Income inequality,ecological footprint,and carbon dioxide emissions in Asian developing economies: what effects what and how?

The reduction of income inequality and environmental vulnerability is the most important factor, through which we can achieve the target of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The past papers have investigated the nexus between income inequality and carbon emissions; however, the relationship between income inequality and carbon emissions along with ecological footprint has not been studied in the case of developing countries. To this end, this study analyzed the impact of income inequality on both carbon emissions and ecological footprint as well as the impact of carbon emission and ecological footprint on income inequality by using the dataset from 2006 to 2017 for the 18 Asian developing economies. This study confirmed the positive relationship between carbon emissions, ecological footprint, and income inequality under the methodology of Driscoll and Kraay (D&K) standard error approach. Specifically, a higher-income gap is destructive for environmental degradation, whereas increasing level of carbon emissions and ecological footprint also leads to rising income inequality in the investigated region. Furthermore, foreign direct investment (FDI), easy access to electricity, and population growth control income inequality, but they have a detrimental effect on both ecological footprint and carbon emissions. The empirical findings also provide some important policy implications.

     

Temporal variations in the level of chlordecone in seawater and marine organisms in Martinique Island (Lesser Antilles)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The present study, conducted in the Galion Bay in Martinique, aims to highlight the temporal and seasonal variations of chlordecone contamination (an...     

A large-scale experiment on mass transfer of trichloroethylene from the unsaturated zone of a sandy aquifer to its interfaces

A large-scale experiment was conducted to investigate the transport of trichloroethylene (TCE) vapors in the unsaturated zone and to determine the mass transfer to the groundwater and the atmosphere. The experiment involved injection of 5 1 of TCE in the unsaturated zone under controlled conditions, with multidepth sampling of gas and water through the unsaturated zone and across the capillary zone into underlying groundwater. The mass transfer of TCE vapors from the vadose zone to the atmosphere was quantified using a vertical flux chamber. A special soil water sampler was used to monitor transport across the capillary fringe. Experimental data indicated that TCE in the unsaturated zone was mainly transported to the atmosphere and this exchange reduced significantly the potential for groundwater pollution. The maximum measured TCE flux to the atmosphere was about 3 g/m(2)/day. Observed and calculated fluxes based on vertical TCE vapor concentration gradients and Fick's law were in good agreement. This confirms that TCE vapor transport under the experimental conditions was governed essentially by molecular diffusion. TCE vapors also caused a lower, but significant contamination of the underlying groundwater by dispersion across the capillary fringe with a corresponding maximum flux of about 0.1 g/m(2)/day. This mass transfer to groundwater is partly uncertain due to an inadvertent entry of some nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) from the source area into the saturated zone. Application of an analytical solution to estimate the TCE flux from the unsaturated zone to the groundwater indicated that this phenomenon is not only influenced by molecular diffusion but also by vertical dispersion. The mass balance indicates that, under the given experimental conditions (e.g. proximity of the source emplacement relative to the soil surface, relatively high permeable porous medium), nearly 95% of the initial TCE mass was transferred to the atmosphere.     

固定化蒽醌对偶氮染料生物降解促进作用研究

采用非水溶性蒽醌固定化技术对偶氮染料生物降解促进作用进行了研究,对比了海藻酸钙,聚乙烯醇-硼酸,聚乙烯醇-海藻酸钙和琼脂4种固定化技术,探讨了溶解氧对脱色过程的影响和固定化蒽醌系统脱色广谱性.研究结果表明,固定化蒽醌可提高多种偶氮染料生物厌氧脱色速度1.5～2倍和降低偶氮染料脱色过程氧化还原电位-10～-15 mV;经4次循环使用后,其加速作用仍保持在90%以上;固定化蒽醌微生物系统具有很强抗氧冲击能力.     

Residues of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides in organically-farmed vegetables

