Alternatives to gas flaring: a multi-criteria decision approach applied to a case study in Russia

During recent years, the issue of gas flaring has become an increasingly relevant problem for the international community. The claim to more sustainable development offers a renewed prospective in the observation of gas flaring and emphasizes that recovering the associated gas could induce economic, environmental and social benefit. The true core of the issue, as is widely accepted, is not a lack of appropriate technologies, but in the number of criteria involved, which makes it difficult to identify a list of alternatives and connecting all the involved stakeholders in the negotiation process. The complexity of this problem can be mitigated using a decision-making method. The objective of the present work is to identify and formulate a supportive decision system based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process. Application of the model to a real case underlines the strengths and weaknesses of the model, leading to the conclusion that a selection of the most sustainable alternatives needs to be based on a number of criteria that need to be recognized and agreed amongst the stakeholders.     

Background levels of Persistent Organic Pollutants in humans from Taiwan: Perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) have recently received attention due to their widespread contamination of the environment. PFOS and PFOA are stable in the environment and resistant to metabolism, hydrolysis, photolysis and biodegradation. PFOS and PFOA have been found in human blood and tissue samples from both occupationally exposed workers and the general worldwide population. This study aimed to determine the background levels of PFOS and PFOA in the Taiwanese population, investigate related factors, and compare exposure in Taiwan to that in other countries. The concentration of PFOS in the 59 serum samples collected from the general population in Taiwan ranged from 3.45 to 25.65 ng mL⁻¹ (median: 8.52), and the concentration of PFOA ranged from 1.55 to 7.69 ng mL⁻¹ (median: 3.22). There was a significant positive correlation (r = 0.51; p < 0.0001) between PFOS and PFOA concentrations. Males had higher concentrations of PFOA and PFOS than females. PFOS levels in serum increased with age. This study is the first investigation to reveal the PFOS and PFOA levels of serum samples in the general population of Taiwan. The levels of PFOS and PFOA in Taiwanese serum samples were comparable with those from other countries (PFOS: 5.0–35 ng mL⁻¹, PFOA: 1.5–10 ng mL⁻¹).     

Enhanced cytotoxicity of pentachlorophenol by perfluorooctane sulfonate or perfluorooctanoic acid in HepG2 cells

Chlorinated phenols and perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are two kinds of pollutants which are widely present in the environment. Considering liver is the primary toxic target organ for these two groups of chemicals, it is interesting to evaluate the possible joint effects of them on liver. In this work, the combined toxicity of pentachlorophenol (PCP) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) or perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were investigated using HepG2 cells. The results indicated that PFOS and PFOA could strengthen PCP’s hepatotoxicity. Further studies showed that rather than intensify the oxidative stress or promote the biotransformation of PCP, PFOS (or PFOA) might lead to strengthening of the oxidative phosphorylation uncoupling of PCP. By measuring the intracellular PCP concentration and the cell membrane properties, it was suggested that PFOS and PFOA could disrupt the plasma membrane and increase the membrane permeability. Thus, more cellular accessibility of PCP was induced when they were co-exposed to PCP and PFOS (or PFOA), leading to increased cytotoxicity. Further research is warranted to better understand the combined toxicity of PFAAs and other environmental pollutants.     

玉米和黄豆对酸性土壤中石油的去除效果

通过室外盆栽试验,比较了玉米(Zea mays)和黄豆(Glycine max)2种植物对酸性土壤中石油污染物的去除效果。结果表明,2种植物对土壤中石油具有良好的耐受性和去除效果。玉米和黄豆对石油烃的去除率分别可达38.41%～64.30%和34.24%～63.96%,而自然条件下石油去除率仅为23.77%～58.43%。聚合酶链式反应-变性梯度凝胶电泳(PCR-DGGE)图谱分析结果显示,当w(石油)为0～17 295 mg.kg-1时,土壤微生物群落的丰度和多样性大致随着w(石油)的升高而呈下降趋势,植物根系能够选择性地促进根际微生物的增殖,且玉米根系的作用比黄豆明显。     

一株降解原油链霉菌的分离鉴定与降解特性研究

从山东东营胜利油田附近被石油污染的土壤中分离得到1株高效原油降解菌Z1a-B,依据形态和培养特征,初步鉴定Z1a-B菌株为链霉菌属白孢类群。试验结果表明,该菌株具有较强的溶血和排油活性,说明其产生生物表面活性剂的能力较强。通过气相色谱-质谱联用仪(GC-MS)分析,菌株能基本降解C12~C34的正构烷烃,对烷基苯、菲、甲基菲、萘也具有较强的降解能力。固体培养基配比以麸皮2 g、鸡粪40 g、草炭52.5 g、生石灰1.5g,或麸皮2 g、大米20 g、黄豆粉28 g、生石灰1.5 g较佳,在这2种配比培养基中链霉菌生长快,长势好,产孢子量多。经室内培养试验发现,当土壤中w(原油)=10%时,经Z1a-B菌株处理(35℃,pH 6.5)50 d,土壤原油降解率为67.5%。     

