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. 相似文献
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. 相似文献
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Soil conditioners can be used to compensate for the insufficient soil nutrition and organic matter (OM) of arable soils. However, the traditional... 相似文献
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, the immature mice were taken to assess the potential neurological toxicity of lead (Pb) and di (n-butyl) phthalates (DBP) combination... 相似文献
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Paspalum distichum L. was tested to evaluate their phytoremediation capacity for Hg contaminated soil through analyzing the dissipation of Hg in soil... 相似文献
The Yellow River Delta is the largest and youngest estuarine and coastal wetland in China and is experiencing the most active interactions of seawater and freshwater in the world. Bacteria played multifaceted influence on soil biogeochemical processes, and it was necessary to investigate the intermodulation between the soil factors and bacterial communities. Soil samples were collected at sites with different salinity degree, vegetations, and interference. The sequences of bacilli were tested using 16S rRNA sequencing method and operational taxonomic units were classified with 97% similarity. The soil was highly salinized and oligotrophic, and the wetland was nitrogen-restricted. Redundancy analysis suggested that factors related with seawater erosion were principal to drive the changes of soil bacterial communities and then the nutrient level and human disturbance. A broader implication was that, in the early succession stages of the coastal ecosystem, seawater erosion was the key driver of the variations of marine oligotrophic bacterial communities, while the increasing nutrient availability may enhance in the abundance of the riverine copiotrophs in the late stages. This study provided new insights on the characteristics of soil bacterial communities in estuarine and coastal wetlands.
Engineered oxide nanoparticles (NPs) are widely applied in insulators, catalyzers, paints, cosmetic products, textiles and semiconductors. Their attachment on cell membrane may lead to cytotoxicity. The effects of Al2O3, Fe2O3, SiO2, TiO2 and ZnO NPs on membrane integrity and fluidity were studied using giant or small unilamellar vesicles in this study. Al2O3 and SiO2 NPs disrupted the oppositely charged membrane, indicating the important role of electrostatic attraction. However, Fe2O3, TiO2 and ZnO NPs did not cause serious membrane disruption as Al2O3 and SiO2 NPs. Membrane fluidity was evaluated by the generalized polarity (GP) values of Laurdan fluorescent emission. SiO2 NPs induce the membrane gelation of both positively and negatively charged membrane. Al2O3 and ZnO NPs induced the gelation of the oppositely charged membrane, but did not cause obvious membrane gelation to the like charged membrane. The phospholipid molecular structural changes after NP exposure were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. FT-IR spectra revealed the hydrogen bond formation between NPs and the carbonyl/phosphate groups of phospholipids. Al2O3 and SiO2 NPs showed strongest evidence of hydrogen bonding on their FT-IR spectra. It was consistent with the microscopic observation and fluorescent data that Al2O3 and SiO2 NPs caused more serious membrane disruption and gelation. This study on membrane damage provides further knowledge on the cytotoxicity of nanomaterials and the safety of NP application. 相似文献
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. 相似文献