Measuring combined exposure to environmental pressures in urban areas: an air quality and noise pollution assessment approach

This study presents a methodological scheme developed to provide a combined air and noise pollution exposure assessment based on measurements from personal portable monitors. Provided that air and noise pollution are considered in a co-exposure approach, they represent a significant environmental hazard to public health. The methodology is demonstrated for the city of Thessaloniki, Greece. The results of an extensive field campaign are presented and the variations in personal exposure between modes of transport, routes, streets and transport microenvironments are evaluated. Air pollution and noise measurements were performed simultaneously along several commuting routes, during the morning and evening rush hours. Combined exposure to environmental pollutants is highlighted based on the Combined Exposure Factor (CEF) and Combined Dose and Exposure Factor (CDEF). The CDEF takes into account the potential relative uptake of each pollutant by considering the physical activities of each citizen. Rather than viewing environmental pollutants separately for planning and environmental sustainability considerations, the possibility of an easy-to-comprehend co-exposure approach based on these two indices is demonstrated. Furthermore, they provide for the first time a combined exposure assessment to these environmental pollutants for Thessaloniki and in this sense they could be of importance for local public authorities and decision makers. A considerable environmental burden for the citizens of Thessaloniki, especially for VOCs and noise pollution levels is observed. The material herein points out the importance of measuring public health stressors and the necessity of considering urban environmental pollution in a holistic way.     

环境健康价值评估中的年龄效应研究

在环境健康价值评估研究中,统计寿命价值和年龄之间的关系是理论和实证研究焦点之一,也是重要的学术问题。长久以来,环境政策效益评估中是否应该赋予老年人较低的统计寿命价值一直存在广泛争议,且尚未得到一致性结论。通过设计选择实验,对北京市空气质量改善的健康效益进行了抽样调查,并采用MNL模型对北京市约500个居民的调查数据进行回归分析,估算了不同年龄人群对健康风险减少的支付意愿,针对中国人群中统计寿命价值和年龄之间的关系进行实证探讨。结果表明:一方面,在总体样本中设置年龄虚拟变量,回归结果表明年龄变量系数的符号均显著为负,即年龄因素对减少空气污染带来的死亡风险降低的支付意愿具有显著的影响,年龄越大支付意愿相对越小;另一方面,不同年龄人群分组样本结果显示,统计寿命价值与年龄之间呈现"倒U型"关系,统计寿命价值在中国存在"老年折扣"现象。研究结果可为我国环境政策的健康效益分析中如何考虑年龄的影响提供重要依据。     

1990-2009年中国省际环境污染综合评价

本文以中国省级经济单元为分析对象,以环境污染为研究中心,基于"纵横向"拉开档次法的动态综合评价原理,通过构建具有"三维"特征的环境污染动态综合评价模型,计算了各省1990-2009年的环境污染综合指数,研究了影响环境污染变动的决定因素。结论认为,在样本考察期内,污染物排放最少(即环境质量最好)的省份依次为:青海、天津、北京、宁夏、新疆、甘肃、上海、吉林、福建、云南,这10个省份的环境污染综合指数都在1.50以下;要完成"十二五"主要污染物排放比2010年下降8%的减排目标,四川、河北、山东、辽宁、山西、江苏、河南、广东、湖南、广西是重点监控省份。分地区看,西部地区环境污染最小,依次为中部和东部。污染物排放变动的影响因素分析表明,提高经济发展水平、增加污染治理投资、加强企业环境管制能力对降低污染物排放具有一定的积极作用,第二产业所占比重、国有及国有控股工业所占比重及煤炭消费所占比重增加具有显著增加污染物排放的作用,外资进入对环境污染有一定的影响。据此提出了优化环境质量的对策建议。     

包容性增长中人的全面发展的评价

本文系统地阐述了理论界对人的发展评价指标体系的不同观点,并基于现有包容性增长观的理论基础,根据经济增长对人的包容的评价维度,综合考虑了人的经济发展环境、人的社会发展环境、人的生态环境、人口素质和人的生活质量五大要素来构建指标体系。通过上述5个方面30个指标,基于因子分析法建立人的全面发展综合评价模型,对我国2004-2009年的人的全面发展情况进行评价。研究结果表明:我国2004-2009年人的全面发展状况呈现逐年上升的趋势,且增幅也逐年递增,这表明随着人的全面发展的速度加快,人的全面发展状况越来越好。结合主成分分析解析获得人的全面发展的两个主因子,分别为外部因子(25个指标)与内部因子(5个指标),两个子因子的累积方差贡献率达到87.890%,其中外部因子的贡献率为76.202%,内部因子的贡献率为11.688%。这说明,在决定人的全面发展水平的诸多因素中,外部要素和内部要素是两大主要因素,且前者的影响力大于后者。分析外部因子与内部因子的年际变化规律可知外部要素是正面因素,起着积极的作用,而内部因素则不然。说明我国人的发展存在以外延发展为主,内涵发展不足的现象。综上,文章针对内涵发展不足提出政策建议,以期通过关注人的生活质量、发展潜能和幸福指数,最终来实现人的全面发展。     

Effects of soil properties on food web accumulation of heavy metals to the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)

Effects of soil properties on the accumulation of metals to wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) were evaluated at two sites with different pH and organic matter content of the soil. pH and organic matter content significantly affected accumulation of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in earthworms and vegetation. For Cd, Cu and Zn these effects propagated through the food web to the wood mouse. Soil-to-kidney ratios differed between sites: Cd: 0.15 versus 3.52, Cu: 0.37 versus 1.30 and Zn: 0.33-0.83. This was confirmed in model calculations for Cd and Zn. Results indicate that total soil concentrations may be unsuitable indicators for risks that metals pose to wildlife. Furthermore, environmental managers may, unintentionally, change soil properties while taking specific environmental measures. In this way they may affect risks of metals to wildlife, even without changes in total soil concentrations.     

