Bottom-Up Risk Regulation? How Nanotechnology Risk Knowledge Gaps Challenge Federal and State Environmental Agencies

Nanotechnologies have been called the "Next Industrial Revolution." At the same time, scientists are raising concerns about the potential health and environmental risks related to the nano-sized materials used in nanotechnologies. Analyses suggest that current U.S. federal regulatory structures are not likely to adequately address these risks in a proactive manner. Given these trends, the premise of this paper is that state and local-level agencies will likely deal with many "end-of-pipe" issues as nanomaterials enter environmental media without prior toxicity testing, federal standards, or emissions controls. In this paper we (1) briefly describe potential environmental risks and benefits related to emerging nanotechnologies; (2) outline the capacities of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act to address potential nanotechnology risks, and how risk data gaps challenge these regulations; (3) outline some of the key data gaps that challenge state-level regulatory capacities to address nanotechnologies' potential risks, using Wisconsin as a case study; and (4) discuss advantages and disadvantages of state versus federal approaches to nanotechnology risk regulation. In summary, we suggest some ways government agencies can be better prepared to address nanotechnology risk knowledge gaps and risk management.     

An Assessment of Road Impacts on Wildlife Populations in U.S. National Parks

Current United States National Park Service (NPS) management is challenged to balance visitor use with the environmental and social consequences of automobile use. Wildlife populations in national parks are increasingly vulnerable to road impacts. Other than isolated reports on the incidence of road-related mortality, there is little knowledge of how roads might affect wildlife populations throughout the national park system. Researchers at the Western Transportation Institute synthesized information obtained from a system-wide survey of resource managers to assess the magnitude of their concerns on the impacts of roads on park wildlife. The results characterize current conditions and help identify wildlife-transportation conflicts. A total of 196 national park management units (NPS units) were contacted and 106 responded to our questionnaire. Park resource managers responded that over half of the NPS units’ existing transportation systems were at or above capacity, with traffic volumes currently high or very high in one quarter of them and traffic expected to increase in the majority of units. Data is not generally collected systematically on road-related mortality to wildlife, yet nearly half of the respondents believed road-caused mortality significantly affected wildlife populations. Over one-half believed habitat fragmentation was affecting wildlife populations. Despite these expressed concerns, only 36% of the NPS units used some form of mitigation method to reduce road impacts on wildlife. Nearly half of the respondents expect that these impacts would only worsen in the next five years. Our results underscore the importance for a more systematic approach to address wildlife-roadway conflicts for a situation that is expected to increase in the next five to ten years.     

重庆市餐厨垃圾现状调查及处理对策研究

本文采用问卷调查的方式,对重庆主城区的312家餐厨垃圾产生单位进行了抽样调查,了解餐厨垃圾的产生情况、排放去向、收运和处理现状,剖析了目前重庆市餐厨垃圾处置和管理中存在公众认知程度不够、相关法律法规不健全、收集处置不规范、市场机制尚未建立等主要问题,并提出了相关对策建议。     

一种气溶胶测量仪器标定系统的设计及性能评估

对气溶胶测量仪器进行准确标定是保证大气环境及污染源颗粒物测量数据质量的重要前提.本研究搭建了一套多分散在线标定气溶胶测量仪器的系统,该系统采用超声气溶胶发生装置产生多分散颗粒物,并用空气动力学粒径谱仪对颗粒物粒径分布进行测量.评测结果表明该系统干燥腔室内气溶胶稳定、均匀,且符合对数正态分布.以采样器为例,已有研究多使用单分散离线标定方法对采样器切割性能进行标定,该方法操作繁琐、实验周期长.利用多分散在线标定系统对PM_(2.5)和PM_(10)双级虚拟撞击采样器进行标定,并与单分散离线标定方法进行了对比,两套系统的标定结果呈现较好的一致性,但多分散在线方法大大缩短了标定实验周期.     

电网企业废铅蓄电池回收模式与趋势分析

基于电网企业的废铅蓄电池产生和处置现状,结合我国废铅蓄电池回收工作进展,以华北地区为重点研究区域,提出委托回收、联合回收和自主回收3种废铅蓄电池回收利用模式.对于具有废铅蓄电池资质单位较多的地区,优先考虑全部委托回收模式,有助于降低法律风险,并节约人力、物力.对于环保管理相对创新和管理理念先进的地区,考虑依托地市公司建设收集网点,由省公司统一管理和转移,并联合有资质的回收企业开展回收.对于以营利为目的,期望扩大回收业务的地区,建议考虑自主回收模式.无论采用何种模式,国家电网及其电网企业应建立和完善废铅蓄电池的信息化系统,将电池采购、维护及产废信息、台账记录、管理计划、转移联单等信息纳入系统进行管理,并实现与政府部门危险废物信息系统的数据对接.     

城市生活垃圾填埋场甲烷收集效率研究

为提高垃圾填埋场CH4收集系统的收集效率,减少CH4的排放,对广州某生活垃圾填埋场CH4收集效率和填埋堆体表面CH4释放速率进行了研究.研究表明:采用US-EPA一级动力学模型计算出2010年该填埋场理论CH4产量为7.22×107m3,估算实际产量为(2.17～2.89)×107m3,实际收集量为1.75×107m3,实际收集量占估算实际产量的60.6%～80.6%.填埋作业面是填埋场主要的CH4排放源,年排放量为0.175×107m3,占实际收集量的10.0%.其中,陈垃圾作业面和新填垃圾作业面CH4的释放速率分别为4.17mol·m-·2h-1和0.29mol·m-·2h-1.     

面向Web的环境信息系统设计与实现

从开发的角度阐述了解决降低环境空间数据采集成本、提高环境信息的共享程度和范围的最佳途径，即通过建立面向Web的环境信息系统（Web-EIS），使不同部门、不同地区、不同领域之间直接进行信息共享和综合应用。对Web-EIS的构架、设计和实现方法进行了详细的分析，并以利用Java编程语言的方法开发出面向Web的武汉市城市环境地理信息系统为例介绍了其功能特点，很好地实现了Web-EIS。     

典型装甲车辆平台环境数据采集与数据库管理

通过54次不同条件下的跑车试验,使用温湿度和振动传感器采集了典型装甲车辆大量的平台环境数据。利用ASP＋SQL server2000设计了数据库管理软件,实现了对装甲车平台环境数据、二次数据、相关文献的有效管理和高效查询。     

交变电场中电凝并收尘理论与实验研究

应用类似于Ｗｉｌｌｉａｍｓ求声凝并系数的方法导出异性荷电粉尘在交变电场中的凝并九，根据并于粉尘凝并过程趋于“自保分布”的概念，建立了多分微性粉尘粒度分布随凝并变化的函数式，异性荷电粉尘在交变电场中的凝并实验结果表明，新型双区电凝并除尘装置的除尘效率不仅高于电除尘器，而且优于三区电凝并除尘装置。     

真空采血管顶空气相色谱法检测水中三氯甲烷、四氯化碳

采用真空采血管顶空填充柱气相色谱法测定水中三氯甲烷和四氯化碳,结果表明,三氯甲烷在10.0～50.0μg/L,四氯化碳在0.5～4.0μg/L浓度范围内呈良好线性关系,其r值分别为0.9994和0.9998;三氯甲烷和四氯化碳RSD分别在1.64%~2.27%和1.45%~2.40%之间;加标回收率分别在97.0%~103.5%和94.0%~103.2%之间。该方法操作简单,具有较好的灵敏度和准确度,适用于水中三氯甲烷和四氯化碳的检测。