Assessing the impact of pesticides on the environment

Pesticide use in agriculture can cause undesirable effects on humans and the natural environment. One of the objectives of integrated agriculture is the elimination or reduction of possible sources of environmental pollution such as pesticides. To achieve this objective, farmers need a method to assist them in estimating the environmental impact of pesticide use. This paper addresses a two-part question: what factors should be taken into consideration to assess pesticide environmental impact, and how can impact be quantified? As the environmental impact of a pesticide depends on its dispersion in the environment and on its toxicological properties, the literature on these topics is reviewed to address the first part of the question. To address the second part of the question, six recent approaches to assess the impact of pesticides on the environment are compared regarding choice, transformation and aggregation of input parameters. The use of simulation models to assess environmental impact is discussed.     

Environmental impact on the development of agricultural technology in China: the case of the dike-pond (‘jitang’) system of integrated agriculture-aquaculture in the Zhujiang Delta of China

The development of the environmentally conserving dike-pond system of integrated agriculture and aquaculture in the Zhujiang Delta of south China is traced to illustrate the impact of environmental changes on technological innovations. The technologies of dike building, land reclamation, pond fish culture, and crop cultivation on dikes, which were either independently developed or modified from ideas brought in by migrant farmers from northern China, represented farmers' efforts to adapt to the new characteristics of a changed environment as population pressure increased. The new technologies revealed the farmers' awareness of the need for environmental conservation. However, increased population pressure also necessitated more intensive use of the land, both in the highland and lowland regions, giving rise to inappropriate dike building and premature reclamation activities, which in turn brought about more frequent flooding in the delta region. Careless application of a new technology tended to have harmful effects on the environment. Political conditions in different periods of China's economic development have also caused changes in the dike-pond system which has to maintain high productivity and profitability. Recent advances in dike-pond system technology have focused on crop diversification and animal husbandry to match the three-dimensional characteristics of its ecological components. New agricultural technologies can be successful in China only if they can provide a balance between land use and conservation.     

环境影响综合评价灰色层次模型研究

针对水电工程环境影响综合评价问题，应用拓展的灰关联理论和最小二乘准则，建立了环境影响综合评价的灰色层次模型。以东江水电工程环境影响综合评价为实例说明了该模型的合理性、可信性。结果表明：此基工程使环境总体向理想的１８．１％     

促进经济与环境协调发展的基本战略

从与国际先进大城市在环境与经济协调发展方面的比较中，分析上海目前的环境与经济协调发展的状况和面临的主要环境问题。根据上海的城市发展战略的目标和要求，提出了要遵循生态发展规律，以保持城市水资源和改善大气环境质量为重点，优先发展城市基础设施和环境建设，加快能源结构的改善和产业结构的调整，在发展经济的同时不断增加城市生存环境建设投入，以实现已确定的跨世纪的环境保护总目标，促进环境与经济的协调发展的７方面     

分光光度法测定水样中铬

在ｐＨ４．４ＨＡＣ－ＮａＡｃ缓冲介质及乳化剂ＯＰ存在下，Ｃｒ６＋与二溴羟基苯基荧光酮（ＤＢＨＰＦ）显色反应生成桔红色络合物．该络合物最大吸收位于４８２ｎｍ波长处，表现摩尔吸光系数εｍａｘ＝３．４７×１０４．络合物配位比为Ｃｒ６＋：ＤＢＨＰＦ＝２：３，Ｃｒ６＋在０－１６μｇ／２５ｍＬ范围内遵守比耳定律．方法已用于水样中微量铬的测定，结果满意．     

Life-cycle phosphorus use efficiency of the farming system in Anhui Province,Central China

The rapid increase of phosphorus (P) use in farming has raised concerns regarding its conservation and environmental impact. Increasing the P use efficiency (PUE) is an approach to mitigating these adverse impacts. In this study, we applied substance flow analysis (SFA) to establish a life-cycle P use efficiency model to determine the life-cycle PUE of the farming system used in Anhui Province in 2011, which is typical of the agriculture practiced in central China. Based on this model, the P flows and PUEs of five subsystems were identified and quantified: crop farming, crop processing, livestock breeding, rural living, and urban living. The three largest P flows were found in the crop farming and livestock breeding subsystems; it can therefore be concluded that these subsystems have substantial impacts on the entire farming system. In contrast, the PUEs of crop farming, rural consumption, and livestock breeding subsystems presented the three lowest PUEs (58.79%, 71.75%, and 76.65%, respectively). These results were also consistent with the finding that the greatest P losses occurred in crop farming and livestock breeding. Consequently, the study proposes that great potential exists for increasing PUEs in the farming system of Anhui, and several of the most promising measures could be combined for improving PUEs. Finally, the study assesses data quality and presents a sensitivity analysis for use in interpreting the results. The study also shows that improving PUE and decreasing P losses in farming systems through improved nutrient management must be considered an important issue, and this study represents valuable experience in resource conservation and agricultural development in China.     

