Global Environment Facility’s support for sustainable waste management

From the global perspective, the issue of waste management is becoming increasingly important. Given the increasing amount and diversifying content of waste, countries should seek out sustainable waste management options, which protect both local and global environments. The Global Environment Facility (GEF), a public financial institution, has supported sustainable waste management in developing countries in achieving global environmental benefits. The GEF’s support for sustainable waste management, from its pilot phase to the end of the fifth replenishment period, has amounted to 118 projects across the globe. Harmful chemicals, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and “waste to energy” initiatives have been the main focuses of the GEF’s support. The GEF’s investment in sustainable waste management has increased in recent years, partly due to the fact that countries are required to manage Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP) wastes in an environmentally safe manner in compliance with the Stockholm Convention on POPs. The GEF is poised to enhance its support for sustainable waste management in the future by mobilizing other financing, integrating multiple focal areas, expanding viewpoints to sustainable cities, and reinforcing its results-based management.     

Pyrosequencing Analysis of Norovirus Genogroup II Distribution in Sewage and Oysters: First Detection of GII.17 Kawasaki 2014 in Oysters

Norovirus GII.3, GII.4, and GII.17 were detected using pyrosequencing in sewage and oysters in January and February 2015, in Japan. The strains in sewage and oyster samples were genetically identical or similar, predominant strains belonging to GII.17 Kawasaki 2014 lineage. This is the first report of GII.17 Kawasaki 2014 in oysters.     

Hardening performance of reclaimed gypsums for stabilizing agent to improve soft clayey ground

For a prospective solution of effective recycling of gypsum board wastes, the present study was conducted to evaluate applicability of reclaimed gypsum as stabilizing agent for improvement of soft clayey ground. A series of unconfined compression tests and needle penetration tests were conducted to understand the fundamental properties of reclaimed gypsum and gypsum treated soils and the durability in water. An important finding was strength decrease in relation to mixing time of gypsum and soil. This may attribute to excessive mixing that caused breakage of the promptly hardened gypsum treated clay. In addition, from sounding and laboratory tests on the stabilized ground by shallow mixing method with different execution conditions, it was found that the strength of stabilized ground appeared in an early stage and that the hardening effect of cement that was used in combination with gypsum continued in a longer period. Regarding an environmental aspect, a specific amount of cement could have restrained leaching fluorine satisfactorily under the standard level in the field by adopting suitable mixing proportions based on the laboratory mixing test results. For practical application, the mixing procedure was a major factor of strength growth when hemihydrate gypsum was used to stabilize soft clayey ground.     

Evaluation of non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) emissions based on an ambient air measurement in Tokyo area,Japan

Non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) are known to have an important role on air quality due to their high reactivity. NMHC analysis has been performed on 148 ambient air samples collected at five different sites in the Kanto area (Tokyo metropolitan area and surrounding six prefectures) of Japan in summer and winter of 2008, and fifty NMHCs have been determined and quantified. A field measurement campaign has been conducted at one of the busiest intersections in Tokyo metropolitan area in winter of 2008. NMHC emissions are evaluated through comparison of distributions of individual NMHCs emitted from motor vehicles, which are estimated from the measurements, with those determined from the current emissions inventory. The comparison revealed that the measured distributions of acetylene, ethylene and toluene showed a good agreement with those estimated from the emissions inventory (the values estimated from the measurements are a factor of 1.5, 0.56 and 2.3 larger than the emissions inventory in median, respectively), however, propane and isobutane are found to be significantly underestimated in the emissions inventory (the measured values were a factor of 18 and 5.1 larger than the emissions inventory, respectively). The significant underestimate of propane can be explained by that the current emissions inventory does not consider emissions from liquefied propane gas (LPG) fueled vehicles. However, for isobutane, reasons for the underestimate are still unclear. Another field measurement has been conducted in summer of 2008, where the air samples have been collected at three different sites on the ground and by a helicopter as well. Remarkable high concentrations of 1-butene and cis- and trans-2-butenes have been sporadically observed in the samples collected at Urayasu in the coastal area of Tokyo bay. Calculated propylene equivalent (PE) concentrations of butenes revealed that those have a significantly important role in ozone formation when the air plume is affected by emissions from their emission sources. The PE concentrations of butenes varied from 0.1 to 39 ppbC, and accounted for 1.5–75% of total PE concentrations at Urayasu. Most of the continuous air quality monitoring stations does not record concentrations of individual hydrocarbons, therefore, the importance of reactive and low concentration hydrocarbon such as butenes might be overlooked in the current emissions inventory and/or air quality model. In this paper, the reliability of NMHC emissions is evaluated based on the field measurements. Their possible impacts on air quality in the Kanto area are discussed as well, based on the calculated propylene equivalent concentrations.     

