Apparatus for Simultaneous Size-Differentiated Sampling of Optical and Suboptical Aerosols: Application to Analysis of Nitrates and Sulfates

In recent years, the EPA has moved toward a risk assessment/risk reduction framework for making regulatory decisions. The Agency has taken a number of steps to assure the quality and consistency of the risk assessment component of those decisions. The first, and perhaps most important of these steps, is the development of Agency-wide risk assessment guidelines. Five guidelines have been published. They are: carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, developmental toxicity, chemical mixtures, and exposure. The provisions of the five guidelines are discussed in the context of the four components of risk assessment. Other activities designed to assure quality and consistency in risk assessments, reduce uncertainty in risk assessment, ensure a more efficient information exchange about risk and risk assessment, and develop the appropriate oversight mechanisms are also discussed. These include additional guidelines, the Risk Assessment Forum, risk assessment research, the Integrated Risk Information System, the Hazard Assessment Notification System, and the Risk Assessment Council.     

Alpha-tocopherol supplementation on chromium toxicity: a study on rat liver and kidney cell membrane

Membrane damage is one of the important consequence of chromium,an environmental toxicant,to produce cytotoxicity.α-tocopherol,a membrane protectant can be used to reduce the chromium-induced membrane damage.In the present study,the impact of chromium in presence and absence of α-tocopherol was studied on plasma membrane of live and kidney in male Wistar rats(80-100g body weight).Significant increase in membrane cholesterol level as well as significant decrease in membrane phospholipid level in chromium exposed(0.8mg/100g body weight/d,i.p.,for 4 weeks)animals suggest structural alteration of both liver and kidney plasma memebrane.The alkaline phosphatase,total ATPase and Na^ -K^ -ATPase activities of plasma membrane were significantly decreased in both liver and kidney after chromium treatment.However,α-tocopherol (30mg/100g diet)supplementation can restrict the changes in these membrane-bound enzyme activities.Thus,the usefulness of dietary supplementation of α-tocopherol to restrain the chromium-induced membrane damage is suggested.     

Amelioration of mercurial toxicity by manganese. I. A case study in mung bean seedling

Mercury, a non essential element renders inhibitory effect on many physiological activities of plants even at a low concentration. Plants absorb "Hg" from soil through root system. Manganese, an essential element has been found to counter the inhibitory effect of mercury mostly by preventing it's uptake from soil. Mung bean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek) cv. Pusa Baisakhi grown in individual (1, 10, 100 and 1000 ppm) solution of Hg and Mn showed varied uptake of these heavy metals. However, in combined solutions (1 : 1, 10 : 1 and 1 : 10 ppm Hg : Mn), mercury uptake was mostly prevented in presence of 10 ppm Mn, indicating it's ameliorating effect.     

Application of waste aluminum cans based nano alumina as reinforcing filler in natural rubber composites

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The application of waste materials based fillers is unique way to achieve rubber composites, which reduces the amount of waste in the environment...     

Treatment of hazardous waste incineration wastewater

This article outlines the general design concepts and new chemistry necessary to achieve truly cost-effective management of an important part of the hazardous waste incineration system—i.e., the unit operations needed to treat wastewater generated by rotary kiln incinerators burning wastes containing halogens and heavy metals.     

爱尔兰海岸夏季空气颗粒物水溶性离子粒径分布研究

研究了爱尔兰西海岸国际海洋大气研究站夏季（2002年8月12～22日）大西洋气团颗粒物中水溶性无机离子的含量与其粒径关系.海盐成分（Cl^-、SO4^2-、Na^＋、Ca2＋、Mg^2＋、K^＋）含量在粗颗粒物中随粒径呈双峰分布（0.8～30 μm）,但Ca^2＋和K＋受陆域源影响,在亚微米颗粒区间出现另一分布峰（0.1～0.8 μm）.二次颗粒物成分在所有颗粒物中均有检出;NO^3-呈广域宽带分布,其中大部分出现在海盐主峰区（0.8～8 μm,存在Dp 1.4 μm和Dp 4.4 μm两种模态）;nss-SO4^2-（非海盐硫酸根）和NH^4＋呈相关三峰分布（Dp 0.44 μm、Dp 1.4 μm和Dp 4.4 μm）,CH3SO3-也呈相似三峰分布（Dp 0.44 μm、Dp 1.4 μm和Dp 8 μm）,三者在亚微米颗粒区间同位出现主峰.二次颗粒物成分Dp 1.4 μm模态在海岸空气颗粒物研究文献中尚少见报道.讨论了亚微米区间二次颗粒物盐类的化学形态.TSP中nss-SO4^2-、NO^3-、NH^4＋和CH3SO^3-的日均浓度分别为0.279、0.171、0.158和0.041 μg/m^3.     

Biohythane production from organic wastes: present state of art

The economy of an industrialized country is greatly dependent on fossil fuels. However, these nonrenewable sources of energy are nearing the brink of extinction. Moreover, the reliance on these fuels has led to increased levels of pollution which have caused serious adverse impacts on the environment. Hydrogen has emerged as a promising alternative since it does not produce CO₂ during combustion and also has the highest calorific value. The biohythane process comprises of biohydrogen production followed by biomethanation. Biological H₂ production has an edge over its chemical counterpart mainly because it is environmentally benign. Maximization of gaseous energy recovery could be achieved by integrating dark fermentative hydrogen production followed by biomethanation. Intensive research work has already been carried out on the advancement of biohydrogen production processes, such as the development of suitable microbial consortium (mesophiles or thermophiles), genetically modified microorganism, improvement of the reactor designs, use of different solid matrices for the immobilization of whole cells, and development of two-stage process for higher rate of H₂ production. Scale-up studies of the dark fermentation process was successfully carried out in 20- and 800-L reactors. However, the total gaseous energy recovery for two stage process was found to be 53.6 %. From single-stage H₂ production, gaseous energy recovery was only 28 %. Thus, two-stage systems not only help in improving gaseous energy recovery but also can make biohythane (mixture of H₂ and CH₄) concept commercially feasible.