Factors influencing farmers’ decisions on nitrogen fertilizer application in the Liangzihu Lake basin,Central China

Overuse of nitrogen (N) fertilizers in agriculture activities has caused severe water pollution in China. The lack of data at producer level hampers decision makers in the development and implementation of efficient policies to curb excessive N-fertilizer use. In a survey of 300 farm households in the Liangzihu Lake basin, we identified factors associated with farmers’ decisions on N-fertilizer use and application rate. Household survey and multiple linear regression models indicate that the average application rate in the study region is 229 kg N ha^?1, which exceeds the recommended rate for maximum profit for cereal crops (maize, wheat, and rice) in China of 150–180 kg N ha^?1. High N-application rates are associated with low farmland productivity (coefficient = ?15.66, p = 0.02), a high share of off-farm income (coefficient = 27.14, p = 0.003), and a low education level of the household head (coefficient = ?10.83, p = 0.039). Neither physical infrastructure nor access to input markets appears to be related to N-application rates. It may be concluded that excessive use of N in agriculture of Central China is mainly a problem of insufficient awareness and high share of off-farm income.     

An insight into the drag effect of water,land, and energy on economic growth across space and time: the application of improved Solow growth model

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Economies that depend on natural resources can experience a resource drag effect when economic growth is limited by constraints on the availability of...     

磺胺嘧啶对纯膜MBBR氨氧化性能及氨氧化菌群的影响

通过向NH₄⁺-N质量浓度为30 mg·L⁻¹的合成废水中投加不同剂量磺胺嘧啶(SDZ)(0、1、3、5、7和10 mg·L^–1),比较了SDZ浓度对一台60 L单级纯膜移动床生物膜反应器(pure MBBR)的氨氧化速率、amoA基因丰度和氨氧化细菌(AOB)种群结构的影响,揭示了磺胺嘧啶对纯膜MBBR系统中氨氧化作用的影响机制。结果表明：1~3 mg·L^–1的SDZ显著提升了纯膜MBBR系统的氨氧化速率(P<0.05),出水${\rm{NH}}_4^{+} $-N质量浓度可降低至(0.19±0.10) mg·L^–1;5~10 mg·L^–1的SDZ仍能促进${\rm{NH}}_4^{+} $-N去除,但氨氧化速率变化相对平缓。相比于氨氧化古菌(AOA),AOB为纯膜MBBR氨氧化的主导者,AOB amoA基因丰度是AOA amoA基因丰度的12.2~168.5倍。1~10 mg·L^–1的磺胺嘧啶暴露显著抑制了AOB amoA基因丰度(P<0.05),但能有效刺激AOA amoA基因丰度上调(P<0.05)。高通量测序结果表明,添加磺胺嘧啶改变了AOB的种群多样性及结构,且1~3 mg·L^–1的SDZ能显著促进AOB种群多样化和亚硝化螺菌属(Nitrosospira)生长(P<0.05)。SDZ对氮源的补充、对AOB与AOA丰度占比的改变、对微生物耐药性的促进以及对AOB种群结构的干扰是其影响纯膜MBBR氨氧化过程的主要机制。     

Treatment of fluorine-containing pharmaceutical wastewater by VUV/UV process

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - As an advanced oxidation process, vacuum ultraviolet/ultraviolet (VUV/UV) has been intensively studied for drinking water treatment, but assessment of...     

Occurrence,source apportionment,and carcinogenic risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban road dusts in Shanghai

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as a class of important environmental pollutants, have received considerable concern due to their widespread...     

Magnetic properties of biogenic selenium nanomaterials

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Bioreduction of selenium oxyanions to elemental selenium is ubiquitous; elucidating the properties of this biogenic elemental selenium (BioSe) is thus...     

Removal of SO2 from smelting flue gas by using copper tailings with MnSO4: factors optimization by response surface methodology

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The abatement of SO2 and the utilization of copper tailings are identified as two attention-attracting environmental issues in the copper smelter. In...     

Facile in situ synthesis of silver nanocomposites based on cellulosic paper for photocatalytic applications

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this work, various photocatalysts were synthesized with an impregnation-precipitation process to in situ decorate Ag-based nanoparticles (NPs,...     

The interaction effects of FEN1 rs174538 polymorphism and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure on damage in exon 19 and 21 of EGFR gene in coke oven workers

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure and genetic susceptibility were conductive to genotoxic effects including gene damage, which can increase mutational probability. We aimed to explore the dose-effect associations of PAH exposure with damage of exons of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1), as well as their associations whether modified by Flap endonuclease 1 (FEN1) genotype. Two hundred eighty-eight coke oven male workers were recruited, and we detected the concentration of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OH-pyr) as PAH exposure biomarker in urine and examined base modification in exons of EGFR and BRCA1 respectively, and genotyped FEN1 rs174538 polymorphism in plasma. We found that the damage indexes of exon 19 and 21 of EGFR (EGFR-19 and EGFR-21) were both significantly associated with increased urinary 1-OH-pyr (both P_trend < 0.001). The levels of urinary 1-OH-pyr were both significantly associated with increased EGFR-19 and EGFR-21 in both smokers and nonsmokers (both P < 0.001). Additionally, we observed that the urinary 1-OH-pyr concentrations were linearly associated with both EGFR-19 and EGFR-21 only in rs174538 GA+AA genotype carriers (both P < 0.001). Moreover, FEN1rs rs174538 showed modifying effects on the associations of urinary 1-OH-pyr with EGFR-19 and EGFR-21 (both P_interaction < 0.05). Our findings revealed the linear dose-effect association between exon damage of EGFR and PAH exposure and highlight differences in genetic contributions to exon damage and have the potential to identify at-risk subpopulations who are susceptible to adverse health effects induced by PAH exposure.

     

Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in a PCL-supported constructed wetland with limited aeration

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Considerable advances have been made in the substrate design and operation strategies of constructed wetlands to facilitate nitrogen elimination....