Arsenic contamination and potential health risk implications at an abandoned tungsten mine, southern China

In an extensive environmental study, field samples, including soil, water, rice, vegetable, fish, human hair and urine, were collected at an abandoned tungsten mine in Shantou City, southern China. Results showed that arsenic (As) concentration in agricultural soils ranged from 3.5 to 935 mg kg⁻¹ with the mean value of 129 mg kg⁻¹. In addition, As concentration reached up to 325 μg L⁻¹ in the groundwater, and the maximum As concentration in local food were 1.09, 2.38 and 0.60 mg kg⁻¹ for brown rice, vegetable and fish samples, respectively, suggesting the local water resource and food have been severely contaminated with As. Health impact monitoring data revealed that As concentrations in hair and urine samples were up to 2.92 mg kg⁻¹ and 164 μg L⁻¹, respectively, indicating a potential health risk among the local residents. Effective measurements should be implemented to protect the local community from the As contamination in the environment.     

Estimates of synthetic fertilizer N-induced direct nitrous oxide emission from Chinese croplands during 1980-2000

There is increasing concern that agricultural intensification in China has greatly increased N₂O emissions due to rapidly increased fertilizer use. By linking a spatial database of precipitation, synthetic fertilizer N input, cropping rotation and area via GIS, a precipitation-rectified emission factor of N₂O for upland croplands and water regime-specific emission factors for irrigated rice paddies were adopted to estimate annual synthetic fertilizer N-induced direct N₂O emissions (FIE-N₂O) from Chinese croplands during 1980-2000. Annual FIE-N₂O was estimated to be 115.7 Gg N₂O-N year⁻¹ in the 1980s and 210.5 Gg N₂O-N year⁻¹ in the 1990s, with an annual increasing rate of 9.14 Gg N₂O-N year⁻¹ over the period 1980-2000. Upland croplands contributed most to the national total of FIE-N₂O, accounting for 79% in 1980 and 92% in 2000. Approximately 65% of the FIE-N₂O emitted in eastern and southern central China.     

Inferring chemical effects on carbon flows in aquatic food webs: Methodology and case study

The majority of ecotoxicological enclosure experiments monitor species abundances at different chemical concentrations. Here, we present a new modelling approach that estimates changes in food web flows from such data and show that population- and food web level effects are revealed that are not apparent from abundance data alone. For the case of cypermethrin in freshwater enclosures, photosynthesis and excretion (d⁻¹) of phytoplankton at 3.643 μg L⁻¹ cypermethrin were 30% lower and 100% higher than in the control, respectively. The ingestion rate of mesozooplankton (d⁻¹) was 6 times higher in the treated enclosures than in the control as food concentration increased with insecticide exposure. With increasing cypermethrin concentrations, nanoflagellates progressively relied on phytoplankton as their main food source, which rendered the food web less stable. We conclude that this tool has excellent potential to analyse the wealth of enclosure data as it only needs species abundance and general constraints.     

Comprehensive assessment of toxic metals in urban and suburban street deposited sediments (SDSs) in the biggest metropolitan area of China

A set of toxic metals, i.e. As, Hg, Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni and Cr, in urban and suburban SDSs were investigated comparatively in the biggest metropolitan area of China, Shanghai. Results showed that all of the metals except As were accumulated greatly, much higher than background values. Geo-accumulation index indicated that metal contamination in urban SDSs was generally heavier than that in suburban SDSs. Potential ecological risk index demonstrated that overall risks caused by metals were considerable. Cd contributed 52% to the overall risk. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that in urban SDSs, Zn, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cu and Cr were related to traffic and industry; coal combustion led to elevated levels of Hg; soil parent materials controlled As contents. In suburban SDSs, Pb, Cu, As and Cd largely originated from traffic pollution; Zn, Ni and Cr were associated with industrial contaminants; Hg was mainly from domestic solid waste.     

Ecological risk of anthropogenic pollutants to reptiles: Evaluating assumptions of sensitivity and exposure

A large data gap for reptile ecotoxicology still persists; therefore, ecological risk assessments of reptiles usually incorporate the use of surrogate species. This necessitates that (1) the surrogate is at least as sensitive as the target taxon and/or (2) exposures to the surrogate are greater than that of the target taxon. We evaluated these assumptions for the use of birds as surrogates for reptiles. Based on a survey of the literature, birds were more sensitive than reptiles in less than 1/4 of the chemicals investigated. Dietary and dermal exposure modeling indicated that exposure to reptiles was relatively high, particularly when the dermal route was considered. We conclude that caution is warranted in the use of avian receptors as surrogates for reptiles in ecological risk assessment and emphasize the need to better understand the magnitude and mechanism of contaminant exposure in reptiles to improve exposure and risk estimation.