Application of eggshell waste for the immobilization of cadmium and lead in a contaminated soil

Liming materials have been used to immobilize heavy metals in contaminated soils. However, no studies have evaluated the use of eggshell waste as a source of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) to immobilize both cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) in soils. This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of eggshell waste on the immobilization of Cd and Pb and to determine the metal availability following various single extraction techniques. Incubation experiments were conducted by mixing 0–5% powdered eggshell waste and curing the soil (1,246 mg Pb kg^?1 soil and 17 mg Cd kg^?1 soil) for 30 days. Five extractants, 0.01 M calcium chloride (CaCl₂), 1 M CaCl₂, 0.1 M hydrochloric acid (HCl), 0.43 M acetic acid (CH₃COOH), and 0.05 M ethylendiaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), were used to determine the extractability of Cd and Pb following treatments with CaCO₃ and eggshell waste. Generally, the extractability of Cd and Pb in the soils decreased in response to treatments with CaCO₃ and eggshell waste, regardless of extractant. Using CaCl₂ extraction, the lowest Cd concentration was achieved upon both CaCO₃ and eggshell waste treatments, while the lowest Pb concentration was observed using HCl extraction. The highest amount of immobilized Cd and Pb was extracted by CH₃COOH or EDTA in soils treated with CaCO₃ and eggshell waste, indicating that remobilization of Cd and Pb may occur under acidic conditions. Based on the findings obtained, eggshell waste can be used as an alternative to CaCO₃ for the immobilization of heavy metals in soils.     

Hybridization of the natural antibiotic, cinnamic acid, with layered double hydroxides (LDH) as green pesticide

Background, aim, and scope  

Heavy application of highly toxic synthetic pesticides has been committed to protect crops against insects and diseases, which have brought about serious environmental problems. Thus, an inevitable and fundamental issue has been how to protect crops without harmful effects on nature. As a fascinating nature-compatible approach, we have attempted to hybridize soil-compatible layered double hydroxides (LDHs) with natural antibiotic substances. Only a few of natural antibiotic substances are available for pest control mainly because of their inherent properties such as easy degradability, high minimum inhibition concentration for practical application, and often extremely low availability, whereas LDHs exhibit unique properties such as anion exchange capacity, acid lability, and high affinity to ubiquitous carbonate ion which make them an excellent inorganic matrix to carry labile biomolecules in soils. This study focuses on the behavior of cinnamate–LDH hybrid in soils and the evaluation of its potentials as a green pesticide.     

Growth dynamics of the seagrass <Emphasis Type="Italic">Halophila nipponica</Emphasis>, recently discovered in temperate coastal waters of the Korean peninsula

Seagrass species in the genus Halophila are usually distributed in tropical or subtropical areas, but a Halophila species identified as H. nipponica was first observed in temperate coastal regions of Korea in 2007. Since this species mainly occurs in warm temperate regions influenced by warm currents, we hypothesized that H. nipponica may exhibit different growth patterns from those of other temperate seagrass species in Korea, instead showing similar growth dynamics to tropical/subtropical species. The growth and morphology of H. nipponica in relation to coincident measurements of environmental factors were investigated from July 2008 to September 2009 to examine the growth dynamics of this species. Water temperature at the study site ranged from 9.7°C in January to 25.1°C in August. Shoot density, biomass, and productivity exhibited significant seasonal variation, increasing during summer and decreasing during winter. Productivity was severely restricted to nearly ceasing at water temperatures less than 15°C, and winter minimum growth lasted until May. The optimal temperature for H. nipponica growth was approximately 25°C, which was the maximum water temperature at the study site, and no growth reduction in high summer water temperature was observed. Thus, H. nipponica on the temperate coast of Korea exhibited a distinctly different growth pattern from those of temperate seagrass species in Korea, which have shown great reductions in growth at water temperatures higher than 20°C. Higher below- to above-ground ratio and leaf burial into sediments with shorter leaf petioles during winter might be overwintering strategies in this species. The growth patterns of H. nipponica at the study site imply that this species still possess the tropical characteristics of the genus Halophila.     

