Cancer and Non-Cancer Health Risk from Eating Cassava Grown in Some Mining Communities in Ghana

Food crops such as cassava, cocoyam and other tuber crops grown in mining communities uptake toxic or hazardous chemicals such as arsenic, and cadmium, from the soil. Cassava is a stable food for Ghanaians. This study evaluated human health risk from eating cassava grown in some mining communities in Ghana such as Bogoso, Prestea, Tarkwa and Tamso, which are important mining towns in the Western Region of Ghana. The study evaluated cancer and non-cancer health effects from eating cassava grown in the study areas in accordance with US Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Assessment guidelines. The results of the study revealed the following: cancer health risk for Tamso, 0.098 (RME – Reasonable Maximum Exposure) and 0.082 (CTE – Central Tendency Exposure). This means that approximately 10 and 8 out of 100 resident adults are likely to suffer from cancer related cases by RME and CTE parameters respectively. For Prestea, we have 0.010 and 0.12, which also means that approximately 1 out of 100 and 10 resident adults out of 100 are also likely to suffer from cancer related diseases by RME and CTE parameters. The results of the study obtained were found to be above the acceptable cancer risk range of 1× 10⁻⁶ to 1× 10⁻⁴, i.e., 1 case of cancer out of 1 million or 100,000 people respectively.     

Impact of demographic dynamics on CO_2 emissions in Sichuan,China

Global climate change is one of the major environmental issues faced by humans.Existing evidence indicates that the anthropogenic push for a rise in the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases(GHGs)(particularly CO_2)has been a primary cause for global warming.Aside from economic and teclinological factors,demographic dynamics(including human consumption in a broad demographic sense)has been a major driver for CO_2 emissions.In this paper,we performed both nonlinear regression analysis(based on the STIRPAT model)and gray correlation degree analysis(based on gray system theory)on the impact of demographic dynamics on CO_2 emissions.Our results reveal that CO_2 emissions are positively correlated with population size and GDP per capita and negatively correlated with energy intensity.We also show that gray correlation degree with CO_2 emissions for five variables(i.e.,household consumption,urbanization rate,household size,population aging rate,population size)varies substantially:household consumptionurbanization ratehousehold sizepopulation aging ratepopulation size,with household consumption being the highest,and population size the lowest.To mitigate the impact of demographic dynamics on CO_2 emissions,it is of vital significance to nurture people's awareness of sustainable consumption and to adhere to current population control policies.     

2,4-D mineralization in unsaturated and near-saturated surface soils of an undulating,cultivated Canadian prairie landscape

The herbicide 2,4-D [2,4-(dichlorophenoxy) acetic acid] is one of the most widely used pesticides in the Canadian prairies and is frequently detected as a ground and surface water contaminant. The objective of this paper was to determine the magnitude and extent of variation of 2,4-D mineralization in a cultivated undulating prairie landscape. Microcosm incubation experiments, using a 4 × 3 × 2 factorial experimental design (soil moisture, 4 levels: 60, 85, 110, 135% of field capacity; slope position, 3 levels: upper-, mid- and lower-slopes; soil depth, 2 levels: 0–5 and 5–15 cm), were used to assess 2,4-D mineralization. The first-order mineralization rate constant (k₁) varied from 0.03 to 0.22 day^{? 1}, while total 2,4-D mineralization varied from 31 to 52%. At near-saturated conditions (110 and 135% of field capacity), the onset of 2,4-D degradation was delayed in soil obtained from the upper- and mid-slopes but not in soils obtained from the lower-slope position. The k₁ and total 2,4-D mineralizationwas significantly influenced by all three factors and their interactions. The Freundlich sorption coefficient of 2,4-D ranged from 0.83 to 2.46 ug ^1–1/ng^{? 1} mL^1/n and was significantly influenced by variations in soil organic carbon content across slope positions. The infield variability of 2,4-D sorption and mineralization observed across slope positions in this undulating field was comparable in magnitude and extent to the regional variability of 2,4-D sorption and mineralization observed in surface soils across Manitoba. The large variability of 2,4-D mineralization and sorption at different slope positions in this cultivated undulating field suggests that landform segmentation models, which are used to delineate slope positions, are important considerations in pesticide fate studies.     

