An environmental pressure index proposal for urban development planning based on the analytic network process

This paper introduces a new approach to prioritize urban planning projects according to their environmental pressure in an efficient and reliable way. It is based on the combination of three procedures: (i) the use of environmental pressure indicators, (ii) the aggregation of the indicators in an Environmental Pressure Index by means of the Analytic Network Process method (ANP) and (iii) the interpretation of the information obtained from the experts during the decision-making process.The method has been applied to a proposal for urban development of La Carlota airport in Caracas (Venezuela). There are three options which are currently under evaluation. They include a Health Club, a Residential Area and a Theme Park. After a selection process the experts chose the following environmental pressure indicators as ANP criteria for the project life cycle: used land area, population density, energy consumption, water consumption and waste generation. By using goal-oriented questionnaires designed by the authors, the experts determined the importance of the criteria, the relationships among criteria, and the relationships between the criteria and the urban development alternatives.The resulting data showed that water consumption is the most important environmental pressure factor, and the Theme Park project is by far the urban development alternative which exerts the least environmental pressure on the area. The participating experts coincided in appreciating the technique proposed in this paper is useful and, for ranking ordering these alternatives, an improvement from traditional techniques such as environmental impact studies, life-cycle analysis, etc.     

离子色谱法-抑制型电导检测城市污水中的高氯酸根

利用离子色谱法-抑制型电导检测了城市污水中的持久污染物高氯酸根,以IonPac AS20高容量强亲水阴离子交换柱分离,NaOH流动相等度淋洗,高氯酸根在12min内出峰。高氯酸根在0.01~50 mg/L内具有良好的线性,相关系数为0.9998,50μl进样时检出限可达到3μg/L。方法可用于多种城市污水中高氯酸根的监测,样品测定的标准相对偏差在0.60%~0.94%之间,加标回收率在97.3%~105.8%之间,具有较好的准确性和重现性。     

Performance Evaluation of the SLEUTH Model in the Shenyang Metropolitan Area of Northeastern China

Performance evaluation is crucial for the development and improvement of an urban cellular automata model, such as SLEUTH. In this paper, we employed multiple methods for map comparison and model validation to evaluate the simulation performance of the SLEUTH urban growth model in the Shenyang metropolitan area of China. These multiple methods included the relative operating characteristic (ROC) curve statistic, multiple-resolutions error budget, and landscape metrics. They were used to quantitatively examine model performance in terms of the amount and spatial location of urban development, urban spatial pattern and prediction ability. The assessment results showed that SLEUTH performed well in the way of the quantitative simulation of urban growth for this case study. Similar to other urban growth models, however, the simulation accuracy for spatial location of new development at the pixel scale and urban spatial pattern still needs to be improved greatly. These inaccuracies might be attributed to the structure and nature of SLEUTH, local urban development characteristics, and the temporal and spatial scale of its application. Finally, many valuable suggestions had been put forward to improve simulation performance of SLEUTH model for spatial location of urban development in the Shenyang metropolitan area.     

城市土壤重金属污染研究现状与趋势

阐述了城市土壤重金属的主要来源、空间分布特征、化学形态与影响因素,以及对人体的健康风险与生物效应,指出今后的研究重点与趋势是建立城市土壤重金属污染概念和标准体系,研究其在环境中的迁移转化机制与规律及城市土壤重金属复合污染,发展判源分析新技术.     

Occurrence,distribution and risk assessment of abused drugs and their metabolites in a typical urban river in north China

We developed a method for determining 11 abused drugs in water and sediment. METH and EPH were the dominant drugs in water and sediment in Beiyunhe River. Abuse drugs in Beiyunhe River were mainly from hospitals and sewage effluents. Abused drugs in the water would not impair the aquatic ecosystem biologically. This study investigated the presence of 11 abused drugs and their metabolites, including amphetamine, methamphetamine (METH), ketamine, ephedrine (EPH), cocaine, benzoylecgonine, methadone, morphine, heroin, codeine, and methcathinone in the surface water and sediment samples of Beiyunhe River, a typical urban river flowing through Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei provinces in North China. An analytical method of determining these abused drugs and their metabolites in water and sediment was developed and validated prior to sample collection in the study area. Results showed that METH and EPH were predominant in water and sediment samples. The total drug concentrations ranged from 26.6 to 183.0 ng/L in water and from 2.6 to 32.4 ng/g dry weight in sediment, and the drugs mainly originated from hospitals and sewage treatment plants. The average field-based sediment water distribution coefficients of abused drugs were calculated between 149.3 and 1214.0 L/kg and corrected by organic carbon. Quotient method was used to assess the risks. The findings revealed that these drugs and their metabolites at determined concentrations in water samples will not impair the aquatic ecosystem biologically, but their potential harmful effect on the function of the ecosystem and human health should not be overlooked.     

