Cultural issues in post‐disaster reconstruction: the case of Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan

Most members of Taiwan's indigenous communities live in areas that are prone to natural disasters. Yet, due to their marginalised cultural, economic and political status, each time such calamities strike, any assistance they receive is usually provided without considering their actual needs. The areas hardest hit by Typhoon Morakot in August 2009 were the indigenous villages in the southern and eastern parts of the island. After the initial emergency relief efforts had been completed, there remained the highly challenging task of reconstruction and the resettlement of those who lost their homes and livelihoods. This paper examines the cultural conflicts that arose during the reconstruction process, with special emphasis on the participation of Taiwan's indigenous communities and their capacity for resilience. It was found that community participation and identification are key issues in effective disaster governance.     

Rapid determination of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its main metabolites in aqueous samples by one-step microwave-assisted headspace controlled-temperature liquid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography with electron capture detection

A rapid and sensitive analytical method for the determination of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its main metabolites in environmental aqueous samples has been developed using one-step microwave-assisted headspace controlled-temperature liquid-phase micro-extraction (MA-HS-CT-LPME) technique coupled with gas chromatography-electron-capture detection (GC-ECD). In this study, the one-step extraction of DDT and its main metabolites was achieved by using microwave heating to accelerate the evaporation of analytes into the controlled-temperature headspace to form a cloudy mist vapor zone for LPME sampling. Parameters influencing extraction efficiency were thoroughly optimized, and the best extraction for DDT and its main metabolites from 10-mL aqueous sample at pH 6.0 was achieved by using 1-octanol (4-μL) as the LPME solvent, sampling at 34 °C for 6.5 min under 249 W of microwave irradiation. Under optimum conditions, excellent linear relationship was obtained in the range of 0.05-1.0 μg/L for 1-dichloro-2,2-bis-(p′-chlorophenyl)ethylene (p,p′-DDE), 0.1-2.0 μg/L for o,p′-DDT, 0.15-3.0 μg/L for 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis-(p′-chlorophenyl)ethane (p,p′-DDD) and p,p′-DDT, with detection limits of 20 ng/L for p,p′-DDE, and 30 ng/L for o,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDD and p,p′-DDT. Precision was in the range of 3.2-11.3% RSD. The proposed method was validated with environmental water samples. The spiked recovery was between 95.5% and 101.3% for agricultural-field water, between 94% and 99.7% for sea water and between 93.5% and 98% for river water. Thus the established method has been proved to be a simple, rapid, sensitive, inexpensive and eco-friendly procedure for the determination of DDT and its main metabolites in environmental water samples.     

Partition and tempospatial variation of gaseous and particulate mercury at a unique mercury-contaminated remediation site

This study investigated the seasonal variation and spatial distribution of gaseous and particulate mercury at a unique mercury-contaminated remediation site located at the near-coastal region of Tainan City, Taiwan. Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), particulate mercury (PTM), and dustfall mercury (DFM) were measured at six nearby sites from November 2009 to September 2010. A newly issued Method for Sampling and Analyzing Mercury in Air (National Institute of Environmental Analysis [NIEA] Method A304.10C) translated from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 10-5, was applied for the measurement of atmospheric mercury in this particular study. One-year field measurements showed that the seasonal averaged concentrations of GEM and PTM were in the range of 5.56-12.60 and 0.06-0.22 ng/m3, respectively, whereas the seasonal averaged deposition fluxes of DFM were in the range of 27.0-56.8 g/km2-month. The maximum concentrations of GEM and PTM were 38.95 and 0.58 ng/m3, respectively. The atmospheric mercury apportioned as 97.42-99.87% GEM and 0.13-2.58% PTM. As a whole, the concentrations of mercury species were higher in the springtime and summertime than those in the wintertime and fall. The southern winds generally brought higher mercury concentrations, whereas the northern winds brought relatively lower mercury concentrations, to the nearby fishing villages. This study revealed that the mercury-contaminated remediation site, an abandoned chlor-alkali manufacturing plant, was the major mercury emission source that caused severe atmospheric mercury contamination over the investigation region. The hot spot of mercury emissions was allocated at the southern tip of the abandoned chlor-alkali manufacturing plant. On-site continuous monitoring of GEM at the mercury-contaminated remediation site observed that GEM concentrations during the open excavation period were 2-3 times higher than those during the nonexcavation period.     