Analysis of gas flow behavior in an annular fluidized-bed reactor for polystyrene waste treatment

The characteristics of bubble properties and the chaotic flow behavior of gas were investigated in an annular fluidized bed (0.102 m in inner diameter and 2 m in height) because the behavior of gas flow in such a reactor is one of the important factors governing reactor operation, reactor performance, and the reaction itself. Pressure fluctuations as a state variable for the analysis of gas flow behavior were measured and analyzed. Bubble properties were determined by adopting the cross-correlation function of pressure fluctuations. The resultant chaotic flow behavior of gas was interpreted by means of chaotic parameters such as the Kolmogorov entropy. It was found that the Kolmogorov entropy could be utilized effectively to explain the nonlinear dynamic behavior of gas-solid flow in the annular fluidized bed. The pierced length and rising velocity of bubbles increased with increasing gas velocity, bed temperature, and particle size of the bed material. The bubble frequency increased with increasing gas velocity and bed temperature, while it decreased with increasing particle size of the bed material. Correlations to predict the bubble properties in annular fluidized-bed reactors were suggested.     

Minimizing the ecological impacts of oil spills

Oil spill response, whether planned by government agencies, oil spill cooperatives or individual companies, can be planned and carried out with the goal of minimizing ecological impacts, not merely removing visible oil. Two oil spill cooperatives on the west coast are implementing such planning. First, a coastal survey was conducted in the cooperative's area of responsibility. Physical processes and habitat types were examined. Oil spill cleanup guidelines were written for each habitat type. Biologically sensitive areas, those sites most vulnerable to oil spill impacts, were identified. Strategies were developed to protect most sensitive areas, i.e., prevent spilled oil from reaching them. Protection is the preferred option because it prevents both the impact of the oil and subsequent cleanup activities. Protected areas can often serve as repopulation centers for surrounding sites that may have been impacted. If minimizing ecological impact is to be a prime focus of oil spill response, ecologists should be involved in both the planning before and the field efforts during such spill events.     

The trends of composite environmental indices in Korea

In this paper we construct for the first time an annual Composite Environmental Index from 1986 to 1995 in Korea, which is useful for evaluating the efficiency of environmental policies. Nine types of environmental problems are examined. On average, the composite index has increased annually by 5.3% over the 1986-1995 period, which implies that overall environmental quality has deteriorated gradually during this period. Problems such as the greenhouse effect, loss of biodiversity, natural resource depletion, and ecotoxication led to deterioration of environmental quality in the 1990s.     

Are there higher pedestrian fatalities in larger cities?: A scaling analysis of 115 to 161 largest cities in the United States

Objective: In 2012, 4,743 pedestrians were killed in the United States, representing 14% of total traffic fatalities. The number of pedestrians injured was higher at 76,000. Therefore, 36 out of 52 of the largest cities in the United States have adopted a citywide target of reducing pedestrian fatalities. The number of cities adopting the reduction goal during 2011 and 2012 increased rapidly with 8 more cities. We examined the scaling relationship of pedestrian fatality counts as a function of the population size of 115 to 161 large U.S. cities during the period of 1994 to 2011. We also examined the scaling relationship of nonpedestrian and total traffic fatality counts as a function of the population size.

Methods: For the data source of fatality measures we used Traffic Safety Facts Fatality Analysis Reporting System/General Estimates System annual reports published each year from 1994 to 2011 by the NHTSA. Using the data source we conducted both annual cross-sectional and panel data bivariate and multivariate regression models. In the construction of the estimated functional relationship between traffic fatality measures and various factors, we used the simple power function for urban scaling used by Bettencourt et al. (2007 Bettencourt LMA, Lobo J, Helbing D, Kühnert C, West GB. Growth, innovation, scaling and the pace of life in cities. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2007;104:7301–7306.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2010 Bettencourt LMA, Lobo J, Strumsky D, West GB. Urban scaling and its deviations: revealing the structure of wealth, innovation and crime across cities. PLoS ONE. 2010;5:e13541.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and the refined STIRPAT (stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology) model used in Dietz and Rosa (1994 Dietz T, Rosa EA. Rethinking the environmental impacts of population, affluence and technology. Human Ecology Review. 1994;1:277–300. [Google Scholar], 1997 Dietz T, Rosa EA. Effects of population and affluence on CO₂ emissions. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1997;94:175–179.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and York et al. (2003 York R, Rosa EA, Dietz T. STIRPAT, IPAT and IMPACT: analytic tools for unpacking the driving forces of environmental impacts. Ecol Econ. 2003;46:351–365.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]).

