Heavy Metal Contents and Magnetic Properties of Playground Dust in Hong Kong

This study examined the levels of seven heavy metals (namelyzinc, copper, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese and iron) andtheir associations with magnetic properties in playground dustof Hong Kong. Results showed that the playground dust containedhigh concentrations of Zn (mean = 1883 g g^-1), Cu(mean = 143 g g^-1) and Cr (mean = 263 g g^-1).Qualitative examination of dust samples under microscope indicated local traffic as one of the important pollutant sources. Magnetic measurements indicated that these anthropogenicpollutants mainly consisted of coarse-grained multidomain (MD) ferrimagnetic minerals. Superparamagnetic (SP), stable single domain (SSD) ferrimagnetic grains and non-ferrimagnetic mineralswere present in relatively small amounts. Significant correlations between heavy metals and various magnetic parametersindicated a strong affinity of heavy metals to magnetic minerals hence pointed out the potential of magnetic properties for simpleand rapid proxy indications of heavy metal pollution in playground dust.     

A Multi-Channel Continuous Water Toxicity Monitoring System: Its Evaluation and Application to Water Discharged from a Power Plant

A multi-channel continuous water toxicity monitoring system was, after confirming the systems' performance, implemented to samples of water discharged from power plants to detect and classify their toxicity using several recombinant bioluminescent bacteria. Each channel of the system is composed of a series of two mini-bioreactors to enable a continuous operation, i.e., without system interruption due to highly toxic samples. A different recombinant bacterial strain was present in each channel: DPD2540 (fabA::lux CDABE), DPD2794 (recA::luxCDABE), and TV1061 (grpE::luxCDABE), which are induced by cell membrane-, DNA-, and protein-damaging agents, respectively. GC2 (lac::luxCDABE) is a constitutive strain, whose bioluminescence is reduced by an increase in cellular toxicity. Phenol and mitomycin C (MMC) were used for evaluating the system's performance to detect toxic chemicals. These samples were injected into the second mini-bioreactor according to a step or bell-curve manner. The field samples used in this study were obtained from the water discharged from two different power plants in Korea – from a nuclear power plant and a thermo-electronic power plant, and were injected into the second mini-bioreactor to initiate the toxicity test. Each channel showed specific bioluminescent (BL) response profiles due to the toxic compounds present in the water samples. Comparing the BL signals between the standard toxic chemical samples and discharged water samples, the equivalent toxicity of the field water could be estimated. Finally, it was proved that this novel continuous toxicity monitoring system can be used as an alternative tool for the quick monitoring and control of water quality, as well as aid in the setting up of a new monitoring strategy to protect the source of tap water and in the prevention of polluted water discharge.     

浑河抚顺市区段污染趋势分析

采用各种模型，对2010年浑河抚顺市区段污染趋势预测分析。结果表明，经济社会增长的同时入河污染物量大副增加，水环境也严重超标，必须采取相应防治对策。     

EM对SBR反应器影响初试研究

EM对SBR反应器的影响进行了初试研究,主要考察了在pH值为8.0,EM接种量为1∶10000(VEM:V污水)条件下,SBR反应器对生活污水中COD,T P,NH3-N的去除效果,以及对污泥性状改变的作用,得到了COD去除效果好于普通SBR(最高可达17.7%),NH3-N去除率两者持平,T P去除效果不明显,以及EM菌群能优化污泥性状的结论,并在此基础上确定了最佳运行模式,为下一步研究提供了一定的基础。     

烟酰胺降解菌的筛选及其降解特性

采用HPLC对某烟酰胺生产废水的主要成分进行分析,并模拟废水中的主要成分烟酰胺(nicotinamide)的浓度,对以烟酰胺为唯一碳源配制的培养基进行降解实验,获得有较佳降解率和生长能力的菌株YSI-1和YSI-2.结果表明,YSI菌株的混合菌降解效果优于单株菌,混合菌在初始OD600值为0.4,pH为7.0时,对浓度为2000 mg/L的烟酰胺降解2 d的降解率可达32.8%.延长处理时间或提高菌种的初始OD600值,烟酰胺的去除率均有较大的增加.     

