Advisory Committee: A Powerful Tool for Helping Decision Makers in Environmental Issues

/ It has been suggested that the general public should be moreinvolved in environmental policy and decision making. It is important forthem to realize that they will have to live with the consequences ofenvironmental policies and decisions. Consequently, policy makers shouldconsider the concerns and opinions of the general public before makingdecisions on environmental issues. This raises questions such as: How can weintegrate the perceptions and reactions of the general population inenvironmental decisions? What kind of public participation should weconsider? In the present study, using a new regional ecosystem model, weattempted to integrate these aspects in its decision making model byincluding the formation of an advisory committee to resolve problems relatedto waste management. The advisory committee requested the activeparticipation of representatives from all levels of the community: economic,municipal, and governmental intervenors; environmental groups; and citizens.Their mandates were to examine different management strategies available inthe region, considering all the interdisciplinary aspects of each strategy,elaborate recommendations concerning the management strategies that are mostsuitable for all, and collaborate in communication of the information to thegeneral population. The results showed that at least in small municipalitiessuch an advisory committee can be a powerful tool in environmental decisionmaking. Conditions required for a successful consultation process, such aseveryday lay language and the presence of a facilitator other than ascientific expert, are discussed.KEY WORDS: Public consultation; Environmental policies;Interdisciplinary aspects; Municipal sewage sludge management; Generalpopulation; Decision-making process     

The Effects of Ocean Disposal of Sewage Sludge On the Relative Abundance of Benthic Megafauna

Disposal of sewage sludge in the New York Bight Apex (12-Mile Dump Site) ceased at the end of December 1987. Previous efforts to quantify the effects of sludge were hindered by the inability to obtain true replication. the cessation of dumping afforded the opportunity to apply the technique of replication in time, also known as a Before/After, Control/Impact design. Conditionally, this method allows one to separate treatment effects from the natural differences that confound many environmental impact studies. the Environmental Processes Division of the Northeast Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service sampled the benthic environment of the New York Bight Apex from June 1986 through September 1989 using a sample design based on the technique of replication in time.

Three dominant species (rock crab, Cancer irroratus; little skate; Raja erinacea; and winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus) and total demersal finfish, collected by otter trawl, showed no statistically significant response to the cessation of disposal. American lobster (Homarus americanus) increased in local abundance, but this result was possibly confounded by a change in fishing effort.     

Environmental 238U and 232Th concentration measurements in an area of high level natural background radiation at Palong, Johor, Malaysia

Concentrations of uranium-238 and thorium-232 in soil, water, grass, moss and oil-palm fruit samples collected from an area of high background radiation were determined using neutron activation analysis (NAA). U-238 concentration in soil ranged from 4.9 mg kg(-1) (58.8 Bq kg(-1)) to 40.4 mg kg(-1) (484.8 Bq kg(-1)), Th-232 concentration ranged from 14.9 mg kg(-1) (59.6 Bq kg(-1)) to 301.0 mg kg(-1) (1204 Bq kg(-1)). The concentration of U-238 in grass samples ranged from below the detection limit to 0.076 mg kg(-1) (912 mBq kg(-1)), and Th-232 ranged from 0.008 mg kg(-1) (32 mBq kg(-1)) to 0.343 mg kg(-1) (1.372 Bq kg(-1)). U-238 content in water samples ranged from 0.33 mg kg(-1) (4.0 Bq L(-1)) to 1.40 mg kg(-1) (16.8 Bq L(-1)), and Th-232 ranged from 0.19 mg kg(-1) (0.76 Bq L(-1)) to 0.66 mg kg(-1) (2.64 Bq L(-1)). It can be said that the concentrations of environmental U-238 and Th-232 in grass and water samples in the study area are insignificant. Mosses were found to be possible bio-radiological indicators due to their high absorption of the heavy radioelements from the environment.     

高效厌氧产甲烷颗粒污泥中微生物多样性及定量化研究

以小试高效厌氧反应器不同运行阶段的颗粒污泥为对象,利用变性梯度凝胶电泳(DGGE)、荧光原位杂交(FISH)和实时定量链式聚合酶反应(RTQ-PCR)等技术研究了其中微生物种群的多样性、特征微生物的空间分布和定量关系,结果表明:随着反应器有机负荷逐渐提高,颗粒污泥中古菌的群落结构的变化较细菌更为明显;细菌多分布在颗粒外层,而古菌则主要分布在颗粒内层;古菌含量略少于细菌,但有逐渐增多的趋势;产甲烷丝菌在古菌中的含量增加明显.     

聚糖菌颗粒污泥基于胞内储存物质的同步硝化反硝化

采用特殊运行方式的厌氧-好氧SBR系统(厌氧后排水),以乙酸钠为有机基质成功富集了聚糖菌颗粒污泥.聚糖菌颗粒污泥厌氧-好氧批式实验表明,聚糖菌颗粒污泥具有较强的SND能力,TOC/N分别为5.0,4.0,2.8时,SND效率分别96.4%、95.3%及96.2%,而周期总氮去除效率随着碳氮比降低而降低,分别为66.0%、61.2%及56.3%.通过对周期氨氮、亚硝酸盐氮、硝酸盐氮、TOC以及胞内糖原、PHB变化的测定分析,证明聚糖菌颗粒污泥SND过程中,污泥以厌氧阶段储存于胞内的多聚物PHB作为反硝化碳源,并且反硝化聚糖菌是系统中反硝化能力的来源.与溶解性基质相比,PHB的降解速率相对较低,因此在SND过程中,反硝化可以与硝化保持相近的速率,从而有助于获得良好的SND效果.     