双台子河口湿地环境石油烃污染特征分析

以2008年10月和2009年5月2次野外调查获取的数据为基础,分析了双台子河口湿地环境石油烃污染特征. 结果表明:秋季河水石油烃污染比苇田水和稻田水严重,春季三者无显著差异,但春秋两季有92.31%地表水的ρ(石油烃)超过《地表水环境质量标准》(GB3838—2002)Ⅲ类标准;湿地表层土壤秋季33.33%的站位、春季77.78%的站位达到中等及以上污染水平,春季个别站位达到重度污染水平,分布于流域中上游的盐渍水稻土和盐化草甸土污染程度比流域下游的滨海沼泽盐土和滨海潮滩盐土严重,中下游芦苇湿地对石油烃净化作用明显;剖面土壤w(石油烃)最大值出现在30~≤40 cm土层,达重度污染水平,显示双台子河口湿地环境已经受到不同程度的石油烃污染. 湿地土壤w(石油烃)与芦苇长势参数的相关分析显示,目前湿地土壤石油烃污染尚未影响芦苇的正常生长及产量,但研究区域的石油工业污染已经成为双台子河口湿地重要的生态风险源之一.      

石油烃在土柱中的纵向迁移行为模拟

通过室内土柱模拟试验研究了石油烃在土壤剖面中的纵向迁移特点及影响因素. 结果表明,淋滤后多环芳烃(PAHs)主要富集在土柱表层,w(PAHs)随深度增加而明显降低,但不同土柱w(PAHs)降幅不同. 饱和烃类化合物组成特征表明,土柱不同深度下饱和烃化合物的组成特征与原土样有明显不同,表明这些化合物在土壤剖面上发生了迁移,但不同化合物(正构烷烃、甾萜类和烷基环己烷)纵向迁移的深度不同,说明饱和烃中不同组分化合物的迁移能力不同. 石油烃组成及质量分数随深度变化特征表明,影响石油烃在土壤中纵向迁移的因素主要有土壤总有机碳(TOC)的质量分数和原油黏度.      

Determination of trace cadmium by resonance light scattering technique with 1, lO-phenanthroline-perfluorooctane sulfonate system

在pH 6.8 Britton-Robinson（BR）缓冲介质中,镉（Ⅱ）与1,10-菲啰啉（Phen）作用后与全氟辛烷磺酸（PFOS）形成离子缔合物,使体系的共振光散射信号显著增强.最大散射峰位于307.0 nm处,其增强散射信号强度与镉（Ⅱ）的浓度在6.0—342.5 ng·mL-1范围内呈线性关系,据此建立了测定镉（Ⅱ）含量的共振光散射分析方法,检出限（3!）为0.6 ng·mL-1,研究了反应产物的RLS光谱特征,适宜的反应条件和影响因素,考察了共存物质的影响.该方法用于自来水和实验室废水样中镉（Ⅱ）的测定,RSD≤4.4%.     

全氟辛烷磺酸(PFOS)对斑马鱼血浆和组织匀浆中卵黄蛋白原含量的影响

为了研究低剂量的全氟辛烷磺酸(perfluorooctane sulfonate,PFOS)对水生生物的内分泌干扰效应和作用机制,考察了PFOS对斑马鱼(Brachydanio rerio)血浆和组织匀浆中卵黄蛋白原(vitellogenin,VTG)含量的影响。将雄性和雌性斑马鱼分别暴露于0.1、1、10和100μg·L-1的PFOS中进行21d毒性实验,染毒结束后分别检测雄鱼和雌鱼的血浆、头尾组织匀浆液和全鱼匀浆液中的VTG含量。结果显示:(1)PFOS暴露可引起斑马鱼血浆、全鱼和头尾匀浆液中VTG含量的升高,VTG含量的排序为雌鱼(血浆>>全鱼匀浆>头尾匀浆)>>雄鱼(血浆>全鱼匀浆>>头尾匀浆);(2)PFOS暴露所引起的雄鱼血浆和头尾匀浆中VTG含量的升高与剂量呈负相关关系,暴露浓度为0.1μg·L-1时与对照组相比有显著性差异(p<0.05);(3)雌鱼血浆和头尾匀浆中VTG含量的升高与剂量呈倒U型曲线关系,暴露浓度为10μg·L-1时与对照组相比有显著性差异(p<0.05);(4)雄鱼和雌鱼的全鱼匀浆液中的VTG含量与对照组相比均无显著性差异。研究结果表明,PFOS暴露对斑马鱼的内分泌干扰作用明显,其毒性作用机制可能是类雌激素效应,血液和头尾匀浆液中VTG含量能够作为PFOS内分泌干扰效应评价的敏感生物标志物,但响应曲线可能因性别和组织部位的不同有所差异。     

世界石油天然气工业HSE管理的新进展

健康、安全与环境管理体系已在石油天然气工业界得到广泛实施。在广泛吸纳国内外一些大型油气公司实践经验的基础上,针对世界石油天然气工业HSE管理的一些新发展作了简单介绍,其中包括质量、安全、健康与环境一体化管理体系的建立,环境管理体系认证的HSE管理体系的建立及HSE表现年度报告的外部验证。