Organic Contaminants from Sewage Sludge Applied to Agricultural Soils. False Alarm Regarding Possible Problems for Food Safety? (8 pp)

Goal, Scope and Background Sewage sludge produced in wastewater treatment contains large amounts of organic matter and nutrients and could, therefore, be suitable as fertiliser. However, with the sludge, besides heavy metals and pathogenic bacteria, a variety of organic contaminants can be added to agricultural fields. Whether the organic contaminants from the sludge can have adverse effects on human health and wildlife if these compounds enter the food chain or groundwater still remains a point of controversial discussion. Main Features This paper presents an overview on the present situation in Europe and a summary of some recent results on the possible uptake of organic contaminants by crops after addition to agricultural fields by sewage sludge. Results Greenhouse experiments and field trials were performed to study the degradation and uptake of organic micro-contaminants in sludge-amended agricultural soil in crops, such as barley and carrots grown in agricultural soil amended with anaerobically-treated sewage sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, but studies hitherto have revealed no immediate risks. Common sludge contaminants such as linear alkylbenzene sulphonates (LAS), nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), bis(diethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), showed neither accumulation in soil nor uptake in plants. Discussion It is assumed that the annual amount of sewage sludge produced in Europe will increase in the future, mainly due to larger amounts of high quality drinking water needed by an increasing population and due to increasing demands for cleaner sewage water. Application of sewage sludge to agricultural soils is sustainable and economical due to nutrient cycling and disposal of sewage sludge. However, this solution also involves risks with respect to the occurrence of organic contaminants and other potentially harmful contents such as pathogens and heavy metals present in the sludge. There have been concerns that organic contaminants may accumulate in the soil, be taken up by plants and thereby transferred to humans via the food chain. Results obtained so far revealed, however, no immediate risk of accumulation of common organic sludge contaminants in soil or uptake in plants when applying sewage sludge to agricultural soil. With very high dosages of sewage sludge, there may be a risk for accumulation of very apolar contaminants, such as DEHP, to the soil. Conclusions Any conclusions on the safe use of sewage sludge in agriculture have to be drawn carefully, as the studies performed until now have been limited. Further studies are required, and before final statements can be drawn, it is imminent to study a larger variety of common crops and the effect sewage sludge application may have on a possible accumulation of organic contaminants in the crops. Furthermore, a larger variety of organic contaminants need to be studied and special focus should be given to contaminants newly introduced into the environment. Besides investigating possible plant uptake of organic contaminants, the fate of these compounds in soil after sludge application need to be monitored too. Here, special attention has to begiven to studies on degradation and the formation of degradation products, to weathering and to leaching effects on groundwater, to the application of different crops on the same field (crop rotation), to the use of full-width tillage and strip tillage, and to long term application of sewage sludge on the soil. Recommendations and Perspectives There are environmental, political as well as economical incentives to increase the agricultural application of sludge. However, such usage should be performed with care as there are also ways in which sludge fertilisation could harm the environment and human health. Recently, a new European COST Action (859) has been established covering the field of food safety and improved food quality. Part of the Action is dealing with the application of sewage sludge in agriculture. Before any political and economical measures can be taken, the pros and cons have to be sufficiently investigated on a scientific level first. ESS-Submission Editor: Prof. Elena Maestri (elena.maestri@unipr.it)     

A Functional Land Management conceptual framework under soil drainage and land use scenarios

Agricultural soils offer multiple soil functions, which contribute to a range of ecosystem services, and the demand for the primary production function is expected to increase with a growing world population. Other key functions on agricultural land have been identified as water purification, carbon sequestration, habitat biodiversity and nutrient cycling, which all need to be considered for sustainable intensification. All soils perform all functions simultaneously, but the variation in the capacity of soils to supply these functions is reviewed in terms of defined land use types (arable, bio-energy, broadleaf forest, coniferous forest, managed grassland, other grassland and Natura 2000) and extended to include the influence of soil drainage characteristics (well, moderately/imperfect, poor and peat). This latter consideration is particularly important in the European Atlantic pedo-climatic zone; the spatial scale of this review. This review develops a conceptual framework on the multi-functional capacity of soils, termed Functional Land Management, to facilitate the effective design and assessment of agri-environmental policies. A final functional soil matrix is presented as an approach to show the consequential changes to the capacity of the five soil functions associated with land use change on soils with contrasting drainage characteristics. Where policy prioritises the enhancement of particular functions, the matrix indicates the potential trade-offs for individual functions or the overall impact on the multi-functional capacity of soil. The conceptual framework is also applied by land use area in a case study, using the Republic of Ireland as an example, to show how the principle of multi-functional land use planning can be readily implemented.     

Coming to grips with scientific ignorance in the governance of endocrine disrupting chemicals and nanoparticles

New technologies are characterized by various forms of incertitude that challenge both scientific expertise and regulatory action. In this paper, we argue that these incertitudes place experts in irreducible double bind situations, which may end in paralysis. Double binds emerge when primary injunctions are contradicted by secondary injunctions at a different logical level, which affects the interpretation of the primary injunction. Adequately addressing the challenges posed by new technologies requires phronesis, or pragmatic, context-dependent and action-oriented knowledge grounded in value deliberation. Using endocrine disruptors and carbon nanotubes as empirical examples, we argue that in relation to new technologies involving various kinds of incertitude, being phronimos—the person who can do phronesis—involves synthetically and simultaneously enacting parts of the three interrelated domains of knowledge, ethics and institutions, also across different logical levels. The special kind of experience-based phronesic skill that required in the regulatory appraisal of new technologies is thus fundamentally related to the human capacity of pattern recognition. Finally, we argue that being aware of and making full use of practical wisdom thus conceptualized enables a new operationalization of the precautionary principle.     

