Key emergency response technologies for abrupt air pollution accidents in China

Abrupt air pollution accidents can endanger people’s health and destroy the local ecological environment. The appropriate emergency response can minimize the harmful effects of accidents and protect people’s lives and property. This paper provides an overview of the key emergency response technologies for abrupt air pollution accidents around the globe with emphasis on the major achievements that China has obtained in recent years.With decades of effort, China has made significant progress in em...     

新疆沙湾县城镇人居环境与经济协调发展评价

城市人居环境的改善是经济持续发展的动力和保障,经济发展是人居环境改善的物质基础和载体.城市人居环境与经济协调发展是实现可持续发展的重要途径.以新疆沙湾县为研究对象,通过构建城镇人居环境与经济发展协调度指标评价体系,并运用主成分分析方法和协调度模型,对1999-2008年沙湾县城镇人居环境与经济协调发展水平进行了综合评价.结果表明:10年来城镇人居环境与经济发展协调程度逐渐上升,可以划分1999-2004年缓步上升和2005-2008年波动上升2个发展阶段.目前,沙湾县城镇人居环境与经济发展已到达高度协调状态,处理好两者的关系,使之更近一步达到优质协调,从而实现沙湾县经济、社会和生态环境的协调可持续发展.     

Green Space Changes and Planning in the Capital Region of China

Green space plays an important role in complex urban ecosystems and provides significant ecosystem services with environmental, aesthetic, recreational and economic benefits. Beijing is the capital city of China and has a large population of about 15.81 million. Construction of green spaces is an important part of sustainable development in Beijing. To attain the sustainable development of Beijing as a capital city, an international city, a historical cultural city, and a living amenity city, this article attempts to develop a comprehensive plan of green space development both at the municipal and regional levels. At the municipal level of Beijing, based on the study of green space changes, and taking physical geographic conditions and historical context into account, we propose to establish green barriers in the mountainous area, and plan a comprehensive green space pattern composed of one city, two rings, three networks, eight water areas, nine fields, and several patches in the plain area. At the regional level of the Capital Circle Region, integrating the characteristics and causes of main environmental issues, we design a macroscopic pattern—“barriers by mountains in the northwest,” “seaward open spaces in the southeast,” “grassland-forest-field-coast zones,” and “green-blue symphony”—for ecological restoration and green space construction. Finally, we discuss the principles necessary to implement green space planning considering adaptation to local conditions, composite function exploitation, interregional equity and integrated planning.     

Response mechanism of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to nanoscale bismuth oxyiodide (nano-BiOI): Integrating analysis of mineral nutrient metabolism and metabolomics

Nanoscale bismuth oxyiodide (nano-BiOI) is widely studied and applied in environmental applications and biomedical fields, with the consequence that it may be deposited into aquatic environments. However, the impact of nano-BiOI on aquatic ecosystems, especially freshwater microalga, remains limited. Herein, the nano-BiOI was synthesized and its response mechanism towards microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was evaluated. Results showed that a low concentration of nano-BiOI (5 mg/L) could stimulate algal growth at the early stage of stress. With the increase in concentration, the growth rate of algal cells was inhibited and showed a dose effect. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were significantly induced and accompanied by enhanced lipid peroxidation, decreased nonspecific esterase activity, and significantly upregulated glutathione S-transferase activity (GST) activity. Mineral nutrient metabolism analysis showed that nano-BiOI significantly interfered with the mineral nutrients of the algae. Non-targeted metabolomics identified 35 different metabolites (DEMs, 22 upregulated, and 13 downregulated) under 100 mg/L BiOI stress. Metabolic pathway analysis demonstrated that a high concentration of nano-BiOI significantly induced metabolic pathways related to amino acid biosynthesis, lipid biosynthesis, and glutathione biosynthesis, and significantly inhibited the sterol biosynthesis pathway. This finding will contribute to understanding the toxicological mechanisms of nano-BiOI on C. reinhardtii.     

