Examining the technology acceptance for dismantling of waste printed circuit boards in light of recycling and environmental concerns

The dismantling of printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) and the recovery of their useful materials can lead to serious environmental impacts mainly due to their complicated physical structure and the variety of toxic elements contained in their material composition. So far, less attention has been paid to their responsible recycling compared to that of bare printed circuit boards. Combined with other materials recovery process, proper dismantling of PCBAs is beneficial to conserve scarce resources, reuse the components, and eliminate or safely dispose of hazardous materials. In analyzing the generation, resources potential and hazardous risk of scrap PCBAs, technologies used for the dismantling of waste PCBAs have been widely investigated and reviewed from the aspects of both industrial application and laboratory-scale studies. In addition, the feasibility of PCBA dismantling has been discussed, the determinants of which, including the heating conditions and mechanical properties have been identified. Moreover, this paper evaluates the environmental consequences caused by the dismantling of PCBAs.     

Disinfection byproduct regulatory compliance surrogates and bromide-associated risk

Natural and anthropogenic factors can alter bromide concentrations in drinking water sources. Increasing source water bromide concentrations increases the formation and alters the speciation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) formed during drinking water treatment. Brominated DBPs are more toxic than their chlorinated analogs, and thus have a greater impact on human health. However, DBPs are regulated based on the mass sum of DBPs within a given class (e.g., trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids), not based on species-specific risk or extent of bromine incorporation. The regulated surrogate measures are intended to protect against not only the species they directly represent, but also against unregulated DBPs that are not routinely measured. Surrogates that do not incorporate effects of increasing bromide may not adequately capture human health risk associated with drinking water when source water bromide is elevated. The present study analyzes trihalomethanes (THMs), measured as TTHM, with varying source water bromide concentrations, and assesses its correlation with brominated THM, TTHM risk and species-specific THM concentrations and associated risk. Alternative potential surrogates are evaluated to assess their ability to capture THM risk under different source water bromide concentration conditions. The results of the present study indicate that TTHM does not adequately capture risk of the regulated species when source water bromide concentrations are elevated, and thus would also likely be an inadequate surrogate for many unregulated brominated species. Alternative surrogate measures, including THM3 and the bromodichloromethane concentration, are more robust surrogates for species-specific THM risk at varying source water bromide concentrations.     

Removal efficiencies of natural and synthetic progesterones in hospital wastewater treated by different disinfection processes

● The concentrations of 61 progesterones in HWW, PFTE, SBTE were evaluated. ● The removal efficiencies of progesterones by PFT and SBT were identified. ● Compared the removal efficiencies of progeste rones in five disinfection processes. Progesterones are ubiquitous in hospital wastewater (HWW) with concentrations much higher than those of estrogens and androgens. To ensure that these water systems are safe to use, disinfection is crucial during HWW treatment by providing “front line” defense against biological contaminations. Here, five disinfection processes, namely, chlorine (Cl₂), chlorine dioxide (ClO₂), ozone (O₃), ultraviolet (UV)), and UV/chlorine (UV/Cl₂), were selected to investigate their removal efficiencies for progesterones in primary filtration and secondary biological treatment effluents. There were 61 natural and synthetic progesterones detected in HWW, with the natural progesterones being the main components with a concentration of 845.51 ng/L and contributing to 75.08% of the total progesterones. The primary filtration treatment presented insignificant removal effects on the progesterones, while the secondary biological treatment significantly reduced the progesterone content by biodegradation. The order of removal efficiencies of total progesterones by different disinfection processes was UV/Cl₂ > Cl ₂ > O ₃ > ClO ₂ > UV. UV/Cl ₂ showed the highest removal efficiency against progesterones mainly due to the activation of Cl₂ by ultraviolet (UV) photolysis, which helps open the heterocyclic, aromatic, and phenolic rings, thus accelerating progesterone degradation. In addition, the removal efficiencies of natural progesterones in the five disinfection processes were higher than those of synthetic progesterones (progesterone derivatives, 19-nortestosterone derivatives, and 17α-hydroxyprogesterone derivatives).     

Enhancing Financial Transparency to Mitigate Climate Change: Toward a Climate Risks and Opportunities Reporting Index

Environmental Modeling & Assessment - Climate change is introducing more risks and uncertainties into the economy and the financial system, but information failures limit the understanding of...     

Sonographic genital ambiguity in a fetus due to a mosaic 45,X/46,X,idic(Y)(qter-p11.32::p11.32-qter) karyotype

Nowadays, improved ultrasound techniques enable the detection of more subtle congenital abnormalities at an earlier stage of fetal development. Current cytogenetic techniques can characterize a chromosomal abnormality in greater detail. These advancements in both diagnostic possibilities have helped to answer many questions but have also created new issues and dilemmas in counselling. This is illustrated by this case report of a 35-year-old woman, who presented at the end of the second trimester of her first pregnancy. Sonographic examination indicated an abnormal external genital in a male fetus. A differential diagnosis of hypospadia was made. During follow-up, an amniocentesis was performed, and this showed a 45,X/46,X,idic(Y)(qter-p11.32::p11.32-qter) karyotype as the cause of the sonographic findings. Cytogenetic characterization of the isodicentric Y chromosome and pre- and post-natal findings in the child are reported. Cases with a similar karyotype reported in the literature are reviewed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prenatal diagnosis of respiratory chain deficiency by direct mutation screening

Respiratory chain deficiency (RCD) is responsible for a clinically heterogeneous group of early-onset untreatable disorders. Enzymological prenatal diagnosis (PD) can only be offered to a fraction of families. Moreover, due to the two-fold genetic origin of the respiratory chain (nuclear and mitochondrial DNA) and owing to the large number of nuclear genes involved in the respiratory chain assembly, maintenance and functioning, the identification of the disease causing gene in a given family remains challenging. Here, we report on PD of RCD by direct screening of NDUFV1, SDH-Fp, SCO1 and SURF1 mutations in five unrelated families with complex I, II and IV deficiency, respectively. The identification of the disease-causing gene in a given family with RCD is a major issue to provide both adequate genetic counselling and early, reliable PD. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

型煤自适应脱硫脱硝特性的实验研究

为了减少民用炉灶和小型工业锅炉燃烧污染,开发了一种自适应脱硫脱硝的型煤,主要由煤、造纸黑液和脱硫脱硝剂混合压制而成,研究该型煤的燃烧过程自适应脱硫脱硝作用。结果表明,造纸黑液可提高型煤的燃烧性能,添加质量分数为20%的造纸黑液,型煤燃尽时间可以缩短25%。同时,造纸黑液还可以脱硫脱硝。当造纸黑液质量分数为10%时,其脱硝效率达到40%,脱硫效率为24%。     

基于OMI数据的青岛市酸沉降通量估算

针对地面监测点位过少,不能满足大区域范围土壤酸沉降通量研究需求的现状,建立了基于OMI痕量气体遥感数据和地面观测数据的区域酸沉降通量估算方法,并对青岛市硫元素和氮元素沉降通量进行了估算。结果表明,新方法能够实现大区域范围土壤酸沉降通量的估算。与传统估算方法相比,新方法采用大气痕量气体遥感监测数据,是对酸沉降通量常规研究手段的有益补充。