Phosphorus runoff from sewage sludge applied to different slopes of lateritic soil

Sewage sludge (SS) applied to sloping fields at rates that exceed annual forest nutrient requirements can be a source of phosphorus (P) in runoff. This study investigates the effects of different slopes (18, 27, 36, and 45%) on P in runoff from plots amended with SS (120 Mg ha). Lateritic soil (pH 5.2) was exposed to five simulated rainfalls (90 mm h) on outdoor plots. When sludge was broadcast and mixed with surface soils, the concentrations and loss in runoff of total P in the mixed sample (MTP), total P in the settled sample (STP), total particulate P (TPP), total suspended P (TSP), and total dissolved P (TDP) were highest at 1 or 18 d after application. Initially, pollution risks to surface waters generally increased to different degrees with steeper slopes, and then diminished gradually with dwindling differences between the slopes. The runoff losses coefficient of MTP increased in the order 36 > 45 > 27 > 18%. The initial event (1 and 18 d) accounted for 67.0 to 83.6% of total runoff P losses. Particulate fraction were dominant carriers for P losses, while with the lower slopes there was higher content of P per unit particulate fraction in runoff. Phosphorus losses were greatly affected by the interaction of sludge-soil-runoff and the modification of soil properties induced by sludge amendment. It is recommended to choose lower slopes (<27%) to reduce risk of P losses. Thus, the risk of application sludge to sloping fields in acid soils should be studied further in the field under a wider diversity of conditions.     

A pilot study of pesticides and PCBs in the breast milk of women residing in urban and agricultural communities of California

Currently, there is no nationally representative human milk biomonitoring program in the United States (U.S.) and no studies have reported non-persistent pesticides in the milk of U.S. women. In this pilot study we developed a multiresidue laboratory method to measure non-persistent and persistent pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in human milk samples from women residing in the agricultural region of Salinas, CA (n = 13) and the urban San Francisco Bay Area, CA (n = 21). Samples were collected from 2002-2007. Median concentrations in pg g(-1) milk among urban and agricultural women, respectively were reported for: chlorpyrifos (24.5 and 28.0), cis-permethrin (81.9 and 103), trans-permethrin (93.1 and 176), hexachlorobenzene (191 and 223), β-hexachlorocyclohexane (220 and 443), o,p'-DDT (36.6 and 62.4), p,p'-DDT,(107 and 102), o,p'-DDE (5.65 and 5.17), p,p'-DDE (3170 and 3490), dacthal (2.79 and 3.43), PCB 118 (92.8 and 17.0), PCB 138 (183 and 38.2), PCB 153 (242 and 43.6) and PCB 180 (239 and 683). Among urban women, median concentrations were 4.02 and 4.32 pg g(-1) milk for chlorpyrifos-methyl and propoxur, respectively. These results suggest that neonates and young children may be exposed to persistent and non-persistent pesticides and PCBs via breast milk.     

Simultaneous determination of brominated phenols in soils

Brominated phenols （BPs）, a widely used group of emerging flame retardants, are important environmental contaminants and exhibit endocrine disrupting potential. Method for simultaneous determination of tetrabromobisphenol A （TBBPA）, tribromophenol （TBP）, dibromophenols （DBPs） and monobromophenols （MBPs） in soils using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis （GC/MS） was successfully developed. Cleanup methods for soil extracts including several solid-phase extraction cartridges and different elution solvents were compared and optimized. Florisil cartridge with dichloromethane as the elution reagent was selected for sample cleanup owing to its high and reproducible recoveries of the target analytes in soils. Derivatization conditions were tested and the optimal conditions were obtained with 20 μL silylation reagent at room temperature. The chromatographic separation was optimized with different columns and DB-XLB column was selected for its excellent separation of the analytes. The limits of detection for the target compounds were from 0.04 to 0.19 ng/g. Mean recoveries of the compounds from spiked soils exceeded 84% with a good reproducibility, excepting that the recovery of 2-bromophenol was relatively poor （lower than 55%） due to its instability. The developed method was applied to the determination of the BPs in the soils collected from e-waste sites. The contents of BPs in the soils were at ng/g levels with TBBPA and TBP the most frequently detected. To our knowledge, this is the first report for the simultaneous determination of TBBPA, TBP, DBPs and MBPs in soils.     

