Removal of heavy metals from anaerobically digested sewage sludge by isolated indigenous iron-oxidizing bacteria

The removal of heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Zn, Ni and Pb) from anaerobically digested sludge from the Yuen Long wastewater treatment plant, Hong Kong, has been studied in a batch system using isolated indigenous iron-oxidizing bacteria. The inoculation of indigenous iron-oxidizing bacteria and the addition of FeSO4 accelerated the solubilization of Cr, Cu, Zn, Ni and Pb from the sludge. pH of the sludge decreased with an increase in Fe2+ concentrations and reached a low pH of 2-2.5 for treatments receiving both bacterial inoculation and FeSO4. After 16 days of bioleaching, the following heavy metal removal efficiencies were obtained: Cr 55.3%, Cu 91.5%, Zn 83.3%, Ni 54.4%, and Pb 16.2%. In contrast, only 2.6% of Cr, 42.9% of Cu, 72.1% of Zn, 22.8% of Ni and 0.56% of Pb were extracted from the control without the bacterial inoculation and addition of FeSO4. The residual heavy metal content in the leached sludge was acceptable for unrestricted use for agriculture. The experimental results confirmed the effectiveness of using the isolated iron-oxidizing bacteria for the removal of heavy metals from sewage sludge.     

北京PM2.5化学物种的质量平衡特征

以北京2个采样点连续采集的样品对PM2.5中的元素、水溶性离子和含碳组分进行分析．车公庄和清华园PM2.5中有机物的含量分别为27．8％和30．9％,是含量最丰富的物种,其次是二次无机粒子、土壤尘、元素碳和微量元素．PM2.5中约有24％的质量未能鉴别成分,相关性分析表明,含碳物种的估算所引起的偏差可能是主要的原因．采暖期重污染周和春季沙尘周PM2.5的化学物种构成悬殊,反映了季节性变化的源排放和特殊气象条件的综合作用．     

Assessment of toxicity potential of metallic elements in discarded electronics: A case study of mobile phones in China

The electronic waste (e-waste) is increasingly flooding Asia,especially China.E-waste could precipitate a growing volume of toxic input to the local environment if it was not handed properly.This makes the evaluation of environmental impact from electronics an essentially important task for the life cycle assessment (LCA) and the end-of-life management of electronic products.This study presented a quantitative investigation on the environmental performance of typical electronics.Two types of disposed mobile...     

Manufacturing SMEs doing it for themselves: developing,testing and piloting an online sustainability and eco-innovation toolkit for SMEs

ABSTRACT

Public discourse frequently cites the damaging activities of large organisations on global environmental issues, but smaller organisations are rarely, if ever, featured. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) make up 99% of all businesses in the EU, cumulatively causing more industrial pollution and producing more waste than larger businesses. However, large companies are more likely to address sustainability issues than smaller ones. SMEs need help to change. In a collaborative approach, an online sustainability framework was developed to overcome the barriers contributing to the slow uptake in environmental management in SMEs. The views of owner-managers were incorporated throughout the development process. Best practice environmental tools and training were identified, which were designed in an SME-friendly way and made available online. This paper describes the development of the pilot Sustainability and Eco-Innovation (SEco) toolkit, followed by an analysis of its use. This research finds that a self-led toolkit was not enough to nudge SMEs to address environmental issues, despite being approved by owner-managers at each step.     