A dual-interval fixed-mix stochastic programming method for water resources management under uncertainty

In this study, a dual-interval fixed-mix stochastic programming (DFSP) method is developed for planning water resources management systems under uncertainty. DFSP incorporates interval-parameter programming (IPP) and fuzzy vertex analysis (FVA) within a fixed-mix stochastic programming (FSP) framework to address uncertain parameters described as probability distributions and dual intervals. It can also be used for analyzing various policy scenarios that are associated with different levels of economic consequences since penalties are exercised with recourse actions against any infeasibility. A real case for water resources management planning of Zhangweinan River Basin in China is then conducted for demonstrating the applicability of the developed DFSP method. Solutions in association with α-cut levels are generated by solving a set of deterministic submodels, which are useful for generating a range of decision alternatives under compound uncertainties. The results can help to identify desired water-allocation schemes for local sustainable development that the prerequisite water demand can be guaranteed when the available water resource is scarce.     

Environmental resource footprinting of drug manufacturing: Effects of scale-up and tablet dosage

The formulation and scale-up of batch processes is one of the major challenges in the development of pharmaceutical dosage forms and at the same time a significant resource demanding process which is generally overlooked in environmental sustainability assessments. First, this paper proposes general trends in the experience curve of cumulative resource consumption of pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing of PREZISTA^® 800 mg through wet granulation (WG) at four consecutive scales in both R&D and manufacturing environments (resp. WG1 = 1 kg/h, WG5 = 5 kg/h, WG30 = 30 kg/h and WG240 = 240 kg/h). Second, the authors aim at evaluating the environmental impact from a life cycle perspective of a daily consumption of PREZISTA^® 2× 400 mg tablets versus the bioequivalent PREZISTA^® 800 mg tablet which was launched to enhance patient compliance. Environmental sustainability assessment was conducted at three different system boundaries, which enables identification, localization and eventually reduction of burdens, in this case natural resource extraction. Exergy Analysis (EA) was used at process level (α) and plant level (β) while a cradle-to-gate Exergetic Life Cycle Assessment (ELCA) was conducted at the overall industrial level (γ) by means of the CEENE method (Cumulative Exergy Extraction from the Natural Environment). Life cycle stages taken into account are Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) production, Drug Product (DP) production and Packaging. At process level (α), the total resource extraction for the manufacturing of one daily dose of PREZISTA^® (800 mg tablet) amounted up to 0.44 MJ_ex at the smallest scale (WG1) while this amount proved to be reduced by 58%, 79% and 83% at WG5, WG30 and WG240 respectively. Expanding the boundaries to the overall industrial level (γ) reveals that the main resource demand is at the production of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API), excipients, packaging materials and cleaning media used in DP production. At the largest scale (WG240) the use of cleaning media during DP production contributes considerably less to the total resource extraction. Overall, the effect of scale-up and learning on resource consumption during DP production showed to possess a power-law experience curve y = 2.40 * x^−0.57 when shifting from WG1 (smallest lab scale) to WG240 (industrial manufacturing). Tablet dosage (2× 400 mg versus 1× 800 mg) did not significantly affect the absolute environmental burden. However, the relative contribution of resource categories did change due to the different production technology. It could be concluded that in meeting social and economic demands by launching the PREZISTA^® 800 mg tablet, no trade-off in environmental burden occurred. On the long term, future research should strive to take into account R&D processes and all services related to pipeline activities taking place prior to market launch and eventually to allocate impacts to the final product.     

西藏环境信息化基础建设设计实践

描述了西藏环保厅“西藏自治区环境保护厅环境信息化能力建设项目”前期调研、设计的过程,总结在西藏信息化发展基础差、技术人才少、资金投入紧张、稳定性要求高、信息技术发展迅速等现实情况下基础信息化项目建设前期设计特点,为西藏或其他欠发达地区信息化基础建设项目设计提供参考。     

水和废水中阴离子表面活性剂测定干扰因素试验研究

对二氮杂菲萃取分光光度法测定水和废水中阴离子表面活性剂的主要干扰因素进行了试验研究.设计了温度过低、浑浊带色和混溶乳化3种干扰试验方案,探讨了各干扰因素在不同工况下的试验结果、影响程度及消除措施.提出温度过低须在测定前提高环境温度,以确保显色反应完全;浑浊带色须在测定中采用色(浊)度校正法消除干扰;混溶乳化可在测定中利...