Are intensive agricultural practices environmentally and ethically sound?

Soil is fragile and nonrenewable but the most basic of natural resources. It has a capacity to tolerate continuous use but only with proper management. Improper soil management and indiscriminate use of chemicals have contributed to some severe global environmental issues, e.g., volatilization losses and contamination of natural waters by sediments and agricultural fertilizers and pesticides. The increasing substitution of energy for labor and other cultural inputs in agriculture is another issue. Fertilizers and chemicals account for about 25% of the production energy investment in agriculture. An additional 60% is accounted for by machinery, gasoline, electricity, and power-related inputs. Fertilizer additions to cropland are not utilized fully and significant amounts, depending on conditions, are either lost in surface runoff or leached into the ground water. The annual discharge of dissolved solids from agricultural lands to the waterways in the USA is substantial. The increasing use of herbicides in agriculture is a threat to the quality of surface and ground water, although this threat is dependent upon both the chemistry of the compound and the ecosystem in which it is used. Especially within the Third World, development of an environmental ethic and environmental laws have not kept pace with the increase in pesticide use. Above all is the severe and global problem of soil degradation currently occurring at the rate of five to seven million hectares per year. The policy and moral aspects of these issues are discussed.     

MEASURED AND CREAMS-PREDICTED NITROGEN LOSSES FROM TOMATO AND CORN MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS1

Nitrogen runoff and leaching losses from two tomato and four corn field plots were compared to model predictions by CREAMS, a field-scale model for Chemicals, Runoff, and Erosion from Agricultural Management Systems. The tomato treatments were (1) trickle irrigation with one-half of applied N at preplant and one-half of applied N through the trickle irrigation system and (2) overhead sprinkler irrigation with one-half of applied N at preplant and one-half of applied N in two equal sidedressings. The corn treatments consisted of multiple N applications, minimum tillage, and “conventional” management. Soil type appeared to influence the ability of CREAMS to predict seasonal trends and treatment influences. Model predictions for N losses from tomato and corn treatments that were located on sandy soils often disagreed with measured values. Treatment influences and seasonal trends for N losses from corn treatments that were located on a higher clay content soil were more satisfactorily predicted by CREAMS. Even though model input parameter estimation and measurement techniques may be imperfect, the simulation ability of CREAMS for predicting N leaching losses from systems on deep sands probably needs to be improved. Sensitivity analyses indicated that annual NC₃^?-N leaching loss predictions were either minimally or not affected by changes in saturated hydraulic conductivity. Input estimations of the fraction of soil pore space filled at field capacity and soil organic matter were inversely related to annual NO₃^?-N leaching losses, while potential mineralizable N was directly related to yearly N leaching losses.     

内源性稀土元素对土壤中氮素分布特征的影响

在离子型稀土开采过程中,由于部分防渗层渗漏、收集系统不完善等原因,有大量的氮化合物进入矿区周边土壤及地下水中,给当地居民生活环境带来了严重威胁。应用土柱实验,研究内源性稀土元素对矿区土壤氮化物吸附与解吸作用的影响。     

固硫灰固化焦化废水处理外排污泥

采用机械力化学法活化循环流化床燃煤固硫灰,用于固化焦化废水处理外排污泥(CWT污泥)。探讨了固硫灰活化条件,并通过XRD和FTIR分析了固硫灰固化CWT污泥中重金属的机理。实验结果表明:当m(Ca O)∶m(Ca O+固硫灰)为20%、球磨频率为40 Hz、球磨时间为2 h时,养护28 d固硫灰固化体的平均抗压强度达到72.2 MPa;当污泥掺加量为50%(w)时,养护28 d含污泥固化体的抗压强度达到8.5 MPa,固化体浸出液中Pb2+和As5+的质量浓度分别为0.177 mg/L和0.013 mg/L,均远低于GB 5085.3—2007《危险废物鉴别标准浸出毒性鉴别》的规定限值。XRD和FTIR表征结果表明,在固硫灰活化过程中,混合体系水化生成了C—S—H凝胶、斜方钙沸石和钙矾石,可通过物理包裹、吸附及离子交换的形式实现CWT污泥中Pb2+和As5+的固化/稳定化。     

城市污泥生物沥滤过程中重金属滤出途径的研究

以硫酸亚铁为底物,嗜酸氧化亚铁硫杆菌为沥滤微生物对城市污泥进行生物沥滤实验,并以硫酸化学沥滤污泥处理和硫酸亚铁化学氧化沥滤污泥处理为对照来分析生物沥滤过程中6种重金属(Cu、Pb、Zn、Cd、Cr、Ni)的滤出途径。根据各处理中重金属去除率和化学形态的变化,通过估算生物沥滤过程中酸溶作用和Fe~(3+)氧化作用对重金属滤出的贡献率来推测各重金属的主要滤出途径。结果表明:Zn、Cu及Cd主要滤出途径为Fe~(~(3+))氧化作用,Pb和Cr主要通过酸溶作用滤出,而Ni的滤出则由Fe~(3+)氧化作用和酸溶作用共同控制。     

