Dioxin- and POP-contaminated sites—contemporary and future relevance and challenges

BACKGROUND, AIM AND SCOPE: Once they have been generated, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) can persist in soils and sediments and in waste repositories for periods extending from decades to centuries. In 1994, the US EPA concluded that contaminated sites and other reservoirs are likely to become the major source of contemporary pollution problems with these substances. With this in mind, this article is the first in a new series in ESPR under the title 'Case Studies on Dioxin and POP Contaminated Sites--Contemporary and Future Relevance and Challenges', which will address this important issue. The series will document various experiences from sites contaminated with PCDD/F and other POPs. This article provides an overview of the content of the articles comprising the series. In addition, it provides a review of the subject in its own right and identifies the key issues arising from dioxin/POP-contaminated sites. Additionally, it highlights the important conclusions that can be drawn from these examples. The key aim of this article and of the series as a whole is to provide a comprehensive overview of the types of PCDD/F contaminated sites that exist as a result of historical activities. It details the various processes whereby these sites became contaminated and attempts to evaluate their contemporary relevance as sources of PCDD/Fs and other POPs. It also details the various strategies used to assess these historical legacies of contamination and the concepts developed, or which are under development, to effect their remediation. MAIN FEATURES: Special sessions on 'Contaminated sites--Cases, remediation, risk and policy' were held at the DIOXIN conferences in 2006 and 2007, and this theme will be continued at DIOXIN 2008 to be held in Birmingham. Selected cases from the approximately 70 contributions made to these sessions, together with some additional invited case studies are outlined together with the key issues they raise. By evaluating these cases and adding details of experiences published in the current literature, an overview will be given of the different features and challenges of dioxin and POP-contaminated sites. RESULTS: This article provides a systematic categorisation of types of PCDD/F and POP-contaminated sites. These are categorised according to the chemical or manufacturing process, which generated the PCDD/Fs or POPs and also includes the use and disposal aspects of the product life cycle in question. The highest historical PCDD/F and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination burdens have arisen as a result of the production of chlorine and of chlorinated organic chemicals. In particular, the production of chlorinated pesticides, PCBs and the related contaminated waste streams are identified being responsible for historical releases of toxic equivalents (TEQs) at a scale of many tonnes. Along with such releases, major PCDD/F contaminated sites have been created through the application or improper disposal of contaminated pesticides, PCBs and other organochlorine chemicals, as well through the recycling of wastes and their attempted destruction. In some extreme examples, PCDD/F contaminated sites have also resulted from thermal processes such as waste incinerators, secondary metal industries or from the recycling or deposition of specific waste (e.g. electronic waste or car shredder wastes), which often contain chlorinated or brominated organic chemicals. The examples of PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB contamination of fish in European rivers or the impact of contaminated sites upon fishing grounds and upon other food resources demonstrate the relevance of these historical problems to current and future human generations. Many of the recent food contamination problems that have emerged in Europe and elsewhere demonstrate how PCDD/F and dioxin like PCBs from historical sources can directly contaminate human and animal feedstuffs and indeed highlight their considerable contemporary relevance in this respect. Accordingly, some key experiences and lessons learnt regarding the production, use, disposal and remediation of POPs from the contaminated sites are summarised. DISCUSSION: An important criterion for evaluating the significance and risks of PCDD/Fs and other POPs at contaminated sites is their present or future potential for mobility. This, in turn, determines to a large degree their propensity for off-site transport and environmental accessibility. The detailed evaluation of contaminated site cases reveals different site-specific factors, which influence the varied pathways through which poor water-soluble POPs can be mobilised. Co-contaminants with greater water solubility are also typically present at such sites. Hence, pumping of groundwater (pump and treat) is often required in addition to attempting to physically secure a site. At an increasing number of contaminated sites, securing measures are failing after relatively short time spans compared to the time horizon, which applies to persistent organic pollutant contamination. Due to the immense costs and challenges associated with remediation of contaminated sites 'monitored natural attenuation' is increasingly gaining purchase as a conceptual remediation approach. However, these concepts may well prove limited in their practical application to contaminated sites containing persistent organic pollutants and other key pollutants like heavy metals. CONCLUSIONS: It is inevitable, therefore, that dioxin/POP-contaminated sites will remain of contemporary and future relevance. They will continue to represent an environmental issue for future generations to address. The securing and/or remediation of dioxin/POP-contaminated sites is very costly, generally in the order of tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. Secured landfills and secured production sites need to be considered as constructions not made for 'eternity' but built for a finite time scale. Accordingly, they will need to be controlled, supervised and potentially repaired/renewed. Furthermore, the leachates and groundwater impacted by these sites will require ongoing monitoring and potential further remediation. These activities result in high maintenance costs, which are accrued for decades or centuries and should, therefore, be compared to the fully sustainable option of complete remediation. The contaminated site case studies highlight that, while extensive policies and established funds for remediation exist in most of the industrialised western countries, even these relatively well-regulated and wealthy countries face significant challenges in the implementation of a remediation strategy. This highlights the fact that ultimately only the prevention of contaminated sites represents a sustainable solution for the future and that the Polluter Pays Principle needs to be applied in a comprehensive way to current problems and those which may emerge in the future. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: With the continuing shift of industrial activities in developing and transition economies, which often have poor regulation (and weak self-regulation of industries), additional global challenges regarding POPs and other contaminated sites may be expected. In this respect, a comprehensive application of the "polluter pays principle" in these countries will also be a key to facilitate the clean-up of contaminated areas and the prevention of future contaminated sites. The threats and challenges of contaminated sites and the high costs of securing/remediating the problems highlight the need for a comprehensive approach based upon integrated pollution prevention and control. If applied to all polluting (and potentially polluting) industrial sectors around the globe, such an approach will prove to be both the cheapest and most sustainable way to underpin the development of industries in developing and transition economies.     

