Bioconcentration and half-life of quinalphos pesticide in rice-fish integration system in the Mekong Delta,Vietnam

In order to determine the distribution and enable the elimination of quinalphos, a popular active pesticide compound used in the Mekong Delta, an experiment was set up in a rice-fish integration system in Can Tho City, Vietnam. Fish was stocked into the field when the rice was two-months old. Quinalphos was applied twice in doses of 42.5 g per 1000 m². Water, fish and sediment samples were collected at time intervals and analyzed by a Gas Chromatography Electron Capture Detector system. The results show that quinalphos residues in fish muscles were much higher than those of the water and the bioconcentration factor (logBCF) was above 2 for the fish. The half-life of first and second quinalphos applications were 12.2 and 11.1 days for sediment, 2.5 and 1.1 days for silver barb, 1.9 and 1.3 days for common carp, and 1.1 and 1.0 days for water, respectively.     

Transforming systems of consumption and production for achieving the sustainable development goals: moving beyond efficiency

The United Nations formulated the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in 2015 as a comprehensive global policy framework for addressing the most pressing social and environmental challenges currently facing humanity. In this paper, we analyse SDG 12, which aims to “ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.” Despite long-standing political recognition of this objective, and ample scientific evidence both on its importance and on the efficacy of various ways of promoting it, the SDGs do not provide clear goals or effective guidance on how to accomplish this urgently needed transformation. Drawing from the growing body of research on sustainable consumption and production (SCP), the paper identifies two dominant vantage points—one focused on promoting more efficient production methods and products (mainly through technological improvement and informed consumer choice) and the other stressing the need to consider also overall volumes of consumption, distributional issues, and related social and institutional changes. We label these two approaches efficiency and systemic. Research shows that while the efficiency approach contains essential elements of a transition to sustainability, it is by itself highly unlikely to bring about sustainable outcomes. Concomitantly, research also finds that volumes of consumption and production are closely associated with environmental impacts, indicating a need to curtail these volumes in ways that safeguard social sustainability, which is unlikely to be possible without a restructuring of existing socioeconomic arrangements. Analysing how these two perspectives are reflected in the SDGs framework, we find that in its current conception, it mainly relies on the efficiency approach. On the basis of this assessment, we conclude that the SDGs represent a partial and inadequate conceptualisation of SCP which will hamper implementation. Based on this determination, this paper provides some suggestions on how governments and other actors involved in SDGs operationalisation could more effectively pursue SCP from a systemic standpoint and use the transformation of systems of consumption and production as a lever for achieving multiple sustainability objectives.     

Pacific Islanders’ understanding of climate change: Where do they source information and to what extent do they trust it?

Regional Environmental Change - The experience of environmental stress and attitudes towards climate change was explored for 1226 students at the University of the South Pacific, the foremost...     

Investigating the key indicators for evaluating post‐disaster shelter

This study sought to identify the primary indicators for evaluating shelter assistance following natural disasters and then to develop a shelter evaluation instrument based on these indicators. Electronic databases and the ‘grey’ literature were scoured for publications with a relation to post‐disaster shelter assistance. Indicators for evaluating such assistance were extracted from these publications. In total, 1,525 indicators were extracted from 181 publications. A preliminary evaluation instrument was designed from these 1,525 indicators. Shelter experts checked the instrument for face and content validity, and it was revised subsequently based on their input. The revised instrument comprises a version for use by shelter agencies (48 questions that assess 23 indicators) and a version for use by beneficiaries (52 questions that assess 22 indicators). The instrument can serve as a standardised tool to enable groups to gauge whether or not the shelter assistance that they supply meets the needs of disaster‐affected populations.     

Taxing Meat: Taking Responsibility for One’s Contribution to Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic use in animal farming is one of the main drivers of antibiotic resistance both in animals and in humans. In this paper we propose that one feasible and fair way to address this problem is to tax animal products obtained with the use of antibiotics. We argue that such tax is supported both by (a) deontological arguments, which are based on the duty individuals have to compensate society for the antibiotic resistance to which they are contributing through consumption of animal products obtained with the use of antibiotics; and (b) a cost-benefit analysis of taxing such animal products and of using revenue from the tax to fund alternatives to use of antibiotics in animal farming. Finally, we argue that such a tax would be fair because individuals who consume animal products obtained with the use of antibiotics can be held morally responsible, i.e. blameworthy, for their contribution to antibiotic resistance, in spite of the fact that each individual contribution is imperceptible.     

Concentrations of mobile source air pollutants in urban microenvironments

Human exposures to criteria and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) in urban areas vary greatly due to temporal-spatial variations in emissions, changing meteorology, varying proximity to sources, as well as due to building, vehicle, and other environmental characteristics that influence the amounts of ambient pollutants that penetrate or infiltrate into these microenvironments. Consequently, the exposure estimates derived from central-site ambient measurements are uncertain and tend to underestimate actual exposures. The Exposure Classification Project (ECP) was conducted to measure pollutant concentrations for common urban microenvironments (MEs) for use in evaluating the results of regulatory human exposure models. Nearly 500 sets of measurements were made in three Los Angeles County communities during fall 2008, winter 2009, and summer 2009. MEs included in-vehicle, near-road, outdoor, and indoor locations accessible to the general public. Contemporaneous 1- to 15-min average personal breathing zone concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), particulate matter (<2.5 μm diameter; PM_2.5) mass, ultrafine particle (UFP; <100 nm diameter) number, black carbon (BC), speciated HAPs (e.g., benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes [BTEX], 1,3-butadiene), and ozone (O₃) were measured continuously. In-vehicle and inside/outside measurements were made in various passenger vehicle types and in public buildings to estimate penetration or infiltration factors. A large fraction of the observed pollutant concentrations for on-road MEs, especially near diesel trucks, was unrelated to ambient measurements at nearby monitors. Comparisons of ME concentrations estimated using the median ME/ambient ratio versus regression slopes and intercepts indicate that the regression approach may be more accurate for on-road MEs. Ranges in the ME/ambient ratios among ME categories were generally greater than differences among the three communities for the same ME category, suggesting that the ME proximity factors may be more broadly applicable to urban MEs.

