Respecting The Autonomy of European and American Consumers: Defending Positive Labels on Gm Foods

In her recent article, “Does autonomy count in favor of labeling genetically modified food?,” Kirsten Hansen argues that in Europe, voluntary negative labeling of non-GM foods respects consumer autonomy just as well as mandatory positive labeling of foods with GM content. She also argues that because negative labeling places labeling costs upon those consumers that want to know whether food is GM, negative labeling is better policy than positive labeling. In this paper, we argue that Hansen’s arguments are mistaken in several respects. Most importantly, she underestimates the demands of respecting autonomy and overestimates the cost of positive labeling. Moreover, she mistakenly implies that only a small minority of people desire information about GM content. We also explore the extent to which her arguments would apply to the US context, and argue that any discussion of the relationship between autonomy and labeling should include not just considerations of consumer autonomy but also considerations of what we call citizen autonomy.     

Human Diets and Animal Welfare: the Illogic of the Larder

Few moral arguments have been made against vegetarian diets. One exception is the “Logic of the Larder:” We do animals a favor by purchasing their meat, eggs, and milk, for if we did not purchase these products, fewer animals would exist. This argument fails because many farm animals have lives that are probably not worth living, while others prevent a significant number of wild animals from existing. Even if this were not so, the purchase of animal products uses resources that could otherwise be used to bring a much greater number of animals into existence.     

超高强度钻杆低温断裂性能及裂纹扩展特征研究

超高强度钻杆在冬季低温环境下容易发生脆性断裂事故,为了从断裂力学角度揭示其冷脆现象的本质,采用ZBC2302-D型示波冲击试验机,获得了不同温度下超高强度钢在冲击断裂过程中的力-位移曲线,并对比分析了冲击功、起裂功和裂纹扩展功之间的变化关系。采用国家标准GB 4161—2007中的计算公式,计算了冲击试样的裂纹扩展量Δa和阻抗应力强度因子K_R;同时,引入K_R阻力曲线,得到超高强度钻杆在不同温度下的剩余强度图。结果表明,当冲击试样开始出现裂纹时,随温度降低,钻杆的初始起裂应力有所增加,出现硬化现象。当钻杆出现一定长度的裂纹时,随温度降低,阻抗应力强度因子越来越小,而且降低速度越来越快,剩余强度也表现出相同的变化趋势。随温度降低,材料抵抗裂纹扩展的能力逐渐下降,表明钻杆在低温下更容易断裂。     

308 nm光作用下α-Fe2O3表面HNO3的光解

采用紫外可见光谱(UV-Vis)、傅立叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)及离子色谱(IC)技术对HNO3在α-Fe2O3表面暗反应和308nm下光解反应进行了研究.考察了时间、HNO3浓度、相对湿度(RH)等条件对反应的影响.结果表明,随着HNO3浓度、光照时间的增加,HNO3在气相与α-Fe2O3表面光解产物浓度均呈指数增加;HNO3在α-Fe2O3表面光解产生的NO2、NO分别为气相产生的3.27及3.87倍,而无论气相还是表面光解的NO2浓度均约为NO的2倍.随着RH的增加,HNO3光解产生的HONO的浓度随之呈指数增大,其产率从RH 20%时的0.023增加到90%时的0.087.α-Fe2O3的表面效应在HNO3的表面光解反应中起主导作用.     

Managerial policy and economic analysis of wind-generated renewable hydrogen for light-duty vehicles: Green solution of energy crises

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The unconventional energy sources like hydrogen energy have tremendous potential of filling the gap between economic growth and clean energy...     

台州市大气PM_(2.5)中PAHs的污染特征与毒性评价

使用中流量颗粒物采样器采集台州市2015—2016年大气PM_(2.5)样品,利用气相色谱-质谱仪对样品中16种多环芳烃(PAHs)进行分析,研究PAHs的污染特征及可能来源。结果显示:PAHs总浓度为(20.69±4.84)ng/m3,浓度季节变化大小顺序依次为冬季>春季>秋季>夏季,空间变化为商住区>工业区>背景点。PM_(2.5)中PAHs以高环为主(≥4环),占86%。不同季节商住区和工业区PAHs(4环)含量均略高于背景点,PAHs(5~6环)的含量商住区略高于工业区和背景点。PAHs环数分布和比值法结果表明台州市大气PM_(2.5)中PAHs的主要来源是机动车尾气和燃煤。成年人和儿童的终生超额致癌风险(ILCR)分别为8.02×10-7和5.61×10-7,表明台州市PM_(2.5)中PAHs对人体健康影响在可接受范围内。     

