Environmental impact and human exposure to PCBs in Guiyu, an electronic waste recycling site in China

PCB levels in fish (collected from local rivers), atmosphere and human milk samples have been studied to determine the exposure levels of PCBs for local residents and e-waste workers in Guiyu, a major electronic waste scrapping center in China. The source appointment and correlation analyses showed that homologue composition of PCBs in 7 species of fish were consistent and similar to commercial PCBs Aroclor 1248. PCB levels in air surrounding the open burning site were significantly higher than those in residential area. Inhalation exposure contributed 27% and 93% to the total body loadings (the sum of dietary and inhalation exposure) of the local residents, and e-waste workers engaged in open burning respectively. Total PCB concentrations in human milk ranged from N.D. to 57.6 ng/g lipid, with an average of 9.50 ng/g lipid. The present results indicated that commercial PCBs derived from e-waste recycling are major sources of PCBs accumulating in different environmental media, leading to the accumulation of high chlorinated biphenyls in human beings.     

Recent socio-economic changes in relation to environmental quality of the Pearl River delta

Due to the favorable weather, abundant water resources and fertile soil, the area has been known as the homeland for crops and fish. However, being one of the most developed regions in China, the environmental quality of the Pearl River delta has deteriorated due to recent socio-economic changes during the past two decades. The drivers are industrialization and economic growth, population growth and agricultural development; and the pressures are water pollution which include nutrients and suspended solids, pesticides, other persistent toxic substances (PAHs and PCBs) and oil. These have imposed various impacts such as eutrophication, formation of red tides and biomagnification of organic contaminants through food chains. In response to these, regulatory measures have been established by the Environmental Protection Bureau of Guangdong Province, joining forces with environmental protection authorities in all urban cities and most counties, in addition to the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department, to control pollution in order to prevent further environmental deterioration and economic loss. The present paper is an attempt by following the DPSIR approach promoted by the OECD in the early 1990s and further developed by IGBP LOICZ to review the environmental quality of Pearl River with emphasis on water quality and the impact of rapid socio-economic changes.     

Occurrence and fate of hormone steroids in the environment

Hormone steroids are a group of endocrine disruptors, which are excreted by humans and animals. In this paper, we briefly review the current knowledge on the fate of these steroids in the environment. Natural estrogenic steroids estrone (E1), 17beta-estradiol (E2) and estriol (E3) all have a solubility of approximately 13 mg/l, whereas synthetic steroids 17alpha-ethynylestradiol (EE2) and mestranol (MeEE2) have a solubility of 4.8 and 0.3 mg/l, respectively. These steroids have a moderate binding on sediments and are reported to degrade rapidly in soil and water. Estrogenic steroids have been detected in effluents of sewage treatment plants (STPs) in different countries at concentrations ranging up to 70 ng/l for E1, 64 ng/l for E2, 18 ng/l for E3 and 42 ng/l for EE2. E2 concentrations in river waters from Japan, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands ranged up to 27 ng/l. In addition, E2 concentrations ranging from 6 to 66 ng/l have also been measured in mantled karst aquifers in northwest Arkansas. This contamination of ground water has been associated with poultry litter and cattle manure waste applied on the land. Although hormone steroids have been detected at a number of sources worldwide, currently, there is limited data on the environmental behaviour and fate of these hormone steroids in different environmental media. Consequently, the exposure and risk associated with these chemicals are not adequately understood.     

