Emissions of gaseous and particulate pollutants in a port and harbour region in India

Ports can generate large quantity of pollutants in the atmosphere due to various activities like loading and unloading,transportation, and construction operations. Determination of the character and quantity of emissions from individual sources is an essential step in any project to control and minimize the emissions.In this study a detailed emission inventory of total suspendedparticulate matter (TSP), particulate matter less than 10 m(PM₁₀), sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) for a port and harbour project near Mumbai is compiled. Results show that the total annual average contributions of TSP and PM₁₀ from all the port activitieswere 872 and 221 t yr^-1, respectively. Annual average emissions of gaseous pollutants SO₂ and NO_xwere 56 and 397 t yr^-1, respectively, calculatedby using emission factors for different port activities. The maximum TSP emission (419 t yr ^-1) was from paved roads, while the least (0.4 t yr^-1) was from bulk handling activity. The maximum PM₁₀ emission (123 t yr^-1) was from unpaved roads and minimum (0.2 t yr^-1) from bulk handling operations. Similarly the ratio of TSP and PM₁₀ emission was highest (5.18) from paved roads and least (2.17) from bulk handling operations. Regression relation was derivedfrom existing emission data of TSP and PM₁₀ from variousport activities. Good correlation was observed between TSP andPM₁₀ having regression coefficient >0.8.     

Monochlorobenzene Marine Risk Assessment with Special Reference to the Osparcom Region: North Sea

This risk assessment on monochlorobenzene was carried out for the marine environment, following methodology given in the EU risk assessment Regulation (1488/94) and Guidance Document of the EU New and Existing Substances Regulation (TGD, 1996). Data from analytical monitoring programmes in large rivers and estuaries in the North Sea area were collected and evaluated for effects and environmental concentrations. Risk is indicated by the ratio of predicted environmental concentration (PEC) to predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) for the marine aquatic environment. In total, 27 data for fish, 24 data for invertebrates and 13 data for algae were evaluated. Acute and chronic toxicity studies were taken into account and appropriate assessment factors used to define a final PNEC value of 32 micro/l. Recent monitoring data indicate that monochlorobenzene levels in surface waters are below determination limits of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5 microg/l used in monitoring programs. Assuming that half of the lowest determination (0.1 microg/l) is typical, a PEC of 0.05 microg/l was derived. A worst case of 0.5 microg/l is assumed. PEC/PNEC ratios give safety factors of 60 to over 500, taking no account of dilution in the sea. Monochlorobenzene is not a 'toxic, persistent and liable to bioaccumulate' substance sensu the Oslo and Paris Conventions for the Prevention of Marine Pollution (OSPAR-DYNAMEC) criteria. Environmental fate and effects data indicate that current use of monochlorobenzene poses no unacceptable risk to the aquatic environment.     

环境因素与飞机结构寿命

从技术分析和工程应用两个角度阐述了环境对飞机疲劳寿命和日历寿命的影响，归纳并提出了用于疲劳寿命计算和计算环境影响分析的数学模型，并从某型飞机定寿和腐蚀控制的实例中归纳出-飞机设计、制造冷热工艺和维护使用中提高飞机抗环境影响能力的措施。     

甲烷高温自燃诱导过程实验与数值模拟研究

甲烷的转化在化工产业中具有举足轻重的地位与战略意义,近年来涌现的氧化偶联制烯烃等多种新型化工工艺涉及高温条件的甲烷-纯氧等体系的混合与反应过程,明确甲烷高温自燃诱导与爆炸规律是实现工艺安全设计与运行的前提,然而相关研究与基础数据仍较为欠缺。通过利用基于快速压缩装置的高温高压燃爆测试系统开展甲烷-纯氧等典型混合体系的自燃诱导过程研究,同时基于GRI-Mech 3.0机理的数值模拟方法进行了数值模拟研究。实验结果与数值模拟结果吻合较好,随着温度/压力的增加及氧气含量的下降,混合体系自燃诱导时间均缩短;燃料气中加入乙烷或氢气则会大幅缩短自燃诱导过程。对于多个工艺过程中涉及的低氧含量体系率先开展了研究,得到了不同当量比及温度条件下的典型体系自燃诱导时间,同时考察了惰性气的加入对于自燃诱导过程的延长作用。研究结果有助于深入理解甲烷自燃诱导机理,同时指导高温条件的甲烷转化工艺的本质安全化设计与爆炸防控。     