长江三角洲耕地数量变化趋势及总量动态平衡前景分析

论文利用长江三角洲地区近50年长序列耕地统计、近10多年土地利用调查数据及相关社会经济资料,重点从长江三角洲耕地数量变化的阶段性及与经济发展水平之间关系宏观分析的角度,探讨该区未来10～15年耕地变化趋势及实施区域耕地总量动态平衡的可能性。分析表明,长江三角洲耕地面积随人均GDP的增长呈良好的指数减少关系,人均GDP低于12000元/人,经济增长占用耕地的压力较大;人均GDP超过30000元/人时,这种压力将开始显著减缓。现阶段长江三角洲仍处于经济发展对耕地的压力较大的发展阶段,但已较1995年前明显减轻,估计至2004年前后,该区经济增长对耕地的压力将开始得到缓解。按现有的土地复垦整理补充耕地的投资力度,至2010年耕地面积仍将比1998年减少5.5×104hm₂左右,若加大复垦整理的投资力度至现状水平的2倍,则保持耕地数量不减少也是可能实现的。     

酸沉降的控制及投资效益分析

本文提出控制酸雨的关键是二氧化硫总量控制。以四面山、南山、缙云山森林生态为重点保护对象,建立了临界负荷。提出了分两步削减硫排放的方案,并进行了方案技术措施的投资效益分析。     

低成本大气颗粒物传感器的室外环境性能评测研究

对目前大气环境颗粒物监测中采用的基于光散射法的3种型号传感器进行了评测研究,其中A和B是用于室内环境监测,C用于室外环境监测.对3种型号颗粒物传感器与基于β射线方法的标准仪器MATONE BAM-1020对比,对传感器的变异性、时间序列、传感器与标准仪器的线性相关性、其他因素影响、数据质量五个方面开展了分析.结果表明：各型号颗粒物传感器之间有较强相关性（R²达到了0.95以上）;3种颗粒物传感器与标准仪器测量结果吻合度较高,R²分别为0.58,0.80,0.61,且在整个测试时间段内,传感器相对于标准仪器来说高估了PM_2.5;高的相对湿度（RH>50%）和PM_2.5/PM₁₀（ratio）会对传感器产生影响.A、B、C三种型号传感器PM_2.5数据平均绝对误差（MAE）分别为23.31,10.14,28.17μg/m³;归一化均方根误差（RMSE）分别为25.80,14.01,32.98μg/m³,准确性（A%）分别为51.39%,72.97%,46.51%.     

工业含氨污染处理技术的经济价值分析

揭示了氨污染处理的成本效益,提出氨作为废物与资源的临界点浓度与氨的经济价值模型,并探讨了不同形态及介质中氨污染处理技术的成本差异.结果表明,在废水中氨氮浓度接近于10％时,通过资源化利用基本能够达到净现值为0,即收支平衡.相同进水浓度时,氨氮在碱性条件下单位处理成本最低,为0.19～0.41元/kg NH3,在离子态、...     