Pesticides in stormwater runoff−A mini review

• The sources and pathways of pesticides into stormwater runoff were diverse. • Factors affecting pesticides in stormwater runoff were critically reviewed. • Pesticides mitigation strategies were included in this review. • The current knowledge gap of the pesticides in stormwater runoff was identified. Recently, scientific interest has grown in harvesting and treating stormwater for potable water use, in order to combat the serious global water scarcity issue. In this context, pesticides have been identified as the key knowledge gap as far as reusing stormwater is concerned. This paper reviewed the presence of pesticides in stormwater runoff in both rural and urban areas. Specifically, the sources of pesticide contamination and possible pathways were investigated in this review. Influential factors affecting pesticides in stormwater runoff were critically identified as: 1) characteristics of precipitation, 2) properties of pesticide, 3) patterns of pesticides use, and 4) properties of application surface. The available pesticide mitigation strategies including best management practice (BMP), low impact development (LID), green infrastructure (GI) and sponge city (SC) were also included in this paper. In the future, large-scale multi-catchment studies that directly evaluate pesticide concentrations in both urban and rural stormwater runoff will be of great importance for the development of effective pesticides treatment approaches and stormwater harvesting strategies.     

Tree and stand growth of mature Norway spruce and European beech under long-term ozone fumigation

In a 50- to 70-year-old mixed stand of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in Germany, tree cohorts have been exposed to double ambient ozone (2×O₃) from 2000 through 2007 and can be compared with trees in the same stand under the ambient ozone regime (1×O₃). Annual diameter growth, allocation pattern, stem form, and stem volume were quantified at the individual tree and stand level. Ozone fumigation induced a shift in the resource allocation into height growth at the expense of diameter growth. This change in allometry leads to rather cone-shaped stem forms and reduced stem stability in the case of spruce, and even neiloidal stem shapes in the case of beech. Neglect of such ozone-induced changes in stem shape may lead to a flawed estimation of volume growth. On the stand level, 2×O₃ caused, on average, a decrease of 10.2 m³ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in European beech.     

Urbanization-related changes in European aspen (Populus tremula L.): Leaf traits and litter decomposition

We investigated foliar and litter responses of European aspen (Populus tremula L.) to urbanization, including factors such as increased temperature, moisture stress and nitrogen (N) deposition. Leaf samples were collected in 2006-2008 from three urban and three rural forest stands in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, southern Finland, and reciprocal litter transplantations were established between urban and rural sites. Urban leaves exhibited a higher amount of epicuticular waxes and N concentration, and a lower C:N ratio than rural ones, but there was no difference in specific leaf area. Urban litter had a slightly higher N concentration, lower concentrations of lignin and total phenolics, and was more palatable to a macrofaunal decomposer. Moreover, litter decay was faster at the urban site and for urban litter. Urbanization thus resulted in foliar acclimatization in terms of increased amount of epicuticular waxes, as well as in accelerated decomposition of the N-richer leaf litter.     

上海市典型综合型地下空间空气污染特征分析

对上海市某综合型城市地下空间空气进行采样、监测,得到CO 2、TVOC、甲醛、微生物、PM 10、PM 2.5等6类污染物的特征分布,基于国内外不同的空气质量标准作分析比较。结果表明,该典型综合型地下空间的空气污染情况较普遍,其中甲醛、TVOC污染较为突出,平均浓度超标倍数分别为1.056倍、3.755倍;共发现9种潜在致病菌属,占总数的0.893%。地下空间污染物的累积与内部建筑的设计、装修、功能属性、空调系统等众多因素有关。     

Occurrence and distribution of sediment-associated insecticides in urban waterways in the Pearl River Delta, China

Sediment-associated pesticides, including organochlorine (OCP), organophosphate (OP), and pyrethroid insecticides, were analyzed in urban waterways in three cities (Guangzhou, Dongguan, and Shenzhen) in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), China. The OCPs represented 27.2% of the detectable insecticides in sediment, and chlordanes, DDTs, and endosulfans were the most frequently detected OCPs. The currently used insecticide chlorpyrifos was the only OP detected above the reporting limit (RL), with concentrations ranging from <RL to 100 ng g⁻¹ dry weight (dw). Additionally, pyrethroids were detected in all sediments with the sum pyrethroid concentrations ranging from 4.26 to 384 ng g⁻¹ dw and this represented 64.9% of the sum insecticide concentration. Despite their widespread use, no studies have been conducted investigating the occurrence and distribution of pyrethroids in China. As the first report of pyrethroids in urban waterways in China, the current study found cypermethrin was the most abundant insecticide detected in the PRD at concentrations ranging from 1.44 to 219 ng g⁻¹ dw. Spatially, sediment from more populous and urbanized areas (Shenzhen and Tianhe district in Guangzhou) had higher insecticide residues than less populous agricultural areas. In the more modernized city of Shenzhen, the OCPs were seldom detected, whereas more diverse patterns of pyrethroids were observed. Potential sources of these insecticides, especially the frequently detected pyrethroids, were most likely from pest control during urban landscaping maintenance and from abatement programs targeting mosquitoes and ants. Results suggested that a shift in application pattern and elevated urbanization increased accumulation of currently used insecticides like pyrethroids in sediment, and made them the predominate insecticides in the PRD urban waterways.