Developing a National Indicator of Soil Quality on U.S Forestlands: Methods and Initial Results

The Montreal Process was formed in 1994 to develop an internationally agreed upon set of criteria and indicators for the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests. In response to this initiative, the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) and Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) programs of the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service have implemented soil measurements as part of a national monitoring program to address specific questions related to the conservation of soil and water resources. Integration of soil assessments into the national FIA program provides for systematic monitoring of soil properties across all forested regions of the U.S. using standardized collection, laboratory, and statistical procedures that are compatible with existing forest inventory data. The resulting information will provide quantitative benchmarks for regional, national, and international reporting on sustainable forest management and enhance our understanding of management effects on soil quality. This paper presents an overview of the FIA soil monitoring program, outlines the field and laboratory protocols as currently implemented, and provides examples of how these data may be used to assess indicators of sustainable management as defined by the Montreal Process.     

CHANGES IN ACID PRECIPITATION-RELATED WATER CHEMISTRY OF LAKES FROM SOUTHWESTERN NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA, 1986–2001

Between 1986 and 2001, thirty-nine lakes in southwestern New Brunswick in Atlantic Canada were surveyed for acid precipitation-related water quality changes. Most of the study lakes are located on granite bedrock and represent the most acid sensitive lakes in the province. Between 1987 and 1992, hydrogen ion deposition to the lake study area averaged 452 eq ha^–1 yr^–1, compared to 338 eq ha^–1 yr^–1 between 1993 and 2000, a 25% reduction. The lake chemistry data were evaluated by dividing the lakes into four clusters for each survey year based on their acid neutralizing capacity. Twenty percent of the lakes (cluster IV) had an average ANC of 40 eq L^–1or greater and maintained an average pH of greater than 6 over the duration of the study period. A pH of 6 or greater is considered a healthy benchmark for maintaining biodiversity. The remaining 31 lakes (clusters I to III) had an average ANC of less than 40 eq L^–1and maintained an average pH of less than 6. Other lake chemistry changes included a general decline in lake sulphate and colour over the duration of the survey period, followed by more recent improvements in calcium ion, pH and ANC, and notably higher but declining aluminum levels in lower ANC and pH lakes. Nitrate accounted for 37% of the acid deposition to the study area, however it was not detectable in the lakes. Although acid deposition has declined and these lakes are beginning to show signs of acid recovery, 80% of the study lakes remain acid sensitive having little buffering capacity with low calcium, pH and ANC.     

Green Chemistry - Views and Strategies * (5 pp)

Background and Goal The object of Green Chemistry is the reduction of chemical pollutants flowing to the environment. The Chemistry and the Environment Division of EuCheMS has assumed Green Chemistry as one of its areas of interest, but one question to solve is where Green Chemistry should be placed within the context of Chemistry and the Environment. The concept of Green Chemistry, as primarily conceived by Paul Anastas and John Warner, is commonly presented through the Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry. However, these Twelve Principles, though fruit of a great intuition and common sense, do not provide a clear connection between aims, concepts, and related research areas of Green Chemistry. These two unsolved questions are the object of the present article.Discussion Green Chemistry is here placed as a part of Chemistry for the Environment, concerning the still non-existent pollutants. Indeed, the object of Green Chemistry is the reduction of pollution and risks by chemicals by avoiding their generation or their introduction into the biosphere. The distinction between pollutant chemicals and dangerous chemicals, along with the consideration of the exhaustion of fossil resources and the acknowledgement of the harmful effects of the chemicals employed in a great variety of activities, leads to the recognition of four general objectives for Green Chemistry. In order to accomplish these general objectives, a number of strategies, or secondary objectives and some fundamental concepts, namely, atomic economy, selectivity, potential harm or historical harm can be visualized. A connection is finally established between the strategies and current and future research areas of Green Chemistry.Conclusion The ultimate aim of green chemistry is to entirely cut down the stream of chemicals pouring into the environment. This aim seems unattainable at present, but progress in the green chemical research areas and their application through successive approaches will certainly provide safer specialty chemicals and much more satisfactory processes for the chemical industry.- * The basis of this peer-reviewed paper is a presentation at the 9th FECS Conference on ‘Chemistry and Environment’, 29 August to 1 September 2004, Bordeaux, France.     

