The importance of temperature in assessing iron pipe corrosion in water distribution systems

Temperature is expected to play a significant role in the corrosion of iron pipes in drinking water distribution systems. Temperature impacts many parameters that are critical to pipe corrosion including biological activity, physical properties of the solution, thermodynamic and physical properties of corrosion scale, and chemical rates. Moreover, variations in temperature and temperature gradients may give rise to new corrosion phenomena worthy of consideration by water treatment personnel.     

Evaluation of the use of bioaccumulation and biological effects tools in caged mussels,within the European Water Framework Directive

Bioaccumulation and biological effects of pollution were assessed in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) caged for one month at three sites in the Oiartzun estuary (south-eastern Bay of Biscay, Spain) with the aim of evaluating their usefulness within the investigative monitoring defined in the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD). The highest concentrations of organic contaminants determined in mussels' tissue were detected towards the inner part of the estuary but no gradient pattern was found for metal bioaccumulation. Population fitness responses measured as condition index, stress on stress and gonad index were similar in all caged mussels and did not follow the organic pollution gradient. However, biomarkers determined at tissue, cell and protein level (histopathology, micronuclei frequency, malondialdehyde levels and vitellogenin-like protein levels) revealed a higher stress syndrome at the inner part of the estuary showing signs of genotoxicity, oxidative stress and endocrine disruption. Overall, the integrated chemical–biological approach in connection with mussel caging technique proved to be a useful tool to assess environmental pollution, allowing a better understanding of the cause–effect relationship within the investigative monitoring defined in the WFD.     

Se(Ⅳ)和Se(Ⅵ)对小白菜生长及生理效应的影响

用盆栽试验研究了不同含量Se(Ⅳ)和Se(Ⅵ)对小白菜生长和生理效应的影响.结果表明,不同含量Se(Ⅳ)和Se(Ⅵ)对小白菜体生长和生理代谢的影响不尽相同.低含量硒（Se(Ⅳ)<10.0 mg·kg-1、Se(Ⅵ)<5.0 mg·kg-1）能够促进小白菜的生长,使其根变粗, 诱导脯氨酸的产生,阻止丙二醛（MDA）的合成,增强白菜的抗逆性,使其生物量明显提高;高含量硒会抑制小白菜的生长,导致植物体内脯氨酸合成下降,MDA含量增加,叶及根系生长受到抑制,地上和地下部干重显著急速下降（p<0.01）.小白菜根长、叶面积等生长指标均随Se(Ⅳ)和Se(Ⅵ)含量的增大而显著下降（p<0.01）;抑制小白菜根系生长的Se(Ⅳ)含量为60 mg·kg-1,明显高于Se(Ⅵ)含量（20.0 mg·kg-1）.相同硒含量下,Se(Ⅳ)处理的小白菜地上部干重为Se(Ⅵ)的1.1~3.0倍,说明本试验条件下Se(Ⅵ)的生物有效性和毒性均大于Se(Ⅳ).Se(Ⅵ)处理小白菜地上部分的硒含量显著高于地下部分,而Se(Ⅳ)处理小白菜地下部分的硒含量显著高于地上部分,小白菜地上和地下部分对Se(Ⅵ)的吸收量均显著高于Se(Ⅳ).综合生长和生理因子分析表明,地上部分生物量是反映Se(Ⅳ)及Se(Ⅵ)处理土壤上小白菜生长状况的理想指标.     

