Identification of pollution of Tapeng Lagoon from neighbouring rivers using multivariate statistical method

This work investigated water samples collected from Tapeng Lagoon and three neighbouring rivers (the Kaoping River, Tungkang River and Lingbeng River) in Taiwan, Republic of China. Canonical discriminant analysis was applied to identify the source of pollution in neighbouring rivers outside Tapeng Lagoon. The two constructed discriminant functions showed a marked contribution to all discriminant variables, and the total nitrogen, algae, dissolved oxygen and total phosphate were combined as the nutrient effect factor. The recognition capacities of the two discriminant functions were 95.6% and 4.4%, respectively. The water quality in the Kaoping River most strongly controlled the water quality in Tapeng Lagoon. Disassembling the oyster frames and fishery boxes had improved the water quality markedly. The methodology and results provide useful information concerning watershed management and may be applicable to other basins with similar properties that are experiencing similar coastal environmental issues.     

The contents and forms of solid-phase species of radioactive strontium and cesium in Taiwan soils

This study was to investigate the activities and contents of ¹³⁷Cs in the profiles of selected arable and forest soils in Taiwan and various solid-phase species of ⁸⁵Sr and ¹³⁷Cs in selected arable soils in Taiwan. The gamma (γ) ray spectra of the collected soil samples and some of the soils amended with ⁸⁵Sr and ¹³⁷Cs were measured. The data indicate that the arable soils from Sanhsing series, Sanhsing Township and Chuangwei series, Chuangwei Township, Ilan County, and from Tunglochuan series, Pinglin Township, Taipei County shows significantly higher radioactivity of ¹³⁷Cs (ND − 11.0 ± 0.2 Bq kg⁻¹). Furthermore, the radioactivity of ¹³⁷Cs in the mountain soils (1.24 ± 0.07 − 42 ± 1 Bq kg⁻¹) from Yuanyang Lake Nature Preserve among Ilan, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu Counties is the highest among the investigated mountain forest soils. This may be mainly attributed to the fact that Ilan County is located in the northeastern part of Taiwan and faces the northeastern and northern seasonal winds with lots of precipitation annually from mid-autumn through mid-spring next year and is receiving greater amount of fallouts yearly. Due to longer reaction period (≥3 y) of ¹³⁷Cs with soil components, ¹³⁷Cs was mainly in the forms bound to oxides and to organic matter in the soil amended with ¹³⁷Cs and in the soil contaminated with ¹³⁷Cs. On the contrary, due to shorter reaction period (<60 d) of ⁸⁵Sr with soil components, ⁸⁵Sr was mainly in exchangeable form and partially in the forms bound to carbonates and oxides in the soils amended with ⁸⁵Sr.     

Emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from thermal pre-treatment of waste hydrodesulfurization catalysts

Despite increasing environmental concerns and stringent limitations on the sulfur content in fuels, many waste hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalysts containing Co, Mo, Ni and V are generated in the petroleum refining process. To recover valuable metals in the waste HDS catalysts via hydrometallurgy, thermal treatment is usually performed first to remove contaminants (residual oil, carbon and sulfur) present on the surface of catalysts. In this study, the mass partitions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in different media (aqueous, particulate and gaseous) were quantified in order to determine the efficiency of three different air pollution control devices, cooling unit, filter and glass cartridge, on PAH removal. An afterburner and two furnace temperatures were used to observe the effect on the PAH contents of the treated residues. Results show that total-PAH content in treated residues decreased with the pyrolysis temperature of the primary furnace, while those generated in flue gases were destroyed by the afterburner at an efficiency of approximately 95%. In addition, the thermal process converts high molecular weight PAHs to low molecular weight PAHs, and the afterburner temperature involved (1200 degrees C) was high enough to prohibit the generation of high molecular weight PAHs (HM-PAHs), leading to the domination of low molecular weight PAHs (LM-PAHs) in flue gases, while treated residues were dominated by HM-PAHs. Finally, information on metal contents and their concentrations in the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure in waste HDS catalyst and thermal treated residues are examined as an index of the potential for metal recovery.     

