污染场地土壤中Cd人体可给性影响因素及对筛选值的影响

采用Unified bioaccessibility model (UBM) 模拟胃肠消化的方法测试了来自湖南、广西和大连12个污染土壤样品中Cd的人体可给性.结果显示,Cd在胃提取阶段的可给性为12.24%~81.10%,平均值为53.60%,肠提取阶段的可给性为2.01%~43.30%,平均值为19.74%.胃提取阶段的可给性浓度仅与总镉(TCd) (P<0.000, n=12)和总锰(TMn) (P=0.04, n=12)显著正相关,肠提取阶段的可给性浓度与TCd (P<0.001, n=12)、胃阶段Cd的可给性浓度(P<0.001, n=12)以及TMn(P=0.05, n=12)均显著正相关.胃阶段基于土壤中TCd和TP含量能较好的预测Cd在胃阶段的可给性浓度,模型决定系数(R2)达到0.992,肠阶段基于Cd在胃阶段的可给性浓度及土壤pH值能较好的预测其在肠阶段的可给性浓度,R2达到0.999.考虑土壤中Cd在胃中的可给性时,居住及工商业情形下土壤筛选值分别提升至未考虑可给性时的1.8倍(以可给性平均值计算)和1.2倍(以可给性最大值计算).考虑土壤中Cd在肠阶段的可给性时,居住及工商业情形下土壤筛选值分别提升至未考虑可给性时的5.0倍(以可给性平均值计算)和2.3倍(以可给性最大值计算).     

Estimating the opportunity costs of biodiversity protection in the Brigalow Belt, New South Wales

The New South Wales Government recently introduced the Native Vegetation Conservation Act to protect the native grassland and woodland of the state. The Act protects biodiversity by preventing farmers from clearing such vegetation on their properties but, as a consequence, reduces farm incomes and land values. An economic model of the relationship between land value and percentage of farm in native vegetation is integrated with an ecological model of the relationship between species lost and percentage of the farms in native vegetation. The integrated framework is applied to estimate the opportunity costs of the Act for one important agricultural area of the state, the northern part of the Brigalow Belt South Bio-Region. If all the vegetation were protected, the reduction in land value would be at least 14.3%, which is an opportunity cost of at least 148.5 dollars m for the area. Both the benefits and costs of biodiversity protection must be accounted for, so risk simulations are then combined with benefit-cost analysis to compare the benefits of biodiversity protection to these costs.     

BIODIVERSITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS: A PERSONAL REFLECTION1

ABSTRACT: A forester shares personal reflections on biodiversity, finding he must deal with the question of “What is biodiversity?” before dealing with “What is biodiversity good for?” Even before that, the complexity of the scientific and social aspects of biodiversity must be looked at to set a context. The author believes that biodiversity has scientific, recreational, wildness, natural history, and spiritual values and contributes to sustainability and productivity. Aesthetic values also are found to be very important, and the author concludes “that biodiversity has values that are worth protecting, even in the face of scientific uncertainty.” Personal reflection on environmental issues is necessary to fully understand what one believes, and to be an active participant in issues of environmental ethics.     

Does improved waste treatment have demonstrable biological benefits?

Since 1972, 10 benthic surveys and 9 static fish bioassays have been conducted to assess the impact of AVTEX Fibers, Inc. effluent on the lower South Fork of the Shenandoah River. AVTEX (formerly FMC Corp.) is a rayon and polyester fibers plant located in Front Royal, Virginia. Benthic samples were taken at four stations, one above and three below the plant discharges. Single surveys in 1972 and 1973 indicated a severe impact on the benthic community along the right side of the river, below the plant, as a result of the channelized effluent. Diversity values (¯d) were low (0–2.42) and numbers of taxa and organisms were reduced. A fish bioassay in 1973 indicated the effluent to be acutely toxic at the 34.5% level (mixture of effluent and river water). In early 1974, FMC Corp. constructed an activated sludge treatment system to reduce BOD and supplement the neutralization and chemical precipitation (zinc hydroxide and liquid-solid separation) facilities that had been used to treat waste waters since 1948. After the new equipment was placed in operation, the previously stressed area became more stable. In 1975 and 1976 the stressed area exhibited greater ¯d values (1.19–3.39) and an increased number of taxa and organisms. Bioassays showed the effluent to be acutely toxic to fish only once since 1973. The major improvements in the effluent were a 70% reduction in BOD₅ and a 60% reduction in the amount of zinc entering the river. Community conditions in 1977 indicated a partial remission of improvement, probably due to drought conditions.The rehabilitation of damaged ecosystems is a process important to all biologists. An important factor in encouraging industry to participate in this activity is evidence that improved waste treatment will often have demonstrable biological benefits rather soon. As data accumulate on the recovery process it may be possible to predict the degree of rehabilitation and time required more precisely.     