燃煤锅炉深度脱硫脱氮技术

新国家排放标准的实施对燃煤锅炉二氧化硫和氮氧化物排放提出了严格的要求,目前单一的减排技术只能满足部分燃煤锅炉的排放要求。本文综述了国内外现有的脱硫和脱氮技术,提出了燃煤锅炉深度脱硫脱氮需考虑多种技术相结合,并针对不同容量和燃烧方式的锅炉推荐了合适的深度脱硫脱氮技术,可为燃煤锅炉污染物排放达到新国标提供技术参考。     

Comparative study of Chinese ecological agriculture and sustainable agriculture

Although sustainable development has already been promulgated as one of its fundamental strategies by the national government since 1993, sustainable development, as an exotic new paradigm characteristic of profound philosophical and ethical thinking initiated in developed countries, is still not familiar to the Chinese people. Fortunately, in parallel to the evolution of sustainable agriculture, mainly in developed countries, since the beginning of the 1980s, Chinese agricultural scientists and technicians have already innovated their own unique form of Chinese Ecological Agriculture (CEA), on the basis of traditional agriculture that has been sustained for more than 4000 years. The basic principle of CEA emphasizes the obeying of both ecological rules and economic rules, as well as the approach of systematics and ecological engineering exactly corresponding to those adopted by sustainable development. The major difference between the two is that CEA has already been executed on a very large scale and has served as an effective and popularized way to implement sustainable agriculture in most parts of China. Also, as an active way of intensifying agriculture in terms of more inputs of skills, knowledge and labour, CEA is contributing much to all-round rural development throughout China.     

天津滨海新区生态系统服务评估及空间分级

采用提出的“功能当量”相对评估模型,并以RS和GIS为技术平台对2009年天津滨海新区生态系统服务功能进行评估,采用区域网格化空间表达,对研究区进行分级研究.结果表明,滨海新区生态系统单位面积服务功能当量大小依次为湿地、水体、林地、草地、耕地、裸地;2009年滨海新区生态系统服务功能当量总和为1068680.13,III级以上功能当量的单元格比例为71.22%,总体处于较高水平;通过与价值量法结果对比,得出利用“功能当量”相对评估模型对研究区的评估结果与价值量法的评估结果具有显著相关性,证明该评估模型的可行性和合理性.     

Uncertainty analyses for calibrating a soil carbon balance model to agricultural field trial data in Sweden and Kenya

How do additional data of the same and/or different type contribute to reducing model parameter and predictive uncertainties? Most modeling applications of soil organic carbon (SOC) time series in agricultural field trial datasets have been conducted without accounting for model parameter uncertainty. There have been recent advances with Monte Carlo-based uncertainty analyses in the field of hydrological modeling that are applicable, relevant and potentially valuable in modeling the dynamics of SOC. Here we employed a Monte Carlo method with threshold screening known as Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) to calibrate the Introductory Carbon Balance Model (ICBM) to long-term field trail data from Ultuna, Sweden and Machang’a, Kenya. Calibration results are presented in terms of parameter distributions and credibility bands on time series simulations for a number of case studies. Using these methods, we demonstrate that widely uncertain model parameters, as well as strong covariance between inert pool size and rate constant parameters, exist when root mean square simulation errors were within uncertainties in input estimations and data observations. We show that even rough estimates of the inert pool (perhaps from chemical analysis) can be quite valuable to reduce uncertainties in model parameters. In fact, such estimates were more effective at reducing parameter and predictive uncertainty than an additional 16 years time series data at Ultuna. We also demonstrate an effective method to jointly, simultaneously and in principle more robustly calibrate model parameters to multiple datasets across different climatic regions within an uncertainty framework. These methods and approaches should have benefits for use with other SOC models and datasets as well.     

WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT IN THE MULLICA RIVER BASIN1

ABSTRACT: The potential withdrawal of water from the Mullica River-Great Bay Estuary is southern New Jersey prompted a joint study by biologists and engineers to determine the maximum supply of water that could be diverted from the basin without causing undue environmental impacts. The effect of removal of water from the basin over long periods of time was simulated by review of records of a severe drought. Based on analysis of streamflows and salinities during these drought conditions, minimum mean monthly streamflows were determined corresponding to the maximum salinities tolerable by the fish and shellfish communities, important sources of revenue and recreation in the region. A physically optimized, chance constrained linear programming model was developed for the conjunctive use of ground and surface waters. Adjusting water withdrawal from streamflow and groundwater sources according to physical and seasonal criteria would permit maximum use of the basin's resources, with no additional burden on the ecology of the estuary.     

免拆模板复合剪力墙粘结性能试验研究

免拆模板复合剪力墙体系是适应当前新型建筑体系需求而发展起来的新型节能结构体系。它具有节约能源、增大使用面积、优良的抗震性能及工厂化的施工工艺等优点。笔者专门对免拆模板复合剪力墙体系进行了研究 ,针对 3种不同聚苯板截面和 4种不同免拆模板截面进行粘结性能试验 ,通过试验总结出影响免拆模板与现浇混凝土之间粘结性能的因素 ,并对其作用机理进行分析 ,以期对新型建筑节能体系的发展有所贡献。