Constructing a Raman and surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectral reference library for fine-particle analysis

Fine particles associated with haze pollution threaten the health of over 400 million people in China. Owing to excellent non-destructive fingerprint recognition characteristics, Raman and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) are often used to analyze the composition of fine particles to determine their physical and chemical properties as well as reaction mechanisms. However, there is no comprehensive Raman spectral library of fine particles. Furthermore, various studies that used SERS for fine-particle composition analysis showed that the uniqueness of the SERS substrates and different excitation wavelengths can produce a different spectrum for the same fine-particle component. To overcome this limitation, we conducted SERS experiments with a portable Raman spectrometer using two common SERS substrates (silver (Ag) foil and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs)) and a 785 nm laser. Herein, we introduced three main particle component types (sulfate-nitrate-ammonium (SNA), organic material, and soot) with a total of 39 chemical substances. We scanned the solid Raman, liquid Raman, and SERS spectra of these substances and constructed a fine-particle reference library containing 105 spectra. Spectral results indicated that for soot and SNA, the differences in characteristic peaks mainly originated from the solid-liquid phase transition; Ag foil had little effect on this difference, while the Au NPs caused a significant red shift in the peak positions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Moreover, with various characteristic peak positions in the three types of spectra, we could quickly and correctly distinguish substances. We hope that this spectral library will aid in the future identification of fine particles.     

Health risk assessment of dietary exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Taiyuan, China

Sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs） were determined in 24 duplicate-diet samples from people in Taiyuan during summer and winter in 2009. Dietary intake of PAHs for 2862 participants was subsequently estimated by a survey in Taiyuan. Results from these 24 samples were compared with a raw food study in Taiyuan in 2008. Three main sources of dietary PAHs are vegetables, wheat flour and fruits, the sum of which contributes 75.95% of PAHs in dietary food. Compared to the estimated value in raw food, much more B[a]Peq （benzo[a]pyrene equivalents） were detected in food samples collected in the duplicate-diet study in Taiyuan （60.75 ng/day）. The cooking process may introduce more B[a]Peq into food, and the relative contribution of 16 PAHs in the diet would be changed during the cooking procedure.     

Variations in seasonal and inter-annual carbon fluxes in a semi-arid sandy maize cropland ecosystem in China’s Horqin Sandy Land

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Sandy cropland ecosystems are major terrestrial ecosystems in semi-arid regions of northern China’s Horqin Sandy Land, where they play an...     

Influence of algal organic matter on metal accumulation in adjacent sediments of aquaculture from a tropical coast region

The rapid development of coastal aquaculture in recent decades has led to excessive discharge of organic matter and nutrients into surrounding waters, which could result in eutrophication and potentially affect metal cycling. In our study, the influence of algal organic matter on metal accumulation was examined in three coastal sediment cores taken from a tropical region, Hainan Island, China. Overall, metal pollution adjacent to aquaculture ponds remained at low levels on the coast, except Zn, Cd, and Sn were moderately to highly enriched in the Dongjiao sediments. The δ¹³C values and the atomic C/N ratios indicated a major contribution of phytoplankton to sedimentary organic matter at the Dongjiao site. Moreover, both the algae-derived organic matter and effluent nitrogen were significantly associated with the enriched Zn, Cd, and Sn, suggesting that nutrient-induced phytoplankton growth and its organic matter may act as a “biological pump” to enhance the accumulation of metals. Wastewater treatment for aquaculture ponds should include the control of algal organic matter.

     

Evaluation of historical CMIP6 model simulations and future projections of temperature over the Pan-Third Pole region

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The Pan-Third Pole (PTP) region, which encompasses the Eurasian highlands and their surroundings, has experienced unprecedented, accelerated warming...     

石家庄市PM_（2.5）的污染现状及防控对策

通过对石家庄市PM2.524 h质量浓度监测结果的分析,发现PM2.5的污染指数范围是84~242,污染指数最高点出现在高新区,最低点出现在封龙山。导致PM2.5高污染指数的影响因素有气象、地理、机动车保有量和石家庄工业结构。因此从减少扬尘、控制机动车尾气排放量、工业污染防治、环保及气象部门协作等方面提出了PM2.5的防控对策。