WILD RIVERS - METHODS FOR EVALUATION1

ABSTRACT: Two analytical methods are presented and demonstrated for evaluating the monetary and nonmonetary benefits of wild rivers. In the traditional benefit-cost context special techniques are required to show that any wild river is worthy of preservation. The methods presented allow for the possibility of low development levels in river basins to be optimal, although advanced development can also be shown to be most efficient in some circumstances. That is, the methods are not directed to the wild condition only but to the entire spectrum of development possibilities. The applications of the methods to two adjacent subbasins in the State of Washington each showed that the currently undeveloped basin should be left in its wild condition, while the partially developed basin next door should be developed even more fully.     

LIMITS ON THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAME OF REFERENCE IN WATER RESOURCE DECISION-MAKING1

Study of water resource decision-making in Massachusetts demonstrates the existence of many institutional constraints such as the established fee system for consulting engineers, the funding of certain agencies, the institutionalization of equity concerns, overrepresentation of interests, and incompatibility of agency goals. These institutional constraints are attributable in part to certain broadly-based value-orientations such as the American pragmatic tradition. However, various lines of evidence indicate that these constraints are less important than other factors in the etiology of decisional outcomes. The outcomes of the decision processes were found to be at variance with the decisions studied, a fact leading to the conclusion that choice of decisions for study should be given more attention. The authors conclude that institutional constraints are important if one is interested in studying how decisions are made, but that what actually happens in the long run cannot be easily ascertained by studying either institutions or the decision-making process. They suggest the need for more research utilizing the incremental theories of Carl Lindblom and the side-effect theories of Albert O. Hirschman.     

THE IMPACT OF WATER RESOURCE QUALITY CHANGES ON SURROUNDING PROPERTY VALUES1

ABSTRACT: A case study is used to demonstrate a methodology for measuring the residential property value benefit of water pollution abatement. Increases in the value of single-family homes attributable to improvement in the water quality of the nearby Willamette River (Clackamas County, Oregon) were measured using a regression analysis technique. Sales prices and tax assessment data were used to estimate the change in property values coincident with the changes in water quality. The percentage increase in property value due to pollution abatement is expressed as a function of the distance between properties and the river bank.     

DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PLANNING MODEL FOR WATER AND FISHERY MANAGEMENT1

ABSTRACT: This paper describes the development of an interdisciplinary model that analyzes the effects of resource management decisions on New Mexico fishery production, yield, sportfishing effort, and economic benefit to anglers. The model recreates river flows and materials transported through reservoirs and their tailwaters from 1974 through 1987. Solar radiation, water temperature, phosphorus, nitrogen, suspended solids, and water exchange rates determine primary production. Organic loads from watershed sources, added to primary production, form a trophic base for sportfish forage. Fish production is partitioned into biomass and growth of each age class in sportfish and forage fish groups by differential responses to food type, light, water-level fluctuation and predation. Fish biomass, with angler population distribution and site condition, contributes to determining angler effort and economic benefits. Model users can vary and analyze water level and quality, stocking, fishing regulations, site access, site facilities, and site entry fees. The model (on floppy disks with a user manual) is available for operation on MS DOS compatible computers with a hard disk. Contact R. M. Wilson, NMGF, State Capitol, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87503.     

REGIONAL FREQUENCY ANALYSIS OF HYDROLOGIC MULTIYEAR DROUGHTS1

This paper is concerned with regional frequency analysis of hydrologic multiyear droughts. A drought event is defined by three parameters: severity, duration, and magnitude. A method is proposed here to standardize drought severities with a duration adjustment to enable comparison among drought events. For purposes of a regional study, the index drought method is selected and applied to standardized droughts to give a regional frequency curve. However, the recurrence intervals of the drought events obtained from index drought method are limited to the historic period of record. Therefore, by taking advantage of random variations of droughts in both time and space, a multivariate simulation model is used to estimate exceedence probabilities associated with regional drought maxima. This method, named the regional extreme drought method, is capable of generating a series of drought events which, although they have not occurred historically, are more severe than historic events. By combining the results of the index drought method and regional extreme drought analysis, a regional drought probability graph is constructed which ranges from severe droughts to more frequent droughts. This procedure is applied to the mean annual flow records of streams located in the San Joaquin Valley of California, and drought-severity-frequency plots are prepared for 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year durations.     

Taking Ethics into Account in Farm Animal Breeding: What can the Breeding Companies Achieve?

Animal welfare and the ethical issues it raises have been discussed intensively for a couple of decades. The emphasis has been on the direct effects of housing and husbandry, but more attention is now being given to problems originating in selective breeding. European attempts to adjust animal welfare legislation to deal with these problems have been largely unsuccessful, but the fact that selective breeding can introduce welfare problems continues to place an ethical responsibility on the animal breeding industry. Since breeding decisions are made centrally and, increasingly, internationally, strategic change is only likely to occur if it is embedded in an international agreement of some kind. The aim of this paper is to describe the key ethical issues facing animal breeding and assess the suggestion that the breeding industry itself can deal with ethical issues by means of an ethical code. Results from recent projects involving commercial breeding enterprises are presented.