Smog,media attention,and corporate social responsibility—empirical evidence from Chinese polluting listed companies

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In recent years, the frequent occurrence of smog in Chinese cities has prompted great changes in the policy environment faced by enterprises. In this...     

Health and economic impacts from PM2.5 pollution transfer attributed to domestic trade in China: a provincial-level analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In recent years, severe air pollution has had a serious impact on the health and economy of residents and has attracted great attention. Due to the...     

Maghemite(γ-Fe_2O_3) nanoparticles enhance dissimilatory ferrihydrite reduction by Geobacter sulfurreducens: Impacts on iron mineralogical change and bacterial interactions

Microbially mediated bioreduction of iron oxyhydroxide plays an important role in the biogeochemical cycle of iron.Geobacter sulfurreducens is a representative dissimilatory ironreducing bacterium that assembles electrically conductive pili and cytochromes.The impact of supplementation withγ-Fe_2O_3 nanoparticles(NPs)(0.2 and 0.6 g)on the G.sulfurreducens-mediated reduction of ferrihydrite was investigated.In the overall performance of microbial ferrihydrite reduction mediated byγ-Fe_2O_3 NPs,stronger reduction was observed in the presence of direct contact withγ-Fe_2O_3 NPs than with indirect contact.Compared to the production of Fe(Ⅱ)derived from biotic modification with ferrihydrite alone,increases greater than 1.6-and 1.4-fold in the production of Fe(Ⅱ)were detected in the biotic modifications in which direct contact with 0.2 g and 0.6 gγ-Fe_2O_3 NPs,respectively,occurred.X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that magnetite was a unique representative iron mineral in ferrihydrite when active G.sulfurreducens cells were in direct contact withγ-Fe_2O_3 NPs.Because of the sorption of biogenic Fe(Ⅱ)ontoγ-Fe_2O_3 NPs instead of ferrihydrite,the addition ofγ-Fe_2O_3 NPs could also contribute to increased duration of ferrihydrite reduction by preventing ferrihydrite surface passivation.Additionally,electron microscopy analysis confirmed that the direct addition ofγ-Fe_2O_3 NPs stimulated the electrically conductive pili and cytochromes to stretch,facilitating long-range electron transfer between the cells and ferrihydrite.The obtained findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of iron oxide NPs on soil biogeochemistry.     

探讨电镀项目环境影响评价分析中的要点

本文就对电镀行业环评中需要注意的重点问题分析,探讨了当前政策的主要要求,这类的电镀项目在运作经营的期间是否会影响主要环境以及其排放标准有什么要求,在环境影响评价后要注意在运营期注意怎样的问题等.     

The efficacy of maternal age screening for Down's syndrome in Wessex

The uptake of amniocentesis in Wessex for the period 1986–1988 was 36 per cent (2873 of 8004 births), a proportion that has not altered significantly since 1984. There is a large difference in uptake between women in the lower risk age group, 35–36 years, and those in the higher risk group, 37 + years, and very considerable differences in uptake among different districts. The prenatal detection over the 3-year study period for women aged 35 or more, after correction for spontaneous loss of Down's syndrome fetuses between prenatal detection and birth, is 53 per cent, a figure that must be inflated due to our failure to ascertain all liveborn Down's syndrome patients.     

Desertification and Sustainable Development of the Heihe River Basin in Arid Northwestern China

The Heihe River Basin of northwestern China is one of several areas severely affected by desertification. This article outlines the status of desertification in this basin. There are mainly 5 types of desertification in the Heihe River Basin, namely soil and water erosion, sandy desertification, soil aridization, soil salinization and vegetation degradation. Among the 5 types of desertification, the main desertification type is sandy desertification with an area of 10 771.97 km2; Second type is soil salinization with an area of 10 591.82 km2; Next to the soil salinization is the type of soil and water erosion with an area of 5 747.68 km2 and the other types of desertification in the Heihe River Basin are soil aridization with just area of 1 369.96 km2 and vegetation degradation type with an area of 1 490.48 km2 respectively. Both natural and man-made factors are responsible for the causes of desertification development, among which the latter is the main driving force for desertification in the basin.