Assessment of the environmental impact of management measures for the biodegradable fraction of municipal solid waste in São Paulo City

There is increasing concern about landfilling of biodegradable wastes. Therefore, biological treatment processes such as composting and biogasification have been considered as alternative strategies for managing those wastes. In this work, life cycle assessment was employed to compare the environmental impacts of landfilling, composting, and biological treatment of municipal solid waste in S?o Paulo City, Brazil. Energy consumption, recovered resources, and emissions to air and water were quantified and analyzed in terms of their potential contribution to global warming, acidification, and nutrient enrichment impact. The results demonstrated that processes that require high levels of energy consumption, such as wastewater treatment, play an important role in the outcome of environmental impact potentials. It was found that the landfilling of all waste is generally the worst strategy from an environmental point of view. However, significant reductions in the resulting impacts can be accomplished through biogasification and composting of the biodegradable fraction. Regarding composting, the application of a biofilter for gas treatment reduced significantly the gaseous emissions.     

Applying choice experiments to valuing the different types of environmental issues in Japan

In this study, improvements of different types of environmental issues in Japan, (i) reduction of mortality risk due to exposure to suspended particulate matter (SPM), (ii) improvement of the water quality of an urban river, and (iii) protection of goshawks, were evaluated in monetary terms using choice experiments. It was found that the reduction of mortality risk and the improvement of the water quality were highly valued, while residents did not place high value on the protection of goshawks. However, scope sensitivity was not observed in the evaluation of each issue and the presence of moral satisfaction was revealed. Excluding the effect of lexicographic choices could partly solve the problem concerning scope sensitivity. The results suggested that non-scope sensitive values that were unrelated to or inconsistent with the level of environmental improvement could be estimated through choice experiments in this research.     

Treatment of textile dye wastewater using ozone combined with photocatalyst

Ozonolysis combined with photocatalysis was used as a new approach for the treatment of textile dye wastewater containing azo dyes. The color reduction was very fast when only ozone was used for the treatment, but a 90% Total Organic Carbon (TOC) reduction was obtained only during a combined treatment. Reactive Black 5 dye containing two different percentages of NaCl was used for the experiment. The color reduction was fast in the neutral and basic pH. However for a fast TOC reduction acidic pH was found to be more effective. On‐line UV‐Vis spectrophotometry was used to measure the color reduction.     

Variability in nursery function of tropical seagrass beds during fish ontogeny: timing of ontogenetic habitat shift

Seagrass beds are often considered to be important nurseries for coral reef fish, yet the effectiveness of these nursery functions (refuge and food availability) at different juvenile stages is poorly understood. To understand how the demands of juvenile fish on seagrass nursery functions determines the timing of ontogenetic habitat shifts from seagrass beds to coral reefs, we conducted visual transect survey and field tethering and caging experiments on three different sizes of the coral reef fish Pacific yellowtail emperor (Lethrinus atkinsoni) during its juvenile tenure in seagrass beds at Ishigaki Island, southern Japan. The study showed that although the number of individual L. atkinsoni juveniles decreased by >90 % during their stay in the seagrass nursery, the shelter and/or food availability functions of the nursery, at least for a juvenile size of approximately 5 cm total length (TL), provided the best survival and growth option. The timing of ontogenetic migration to coral reefs of larger fish (>8 cm TL) was attributed to foraging efficiency for larger food items in different habitats. Overall, the function of the seagrass bed nursery changed with juvenile body size, with marginally higher survival and significantly greater growth rates during early juvenile stages in seagrass beds compared to coral reefs. This would contribute to the enhancement in the number of individuals eventually recruited to adult populations.     

一组高效稳定纤维素分解菌复合系MC1的筛选及功能

从4种堆肥样品中分别筛选出纤维素分解能力较强的4组混合菌,再以酸碱反应互补的原则重新优化组合并驯化成1组纤维素分解能力非常强而稳定的纤维素分解菌复合系MC1.100mL培养物在50℃静止培养72h,分别可分解0.48g滤纸、0.49g脱脂棉、0.19g麦秆和0.08g锯末.分解滤纸时,第24h CMC糖化力最高,为122.3U·mL^-在初始pH4～10的不同培养基上接种,均能把pH调到中性,最后稳定在8.0～8.5之间.在连续投放滤纸情况下纤维素分解能力稳定保持20d以上,其发酵液的pH在有滤纸时稳定在6.0～6.5之间,没有滤纸时稳定在8.0～8.5之间.     

Physicochemical forms of technetium in surface water covering paddy and upland fields

The behavior of an element in the environment depends on its physicochemical form. Basic data for the behavior of technetium in an agricultural environment were obtained by determining the physicochemical forms of Tc in 28 surface water samples from paddy and upland fields. Most of the (95m)Tc was present as TcO(4)(-) in the samples. The relative amount of this chemical form was 72% on average. A significant amount of insoluble Tc (particles more than 0.2 microm in size), however, was found in some samples. The maximum amount of the insoluble Tc was 91%. Other forms were found in insignificant amounts. The amount of insoluble Tc was relatively high in paddy soil samples. Paddy soils, gley soils and gray lowland soils were particularly effective in the insolubilization of Tc. Among the soil characteristics studied, cation exchange capacity, anion exchange capacity, and active aluminum showed significant correlations with the relative amount of insoluble Tc. When microorganisms were eliminated from the surface water samples before the addition of (95m)TcO(4)(-), little insoluble Tc was found, suggesting that microorganisms cause the physicochemical transformation. These results showed that the physicochemical form of Tc changes from TcO(4)(-) to insoluble forms in surface water covering paddy fields. The insoluble forms would restrict the mobility of Tc in paddy fields.     

Influence of microorganisms on the behavior of technetium and other elements in paddy soil surface water

Insolubilization patterns of technetium (Tc) and other trace elements (Sc, Co, Zn, Se, Rb, Sr, Y, Nb, Ce, Pm, Gd, Lu, Hf, and Re) in surface water covering paddy fields were compared to gain insight into the behavior of Tc in an agricultural environment. The insolubilization of Tc, which did not pass through a 0.2-microm-pore-size filter, was mainly caused by bacteria. Among the 14 other elements investigated, Nb was insolubilized by bacteria and the amounts of insoluble Nb were positively correlated with those of Tc. Although Re is a chemical analog of Tc, no similarity was observed. These results suggest that Tc behaves similarly to Nb in the insolubilization in surface water covering paddy fields.     

Microfluidic quantification of multiple enteric and opportunistic bacterial pathogens in roof-harvested rainwater tank samples

Potable and non-potable uses of roof-harvested rainwater (RHRW) are increasing due to water shortages. To protect human health risks, it is important to identify and quantify disease-causing pathogens in RHRW so that appropriate treatment options can be implemented. We used a microfluidic quantitative PCR (MFQPCR) system for the quantitative detection of a wide array of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) and pathogens in RHRW tank samples along with culturable FIB and conventional qPCR analysis of selected pathogens. Among the nine pathogenic bacteria and their associated genes tested with the MFQPCR, 4.86 and 2.77% samples were positive for Legionella pneumophila and Shigella spp., respectively. The remaining seven pathogens were absent. MFQPCR and conventional qPCR results showed good agreement. Therefore, direct pathogen quantification by MFQPCR systems may be advantageous for circumstances where a thorough microbial analysis is required to assess the public health risks from multiple pathogens that occur simultaneously in the target water source.     

Removal of fluoride by effectively using spent cation exchange resin

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Spent strongly acidic cation exchange resin was effectively used for the removal of trace concentration of fluoride ions. For this purpose, the...