The residues of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in soils from organic farms and their uptake by four varieties of organic-produced potatoes and three varieties of organic carrots from England were investigated. Samples of the soils, crop peels and cores were all Soxhlet-extracted in triplicate, cleaned up by open-column chromatography and analysed by a multi-residue analytical method using gas chromatography with mass selective detection. The concentrations of PAHs, PCBs and OCPs in soils from organic farms ranged from 590+/-43 to 2301+/-146 microg/kg, 3.56+/-0.73 to 9.61+/-1.98 microg/kg and 52.2+/-4.9 to 478+/-111 microg/kg, respectively. Uptake by different crop varieties were 8.42+/-0.93 to 40.1+/-4.9 microg/kg sigmaPAHs, 0.83+/-0.19 to 2.68+/-0.94 microg/kg sigmaPCBs and 8.09+/-0.83 to 133+/-27 microg/kg sigmaOCPs. Residue uptake from soils depended on plant variety; Desiree potato and Nairobi carrot varieties were more susceptible to PAH contamination. Likewise, uptake of PCBs and OCPs depended on potato variety. There were significant positive correlations between the PCB and OCP concentrations (P<0.05) in soils and carrots but no significant correlation was found between the concentrations of any contaminants in soils and potatoes. Peeling carrots and potatoes was found to remove 52-100% of the contaminant residues depending on crop variety and the properties of the contaminants. Soil-crop bioconcentration factors (BCFs) decreased with increasing logK(ow) for PAHs up to about 4.5 and for PCBs up to about 6.5, above which no changes were discernible for either class of contaminants. No relationship was observed between soil-crop BCFs and logK(ow) for OCPs, most likely because their concentrations were low and variable.     

Modelling changes in forest soil chemistry at 16 Swedish coniferous forest sites following deposition reduction

The dynamic forest ecosystem model ForSAFE was applied at 16 coniferous forest sites in Sweden to investigate past and future changes in soil chemistry following changes in atmospheric deposition. The simulation shows a considerable historical soil acidification. Acidification in the southwest, where deposition has been greatest, was more expressed in the deepest soil layers, while it was more evenly distributed through the soil profile in central Sweden, and was greater in the upper soil layers in the north. The simulation also shows that a slight recovery took place after the reduction in emissions, but was counteracted by the effect of harvesting. The simulation predicts an increase in the number of acidified sites in the future. The results also suggest that future acidification will be mainly due to the enhanced tree growth resulting from the chronic high deposition of nitrogen and the removal of soil base cations through harvesting.     

Zinc oxide nanoparticles: potential effects on soil properties,crop production,food processing,and food quality

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The use of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) is expected to increase soil fertility, crop productivity, and food quality. However, the potential...     

Atmospheric photochemistry and secondary aerosol formation of urban air in Lyon, France

Photochemical aging of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere is an important source of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). To evaluate the formation potential of SOA at an urban site in Lyon (France), an outdoor experiment using a Potential Aerosol Mass (PAM) oxidation flow reactor (OFR) was conducted throughout entire days during January-February 2017. Diurnal variation of SOA formations and their correlation with OH radical exposure (OHexp), ambient pollutants (VOCs and particulate matters, PM), Relative Humidity (RH), and temperature were explored in this study. Ambient urban air was exposed to high concentration of OH radicals with OHexp in range of (0.2–1.2)×10¹² molecule/(cm³?sec), corresponding to several days to weeks of equivalent atmospheric photochemical aging. The results informed that urban air at Lyon has high potency to contribute to SOA, and these SOA productions were favored from OH radical photochemical oxidation rather than via ozonolysis. Maximum SOA formation (36 µg/m³) was obtained at OHexp of about 7.4 × 10¹¹molecule/(cm³?sec), equivalent to approximately 5 days of atmospheric oxidation. The correlation between SOA formation and ambient environment conditions (RH & temperature, VOCs and PM) was observed. It was the first time to estimate SOA formation potential from ambient air over a long period in urban environment of Lyon.     

Production of valued materials from squid viscera by subcritical water hydrolysis

Subcritical water hydrolysis was carried out to produce valued materials from squid viscera, the waste product of fish processing industries. The reaction temperatures for hydrolysis of rawand deoiled squid viscera were maintained from 180 to 280 degrees C for5 min. The ratio of material to water forhydrolysis was 1:50. Most of the proteins from deoiled squid viscera were recovered at high temperature. The protein yield in raw squid viscera hydrolyzate decreased with the rise of temperature. The reducing sugar yield was higher at high temperature in subcritical water hydrolysis of both raw and deoiled squid viscera. The highest yield of amino acids in raw and deoiled squid viscera hydrolyzates were 233.25 +/- 3.25 and 533.78 +/- 4.13 mg g(-1) at 180 and 280 degrees C, respectively. Most amino acids attained highest yield at the reaction temperature range of 180-220 degrees C and 260-280 degrees C for raw and deoiled samples, respectively. The recovery of amino acids from deoiled squid viscera was about 1.5 times higher than that of raw squid viscera.     

Synthesis of magnetite-based nanocomposites for effective removal of brilliant green dye from wastewater

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The present study aims at evaluating the batch scale potential of cotton shell powder (CSP), Moringa oleifera leaves (ML), and magnetite-assisted...