Particulate collection in a high temperature cyclone

A new particle collection technique is analyzed and presented for its potential application in a high temperature, high pressure gas cleaning system. The technique is based on the collision and the aglomeration phenomena among the coal-ash particles when the cyclone is operated near the coal-ash fusion temperature. The percent increase of agglomeration rate is estimated by mathematical modeling for particles smaller than five microns in diameter. Particulate collection efficiency with or without agglomeration is presented. Experimental results in a high temperature cyclone are presented. The output dust loading varied from 0.025 to 5 grains per cubic foot (0.057–11 g/m³) as the input dust loading is increased from 4 to 35 grains per cubic foot (9.2–80g/m³) of gas flow.     

Dry deposition and particle size distributions of nitrate and sulfate in ambient air

This study reports the dry deposition pollutants of anion species (NO₃ ^‐ and SO₄ ^‐2) in the Ping Tung City of Southern Taiwan. Several deposition properties are discussed in this paper. It included dry deposition flux, anion species size distribution and deposition velocities. Noll Rotary Impactor (NRI) and Microorifice Uniform Deposit Impactor (MOUDI) were used to collect ambient air coarse and fine particulate. Dry deposition plate was applied to collect particle deposition flux. Dionex 2000i/SP Ion Chromatography equipped with 4 mm AG4A‐SC and AS4A‐SC column was employed to analyze the anion species. The eluent solution is 1.8 mM sodium carbonate/1.7 mM sodium bicarbonate. The measured dry deposition flux of nitrate ranged from 0.63 to 3.96 mg/m²‐day and averaged 2.12 mg/m²‐day, while the measured dry deposition of sulfate ranged from 1.17 to 9.53 mg/m²‐day and averaged 3.92 mg/m²‐day. The particle size distribution of nitrate has bimodal particle size distributions. However, the sulfate displayed uniform particle size distribution for all four sampling sites. Mean cumulative fraction (F%) of nitrate in the particle size range below 1, 2.5, 10 and 25 μm, in sequence, were 34.6%, 60.9%, 91.0% and 97.6%, respectively. However, the mean F% of sulfate in the particle size range below 1, 2.5, 10 and 25 um, in sequence, were 57.3%, 82.6%, 90.3% and 98.0%, respectively. The sulfate has more F% in the submicron particles. The mean MMD _o of nitrate and sulfate are 2.35 and 0.87 μm, respectively. The mean dry deposition velocities of nitrate and sulfate are 0.45 and 0.38 cm/sec, respectively.     

Assessment of oxidative stress indices in a marine macro brown alga Padina tetrastromatica (Hauck) from comparable polluted coastal regions of the Arabian Sea, west coast of India

Oxidative stress and antioxidant defence systems were assessed in a marine brown alga Padina tetrastromatica, commonly occurring from the tropics. Lipid peroxidation (LPX) and H2O2 were measured as oxidative stress markers, and antioxidant defences were measured as catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and ascorbic acid (AsA), in order to understand their dissimilarity with respect to pollution levels from selective locations along the central west coast of India. A significant increased levels of LPX, H2O2, CAT and GST were observed in samples from relatively polluted localities (Colaba and Karwar) when compared to less polluted locality (Anjuna), while AsA concentration was higher in algal samples from worst polluted region of Colaba. Heavy metals such as Cd and Pb were also higher in the vicinity of polluted areas compared to reference area. Variation of oxidative stress indices in response to accumulation of heavy metals within P. tetrastromatica could be used as molecular biomarkers in assessment and monitoring environmental quality of ecologically sensitive marine habitats.