欧盟工业废水污染物排放限值的制定

目前欧盟废水污染物排放限值的制定,主要依据欧盟委员会公布的污染综合防治指令和水政策行动框架指令的原则来进行。限值的制定方法主要有两种：一是以技术先进、经济合理为基础的最佳可行技术法;二是通过水环境质量标准、水体稀释能力以及污水处理系统削减能力来计算的反演法。中国可借鉴欧盟的先进方法进行环境标准体系的建设和完善。     

Scientific basis of dissolved organic carbon limitation for landfilling of municipal treatment sludge – Is it attainable and justifiable?

This study evaluated the scientific and technical basis of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) limitation imposed on municipal sludge for landfilling, mainly for assessing the attainability of the implemented numerical level. For this purpose, related conceptual framework was analyzed, covering related sewage characteristics, soluble microbial products generation, and substrate solubilization and leakage due to hydrolysis. Soluble COD footprint was experimentally established for a selected treatment plant, including all the key steps in the sequence of wastewater treatment and sludge handling. Observed results were compared with reported DOCs in other treatment configurations. None of the leakage tests performed or considered in the study could even come close to the prescribed limitation. All observed results reflected 10–20 fold higher DOC levels than the numerical limit of 800 mg/kg (80 mg/L), providing conclusive evidence that the DOC limitation imposed on municipal treatment sludge for landfilling is not attainable, and therefore not justifiable on the basis of currently available technology.     

欧盟循环经济发展经验及对我国固体废物管理的启示

在全球循环经济发展的背景下,欧盟全面推进循环经济转型,我国也在循环经济实践中取得一定成果。最新修订的《固体废物污染环境防治法》明确提出推行绿色发展方式,促进清洁生产和循环经济发展。我国正在开展的"无废城市"建设试点工作聚焦于推动实现固体废物可持续管理,助力城市经济社会高质量发展。本文聚焦欧盟始于2015年的循环经济1.0时代到2020年开启的循环经济2.0时代,深入分析其相继出台的重要政策措施以及所取得的成效,总结分析欧盟循环经济发展的经验,尤其是深入分析总结其中针对固体废物管理的相关举措和成效,以期为我国提升固体废物管理水平、推进"无废城市"建设提供可借鉴的经验。     

Ecological consequences of forest elephant declines for Afrotropical forests

Poaching is rapidly extirpating African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) from most of their historical range, leaving vast areas of elephant‐free tropical forest. Elephants are ecological engineers that create and maintain forest habitat; thus, their loss will have large consequences for the composition and structure of Afrotropical forests. Through a comprehensive literature review, we evaluated the roles of forest elephants in seed dispersal, nutrient recycling, and herbivory and physical damage to predict the cascading ecological effects of their population declines. Loss of seed dispersal by elephants will favor tree species dispersed abiotically and by smaller dispersal agents, and tree species composition will depend on the downstream effects of changes in elephant nutrient cycling and browsing. Loss of trampling and herbivory of seedlings and saplings will result in high tree density with release from browsing pressures. Diminished seed dispersal by elephants and high stem density are likely to reduce the recruitment of large trees and thus increase homogeneity of forest structure and decrease carbon stocks. The loss of ecological services by forest elephants likely means Central African forests will be more like Neotropical forests, from which megafauna were extirpated thousands of years ago. Without intervention, as much as 96% of Central African forests will have modified species composition and structure as elephants are compressed into remaining protected areas. Stopping elephant poaching is an urgent first step to mitigating these effects, but long‐term conservation will require land‐use planning that incorporates elephant habitat into forested landscapes that are being rapidly transformed by industrial agriculture and logging.     

Effects of uncertainty and variability on population declines and IUCN Red List classifications

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Categories and Criteria is a quantitative framework for classifying species according to extinction risk. Population models may be used to estimate extinction risk or population declines. Uncertainty and variability arise in threat classifications through measurement and process error in empirical data and uncertainty in the models used to estimate extinction risk and population declines. Furthermore, species traits are known to affect extinction risk. We investigated the effects of measurement and process error, model type, population growth rate, and age at first reproduction on the reliability of risk classifications based on projected population declines on IUCN Red List classifications. We used an age‐structured population model to simulate true population trajectories with different growth rates, reproductive ages and levels of variation, and subjected them to measurement error. We evaluated the ability of scalar and matrix models parameterized with these simulated time series to accurately capture the IUCN Red List classification generated with true population declines. Under all levels of measurement error tested and low process error, classifications were reasonably accurate; scalar and matrix models yielded roughly the same rate of misclassifications, but the distribution of errors differed; matrix models led to greater overestimation of extinction risk than underestimations; process error tended to contribute to misclassifications to a greater extent than measurement error; and more misclassifications occurred for fast, rather than slow, life histories. These results indicate that classifications of highly threatened taxa (i.e., taxa with low growth rates) under criterion A are more likely to be reliable than for less threatened taxa when assessed with population models. Greater scrutiny needs to be placed on data used to parameterize population models for species with high growth rates, particularly when available evidence indicates a potential transition to higher risk categories.     