公众环境权益不可侵犯

八月,环保电波划过南粤天空。 “各位听众,上午好,我是广东省环保局局长李清,很高兴能有机会在‘民声热线’栏目中与大家交流……”8月8日上午11：30分,广东省环保局局长李清上线“民声热线”,在广东省电台直播间亲自解答群众来电和短信提问。这是广东省环保局首次参加由广东省政府纠风办、广东省电台联合主办的“民声热线”上线直播节目。     

广州白云国际机场噪声污染评价

通过对广州白云国际机场噪声污染现状的分析和评价,表明,飞机起飞和降落时产生的噪声污染严重。地处航线下的荔湾区10多家中小学的教学活动、医院的医疗活动以及居民的生活、学习、工作由于飞机的频繁升降,均受到了不同程度的影响。对拟建的新白云国际机场噪声污染的预测表明,2005年在LWECPN>85dB环境下生活的人数约1.35万,80dB～85dB环境下生活的人数约2.3万,75dB～80dB环境下生活的人数约5.1万,70dB～75dB环境下生活的人数约10.1万。     

Evaluating the usability of a commercial cooling vest in the Hong Kong industries

Objective. The provision of appropriate personal cooling vests is recognized as an effective measure to combat heat stress. However, personal cooling vests are not widely implemented in the Hong Kong industries. The current study aims to evaluate the usability of a hybrid cooling vest that is associated with the success of its application in industrial settings. Methods. A self-administrated questionnaire focusing on 10 subjective attributes of cooling effect, ergonomic design and usability of a hybrid cooling vest was administered with 232 occupational workers in the construction, horticultural and cleaning, airport apron services and kitchen and catering industries. Results. A structural equation model estimated by analysis of moment structures was constructed to evaluate the usability of the cooling vest, as influenced by cooling effect and ergonomic design. Results showed that cooling effect (path coefficient?=?0.69, p?p?Conclusions. The structural equation model is feasible to examine the complex nature of the structural relationships among the subjective perceptions of personal cooling vests. The empirical findings furnish sound evidence for further optimization of the hybrid cooling vest in terms of cooling effect and ergonomic design for occupational workers.     

Removal of dye using peroxidase-immobilized Buckypaper/polyvinyl alcohol membrane in a multi-stage filtration column via RSM and ANFIS

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The feasibility and performance of Jicama peroxidase (JP) immobilized Buckypaper/polyvinyl alcohol (BP/PVA) membrane for methylene blue (MB) dye...     

Stream discharge characteristics through urbanization gradient in Danshui River, Taiwan: perspectives from observation and simulation

Urbanization and the subsequent changes in land use/cover inevitably influence the quality and even the quantity of stream water. This issue is widely studied through evaluations on land-use change scenarios or comparisons among historical patterns at the same watershed. However, observational stream discharge changes through urbanization gradient have rarely been discussed. In this study, we analyzed 5-year discharge data from 13 gauges in the Danshui River network with a wide range of urbanization gradient to explore the impacts on observational hydrological characteristics in individual catchments. The results reveal that stream discharge in pristine watersheds is characterized by a larger proportion of baseflow and is less fluctuating. When the forest coverage is <90%, the discharge fluctuation almost doubles. Meanwhile, the baseflow fraction decreases gradually with the increase of paddy area, which may concomitantly result from the increasing irrigation. Such a drop in baseflow may threaten the maintenance of the minimum flow required for the stream aquatic ecosystem. Furthermore, we simulated the stream discharges by TOPMODEL with blind land-use-independent parameters. The results show that the simulated discharges are satisfactory, particularly for the pristine catchments, but not as fitting for the paddy-intensive watersheds perhaps due to the unexpected irrigation. On the whole, the calibrated parameters are dependent with the landscape characteristics. The landscape-based parameter estimations can be applied to simulate discharge well, meaning the potential to assess the ungauged watersheds.