Physicochemical aspects of using natural scavengers in removing methylene blue (basic dye) from solution

Effluent from dyeing and finishing processes is an important source of water pollution. The effectiveness of bentonite, kaolinite and sediment from a local deposit in removing methylene blue as a cationic dye from aqueous solutions has been investigated. The adsorption equilibrium (isotherm) has been determined according to Freundlich and Langmuir equations. The optimum amount is 0.5 g for all adsorbents, and the optimum pH ranges are 2-8 for bentonite and 2-6 for kaolinite and sediment. With respect to kinetic modelling, the adsorption of methylene blue on various adsorbents was fitted to a second-order equation. Also, the thermodynamic parameters were determined. The negative free energy values indicate the feasibility of the process and spontaneous nature of adsorption. The positive ΔH° values indicate the endothermic nature of the process. Thus, Egyptian clay minerals and sediments have a great tendency to remove the dye from solutions.     

Dynamics and Causation of Environmental Equity, Locally Unwanted Land Uses, and Neighborhood Changes

/ Why are some environmental risks distributed disproportionately in the neighborhoods of the minorities and the poor? A hypothesis was proposed in a recent study that market dynamics contributed to the current environmental inequity. That is, locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) make the host communities home to more poor people and people of color. This hypothesis was allegedly supported by a Houston case study, whereby its author analyzed the postsiting changes of the socioeconomic characteristics of the neighborhoods surrounding solid waste facilities. I argue that such an analysis of postsiting changes alone is insufficient to test the causation hypothesis. Instead, I propose a conceptual framework for analysis of environmental equity dynamics and causation. I suggest that the presiting neighborhood dynamics and the characteristics of control neighborhoods be analyzed as the first test for the causation hypothesis. Furthermore, I present theories of neighborhood change and then examine alternative hypotheses that these theories offer for explaining neighborhood changes and for the roles of LULUs in neighborhood changes. These alternative hypotheses should be examined when analyzing the relationship between LULUs and neighborhood changes in a metropolitan area. Using this framework of analysis, I revisited the Houston case. First, I found no evidence that provided support for the hypothesis that the presence of LULUs made the neighborhoods home to more blacks and poor people, contrary to the conclusion made by the previous study. Second, I examined alternative hypotheses for explaining neighborhood changes-invasion-succession, other push forces, and neighborhood life-cycle; the former two might offer better explanation.KEY WORDS: Environmental equity and justice; Locally unwanted lane uses; Siting; Market dynamics; Invasion-succession; Neighborhood changes     

Sustainability: a Dissent

Abstract:  Broadly conceived and considered in its many usages, sustainability has grave defects as a planning goal, particularly when used by conservationists: it confuses means and ends; it is vague about what is being sustained and who or what is doing the sustaining; it is uninspiring; it is little more than Pinchot-era conservation (and thus ignores the many lessons learned since then); it need not be linked to land, to the land's functioning, or to any ecological science; it need not include a moral component; it is consistent with the view of humans as all-powerful manipulators of the planet; and, in general, it is such a malleable term that its popularity provides only a facade of consensus. When sustainability is defined broadly to include the full range of economic and social aspirations, it poses the particular risk that ecological and biodiversity concerns will be cast aside in favor of more pressing human wants. Given these many defects, the conservation movement should discard the term in favor of a more alluring goal, attentive to nature and its ecological functioning. A sound goal would incorporate and distill the considerable ecological and moral wisdom accumulated since Pinchot's day while giving conservationists the rhetorical tools needed to defend the land against competing pressures. In our view, conservation would be well served by an updated variant of "land health," Aldo Leopold's ecologically grounded goal from the 1940s. Land health as an independent understanding should set the essential terms of how we live and enjoy the earth, providing the framework within which we pursue our many social and economic aims.     

昆明西山土壤—植物系统Fe,Mn,Ni分布特征

本文利用统计分析和吸收系数描述了昆明西山土壤－植物系统中Ｆｅ，Ｍｎ，Ｎｉ分布特征。结果表明，受试植物在土壤－植物系统中对Ｎｉ元素均表现出相对的稀释和绥冲作用；对Ｍｎ元素，除了菊科夏田菊，山紫金子和牛旁外，均表现出相对富集作用。     

建设规范化实验室工作中的档案管理

以大连市环境监测中心为例，介绍了实验室认可中档案管理人员的设置，人员技术档案、监测业务档案、仪器设备档案、物资采购档案、质量体系文件归档的方法和要求。阐述了实验室认可中档案管理的重要性。     

辽河流域畜禽养殖污染源仿真研究

随着国家对流域水质改善要求的逐渐提高,流域污染源管理变得日益重要。提出了一种基于CPNTOOLS的辽河流域畜禽养殖行业污染源仿真技术,并采用CPNTOOLS软件对辽河流域内一家典型畜禽养殖基地进行了仿真研究,经过多次仿真与数据统计分析,分别得出了该畜禽养殖基地的CODCr,BOD5,NH3-N,TP,TN日排放量的正态分布均值在90%,95%,99%置信水平下的置信区间,并结合排水量分别计算出各污染物指标排放浓度的区间。结合BAT处理技术对污染物浓度削减进行了计算仿真,并得出了处理后CODCr,BOD5,NH3-N,TP,TN排放浓度的正态分布均值在90%,95%,99%置信水平下的置信区间以及排放浓度的极大值和极小值。     

畜禽养殖中沙门氏菌污染的PCR快速检测

针对畜禽养殖是造成农村水环境生物性污染的主要原因,指出用常规生化检测技术耗时长、效率低,不能满足环境管理的要求：应用PCR技术检测沙门氏菌,特异性高、敏感性强、耗时短,与常规分离鉴定方法比较,完全符合实验证明,PCR技术可很好的应用于沙门氏菌污染的调查与监测。     

Ozone measurements along vertical transects in the Alps

To investigate the vertical profiles of air pollutants in the boundary layer, aircraft and balloon-born measurements and measurements using a cable car as an instrument platform have been performed in different parts of the Alps. This on-line monitoring of atmospheric pollutants requires expensive and sophisticated techniques. In order to control ambient air quality in remote regions, where no infrastructure like power supply is available, simple instruments are required. The objective of this study, which was coordinated and evaluated by the GSF-Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit was first, to investigate the vertical distribution of ozone in different parts of the Alps and secondly, in addition to continuous analyser measurements, to test monitoring by means of two types of passive samplers. The selection of these samplers — one for one week use and another one for two week application — was based on a passive sampler intercomparison done in a preliminary study one year earlier.     

Concentrations and trends of benzene in ambient air over New York State during 1990–2003

Since 1990s, a systematic program to measure air toxics has been active in New York State with monitors located both in urban and rural areas. In this study we examined the spatial and temporal characteristics of benzene, a known human carcinogen that is emitted by many source categories. The analysis indicates that ambient concentration levels of benzene have decreased by as much as 60% over this period not only in the ozone non-attainment area of New York City that had the reformulated gas (RFG) requirements, but also over the rest of the state as well. Although the rate of decrease appears to have flattened out in recent years, the annual average concentration levels are found to be above the health risk threshold even at the remote location, Whiteface Mountain, suggesting the need for further reductions in benzene emissions.