Current mode atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) study for local electrical characterization of conjugated polymer blends

A blend of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly{[N,N'-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-naphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]-alt-5,5'-(2,2'-bithiophene)} (P(NDI2OD-T2), which has the potential for polymer solar cells application, was prepared for current mode atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) measurements in this study. Phase-separated domains and the local electrical characteristics of P3HT/P(NDI2OD-T2) blends were investigated by the C-AFM.     

Complete mineralization of benzene by a methanogenic enrichment culture and effect of putative metabolites on the degradation

Microbial degradation of benzene under anaerobic conditions plays an important role in remediation of contaminated sites but the microorganisms and metabolic pathways involved remain poorly understood. In this study, we evaluated degradation of benzene by a methanogenic enrichment culture obtained from non-contaminated lotus field soil, alone and in the presence of several putative metabolic intermediates, that is, toluene, benzoate and phenol. Using stable isotope (¹³C) labeled substrate, benzene was shown to be degraded almost completely to equimolar concentrations of methane and carbon dioxide, without detectable accumulation of extracellular metabolites. Concurrently, toluene, benzoate and phenol were also effectively mineralized, but probably by microorganisms other than the benzene degraders. The latter included Hasda-A, which is putative benzene-degrading deltaproteobacterium present in the culture. While toluene and benzoate did not affect benzene degradation, phenol had a moderate inhibitory effect although it was not a major metabolic intermediate of benzene in our culture. Finally, 4-hydroxycoumarin was detected as a compound formed from phenol but further experiments are required to elucidate its relationship to degradation of phenol.     

How seasonality affects the flow of estrogens and their conjugates in one of Japan's most populous catchments

A detailed study of the free and conjugated estrogen load discharged by the eight major sewage treatment plants into the Yodo River basin, Japan was carried out. Sampling campaigns were focused on the winter and autumn seasons from 2005 to 2008 and the free estrogens estrone(E1), 17β-estradiol(E2), estriol(E3), 17α-ethynylestradiol(EE2) as well as their conjugated (sulfate and glucuronide) forms. For both sewage effluent and river water E2 and E1 concentrations were greatest during the winter period (December-March). This coincides with the period of lowest rainfall and lowest temperatures in Japan. E1 was the dominant estrogenic component in effluent (means of 10-50 ng/L) followed by E2 (means of 0.5-3 ng/L). The estrogen sulfate conjugates were found intermittently in the 0.5-1.7 ng/L concentration range in the sewage effluents. The greatest estrogen exposure was found to be in the Katsura River tributary which exceeded 1 ng/L E2-equivalents during the winter period.     