碳酸钙改性硅藻土处理电解锌漂洗废水实验研究

铅锌矿在我国储存量大,电解法生产锌过程中可产生含Zn~(2+)、Pb~(2+)、Cd~(2+)、As5+和Cu~(2+)等重金属离子的漂洗废水。以硅藻土精土为基体,用碳酸钙作为改性剂制备改性硅藻土,对电解锌漂洗废水进行吸附实验研究。结果表明:在反应时间为150 min,碳酸钙改性硅藻土用量为3 g/L,pH为5.46,温度为25℃条件下,对废水进行吸附实验,吸附后废水中的Cu~(2+)和As5+离子浓度低于仪器检测线(0.01 mg/L和0.09 mg/L),Pb~(2+)浓度为0.16 mg/L,吸附后废水中Cu~(2+)、As5+和Pb~(2+)离子浓度均满足GB 25466—2010《铅锌工业污染物排放标准》的排放要求。同时,采用SEM、FTIR、XRD等对碳酸钙改性硅藻土进行表征,进一步探讨了碳酸钙改性硅藻土对重金属的吸附机理。     

一种简便高效的土壤石油烃提取方法的建立

通过开展单因子实验与正交实验,考察不同参数下超声萃取法对土壤中总石油烃(TPH)的提取效率,并对比了超声萃取法、超声-索氏萃取法及传统索氏萃取法对不同原油污染土壤的提取效果。结果表明:超声萃取法的最优工作参数为20 m L二氯甲烷,超声10 min,4000 r/min离心10 min,萃取4次。3种提取方法中,超声萃取法对石油烃平均回收率最高,为100.95%,而传统的索氏萃取法最低,仅为94.54%。可见,超声萃取法操作简单,效率高,可广泛用于土壤中总石油烃含量的提取测定。     

Contribution of precursor compounds to the release of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) from waste water treatment plants (WWTPs)

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances(PFASs) are ubiquitous in sludge and water from waste water treatment plants, as a result of their incorporation in everyday products and industrial processes. In this study, we measured several classes of persistent PFASs,precursors, transformation intermediates, and newly identified PFASs in influent and effluent sewage water and sludge from three municipal waste water treatment plants in Sweden, sampled in 2015. For sludge, samples from 2012 and 2014 were analyzed as well.Levels of precursors in sludge exceeded those of perfluoroalkyl acids and sulfonic acids(PFCAs and PFSAs), in 2015 the sum of polyfluoroalkyl phosphoric acid esters(PAPs) were 15–20 ng/g dry weight, the sum of fluorotelomer sulfonic acids(FTSAs) was 0.8–1.3 ng/g,and the sum of perfluorooctane sulfonamides and ethanols ranged from non-detected to 3.2 ng/g. Persistent PFSAs and PFCAs were detected at 1.9–3.9 ng/g and 2.4–7.3 ng/g dry weight, respectively. The influence of precursor compounds was further demonstrated by an observed substantial increase for a majority of the persistent PFCAs and PFSAs in water after waste water treatment. Perfluorohexanoic acid(PFHxA), perfluorooctanoic acid(PFOA), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid(PFHxS), and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid(PFOS)had a net mass increase in all WWTPs, with mean values of 83%, 28%, 37% and 58%,respectively. The load of precursors and intermediates in influent water and sludge combined with net mass increase support the hypothesis that degradation of precursor compounds is a significant contributor to PFAS contamination in the environment.     

Bioavailability of wastewater derived dissolved organic nitrogen to green microalgae Selenastrum capricornutum, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and Chlorella vulgaris with/without presence of bacteria

Effluent dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) is problematic in nutrient sensitive surface waters and needs to be reduced to meet demanding total dissolved nitrogen discharge limits. Bioavailable DON (ABDON) is a portion of DON utilized by algae or algae + bacteria,while biodegradable DON (BDON) is a portion of DON decomposable by bacteria. ABDON and BDON in a two-stage trickling filter (TF) wastewater treatment plant was evaluated using three different microalgal species, Selenastrum capricornutum, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Chlorella vulgaris and mixed cultured bacteria. Results showed that up to 80% of DON was bioavailable to algae or algae + bacteria inoculum while up to 60% of DON was biodegradable in all the samples. Results showed that C. reinhardtii and C. vulgaris can be used as a test species the same as S. capricornutum since there were no significant differences among these three algae species based on their ability to remove nitrogen species.