Dissipation of Endosulfan and Dichlorvos Residues In/On Cauliflower Curds

Dissipation behaviour of endosulfan and dichlorvos in/on cauliflower, variety Snowball-16, was studied during rabi season (Sep.–March) 2003–2004. Endosulfan and dichlorvos were sprayed @ 350 and 110g a.i. with 115 g a.i., respectively, 80 days after transplanting. Samples were taken at the interval of 0 (1h after spray), 3, 5, 7, and 10 days after spray (DAS) in triplicate and residues were estimated on GC-ECD system equipped with capillary column. The initial deposits of 3.452 and 0.295μgg⁻¹ of endosulfan and dichlorvos dissipated to 0.084 (97.56%) and 0.009 (96.95%), respectively after 10 DAS. Residues of endosulfan reached below maximum residue limit of 2μgg⁻¹ one day after spray and of dichlorvos were below MRL value of 0.5μgg⁻¹ even on 0 day. Dissipation pattern followed first order kinetics for both the insecticides with half life periods of 1.81 and 2.08 days for endosulfan and dichlorvos, respectively.     

Cancer and Non-Cancer Health Risk from Eating Cassava Grown in Some Mining Communities in Ghana

Food crops such as cassava, cocoyam and other tuber crops grown in mining communities uptake toxic or hazardous chemicals such as arsenic, and cadmium, from the soil. Cassava is a stable food for Ghanaians. This study evaluated human health risk from eating cassava grown in some mining communities in Ghana such as Bogoso, Prestea, Tarkwa and Tamso, which are important mining towns in the Western Region of Ghana. The study evaluated cancer and non-cancer health effects from eating cassava grown in the study areas in accordance with US Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Assessment guidelines. The results of the study revealed the following: cancer health risk for Tamso, 0.098 (RME – Reasonable Maximum Exposure) and 0.082 (CTE – Central Tendency Exposure). This means that approximately 10 and 8 out of 100 resident adults are likely to suffer from cancer related cases by RME and CTE parameters respectively. For Prestea, we have 0.010 and 0.12, which also means that approximately 1 out of 100 and 10 resident adults out of 100 are also likely to suffer from cancer related diseases by RME and CTE parameters. The results of the study obtained were found to be above the acceptable cancer risk range of 1× 10⁻⁶ to 1× 10⁻⁴, i.e., 1 case of cancer out of 1 million or 100,000 people respectively.     

新型介孔薄膜涂层固相微萃取-气相色谱法测定塑料浸取液中的邻苯二甲酸二(2-乙基己基)酯

自制新型介孔薄膜涂层固相微萃取头,结合顶空固相微萃取-气相色谱法(HS-SPME-GC),测定水溶液中的邻苯二甲酸二(2-乙基己基)酯(DEHP)。结果表明,该方法具有良好的线性范围(0.1～2000μgL),检出限为0.08μgL,相对标准偏差为5.5%(n=3)。将该法应用于检测塑料浸取液中DEHP,结果令人满意。     

高效液相色谱法测定饮用水中的微囊藻毒素RR和LR

利用高效液相色谱法(HPLC)测定了藻毒素(MC-RR、LR)标准样品,并绘制了标准曲线,藻毒素浓度在0~5mg/L范围内,HPLC峰面积与藻毒素进样量呈线性关系,RR和LR相关系数分别为0·9986和0·9992,表明该方法可靠、灵敏度较高。对毒素的富集方法及分析条件进行了优化,并在藻类高发期的7~10月份,通过固相萃取(SPE)法对T市饮用水中的MCs进行浓缩富集后,用高效液相色谱仪和标准曲线测出MC-RR和MC-LR值。结果显示,T市高藻期饮用水中含有MCs,应引起足够的重视。     

天津市开放源可吸入颗粒物污染问题分析

通过高斯面源反演的计算方法对天津市扬尘污染源进行反演计算,建立开放源可吸入颗粒物污染源强数据库,系统分析了城市扬尘污染问题。数值试验模拟结果表明,扬尘控制措施与环境质量呈现很好的线性相关关系,通过模拟2004年天津市建筑施工扬尘对城市可吸入颗粒物污染贡献,提出扬尘污染问题解决方案。     

Policy implementation of the Republic Act (RA) No. 9003 in the Philippines: A case study of Cebu city

Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) is considered to be one of the most serious environmental issues in the Philippines. The annual waste generation was estimated at 10.6 million tonnes in 2012 and this is expected to double in 2025. The Republic Act (RA) No. 9003, widely known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, provides the required policy framework, institutional mechanisms and mandate to the Local Government Units (LGUs) to achieve 25% waste reduction target through establishing an integrated solid waste management plan based on the 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycling). Although the initial impact of the LGUs is still very limited in implementing the national mandate, this article highlights the successful experiences of Cebu, the second largest city in the Philippines, in reducing its MSW generation by more than 30% in the past three years. This study also explores the implementation process, innovative actions taken by the Cebu City Government in implementing the national mandate at local level and identifies the factors that influence the policy implementation. The findings suggest that the impacts of the national mandate can be achieved if the LGUs have the high degree of political commitment, planning and development of effective local strategies in a collaborative manner to meet with local conditions, partnership building with other stakeholders, capacity development, adequate financing and incentives, and in the close monitoring and evaluation of performance.     