The meta-hydroxylation step in the phenylpropanoid pathway: a new level of complexity in the pathway and its regulation

Together in silico and genetic mining approaches have recently designated the CYP98 family of plant cytochromes P450 as the family of enzymes that catalyzes the meta-hydroxylation step in the phenylpropanoid pathway. This meta-hydroxylation is not catalyzed on the free p-coumaric acid as anticipated, but on its conjugates with shikimic, quinic, or phenyllactic acids. While all CYP98s have in common phenol meta-hydroxylase activity, p-coumaroylshikimate remains their preferred substrate. High expression of CYP98s is detected in lignifying tissues in stems, roots, and siliques. The CYP98A3 gene disruption in Arabidopsis thaliana leads to a drastic inhibition of lignin synthesis, cell growth, and plant development. The meta-hydroxylation of phenolic precursors is thus essential for higher plant development. Isolation of coding sequences belonging to the CYP98 family from basil, wheat, and extensive functional analysis of the recombinant enzymes, together with CYP98s from other plant taxa, helps shedding some light on mechanisms of P450s evolution. Most importantly, the occurrence of the meta-hydroxylation on esters of shikimic or quinic acids introduces a new biochemical regulation mechanism in the phenylpropanoid pathway.     

欧盟不同环境领域环境政策发展趋势分析

在回顾欧盟环境政策发展历程的基础上,重点论述了2000年以来欧盟在水环境保护、空气污染防治、噪声污染防治、固体废物管理、化学品与杀虫剂管理、野生动植物保护和土壤保护等领域的政策发展趋势,以及为实施其环境政策所引入的各种辅助手段.     

欧盟的环境与资源保护——法律、政策和行动

欧盟是各个成员国之间为消除贸易的环境障碍,首先在环境保护的共同标准上进行协商和签订条约,所以乃是以环境为中心,覆盖资源保护问题。现在欧盟已成为超国家的地区主权的实体。欧盟的环境保护局已经成了一个大袋子,把环境保护、资源保护、自然保护甚至与工农业生产有关的问题都包括了进去。它的好处就是有利统一协调。欧盟的环境保护在４０多年中,走过了从各成员国自行负责到形成共同的法律和行动,从工业环境为主到全面生态环境保护,从治理污染到主动预防,从国家到区域到全球行动,在环境保护行动中欧盟将变得更为活跃和日益重要     

Determination of toxic metals in discarded Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs)

This study focused on the determination of the toxic metal content of Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) present in various Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). The main objective was the identification and quantification of toxic metals detected in LCD panels. An experimental procedure which involved dismantling, shredding, pulverization, digestion and chemical analysis was followed for the sorting, separation and analysis of LCD monitors from various electronic devices that are currently on the market. Nine selected devices were examined, originated from four different types of e-waste (WEEE); TVs, computers, mobile phones and tablets. Eleven metals were measured in all examined samples. In addition, concentration values of chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) were compared with the respective limits set by the RoHS 2002/95/EC Directive that was recently renewed by the 2012/19/EU recast. The comparison revealed that the examined toxic metals on LCD panels did not exceed the limits set by the European Union (EU). Furthermore, when results were compared to the TTLC regulatory limits it was revealed that in three samples As concentrations were higher than the limit. Finally, when the TCLP test was implemented the aforementioned samples did not exhibit proportionally elevated values in their leachates.     

Multinational corporations and the EU Emissions Trading System: The specter of asset erosion and creeping deindustrialization

This study seeks to investigate the causal effect of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) on firms' holdings of fixed assets as an early indicator of industrial relocation, exploiting installation level inclusion criteria of the regulation. To single out companies with particularly low relocation costs, global multinational enterprises (MNEs), we identify ownership structures for the full sample of EU ETS-firms. Matched Difference-in-Differences estimates provide robust evidence that contradicts the specter of an erosion of European asset bases. Baseline results for the manufacturing sector indicate that the EU ETS led to an on average increase of treated firms' asset bases of 12,1%. However, for a particular subgroup of MNEs, this increase is a mere 2.1%. For these companies, the EU ETS may have induced a shift in investment priorities.