Implications:Estimates of population exposure to air pollutants extrapolated from ambient measurements at ambient fixed site monitors or exposure surrogates are prone to uncertainty. This study measured concentrations of mobile source air toxics (MSAT) and related criteria pollutants within in-vehicle, outdoor near-road, and indoor urban MEs to provide multipollutant ME measurements that can be used to calibrate regulatory exposure models.     

Distinct diversity of the czcA gene in two sedimentary horizons from a contaminated estuarine core

In estuarine ecosystems, trace metals are mainly associated with fine grain sediments which settle on mudflats. Over time, the layers of sediments accumulate and are then transformed by diagenetic processes, recording the history of the estuary’s chemical contamination. In such a specific environment, we investigated to what extent a chronic exposure to contaminants could affect metal-resistant sedimentary bacteria in subsurface sediments. The occurrence and diversity of cadmium resistance genes (cadA, czcA) was investigated in 5- and 33-year-old sediments from a highly contaminated estuary (Seine France). Primers were designed to detect a 252-bp fragment of the czcA gene, specifically targeting a transmembrane helice domain (TMH IV) involved in the proton substrate antiport of this efflux pump. Although the cadA gene was not detected, the highest diversity of the sequence of the czcA gene was observed in the 5-year-old sediment. According to the percentage of identity at the amino acid level, the closest CzcA relatives were identified among Proteobacteria (α, β, γ, and δ), Verrucomicrobia, Nitrospirae, and Bacteroidetes. The most abundant sequences were affiliated with Stenotrophomonas. In contrast, in the 33-year-old sediment, CzcA sequences were mainly related to Rhodanobacter thiooxydans and Stenotrophomonas, suggesting a shaping of the metal-resistant microbial communities over time by both diagenetic processes and trace metal contamination.     

Changes in concentrations of fluoroquinolones and of ciprofloxacin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in chicken feces and manure stored in a heap

This study evaluated the impact of storing chicken manure on the degradation of enrofloxacin (ENR) and ciprofloxacin (CIP), and on the survival of CIP-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. At 24 d of age, half of 8900 chickens received ENR for 5 d. After the animals departed, their manure was stored in two heaps for 63 d. Enterobacteriaceae were cultured on media containing 0 to 32 mg L?1 of CIP. A total of 320 isolates were fingerprinted using enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR) to evaluate community structure. Initial concentrations of ENR and CIP in the heap were 22 and 1.8 mg kg?1, respectively. Seventy-three percent of the two fluoroquinolones were eliminated during storage. The administration of ENR led to a 5.1 log??? decrease in Enterobacteriaceae concentrations and emergence of CIP-resistant bacteria, which became dominant in the feces. concentrations decreased 1.2 to 2.3 log??? 2 d after the heaps were made and continued to decline during storage. No resistant were found by Day 63. The highest CIP minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values observed among isolates of and of both and sp. were 128 and 4 mg L?1, respectively. The dominant ERIC-PCR profiles changed over time. There was no relationship between genotype and resistance-isolated strains to CIP. Storing chicken manure in heaps appeared to be an effective way of limiting the entrance of CIP-resistant E. coli into the environment but did not prevent the dissemination of fluoroquinolones after land spreading.     

Water quality characteristics of discharge from reforested loose-dumped mine spoil in eastern Kentucky

Surface mining is a common method for extracting coal in the coal fields of eastern Kentucky. Using the Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA), which emphasizes the use of minimally compacted or loose-dumped spoil as a growth medium for trees, reclamation practitioners are successfully reestablishing forests. Yet, questions remain regarding the effects FRA has on the quality of waters discharged to receiving streams. To examine the effect of FRA on water quality, this study compared waters that were discharged from three types of spoils: predominantly brown, weathered sandstone (BROWN); predominantly gray, unweathered sandstone (GRAY); and an equal mixture of both aforementioned sandstones and shale (MIXED). The water quality parameters pH, EC, Ca, K, Mg, Na, NO-N, NH-N, SO, Cl, TC, suspended sediment concentration (SSC), settleable solids (SS), and turbidity were monitored over a 2-yr period on six 0.4-ha plots (two replications per spoil type). Generally, levels of Cl, SO, Ca, NO-N, NH-N, SS, SSC, and turbidity decreased over time. The pH for all spoils increased from about 7.5 to 8.5. The EC remained relatively level in the BROWN spoil, whereas the GRAY and MIXED spoils had downward trajectories that were approaching 500 μS cm. The value of 500 μS cm has been reported as the apparent threshold at which certain taxa such as Ephemeroptera (e.g., Mayfly) recolonize disturbed headwater streams of eastern Kentucky and adjacent coal-producing Appalachian states.