Life Cycle Assessment as Part of Sustainability Assessment for Chemicals (5 pp)

Background LCA is the only internationally standardized environmental assessment tool (ISO 14040-43) for product systems, including services and processes. The analysis is done ‘from cradle-to-grave’, i.e. over the whole life cycle. LCA is essentially a comparative method: different systems fulfilling the same function (serving the same purpose) are compared on the basis of a ‘functional unit’ - a quantitative measure of this function or purpose. It is often believed that LCA can be used for judging the (relative) sustainability of product systems. This is only partly true, however, since LCA is restricted to the environmental part of the triad ‘environment/ecology - economy - social aspects (including intergenerational fairness)’ which constitutes sustainability. Standardized assessment tools for the second and the third part are still lacking, but Life Cycle Costing (LCC) seems to be a promising candidate for the economic part. Social Life Cycle Assessment still has to be developed on the basis of known social indicators.Method and Limitations LCA is most frequently used for the comparative assessment or optimization analysis of final products. Materials and chemicals are difficult to analyse from cradle-to-grave, since they are used in many, often innumerable product systems, which all would have to be studied in detail to give a complete LCA of a particular material or substance! This complete analysis of a material or chemical is evidently only possible in such cases where one main application exists. But even if one main application does exist, e.g. in the case of surfactants (chemicals) and detergents (final products), the latter may exist in a great abundance of compositions. Therefore, chemicals and materials are better analysed ‘from cradle-to-factory gate’, leaving the analysis of the final product(s), the use phase and the ‘end-of-life’ phases to specific, full LCAs.Conclusion A comparative assessment of production processes is possible, if the chemicals (the same is true for materials) produced by different methods have exactly the same properties. In this case, the downstream phases may be considered as a ‘black box’ and left out of the assessment. Such truncated LCAs can be used for environmental comparisons, but less so for the (environmental) optimization analysis of a specific chemical: the phases considered as ‘black box’ and left out may actually be the dominant ones. A sustainability assessment should be performed at the product level and contain the results of LCC and social assessments. Equal and consistent system boundaries will have to be used for these life cycle tools which only together can fulfil the aim of assessing the sustainability of product systems.     

物理化学方法在安全评价中的应用研究

提出以本质安全与系统安全为目的,在安全评价领域中使用物理化学方法,对化工装置中化学反应过程及其他物理化学过程进行安全分析与评价,从而深入了解变化过程,提出安全对策与措施。对安全评价模式、方法进行了探索并应用到实际工作中,同时阐述了该模式中HAZOP方法、物理化学方法各自的特点。列举了物理化学方法在几个方面的应用并以一实例:催化剂制备装置的安全评价。     

DISSOLVED HEAVY METALS IN SHALLOW GROUND WATER IN A SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN URBAN WATERSHED1

ABSTRACT: The occurrence of dissolved heavy metal concentrations in shallow ground water were measured at 126 sites within an urban watershed in southeastern Michigan. A total of 1,140 samples were collected from the first saturated zone, and the mean concentrations of 11 heavy metals (arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium, silver, and zinc) were obtained and compared to their corresponding mean concentrations within surface soil. The results suggest that former and current land use processes have resulted in significant adverse impacts on the study region. Levels of Cr 20 to 30 times the maximum contaminant level (MCL) have been detected in the ground water beneath industrial sites. In addition, Cd and Pb have been found at levels exceeding their MCLs where surface soils are clay‐rich, and in sandy soils at more than 10 times their MCLs. The high levels of Cr in ground water strongly suggest that the chromium is in a hexavalent form, and this likelihood is supported by current studies. Given the hydraulic connection between the watershed's surface waters and the Great Lakes, these findings raise significant ecological and public health concerns.     

南京近地层单点气象要素与大气细菌浓度分布规律调查研究

为了分析南京某地的气象要素和当地大气细菌浓度的分布及变化规律，探讨二之间的关系，本利用气象观测仪器和大气细菌采样仪器进行现场观测与测量，在大量气象观测数据和大气细菌采样结果基础上，分析了他们的变化规律。总体来看，南京大气细菌浓度不高，1天内气象要素及细菌浓度均呈周期变化，且二有一定的相关性。     

绿色化学与环境保护

近年来国际上较普遍提倡和开展的绿色化学与技术的研究,目的是发展环境友好技术、环境无害技术或清洁生产技术,同时强调化学过程的原子经济性,反应的高选择性,不生成或很少生成副产品或废物,实现或接近零排放过程。通过介绍国内外对绿色化学的研究进展,指出国外对绿色化学的研究主要是围绕化学反应、原料、催化剂、溶剂和产品的绿色化展开的。绿色化学的发展能节省资源、减少环境污染,并将成为可持续发展战略的核心内容。     

原油指纹识别技术

为使毛细管色谱“指纹”特征应用于污染事故的鉴定,采用分辨效能高的毛细管色谱柱及原油指纹识别技术,对江苏油田９个不同地区和来源的原油进行了分析考察,测定了油品中正构烷烃及姥鲛烷、植烷的含量。实验进一步论证了：以正构烷烃轮廓特征和姥鲛烷、植烷特征峰面积比值相结合的原油鉴别方法不受进样和色谱条件的影响,具有一定的准确性和可靠性。     

1996年江西省洪涝灾害的对策及启示

简要论述了1996年江西省境内发生的4次严重的洪涝灾害,总结防汛减灾中的成功经验;针对洪涝灾害抗灾救灾中存在的几个主要问题,探讨今后防讯减灾对策。