Effect of risk aversion on prioritizing conservation projects

Conservation outcomes are uncertain. Agencies making decisions about what threat mitigation actions to take to save which species frequently face the dilemma of whether to invest in actions with high probability of success and guaranteed benefits or to choose projects with a greater risk of failure that might provide higher benefits if they succeed. The answer to this dilemma lies in the decision maker's aversion to risk—their unwillingness to accept uncertain outcomes. Little guidance exists on how risk preferences affect conservation investment priorities. Using a prioritization approach based on cost effectiveness, we compared 2 approaches: a conservative probability threshold approach that excludes investment in projects with a risk of management failure greater than a fixed level, and a variance‐discounting heuristic used in economics that explicitly accounts for risk tolerance and the probabilities of management success and failure. We applied both approaches to prioritizing projects for 700 of New Zealand's threatened species across 8303 management actions. Both decision makers’ risk tolerance and our choice of approach to dealing with risk preferences drove the prioritization solution (i.e., the species selected for management). Use of a probability threshold minimized uncertainty, but more expensive projects were selected than with variance discounting, which maximized expected benefits by selecting the management of species with higher extinction risk and higher conservation value. Explicitly incorporating risk preferences within the decision making process reduced the number of species expected to be safe from extinction because lower risk tolerance resulted in more species being excluded from management, but the approach allowed decision makers to choose a level of acceptable risk that fit with their ability to accommodate failure. We argue for transparency in risk tolerance and recommend that decision makers accept risk in an adaptive management framework to maximize benefits and avoid potential extinctions due to inefficient allocation of limited resources. El Efecto de la Aversión de Riesgo sobre la Priorización de Proyectos de Conservación     

THE OPPORTUNITY COST OF TIME AND AVERTING EXPENDITURES FOR SAFE DRINKING WATER1

ABSTRACT: A survey of individuals during a Giardia contamination incident provided data to calculate the cost of boiling, hauling, or purchasing water to avoid infection. Three different approaches to the valuation of time were used to assess the implications of the opportunity cost of time for the measurement of averting costs. Mean monthly household averting costs were $33.47 using family income to value time, $13.07 using the minimum wage to value time, and $5.60 using zero opportunity cost of time. Comparisons of the mean costs for different sources and household characteristics indicated the value of time from family income was too high and that the other methods of valuing time were superior.     

Techno-economic analysis of municipal wastewater land treatment systems in China

This paper analyses the capital costs, power consumption and operation costs of municipal wastewater land treatment systems, including rapid infiltration, slow-rate infiltration, overflow and constructed wetland, by means of series engineering design. The results show that land treatment can save 50-70% of capital costs, 80-90% of power and 75-85% of operation costs when compared with secondary treatment.     

Why does environmental compliance cost more than penalty?

In the environmental protection field of China, due to “lower law-breaking cost but higher law-abiding cost”, it is a common case that the enterprise chooses to break through the law on purpose. The punishment to the unlawful practices by the law directly decides the law-breaking cost of the enterprise, furthermore, influences the willingness to abide by the law and the trend to break through the law. The law-breaking cost of enterprises is jointly decided by the administrative liability, civil liability and criminal liability. However, in China, the enterprises breaking through the law are mainly penalized for the administrative liabilities, focusing less on the civil compensation liability on the environmental damage and criminal liabilities on the environmental crimes. Nevertheless, a complete environmental liability system is composed by administrative punishment, civil compensation and criminal sanction, none of which is dispensable. Therefore, the three layers defense could be established on punishing and deterring the environmental law-breakers. Considering all three aspects, administrative liability, civil liability and criminal liability, this paper analyzes the systemic disadvantages of the current environmental administrative punishment, civil compensation and criminal sanction in China, and investigates the legitimate reasons for the higher law-abiding cost compared with the law-breaking cost, and it is finalized with the measures and suggestions to solve this problem.     

水资源动态完全成本定价的理论探讨

在辨析水资源价值涵义的基础上 ,阐述水资源动态完全成本定价模型 ;并从不同层次分析了它为何能使水资源可持续利用得以实现 ;最后提出了应用该模型尚需进一步解决的问题