Potential Negative Ecological Effects of Corridors

Despite many studies showing that landscape corridors increase dispersal and species richness for disparate taxa, concerns persist that corridors can have unintended negative effects. In particular, some of the same mechanisms that underlie positive effects of corridors on species of conservation interest may also increase the spread and impact of antagonistic species (e.g., predators and pathogens), foster negative effects of edges, increase invasion by exotic species, increase the spread of unwanted disturbances such as fire, or increase population synchrony and thus reduce persistence. We conducted a literature review and meta‐analysis to evaluate the prevalence of each of these negative effects. We found no evidence that corridors increase unwanted disturbance or non‐native species invasion; however, these have not been well‐studied concerns (1 and 6 studies, respectively). Other effects of corridors were more often studied and yielded inconsistent results; mean effect sizes were indistinguishable from zero. The effect of edges on abundances of target species was as likely to be positive as negative. Corridors were as likely to have no effect on antagonists or population synchrony as they were to increase those negative effects. We found 3 deficiencies in the literature. First, despite studies on how corridors affect predators, there are few studies of related consequences for prey population size and persistence. Second, properly designed studies of negative corridor effects are needed in natural corridors at scales larger than those achievable in experimental systems. Third, studies are needed to test more targeted hypotheses about when corridor‐mediated effects on invasive species or disturbance may be negative for species of management concern. Overall, we found no overarching support for concerns that construction and maintenance of habitat corridors may result in unintended negative consequences. Negative edge effects may be mitigated by widening corridors or softening edges between corridors and the matrix. Other negative effects are relatively small and manageable compared with the large positive effects of facilitating dispersal and increasing diversity of native species. Efectos Negativos Potenciales de los Corredores     

Thermal decomposition mechanism of 65% lysine sulfate powder and its thermal stability based on thermal analysis

Lysine is widely used in the fields of food, medicine and feed, which generally appears in the form of lysine sulfate or lysine hydrochloride dust because of the high instability of the free L-lysine. The L-lysine Sulfate is in high risk of decomposition, spontaneous ignition and even the dust explosion, because the control temperature in its production process is high up to 90 °C. Thus, the thermal behaviors and its thermal stability of 65% lysine sulfate are experimentally explored in Air and Nitrogen using the simultaneous TG-DSC measurements. Results show: (1) the decomposition of 65% lysine sulfate can be divided into three stages both in the atmospheres of air and nitrogen, and most of the weight loss occurred in the first two stages, which are related with the decarboxylation and deamination process. (2) The effects of atmosphere on the decomposition of 65% lysine sulfate mainly occur at the third stage. In this stage, the weight loss in nitrogen is only 14.2%, which is much lower than that in air (34.3%), which is related to the oxidative degradation at high temperature. Besides, the active energy is slightly increased in nitrogen compared to that in air. (3) The initial temperatures of the decomposition of the 65% lysine sulfate are 145 °C and 155 °C, for the air and nitrogen atmosphere, respectively, which are much lower than that (260 °C) of the pure lysine.     

Health and environmental assessment of mercury exposure in a gold mining community in Western Mindanao, Philippines

The small-scale gold mining activities using mercury began in the late 1980s in Sibutad, Western Mindanao. It is located very near the Murcielagos Bay with tailing ponds directly discharging into bodies of water. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the health and environmental effects of gold mining activities on the community. Residents were randomly selected and classified into two groups, namely, the directly exposed and indirectly exposed populations using a set inclusion criteria. Complete medical and laboratory examinations were performed. Environmental and biologic samples were collected for total mercury and methylmercury determinations. The results showed that the directly exposed group had significantly higher mean blood total mercury and methylmercury levels in comparison with the indirectly exposed population. Although there were no significant differences between hair total mercury and methylmercury levels, there was a trend for higher levels of these biomarkers among the directly exposed residents as compared with the unexposed group. The absence of statistically significant differences may be attributable to the small sample size. Ambient air quality monitoring for mercury exceeded the allowable levels. However, levels of mercury in drinking water and sediments were within allowable limits. Frequency of gastrointestinal complaints was significantly associated with elevated hair methylmercury levels (p=0.02). Also, there appears to be a trend towards higher blood total mercury levels and frequency of gastrointestinal complaints (p=0.09). An interesting finding in this study was the increasing incidence of elevated diastolic blood pressure with elevated hair total mercury levels (p=0.07). Mercury storage at home is a risk factor.     