红壤坡地水土保持植物措施下柑橘林地水文生态效应

根据江西水土保持生态科技园2001～2008年不同处理措施柑橘林地径流小区的降雨产流产沙的定位观测资料及2010年土壤含水量测试数据,分析了坡面尺度水土保持植物措施下柑橘林地的产流产沙及土壤水分的特征,研究了狗牙根带状覆盖、狗牙根全园覆盖、果园清耕3种措施下的蓄水保土效应。结果表明：有草被覆盖的柑橘林小区的产流产沙量明显小于柑橘清耕小区,狗牙根带状覆盖小区减流减沙效果最好,减流率为98.21%,减沙率为99.84%。在大部分土层深度,草被带状覆盖下的土壤水分含量最高,均大于清耕措施,而全园覆盖由于植物蒸腾耗水量大水分含量反而低于带状覆盖。条带植草是防治柑橘林地水土流失的有效措施,具有明显的减流减沙效应和蓄积水分作用     

断裂构造对斜坡应力场影响的数值模拟及成灾机理研究

断裂构造及活动强度对斜坡体的应力场分布具有重要的影响。采用基于强度折减法的有限元法,分别以正断层和逆断层与斜坡体的组合关系为例,剖析了断裂构造对斜坡体应力场的影响及成灾机理,揭示了含有断层的斜坡体塑性区的贯通过程。研究表明,包含断层的斜坡体在应力分布特征及斜坡变形破坏机理方面与无断层的斜坡体有较大差别:含断层的斜坡体在坡面和断层面附近的最大主应力迹线与坡面或断层面相平行,在天然状态下,塑性区同时出现在坡脚和断层面后方,随着折减系数的增大,塑性区分别从坡脚和断层面后方向坡体深部和上部发展,直至断层面前后两个塑性区相贯通,坡体发生破坏,并且对坡体变形破坏的影响程度以逆断层最强,其次为正断层,断层不活动时较弱。     

浅谈水质中氟化物的分析方法

经过长期的工作实践,笔者总结出能够大大提高水中氟化物测定效率及准确度的操作方法。即在使用离子选择电极法测量水中氟化物时,首先要保证试验用的去离子水的纯净度,同时确保电极清洗到260mv以上,再开始试验,最后在绘制标准曲线时保证斜率的绝对值在（58±1）之间。     

老垃圾填埋场渗滤液回灌工艺参数研究

根据理论分析,通过回灌能够实现对老垃圾填埋场所产生渗滤液的场内处理,改善渗滤液水质,同时能加速老填埋场的稳定化进程.以深圳市10座老垃圾填埋场为研究对象,提出渗滤液回灌工艺及其参数.回灌方式以水平渗沟为主,设置聚乙烯罐调节水量.渗滤液回灌加速了填埋气体产生速率,降低了有效应力,可能引起垃圾体边坡失稳.较大的渗滤液回灌量(1.6%)导致较低的垃圾边坡安全系数(1.96).确定满足加速垃圾稳定化和填埋场稳定性的最佳回灌量是填埋场渗滤液回灌大规模应用需要解决的重要问题.     

空气和废气监测中H2S标液的选择

有2种不同方法制备的H2S标准溶液进行测定,结果表明,所得标准曲线斜率一致,因此,在实际工作中可对其灵活运用。     

堆石坝加筋坝坡稳定性数值模拟研究

地震作用下堆石坝坝顶堆石的稳定性值得关注。对格栅加筋堆石坝坝坡稳定性的影响进行了数值模拟;用拟静力法模拟水平和竖直向地震动荷载,运用考虑地震荷载的瑞典圆弧滑动法,对坝体整体和坝顶局部区域坝坡稳定性进行了模拟研究;对格栅加筋堆石坝的机理进行了探讨。计算结果表明,加筋可以有效提高坝顶局部区域的抗震性能和坝坡稳定安全系数,且随着格栅加筋层数和格栅抗拉强度的增加,其加筋效果愈加显著。     

路堑节理边坡开挖稳定性及影响因素分析

以某公路节理岩质边坡为工程背景,首先利用FLAC3D建立该边坡的数值分析模型,计算得到5台阶开挖的安全系数分别为2.62、2.39、1.61、1.06、0.67,并确定其破坏模式为双滑块平面剪切破坏;然后针对边坡的破坏模式建立理论计算模型,分别改变节理的倾角和力学参数(c,),分析它们对稳定性的影响。结果表明:变化下滑块节理面的倾角时,安全系数先变小,而后逐渐增大;变化上滑块节理面的倾角时,安全系数逐渐增大;当c1、c2取值较小时,两者的变化对于安全系数的影响基本相同,但随着取值的增大,c2的影响效果逐渐大于c1。