潮土施镍对小白菜的生物效应及其临界值研究

研究潮土施Ni对盆栽蔬菜的生态效应,并通过小白菜生物量的变化、地上部茎叶Ni质量比及土壤有效态Ni质量比来表征土壤Ni污染的毒性临界值.结果表明,潮土施Ni对蔬菜未表现出增产效应.施Ni量低于25 mg/kg,其生物产量无明显降低.随施Ni量的增加,生物产量呈显著下降,生物量变化与Ni质量比呈高度负相关.潮土施Ni增加茎叶和根系中Fe,Mn,Ca,Mg元素质量比,降低Cu,Zn元素质量比.4种性质不同的提取试剂提取的土壤有效态Ni质量比与植物Ni吸收均呈高度正相关,较好地反映了植物的危害状况,且以DTPA提取效果最佳.以生物减产量突变点为依据,确定潮土施Ni毒害临界值为:土壤全量Ni为41.86 mg/kg,有效态Ni质量比为2.55mg/kg(DTPA)和茎叶Ni质量比为22.39 mg/kg.     

基于微生物相互作用机理的完全耦合活性污泥模型研究

根据微生物生长机理,推导出微生物的耦合作用机理并在该机理的基础上改进了ASM3 Bio-P模型.假设活性污泥系统中有机物氧化过程、生物硝化过程、生物反硝化过程、生物除磷过程可同时存在,在ASM3 Bio-P模型上添加相关的开关函数,推导出完全耦合活性污泥模型(FCASM).基于计算机程序进行数值模拟,并将FCASM模拟结果与实测值以及ASM3 Bio-P模型模拟值进行对比.结果表明,完全耦合活性污泥模型对氨氮模拟的稳态出水值为1.90 g·m-3,ASM3 Bio-P模型模拟的氨氮稳态出水值为0 g·m-3,而实测的氨氮稳态出水值为1.50 g·m-3,完全耦合活性污泥模型的结果更接近真实值.     

加速溶剂萃取-在线净化-液相色谱串联质谱法检测污泥堆肥样品中三氯生和三氯卡班

污泥堆肥样品基质复杂,其中三氯生（TCS）和三氯卡班（TCC）的提取和净化过程操作烦琐、回收率低。通过对净化条件进行优化,建立了加速溶剂萃取-在线净化-液相色谱串联质谱法检测污泥堆肥样品中TCS和TCC的分析方法,并对上海某污水厂实际污泥堆肥样品中的TCS和TCC进行定量分析。结果表明,TCS和TCC的检出限分别为0.003和0.0002μg/g,加标回收率为90.3%~99.8%,相对标准偏差（RSD）为1.2%~8.5%（n=6）。该方法样品前处理时间短、回收率高、试剂使用量少,能够满足实际污泥堆肥样品中TCS和TCC的检测要求。     

低压下聚乙烯绝缘层导线火蔓延熔融滴落实验分析

低压导线火蔓延的研究对于飞机和航天器的防火安全具有重要意义。针对镍铬合金线芯、聚乙烯(PE)绝缘层导线火蔓延过程中的熔融滴落现象,在低压舱内开展了不同气压、不同氧气浓度的大量实验研究,获得了导线熔融滴落频率、质量和火蔓延速度,以及不同氧浓度熔融滴落的上下限。结果表明:(1)在熔融滴落过程中,由于滴落会产生向上的动量,从而使火焰在滴落后发生突然的"跳动"现象,火焰高度先增加后降低;(2)滴落上限和滴落下限随着氧浓度的增加而降低,并且可以划分为3个不同的区域:火蔓延仅存区;滴落和火蔓延共存区;无滴落无火蔓延区。滴落上限和滴落下限下降曲线在50%氧浓度、5kPa压力发生会合,此后只有火蔓延而不存在滴落现象。(3)当压力降低时,由于线芯温度增加,线芯传导热量增加,导致绝缘层熔融速率加快,从而使得滴落频率增加,同时液滴的表面张力随着压力的降低而增加,使得低压下液滴的质量变大。     

气温和湿度在泸州市城区对臭氧浓度预测的运用研究

气温和湿度均为影响臭氧生成的要素,通过分析泸州市国控点数据,找出气温和湿度与臭氧浓度的关系,从而建立气温和湿度为变量的臭氧浓度预测模型.选取2019年泸州市主城区的气温和湿度数据,将气温按日最高温(Tmax)、日最低温(Tmin)和日平均气温(Tmean)划分,将湿度按四季划分,分别统计其与臭氧浓度的相关性.发现臭氧浓...