Results: We found that the scaling relationship display diseconomies of scale or sublinear for pedestrian fatalities. However, the relationship displays a superlinear relationship in case of nonpedestrian fatalities. The scaling relationship for total traffic fatality counts display a nearly linear pattern. When the relationship was examined by the 4 subgroups of cities with different population sizes, the most pronounced sublinear scaling relationships for all 3 types of fatality counts was discovered for the subgroup of megacities with a population of more than 1 million.

Conclusions: The scaling patterns of traffic fatalities of subgroups of cities depend on population sizes of the cities in subgroups. In particular, 9 megacities with populations of more than 1 million are significantly different from the remaining cities and should be viewed as a totally separate group. Thus, analysis of the patterns of traffic fatalities needs to be conducted within the group of megacities separately from the other cities with smaller population sizes for devising prevention policies to reduce traffic fatalities in both megacities and smaller cities.     

不同粒径矿化垃圾对大麦生长发育和斑马鱼胚胎毒性效应研究

将太原东山新沟垃圾填埋场矿化垃圾筛分为900~300μm、300~150μm、150~105μm、105~90μm和90~0μm共5个不同粒径范围,制备浸出液。在分析不同粒径矿化垃圾浸出液的理化指标基础上,研究了矿化垃圾浸出液对大麦和斑马鱼胚胎生长发育的影响。结果显示,矿化垃圾浸出液p H值随粒径的减小而减小,电导率、CODCr、全盐量和总氮则随粒径的减小而增大。矿化垃圾浸出液对大麦的萌发、根长和芽长均表现出抑制作用,且抑制作用随粒径的减小而显著增加,90~0μm抑制作用最强,具体表现为染毒1 d、2 d和3 d后,大麦种子处理组萌发率为对照组的39.74%、56.38%和59.81%;染毒3 d、5 d和7 d后,根长分别为对照组的57.08%、48.33%和41.66%;芽长分别为对照组的66.60%、64.79%和61.65%。斑马鱼胚胎暴露于不同粒径的矿化垃圾浸出液中,胚胎生长发育的毒害作用与粒径大小呈现明显负相关关系,即在最小粒径90~0μm处理后,卵凝结、血循环异常、孵化率、心包水肿及脊柱畸形影响作用达到最大,这5个指标值分别为40.28%、50.00%、51.39%、31.94%和29.17%。以上研究表明,矿化垃圾浸出液对大麦和斑马鱼胚胎生长发育的毒性效应与矿化垃圾粒径分布显著相关,小粒径矿化垃圾(90~0μm)的生态毒性效应最大。     

外加磷提高生物预处理效果的试验研究

利用国内研究较多的生物陶粒滤池预处理工艺,在我国北方某水库原水中添加微量的磷,考察磷对生物预处理的促进作用通过生物分析方法,发现在原水水样中添加50μg/L的PO₄^3--P(NaH₂PO₄)后,可以促进原水中细菌的生长,BDOC也有所增加,证明了原水中磷对细菌生长的限制因子作用陶粒滤池的实际运行结果表明,对于本试验所用原水,添加25μg/L的PO₄^3--P(H₃PO₄)后,生物陶粒滤池对水中CODMn的去除率平均提高4.7个百分点,UV254和TOC的去除率分别提高3.6和5.7个百分点.由此为提高生物预处理的运行效果提供了一个新的思路,也说明磷在饮用水中的作用需要引起重视.