Airborne concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 in indoor community environments in Italy

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - COVID-19 pandemic raised a debate regarding the role of airborne transmission. Information regarding virus-laden aerosol concentrations is still...     

基于不同水厂水质调查的消毒副产物生成趋势及模型预测

以南方某市具有代表性的7个自来水厂为研究对象,对不同季节和不同处理工艺下的原水、出厂水和管网水的9个常规水质参数和2类含碳消毒副产物进行了检测,考察了水质指标随季节的变化规律和处理工艺对不同水质指标的影响,分析了常规水质参数与消毒副产物生成量之间的关系.结果表明:7个自来水厂出厂水均检出三卤甲烷(trihalometh...     

A PARTICIPATORY APPROACH TO WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: THE BRAZILIAN SYSTEM1

ABSTRACT: Brazil is currently facing the challenge of implementing a new water resources management system to promote the rational and sustainable use of the country's waters. This system is based on the following principles of water management: (2) stakeholders' participation; (2) the watershed as the planning and management unit; and (3) the economic value of water. Stakeholders' participation and the involvement of civil society in the decision making process is guaranteed by permanent seats in the watersheds' management committees. These committees are the highest decision level for the establishment of water policy and for planning its use. The executive branch of the committees is the watershed agency or the water agency. This paper presents the recently approved Brazilian water resources management system and discusses the participatory approach followed to validate and to ensure prompt response to decisions regarding water use by all stakeholders. The formulation of the National Water Law (January/1998) was also supported by extensive consultation with civil society, professional associations, state and municipal governments as well as with federal governmental agencies and private sector organizations. It also presents an overview of the formulation of the National Water Law. Finally, as watershed committees have been created and are already operating in a limited number of watersheds, some of the major obstacles to the success of the new system are discussed along with alternatives for overcoming such obstacles.     

Multi-element accumulation near Rumex crispus roots under wetland and dryland conditions

Rumex crispus was grown under wet and dry conditions in two-chamber columns such that the roots were confined to one chamber by a 21 μm nylon mesh, thus creating a soil-root interface (‘rhizoplane’). Element concentrations at 3 mm intervals below the ‘rhizoplane’ were measured. The hypothesis was that metals accumulate near plant roots more under wetland than dryland conditions. Patterns in element distribution were different between the treatments. Under dryland conditions Al, Ba, Cu, Cr, Fe, K, La, Mg, Na, Sr, V, Y and Zn accumulated in soil closest to the roots, above the ‘rhizoplane’ only. Under wetland conditions Al, Fe, Cr, K, V and Zn accumulated above as well as 3 mm below the ‘rhizoplane’ whereas La, Sr and Y accumulated 3 mm below the ‘rhizoplane’ only. Plants on average produced 1.5 times more biomass and element uptake was 2.5 times greater under wetland compared to dryland conditions.     

Impact of woody encroachment on soil organic carbon and nitrogen in abandoned agricultural lands along a rainfall gradient in Italy

Land use changes represent one of the most important components of global environmental change and have a strong influence on carbon cycling. As a consequence of changes in economy during the last century, areas of marginal agriculture have been abandoned leading to secondary successions. The encroachment of woody plants into grasslands, pastures and croplands is generally thought to increase the carbon stored in these ecosystems even though there are evidences for a decrease in soil carbon stocks after land use change. In this paper, we investigate the effects of woody plant invasion on soil carbon and nitrogen stocks along a precipitation gradient (200?C2,500?mm) using original data from paired experiment in Italian Alps and Sicily and data from literature (Guo and Gifford Glob Change Biol 8(4):345?C360, 2002). We found a clear negative relationship (?0.05%?C?mm^?1) between changes in soil organic carbon and precipitation explaining 70% of the variation in soil C stocks after recolonization: dry sites gain carbon (up to +67%) while wet sites lose carbon (up to ?45%). In our data set, there seem to be two threshold values for soil carbon accumulation: the first one is 900?mm of mean annual rainfall, which separates the negative from the positive ratio values; the second one is 750?mm, which divides the positive values in two groups of sites. Most interestingly, this threshold of 750?mm corresponds exactly to a bioclimatic threshold: sites with <750?mm mean annual rainfall is classified as thermo-mediterranean sites, while the ones >750?mm are classified as mesomediterranean sites. This suggests that apart from rainfall also temperature values have an important influence on soil carbon accumulation after abandonment. Moreover, our results confirmed that the correlation between rainfall and trend in soil organic carbon may be related to nitrogen dynamics: carbon losses may occur only if there is a substantial decrease in soil nitrogen stock which occurs in wetter sites probably because of the higher leaching.     

