, VOC concentrations in the winter were higher than those measured in the summer (winter to summer ratio > 1). As toluene and benzene were the major pollutants from vehicle exhausts, there is a necessity to tighten automobile emission standards in Hong Kong.     

Removal of harmful cyanobacterial blooms in Taihu Lake using local soils. III. Factors affecting the removal efficiency and an in situ field experiment using chitosan-modified local soils

Effects of ionic strength, pH, organic content, cell concentration, and growth phase on the removal of MA cells using chitosan-modified sepiolite were studied in the laboratory. The MA removal efficiency increased with the increase of salinity for normal clay flocculation. In contrast, for chitosan-modified clays/soils, MA removal efficiency increased with the decrease of salinity. The removal efficiency of chitosan-modified sepiolite was not significantly affected by pH (6-9), but dropped dramatically beyond pH 10. Humic acid had a small negative effect on the removal of MA cells. Cells were removed more effectively by clays around the early senescence growth phase than other growth stages. The removal efficiency increased as the cell concentration increased. In a field enclosure of Taihu Lake, a loading of 0.025 g/L chitosan-modified local soils removed 99% algal cells and no increase of chlorophyll-a was observed during the following one month's monitoring process.     

Large-volume injection PTV-GC-MS analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in air and sediment samples

For the analysis of trace organic pollutants in environmental samples using a gas chromatographic (GC) instrument, large-volume injection using the programmable temperature vaporization (PTV) technique has many advantages over the traditional split/splitless injection. By increasing the injection volume from 1 or 2 microL with a split/splitless inlet to 60 microL or higher with the PTV inlet, analytical sensitivity is greatly enhanced for analytes with low concentrations. Results obtained from optimization of instrument operational parameters for analyzing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are reported in this paper. The laboratory method detection limits for 16 PAHs and six deuterated PAH surrogates were determined using seven replicate spike samples. The initial temperature of the inlet was found to be critical in determining the analytical sensitivity of PAHs with two or three rings due to loss of these relatively highly volatile compounds during solvent vaporization. For most PAHs, the response of the mass spectrometry detector increased proportionally as the total injected volume was increased up to 150 microL. Significant interference from rubber material of the sample vial septa was observed.     

太湖水源地水体中半挥发性有机物的监测

太湖某水源地水样经C18柱富集、气相色谱-质谱法(GC-MS)分离,定性测定其中的有机物.在丰水期、平水期、枯水期分别采样,在检测到的近百种有机化合物中有40种出现频率很高,同时运用内标法对其进行相对含量的比较,结果表明脂肪族化合物、邻苯二甲酸酯、2,6-二叔丁基-4-甲基苯酚和异氰尿酸三甲酯的相对含量较高,值得引起关注.     

广州市夏、冬季室内外PM2.5质量浓度的特征

2004年7月2日至8月13日和2004年11月29日至2005年1月6日分别在广州市3种类型区域(一般城市区域、道路旁、工业源附近)9个居民住宅的室内和室外同步采集了PM2.5颗粒.采用标准称重法测定PM2.5质量浓度,得到广州市夏季住宅室内外PM2.5平均质量浓度分别为67.7、74.5 μg/m3,冬季室内外PM2.5平均质量浓度分别为109.9、123.7 μg/m3.广州市PM2.5平均质量浓度,与美国PM2.5标准相比,与国内PM10标准基础上假设的PM2.5限值相比,与其他一些国内、亚洲和欧美城市的文献记录相比,结果均显示广州市PM2.5处于相当严重污染状态.广州市PM2.5质量浓度呈现明显的空间分布特征和季节变化特征;PM2.5室内质量浓度并不总是低于室外质量浓度,反映了室内空气污染的存在.     

喜庆之中求安全

难舍的喜庆情结“爆竹声中一岁除,春风送暖入屠苏。千门万户瞳瞳日,总把新挑换旧符。”“不放鞭炮,怎么能叫过年呢?”“不放烟花爆竹,就没得年味!这是多少年留下的传统啊!”为了顺从民意,强化传统文化习俗