Assessment of thyroid hormone activity of halogenated bisphenol A using a yeast two-hybrid assay

The thyroid hormone agonist/antagonist activities of halogenated derivatives of bisphenol A (BPA) were assessed using a yeast two-hybrid assay incorporating the human thyroid hormone α (TRα), both with and without possible metabolic activation by rat liver S9 preparation. In the absence of the rat liver S9 preparation, 3,3′,5,5′-tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), 3,3′,5,5′-tetrachlorobisphenol A (TCBPA), and 3,3′,5-trichlorobisphenol A (3,3′,5-triClBPA) exhibited agonist activity, whereas 3-chlorobisphenol A (3-ClBPA), 3,5-dichlorobisphenol A (3,5-diClBPA), 3,3′-dichlorobisphenol A (3,3′-diClBPA), and BPA did not. The activities of TBBPA and TCBPA increased markedly (7.6-fold and 3.1-fold, respectively) after their metabolic activation with the rat liver S9 preparation. TBBPA, TCBPA, and 3,3′,5-triClBPA inhibited the binding of triiodothyronine (T3) to TRα at 2 × 10⁻⁵ M without rat liver S9 treatment and 4 × 10⁻⁶ M with rat liver S9 treatment, demonstrating their T3 antagonist activity. These results revealed that metabolic activation by rat liver S9 significantly increased the agonist/antagonist potential of some halogenated BPAs.     

Evaluation of surface runoff and road dust as sources of nitrogen using nitrate isotopic composition

Stable nitrogen and oxygen isotope ratios of nitrate (δ¹⁵N-NO₃ and δ¹⁸O-NO₃) have recently been used to identify nitrogen sources in water environments. However, there have been no investigations designed to determine nitrate isotopes in non-point sources in urban areas for evaluating the impact of surface deposits on nitrogen in surface runoff. In this study, we collected rainwater, surface runoff and surface deposits (road dust, roof dust and soil) to evaluate the nitrogen sources in surface runoff using nitrate isotopes. There were no large differences in δ¹⁵N-NO₃ among rainwater (−0.3‰ to 1.5‰), surface runoff (−2.7‰ to 0.4‰), leachates from road dust (−5.8‰ to 6.2‰) and soil (−11.5‰ to 0.6‰). In contrast, the δ¹⁸O-NO₃ in surface runoff (28.5-47.9‰) was lower than that in rainwater (62.7-78.6‰), and higher than that in leachates from road dust (6.1-27.6‰) and soil (−1.1‰ to 6.6‰). δ¹⁸O-NO₃ is a useful indicator for evaluating the NO₃-N sources in surface runoff. Using this indicator, NO₃-N from road dust was estimated to account for more than half of the NO₃-N in surface runoff. This is consistent with a result based on a comparison of their loads per unit surface between rainwater and surface runoff, which also showed that most of the nitrogen in surface runoff was derived from surface deposits.     

Identification of particles containing chromium and lead in road dust and soakaway sediment by electron probe microanalyser

Individual particles containing Cr and/or Pb and other major components were identified in road dust from a heavily used road (hereinafter 'heavy traffic road dust'), road dust from a residential area and soakaway sediment by electron probe microanalyser to locate their sources and carrier particles. Individual particles containing high levels of Cr and/or Pb (>or=0.2%) were identified using wavelength dispersive spectrometry (WDS) map analysis. Chromium, Pb and other major elements were then determined by means of a combination of WDS and energy-dispersive spectrometry in all identified particles, 50 particles containing neither Cr nor Pb from each type of road dust and soakaway sediment, and yellow road line markings. WDS map analysis revealed that many particles containing both Cr and Pb were present among the identified particles in heavy traffic road dust, whereas they were minor components in road dust from the residential area and soakaway sediment. The plots of X-ray intensities of Cr vs. Pb were linear for the identified particles containing both Cr and Pb in heavy traffic road dust, and the line closely fitted the plots for the three yellow road line marking samples. Individual particles were then classified using cluster analysis of element components. The results revealed that the adsorption of source materials or released metals onto soil minerals occurred in road dust and soakaway sediment, that the yellow road line markings were sources of Cr and Pb in heavy traffic road dust, and that materials containing Fe as a major component, such as stainless steel, were additional sources of Cr in both road dust and soakaway sediment.