Agro-Ecological Analysis for the EU Water Framework Directive: An Applied Case Study for the River Contract of the Seveso Basin (Italy)

The innovative approach to the protection and management of water resources at the basin scale introduced by the European Union water framework directive (WFD) requires new scientific tools. WFD implementation also requires the participation of many stakeholders (administrators, farmers and citizens) with the aim of improving the quality of river waters and basin ecosystems through cooperative planning. This approach encompasses different issues, such as agro-ecology, land use planning and water management. This paper presents the results of a methodology suggested for implementing the WFD in the case of the Seveso river contract in Italy, one of the recent WFD applications. The Seveso basin in the Lombardy region has been one of the most rapidly urbanizing areas in Italy over the last 50?years. First, land use changes in the last 50?years are assessed with the use of historical aerial photos. Then, elements of an ecological network along the river corridor are outlined, and different scenarios for enhancing existing ecological connections are assessed using indicators from graph theory. These scenarios were discussed in technical workshops with involved stakeholders of the river contract. The results show a damaged rural landscape, where urbanization processes have decimated the system of linear green features (hedges/rows). Progressive reconnections of some of the identified network nodes may significantly increase the connectivity and circuitry of the study area.     

Strategic environmental assessment of mining activities: A methodology for quantification of cumulative impacts on the air quality

Environmental impact assessments in Brazil have usually focused solely on project-related issues without considering the regional context. Although required by current environmental legislation, cumulative impact assessments have not been included in the overall environmental assessment of projects. However, in recent Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) studies of policies, plans, and programs undertaken on a voluntary basis in support of the decision-making process, this kind of assessment has been performed especially with respect to air quality. This paper presents the application of a methodology for the quantification of cumulative impacts on air quality under high uncertainty caused by various mining activities in a single region that is recommended for SEA studies. In this way, the methodology presented here is suitable for areas lacking detailed modeling information. The developed approach uses a relatively simplified mathematical model, lowering information gathering costs and requiring little processing time. The application of the methodology is illustrated in the case of a SEA of the Corumbá Mining and Industrial Complex Development Program. Despite the lack of data needed for a minimum characterization of conditions of the area surrounding the region modeled, the quantification of impact cumulativeness on air quality has played an important role in the context of the SEA.     

Evaluation of Continuous Performance Monitoring Techniques for Hazardous Waste Incinerators

This paper discusses monitoring the waste destruction efficiency of hazardous waste incinerators. The particular problem is to ensure that incinerators do not release, without detection, significant quantities of waste as a result of operating fluctuations or equipment degradation. To detect these conditions, continuous, automated, and real-time source monitoring is required. Detection of degraded performance by monitoring and measuring waste compounds directly is not presently possible on a continuous basis. An alternative is to use commercially available continuous monitors to measure combustion intermediates (e.g., CO or hydrocarbons) and thereby infer waste destruction efficiency. Required, however, is a correlation between the emission of intermediates and the emission of waste. In this paper, the response of a number of these continuous monitors is compared with waste destruction efficiency measurements from a laboratory scale, liquid-spray incinerator operated on fuel oil doped with model waste compounds: benzene, chlorobenzene, acrylonitrile, and chloroform. Total hydrocarbon and CH₄ measurements are found to vary with waste emission in a nearly linear manner; however, a substantial increase in CO emission occurs before a significant amount of waste is released. These results suggest that CO may serve as an indicator of the approach of waste release, while total hydrocarbons may provide an indicator of immediate waste release.     

Comparison of morphological defences in asexually and sexually reproduced eggs of Daphnia (D. galeata and D. similis) against fish kairomones

In the present study, we investigated morphological changes of hatchlings from asexually and sexually produced eggs of Daphnia galeata and D. similis against fish kairomones. In both species, hatchlings from asexual eggs showed induced traits, such as short body length, long tail spine and high relative tail spine length when influenced by fish kairomones. However, hatchlings from sexual eggs expressed high relative tail spine length regardless of kairomones presence. The results showed that the inducibility of morphological defences depends on the egg type, with inducible defences predominant in asexual eggs while fixed defences are employed by the offspring of sexual eggs in Daphnia.     

Autochthonous clams monitoring of Ganzirri Lake (Sicily)

Two autochthonous clams, Venerupis aurea laeta and Cerastoderma edule/glaucum, collected for a period of 1 year, from May 2007 to January 2008, were studied in the Cape Peloro lagoon. On the samples, it was evaluated the presence of pathogenic microorganisms and proteins, lipids and yield edible part were determined. It was evaluated the concentration of mineral elements (Cd, Cu, Mn, Se, Pb, Zn) and organic contaminants (∑DDT and PCBs). Salmonella is never present in any sample. Total and faecal coliform values have always been under law limits for alive bivalves mussels production and sale. Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb levels were found in clams where they are slightly lower too. Both species do not show significant changes for Mn and Se. DDT and PCBs traces were discovered in Ganzirri Lake’ samples, but in all observed cases, they were below law limits. As a result of all these observations, it is clear that, in recent years, the bivalve’s use of Ganzirri Lake does not denote toxicological risk to human health.