黑水河下游鱼类资源现状及其保护措施

为了解白鹤滩蓄水运行前黑水河下游鱼类资源的现状、受到的主要威胁及其保护措施,于2014年1~12月在黑水河下游干支流江段采用电捕法进行了渔获物调查。结果显示:12个月共调查发现鱼类28种,隶属于3目8科23属,其中喜流水生境、产粘沉性卵、以着生藻类或/和底栖动物为食物的鱼类种类较多;调查区域鱼类个体规格普遍较小,其中齐口裂腹鱼Schizothorax prenanti、短体副鳅Paracobitis potanini、红尾副鳅Paracobitis varigatus、短须裂腹鱼Schizothorax wangchiachii、前鳍高原鳅Triplophysa anterodorsalis、中华纹胸鮡Glyptothorax sinense和凹尾拟鲿Pseudobagrus emarginatus为调查区域的主要经济鱼类;上半年和下半年的渔获物结构在统计学上差异显著(R=0.81,p=0.1%0.05),鱼类在金沙江干流和黑水河下游之间的相互迁徙比较明显;CPUE呈现先波动下降然后逐月上升的趋势,其中10月份的CPUE最低;丰度生物量比较曲线显示2014年各月的渔获物结构均处于严重干扰状态。黑水河下游河道采砂以及过度捕捞是白鹤滩蓄水前影响黑水河下游鱼类资源的主要因素,建议通过控制采砂的江段、采砂的时间以及全面禁捕保护该区域的鱼类资源。     

川东平行岭谷区野生春剑伴生植物群落特征研究

为了对春剑野生种群生物多样性保护和再引入生态重建提供理论和技术基础,采用典型样地调查法,对川东平行岭谷区野生春剑伴生植物群落特征进行了研究。结果表明：野生春剑主要分布在松科与壳斗科针阔混交林、壳斗科常绿 落叶阔叶混交林和松树林植物群落,伴生植物有40科58属70种,优势种主要是乔木层的马尾松、青冈、巴山松、油松等,灌木层的杜鹃花、马桑、山茶花等,草本层的蕨类和地被层的苔藓。其中,马尾松、杜鹃花、蕨类、苔藓具有较高的重要值,可作为野生春剑栖息地的指示植物。春剑伴生植物种类具有相对的特异性和选择性,与其它群落相比,群落3、群落4和群落6物种多样性指数H′和均匀度指数E都相对较低,松科和壳斗科植物个体数量较多并占有突出地位,春剑种群的生态密度也相对较高。虽然川东平行岭谷区野生春剑的适生生境条件依然存在,但春剑种群数量总体较小,种群的生态密度在11～60株/hm2,人为破坏性的滥采,是其濒危的直接原因。加强野生春剑资源的就地保护和生境保护,突破春剑种子野生环境共生萌发技术瓶颈,积极开展春剑的“再引入”工作,是春剑保育策略的重要方向     

鄱阳湖流域水化学环境参数的变化特征

分别于2010年2月和7月,对鄱阳湖湖区和入湖河流的pH、TDS以及主要离子浓度进行了测定,分析了主要离子组成的时空变化特征及其影响机制。结果表明,鄱阳湖流域水体属于弱矿化度软水,Ca2+是湖水和河水的主要阳离子,分别占阳离子总数〖JP〗的5935%、4989%;HCO-3是湖水和河水的主要阴离子,分别占阴离子总数的5337%、5937%,水质类型为Ca-HCO-3型水;主要离子组成和TDS浓度具有明显的季节和沿程变化特征,这与降雨季节性变化以及不同水系的地质背景有关;从河流水系上游至湖区的水化学特征依次为HCO-3型、HCO-3-SO2-4和SO2-4型。从水化学控制机制上看,鄱阳湖丰水期受大气降水作用和地质条件影响显著,而枯水期降雨量大大减少,主要受岩石风化、蒸发沉淀作用和人为输入的影响。除此之外,SO2-4型水的增加与长江干流酸化以及丰水期长江顶托倒灌现象有密切关系     

鄱阳湖克氏原螯虾的分布现状及其群体外部形态聚类分析

克氏原螯虾(Procambarus clarkii)作为外来入侵物种,对淡水水生生物的多样性已构成严重威胁为国内外学者所共识。有鉴于此,本项目通过对环鄱阳湖湖盆地域9县（市）计12个调查点进行样本采集,并对其多个形态学指标进行测量和数据聚类分析,以探讨克氏原螯虾在该地域的地理分布现状。研究结果表明,克氏原螯虾在鄱阳湖湖盆地域已占据一定的生态地位,并呈现全湖广泛分布及泛滥孳生趋势,已形成对其他水生生物多样性和生态系统稳定的潜在威胁;聚类分析结果显示,鄱阳湖克氏原螯虾群体外部形态上分为两个类群,即星子县、永修县、共青城市群体为一类,鄱阳县、新建县、余干县群体聚成一类,两类群似不存在地域上的交叉,但尚不能说明这两类群为完全不同的群体。同时,提出了防控克氏原螯虾的可行性建议     