立体式植物修复受重金属污染农田土壤的探讨

农田土壤遭受重金属污染是江西省乐平市乐安河沿岸的重要环境问题。采用实验小区的方法,研究了乔、灌、草多层次植物对重金属污染地区土壤的修复作用。结果表明,利用木本植物和对重金属吸收较好的草本植物组成立体模式来净化污染面积较大的土壤,效果明显,简便易行,经济效益大,是治理重金属Cu、Cd复合污染的一条新途径。     

Decomposition analysis of PM2.5 emissions based on LMDI and Tapio decoupling model: study of Hunan and Guangdong

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This paper takes energy consumption PM2.5 emission as research object, and quantitatively analyzes the PM2.5 emission level in Hunan and Guangdong...     

崇明岛小白鹭鸟卵中有机磷阻燃剂污染特征

鸟卵可用于环境质量的生物监测.从崇明岛东部若干林地采集小白鹭(Egretta garzetta)卵样品10个,用液相色谱-串联质谱联用仪(LC-MS/MS)测定了样品中10种常见有机磷阻燃剂(OPFRs)的含量,分析了其分布特征和来源.结果表明,除三辛基磷酸酯(TEHP)和三氯乙基磷酸酯(TCEP)外,其余8种OPFRs在小白鹭卵中均有检出,OPFRs的总含量为49.5～142.8 ng·g~(-1)(以湿重计,下同),均值为78.6 ng·g~(-1);其中,三丁基磷酸酯(TNBP)、三异丁基磷酸酯(TIBP)和三邻甲苯磷酸酯(TMPP)含量较为丰富,分别为(26.3±10.1)、(20.9±9.44)和(19.0±15.6) ng·g~(-1).不同鸟卵中OPFRs的赋存特征差异较大,主要受其环境含量水平、生物积累和放大能力及代谢能力的影响.崇明小白鹭卵样品中存在具有胚胎发育毒性的TMPP、三(1-氯-2-丙基)磷酸酯(TCIPP)、三丁氧基乙基磷酸酯(TBOEP)等,可能对其繁殖具有潜在影响,值得关注.     

An institutional theoretic investigation on the links between internationalization of Chinese manufacturers and their environmental supply chain management

Increased market internationalization with more and stricter environmental regulations in different countries has caused manufacturers to extend their environmental management practices to cover their supply chain partners. Thus, environmental supply chain management (ESCM) has become an important competitive and environmental strategy for manufacturers to pursue. China, as a global manufacturer, is also facing this balance of economic development with environmental protection. The literature remains unclear on whether internationalization is beneficial or costly when it comes to environmental management practices such as ESCM within China. Further insight into this issue will be useful for organizations in developing and emergent economies to more effectively prepare for internationalizing their operations and markets. Using internationalization drivers that propel the implementation of environmental management practices in the Chinese manufacturing industry, we applied cluster analysis to group a sample of 377 Chinese manufacturers surveyed in 2007 into three clusters: mature internationalization, emergent internationalization, and domestic-focused. Institutional theory within an internationalization context sets the theoretical foundation for evidence that the international environmentally oriented institutional drivers encountered are positively associated with the adoption of ESCM practices by Chinese manufacturers. We also find significant differences in the environmental, economic and operational performance outcomes across the three manufacturer clusters. We conclude that manufacturing organizations experiencing internationalization with a greater extent of adopting ESCM practices tend to perform better.     

Reliability of solid phase microextraction in estimating bioavailability of pyrene in soil

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with gas chromatography was employed to estimate bioavailability of pyrene in soils with different properties of textures, organic matter contents (SOM) and aging periods. Experimental results indicated that biodegradation rates increased from 0.10 (sandy loam) to 0.15 (silty loam) microg g-1 hr1. By contrast, biodegradation rate decreased from 0.10(1.3% SOM) to 0.04 (7.6% SOM) microg g-1hr1. The amounts of pyrene biodegraded decreased 27% when SOM was modified from 1.3 to 7.6%, indicating that distributions of pyrene in soils at biodegradation end points were affected by the SOM. Sequestration as measured by sonication extraction had evidently occurred in aged soil samples. SPME measurements slightly overestimated the amount of pyrene degraded by indigenous and seeded microorganisms, in soils with the different properties (correlation coefficient, R2= 0.74). The present study demonstrates that the SPME method can not replace biodegradation tests commonly used for predicting bioremediation efficacy.