CFD simulation of MSW combustion and SNCR in a commercial incinerator

A CFD scheme was presented for modeling municipal solid waste (MSW) combustion in a moving-grate incinerator, including the in-bed burning of solid wastes, the out-of-bed burnout of gaseous volatiles, and the selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) process between urea (CO(NH₂)₂) and NO_x. The in-bed calculations provided 2-D profiles of the gas–solid temperatures and the gas species concentrations along the bed length, which were then used as inlet conditions for the out-of-bed computations. The over-bed simulations provided the profiles of incident radiation heat flux on the top of bed. A 3-dimensional benchmark simulation was conducted with a 750 t/day commercial incinerator using the present coupling scheme incorporating with a reduced SNCR reduction mechanism. Numerical tests were performed to investigate the effects of operating parameters such as injection position, injection speed and the normalized stoichiometric ratio (NSR) on the SNCR performance. The simulation results showed that the distributions of gas velocity, temperature and NO_x concentration were highly non-uniform, which made the injection position one of the most sensitive operating parameters influencing the SNCR performance of moving grate incinerators. The simulation results also showed that multi-layer injections were needed to meet the EU2000 standard, and a NSR 1.5 was suggested as a compromise of a satisfactory NO_x reduction and reasonable NH₃ slip rates. This work provided useful guides to the design and operation of SNCR process in moving-grate incinerators.     

Estimation of building-related construction and demolition waste in Shanghai

One methodology is proposed to estimate the quantification and composition of building-related construction and demolition (C&D) waste in a fast developing region like Shanghai, PR China. The varieties of structure types and building waste intensities due to the requirement of progressive building design and structure codes in different decades are considered in this regional C&D waste estimation study. It is concluded that approximately 13.71 million tons of C&D waste was generated in 2012 in Shanghai, of which more than 80% of this C&D waste was concrete, bricks and blocks. Analysis from this study can be applied to facilitate C&D waste governors and researchers the duty of formulating precise policies and specifications. As a matter of fact, at least a half of the enormous amount of C&D waste could be recycled if implementing proper recycling technologies and measures. The appropriate managements would be economically and environmentally beneficial to Shanghai where the per capita per year output of C&D waste has been as high as 842 kg in 2010.     

Pyrolysis technologies for municipal solid waste: A review

Pyrolysis has been examined as an attractive alternative to incineration for municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal that allows energy and resource recovery; however, it has seldom been applied independently with the output of pyrolysis products as end products. This review addresses the state-of-the-art of MSW pyrolysis in regards to its technologies and reactors, products and environmental impacts. In this review, first, the influence of important operating parameters such as final temperature, heating rate (HR) and residence time in the reaction zone on the pyrolysis behaviours and products is reviewed; then the pyrolysis technologies and reactors adopted in literatures and scale-up plants are evaluated. Third, the yields and main properties of the pyrolytic products from individual MSW components, refuse-derived fuel (RDF) made from MSW, and MSW are summarised. In the fourth section, in addition to emissions from pyrolysis processes, such as HCl, SO₂ and NH₃, contaminants in the products, including PCDD/F and heavy metals, are also reviewed, and available measures for improving the environmental impacts of pyrolysis are surveyed. It can be concluded that the single pyrolysis process is an effective waste-to-energy convertor but is not a guaranteed clean solution for MSW disposal. Based on this information, the prospects of applying pyrolysis technologies to dealing with MSW are evaluated and suggested.     

Dissimilatory reduction of FeIII (EDTA) with microorganisms in the system of nitric oxide removal from the flue gas by metal chelate absorption

In the system of nitric oxide removal from the flue gas by metal chelate absorption, it is an obstacle that ferrous absorbents are easily oxidized by oxygen in the flue gas to ferric counterparts, which are not capable of binding NO. By adding iron metal or electrochemical method, Fe^Ⅲ (EDTA) can be reduced to Fe^Ⅱ(EDTA).However, there are various drawbacks associated with these techniques. The dissimilatory reduction of Fe^Ⅲ(EDTA) with microorganisms in the system of nitric oxide removal by metal chelate absorption was investigated. Ammonium salt instead of nitrate was used as the nitrogen source, as nitrates inhibited the reduction of Fe^Ⅲ due to the competition between the two electron acceptors. Supplemental glucose and lactate stimulated the formation of Fe^Ⅱ more than ethanol as the carbon sources. The microorganisms cultured at 50~C were not very sensitive to the other experimental temperature, the reduction percentage of Fe^Ⅲ varied little with the temperature range of 30-50℃.Concentrated Na2 CO3 solution was added to adjust the solution pH to an optimal pH range of 6-7. The overall results revealed that the dissimilatory ferric reducing microorganisms present in the mix-culture are probably neutrophilic, moderately thermophiUc Fe^Ⅲ reducers.