Upgrading food wastes by means of bromelain and papain to enhance growth and immunity of grass carp (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ctenopharyngodon idella</Emphasis>)

The fast growing of global aquaculture industry accompanied with increasing pressure on the supply and price of traditional feed materials (e.g., fish meal and soy bean meal). This circumstance has urged the need to search alternative sources of feed stuff. Food waste was used as feed stuff in rearing fish which possess substantial protein and lipid. Grass carp are major species reared in Hong Kong with lower nutritional requirements; it is also an ideal species for investigating the feasibility of using food waste as fish feeds for local aquaculture industry. The growth and immunity, reflected by total protein, total immunologlobulin (IgI), and nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) activity of grass carp blood, were depressed when feeding with food waste feeds without enzymes. However, the supplementation of bromelain and papain in fish feed enhanced the efficient use of food waste by grass carp, which in turn improved the fish immunity. The present results indicated that the addition of those enzymes could enhance the feed utilization by fish and hematological parameters of grass carp, and the improvement on growth and immunity superior to the control (commercial feed) was observed with the addition of bromelain and papain supplement. Addition of 1 and 2 % mixture of bromelain and papain could significantly enhance the lipid utilization in grass carp.     

Simultaneous determination of estrogenic odorant alkylphenols,chlorophenols, and their derivatives in water using online headspace solid phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A simple online headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was developed for simultaneous determination of trace amounts of nine estrogenic odorant alkylphenols and chlorophenols and their derivatives in water samples. The extraction conditions of HS-SPME were optimized including fiber selection, extraction temperature, extraction time, and salt concentration. Results showed that divinylbenzene/Carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) fiber was the most appropriate one among the three selected commercial fibers, and the optimal extraction temperature, time, and salt concentration were 70 °C, 30 min, and 0.25 g/mL, respectively. The developed method was validated and showed good linearity (R ²?>?0.989), low limit of detection (LOD, 0.002–0.5 μg/L), and excellent recoveries (76–126 %) with low relative standard deviation (RSD, 0.7–12.9 %). The developed method was finally applied to two surface water samples and some of these target compounds were detected. All these detected compounds were below their odor thresholds, except for 2,4,6-TCAS and 2,4,6-TBAS wherein their concentrations were near their odor thresholds. However, in the two surface water samples, these detected compounds contributed to a certain amount of estrogenicity, which seemed to suggest that more attention should be paid to the issue of estrogenicity rather than to the odor problem.     

Restoring ecosystems,restoring community: socioeconomic and cultural dimensions of a community-based coral reef restoration project

Environmental restoration projects are commonly touted for their ecological positives, but such projects can also provide significant socioeconomic and cultural benefits to local communities. We assessed the social dimensions of a large-scale coral reef restoration project in Maunalua Bay, O‘ahu, where >1.32 million kg of invasive marine macroalgae was removed from 11 hectares (90,000 m²; 23 acres) of impacted coral reef in an urbanized setting. We interviewed 131 community stakeholders and analyzed both quantitative and qualitative data to assess human uses of the environment, assess perceptions of environmental health, and characterize social dimensions (+/?) associated with the invasive algae removal effort. Results indicate substantial direct economic benefits, including the creation of more than 60+ jobs, benefiting more than 250 individuals and 81 households. The project helped develop a skilled workforce in a local business dedicated to environmental restoration and increased the capacity of community organizations to address other threats to reefs and watersheds. Other major benefits include revitalization of Native Hawaiian cultural practices and traditions and the successful use of harvested invasive algae as compost by local farmers. Our results show the project heightened community awareness and a broader sense of stewardship in the area, creating enabling conditions for collective community action. Our findings show that restoration projects that explicitly incorporate efforts to build community awareness, involvement, and a shared responsibility for a site may ultimately create the long-term capacity for sustainable stewardship programs. We conclude by discussing lessons learned for engaging productively with communities in environmental restoration and stewardship, which remains a central focus in conservation worldwide.