Estimate on spillover effect of environmental pollution between peripheral areas

ABSTRACT

Interaction of environmental pollution between peripheral areas has become a central topic in the field of resources and environment but little is known about the actual impact on peripheral areas in the current literature. This paper sets out a simultaneous equation model to investigate the spillover effect of environmental pollution between China’s peripheral areas utilizing the panel data of 218 cities in China. Making use of indicators for measuring the impact on environmental pollution, it identifies that environmental pollution between cities of China has a significant two-way spillover effect. After standardization of variables, it is found that the spillover effect of peripheral areas on urban environmental pollution cannot be neglected. Nearly, a third of the environmental pollution level in a city is induced by the environmental pollution in peripheral areas. If the indicator of environmental pollution in peripheral areas is missing, wrong conclusions will be drawn. Therefore, government should shift the emphasis of environmental regulation from local to global, and improve the overall environmental quality through coordinated management of regional environment.     

中国碳市场波动溢出效应研究

自2013年以来,中国已先后建立了七个区域性碳市场。研究中国碳市场之间的波动溢出效应,有助于发现在碳市场运行初期起价格引导作用的区域市场,为其它地区碳市场的发展和全国碳市场的建立提供建议。本文选择广东、湖北和深圳三个交易量最大的区域碳市场为样本,利用多元GARCH(1,1)-BEKK模型,检验其波动溢出效应。为了消除履约期的影响,本文根据履约期将样本划分为阶段一(2014年7月1日—2015年6月30日)和阶段二(2015年7月1日—2016年7月19日),分阶段进行了检验,并从市场有效性的视角解释了检验结果。波动溢出效应检验结果显示:在阶段一内,广东碳市场对湖北碳市场、湖北碳市场对深圳碳市场、深圳碳市场对广东碳市场分别存在单向的波动溢出效应;在阶段二内,只存在深圳碳市场对广东碳市场的单向波动溢出效应;在整个样本期内,只存在深圳碳市场对广东碳市场的单向波动溢出效应。基于方差比的市场有效性检验结果显示:无论是阶段一、阶段二或整个样本期,三个碳市场均没有达到弱式有效。本文进一步在多重分形检验的基础上,利用多重分形谱宽度,比较了三个碳市场的非有效性程度,结果显示:在阶段一、阶段二和整个样本期,三个碳市场有效性大小关系分别为:湖北广东深圳、深圳湖北广东、广东深圳湖北。可见,三个碳市场早期的波动溢出效应不完全符合市场有效性大小关系,而较晚期的波动溢出效应符合市场有效性大小关系,这证明了中国碳市场在阶段二相比阶段一更为成熟。本文最后对中国碳排放权交易市场的发展提出了政策建议。     

学龄儿童肺功能水平影响因素的研究

用逐步回归分析方法对与室内、外空气污染和机体状况等有关的因素对广州市学龄儿童肺功能 (FVC、FEV1 、PEFR和 FEF2 5～ 75 )水平的影响进行研究。结果提示 ,影响肺功能水平的主要因素是内因 ,身高的影响最明显 ,呼吸系统疾病或症状发生与肺功能水平下降有关 ;室外空气污染使肺功能水平下降 ,SO2 、NOx 和 PM2 .5 的影响明显 ,PM2 .5 的影响明显大于 PM1 0 和 TSP;居室或厨房通风不良、家庭烹饪用不洁燃料对儿童肺功能的生长不利 ;被动吸烟对女性儿童肺功能有不利影响。对各种影响因素 ,PEFR和 FEF2 5～ 75 比 FVC和 FEV1 更为敏感     

Within season and carry-over effects following exposure of grassland species mixtures to increasing background ozone

Few studies have investigated effects of increased background ozone in the absence of episodic peaks, despite a predicted increase throughout the northern hemisphere over the coming decades. In this study Leontodon hispidus was grown with Anthoxanthum odoratum or Dactylis glomerata and exposed in the UK to one of eight background ozone concentrations for 20 weeks in solardomes. Seasonal mean ozone concentrations ranged from 21.4 to 102.5 ppb. Ozone-induced senescence of L. hispidus was enhanced when grown with the more open canopy of A. odoratum compared to the denser growing D. glomerata. There was increased cover with increasing ozone exposure for both A. odoratum and D. glomerata, which resulted in an increase in the grass:Leontodon cover ratio in both community types. Carry-over effects of the ozone exposure were observed, including delayed winter die-back of L. hispidus and acceleration in the progression from flowers to seed-heads in the year following ozone exposure.