纳米碳及其复合材料对油菜生长和土壤氮素保持效应的影响

采用盆栽种植实验及淋溶试验方法,研究了纳米碳及其与沸石、保水剂等材料复合对油菜生长和土壤氮素淋溶情况的影响.结果表明,在各处理中,纳米碳与沸石和保水剂复合材料处理(N4)对油菜的株高和干重影响最明显,较空白对照组(CK)分别增加21.12%和16.51%;在土壤淋溶试验中,各处理的土壤总氮淋出量较CK减少25.00%~39.21%,其中,累积淋溶中NH+4-N量占总氮量的4.44%~6.73%,各处理间无显著差异,NO-3-N量占总氮量的49.33%~60.05%,但各处理间差异显著;纳米碳和沸石复合处理能有效延缓NO-3-N峰值出现时间,减少NO-3-N流失.因此,N4处理在促进作物生长和氮素保持增效利用方面效果最佳.     

铬渣动态淋滤重金属铬溶解释放规律研究

为了全面系统地研究铬渣中Cr(Ⅵ)和Cr(Ⅲ)溶解释放特征,以锦州和沈阳两地铬渣堆场为研究对象,通过动态淋滤试验,测定滤出液中Cr(Ⅵ)和总铬的质量浓度变化,分析铬渣淋滤液中Cr(Ⅵ)和Cr(Ⅲ)溶解释放规律。试验结果表明,锦州新铬渣和沈阳陈铬渣淋滤过程中,Cr(Ⅵ)和总铬浓度都经历先迅速下降再缓慢下降的过程;相较锦州新铬渣,沈阳陈铬渣Cr(Ⅵ)和总铬浓度下降都较慢,且初始浓度也较低;相比Cr(Ⅵ)的溶出,两地铬渣Cr(Ⅲ)的溶出量均较少,Cr(Ⅲ)溶出占比呈波动性上升趋势;锦州新铬渣和沈阳陈铬渣的Cr(Ⅵ)和总铬溶出浓度随淋出液体积分别呈双指数曲线衰减关系和幂函数曲线衰减关系。试验成果将为防治铬渣对地下水污染提供科学理论依据。     

模拟酸雨对MoO3生产废渣的浸出毒性及生物毒性的影响

利用理化分析、浸出毒性分析、生物毒性试验相结合研究了三氧化钼(MoO3)生产排放的废渣在不同模拟酸雨条件下的浸出毒性及生物毒性.结果表明,废渣浸出液中镍超标,属于具有浸出毒性的危险废物;同时其浸出液具有极强的生物毒性,浸出液生物毒性由强至弱依次为pH=4.5>pH=5.0>pH:5.5>pH=6.0.pH=6.5>pH=6.8,生物毒性最低的浸出液(pH:6.8)24h、48h对隆线溞的半致死体积分数LC50分别为0.3775%、0.2184%.因此,三氧化钼生产排放的废渣在堆存和运输过程中要妥善处理,防止经雨水,尤其是酸雨淋溶浸泡;经浸泡后产生的废液会污染附近水体和土壤,对环境和居民健康造成危害.     

Leaching of aluminium from cookwares -- a review

Concern over the possible relation between environmental aluminium exposure and Alzheimer's disease has prompted studies of all forms of human intake of this element including that from foods. Aluminium cookware, apart from other sources of dietary aluminium, is considered to be a potential source of this metal to human beings. Various research groups have carried out aluminium leaching experiments with food, beverages and water under different experimental conditions modified by varying the level of pH, chloride, fluoride, citrate, acetate etc. The results reported by different workers show marked discrepancies in levels of leached aluminum. The apparent reason for such discrepancy in levels of aluminum leached can be attributed to factors such as non-systematic and non-uniform experimental designs, non-standard conditions maintained during the experiments and choice of method for aluminium analysis. In order to assess accurately the contribution of aluminium ingestion by human beings through aluminium cookware, the present review emphasises the need of i) standard size aluminium plates obtained from the same lot for one set of experimentations; ii) real life cooking conditions to highlight the role of various complexing species present in food e.g. citrate, oxalate, acetate, tartrate etc.; iii) role of chemistry of aluminium in presence of acidic, basic and neutral cooking medium and iv) strict analytical control in the estimation of aluminium. Results of a systematic study by the authors conducted on the abovementioned lines are also described.     

医用诊断X线机房空气中离子浓度的调查

对乌鲁木齐地区５所医院１所卫生防疫站的医用诊断Ｘ射线机房内空气中正负离子浓度进行了调查，结果表明：透视和摄片机房空气中正负离子浓度分别为４７４±１１８，３１２±１０４（个／ｃｍ３）和４０４±１０１，２５６±７８（个／ｃｍ３）．单极系数（ｎ＋／ｎ－）分别为１．５２和１．５８。正离子浓度均高于对照组（Ｐ＜０．０１），ｎ＋／ｎ－相当于对照组的１，３７和１．４２倍。开机后空气中正离子浓度显著高于开机前浓度，ｎ＋／ｎ－开机后相当于开机前的１．６６和１．５９倍，呈现出Ｘ线机房空气中正负离子严重失调。提示应加强有害因素的防护。