A protocol for eliciting nonmaterial values through a cultural ecosystem services frame

Stakeholders’ nonmaterial desires, needs, and values often critically influence the success of conservation projects. These considerations are challenging to articulate and characterize, resulting in their limited uptake in management and policy. We devised an interview protocol designed to enhance understanding of cultural ecosystem services (CES). The protocol begins with discussion of ecosystem‐related activities (e.g., recreation, hunting) and management and then addresses CES, prompting for values encompassing concepts identified in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) and explored in other CES research. We piloted the protocol in Hawaii and British Columbia. In each location, we interviewed 30 individuals from diverse backgrounds. We analyzed results from the 2 locations to determine the effectiveness of the interview protocol in elucidating nonmaterial values. The qualitative and spatial components of the protocol helped characterize cultural, social, and ethical values associated with ecosystems in multiple ways. Maps and situational, or vignette‐like, questions helped respondents articulate difficult‐to‐discuss values. Open‐ended prompts allowed respondents to express a diversity of ecosystem‐related values and proved sufficiently flexible for interviewees to communicate values for which the protocol did not explicitly probe. Finally, the results suggest that certain values, those mentioned frequently throughout the interview, are particularly salient for particular populations. The protocol can provide efficient, contextual, and place‐based data on the importance of particular ecosystem attributes for human well‐being. Qualitative data are complementary to quantitative and spatial assessments in the comprehensive representation of people's values pertaining to ecosystems, and this protocol may assist in incorporating values frequently overlooked in decision making processes.     

Political transition and emergent forest‐conservation issues in Myanmar

Political and economic transitions have had substantial impacts on forest conservation. Where transitions are underway or anticipated, historical precedent and methods for systematically assessing future trends should be used to anticipate likely threats to forest conservation and design appropriate and prescient policy measures to counteract them. Myanmar is transitioning from an authoritarian, centralized state with a highly regulated economy to a more decentralized and economically liberal democracy and is working to end a long‐running civil war. With these transitions in mind, we used a horizon‐scanning approach to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar's forests, including internal conflict, land‐tenure insecurity, large‐scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams. Averting these threats will require, for example, overhauling governance models, building capacity, improving infrastructure‐ and energy‐project planning, and reforming land‐tenure and environmental‐protection laws. Although challenges to conservation in Myanmar are daunting, the political transition offers an opportunity for conservationists and researchers to help shape a future that enhances Myanmar's social, economic, and environmental potential while learning and applying lessons from other countries. Our approach and results are relevant to other countries undergoing similar transitions.     

香港住宅室内环境及污染暴露量研究

对选定的14间香港住宅的PM10、CO、NO2等主要室内污染物浓度进行监测，通过建立多元线性回归模型，分析了室内．外PM10浓度与居民室内各种活动等其它有关因素之间的相关关系．结合香港居民日常时间安排调查的结果，计算出各种室内污染物的暴露量，对住宅室内环境污染对居民健康的影响进行了初步评估，提出了改善住宅室内环境的一些建议。     

Antenatal diagnosis of a congenital nasolacrimal duct cyst by ultrasonography: A case report

With proximal and distal obstruction to the lacrimal drainage system, mucus accumulates forming a cyst. In order to diagnose a nasolacrimal duct cyst antenatally, the sonographer must image the region adjacent to the orbits.     

Intermediate inhibition in the heterogeneous UV-catalysis using a TiO2 suspension system

Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) kinetic expression was used to develop a basic mathematical model, which could describe the inhibition of intermediates in the photocatalysis of 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) in a suspended TiO2 system. Results showed that the photocatalytic oxidation of 2-chlorophenol followed the L-H type behavior and the reaction by-products displayed an inhibiting effect on the degradation rate. The inhibition was estimated by comparing to observed and estimated half-lives. The higher the initial concentration of 2-chlorophenol, the higher the inhibition of photocatalytic reaction. The L-H kinetic has been modified slightly in this study to rationalize the contrast of inhibited behavior and to improve in favor of a surface reaction. The concentrations of 2-chlorophenol were investigated ranging from 7.78 x 10(-5) to 7.78 x 10(-4) mol l(-1). The degradation of 2-chlorophenol in this reaction condition approximates a first-order kinetics to near-complete degradation. Calculated kinetic profiles are in an excellent agreement with the experimental observation. The results of the theoretical analysis can be used to estimate reaction rates in different initial concentrations of target compound.