城市深基坑工程施工环境保护与灾害防治

分析了城市深基坑工程施工对环境的影响及可能引发的灾害，对深基坑工程的内部过程控制和外部环境协调作了系统研究，提出了相应的环境保护和灾害防治的措施。     

海洋功能区划保留区管控要求解析及政策建议

本文基于保留区选划的原因和分类,结合新一轮全国和省级海洋功能区划编制,汇总和比较全国、省级保留区管控规定,分析了目前各省保留区个数、面积、岸线长度、离岸距离等设置情况。据此,依据保留区内涵将保留区划分为五类,即功能待定区、发展预留区、整治修复预留区、保护缓冲区以及特殊功能预留区,分别提出五类保留区的使用管理要求和环境保护要求。最后,文章从保留区用海现状处理方式、开发利用条件、用海活动管理等方面提出政策建议。总体来说,保留区不允许随意利用但并不完全禁止利用,在不改变海域自然属性的前提下,当用海活动符合保留区用途及环境保护要求,不影响周边海域功能正常发挥的情况下允许进行开发利用。     

一种灾害等级的区间数评估模型

由于灾害损失本身的复杂性及灾情统计方面存在的问题,利用区间数替代单一实数值作为灾害等级评估指标的输入更加符合实际。基于上述思路,提出了一种基于区间数的灾害等级评估新模型。首先,给出区间数距离的新定义,该定义能够充分利用区间数所携带的信息;然后,利用线性加权评价函数计算评估对象与评价标准之间的综合相对距离测度,评估对象隶属于综合距离测度最小值所对应的灾害等级。该模型建模过程思路清晰,物理意义明确,计算过程简捷,评估结论符合实际。最后,用实例说明模型的应用方法。     

Modulation of steroidogenesis by coastal waters and sewage effluents of Hong Kong, China, using the H295R assay

BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE: The presence of a variety of pollutants in the aquatic environment that can potentially interfere with the production of sex steroid hormones in wildlife and humans has been of increasing concern. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of extracts from Hong Kong marine waters, and influents and effluents from wastewater treatment plants on steroidogenesis using the H295R cell bioassay. After exposing H295R cells to extracts of water, the expression of four steroidogenic genes and the production of three steroid hormones were measured. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Water samples were collected during the summer of 2005 from 24 coastal marine areas and from the influents and effluents of two major waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) in Hong Kong, China. Samples were extracted by solid phase extraction (SPE). H295R cells were exposed for 48 h to dilutions of these extracts. Modulations of the expression of the steroidogenic genes CYP19, CYP17, 3betaHSD2, and CYP11beta2 were determined by measuring mRNA concentrations by real-time polymerase chain reaction (Q-RT-PCR). Production of the hormones progesterone (P), estradiol (E2), and testosterone (T) was quantified using enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). RESULTS: Extracts from samples collected in two fish culture areas inhibited growth and proliferation of H295R cells at concentrations greater or equal to 10(5) L equivalents. The cells were exposed to the equivalent concentration of active substances in 10,000 L of water. Thus, to observe the same level of effect as observed in vitro on aquatic organisms would require a bioaccumulation factor of this same magnitude. None of the other 22 marine samples affected growth of the cells at any dilution tested. Twelve of the marine water samples completely inhibited the expression of CYP19 without affecting E2 production; inhibition of CYP17 expression was observed only in one of the samples while expression of CYP11beta2 was induced as much as five- and ninefold after exposure of cells to extracts from two locations. The expression of the progesterone gene 3betaHSD2 was not affected by any of the samples; only one sample induced approximately fourfold the production of E2. Although more than twofold inductions were observed for P and T production, none of these values were statistically significant to conclude effects on the production of these two hormones. While influents from WWTPs did not affect gene expression, an approximately 30% inhibition in the production of E2 and a 40% increase in P occurred for the exposure with influents from the Sha Tin and Stonecutters WWTPs, respectively. Effluents from WWTPs did not affect the production of any of the studied hormones, but a decrement in the expression of the aldosterone gene CYP11beta2 was observed for the Sha Tin WWTP exposure. No direct correlation could be established between gene expression and hormone production. DISCUSSION: Observed cytotoxicity in the two samples from fish culture areas suggest the presence of toxic compounds; chemical analysis is required for their full identification. Although effluents from WWTPs did not affect hormone production, other types of endocrine activity such as receptor-mediated effects cannot be ruled out. Interactions due to the complexity of the samples and alternative steroidogenic pathways might explain the lack of correlation between gene expression and hormone production results. CONCLUSIONS: Changes observed in gene expression and hormone production suggest the presence in Hong Kong coastal waters of pollutants with endocrine disruption potential and others of significant toxic effects. The aromatase and aldosterone genes seem to be the most affected by the exposures, while E2 and P are the hormones with more significant changes observed. Results also suggest effectiveness in the removing of compounds with endocrine activity by the WWTPs studied, as effluent samples did not significantly affect hormone production. The H295R cell showed to be a valuable toll in the battery required for the analysis of endocrine disrupting activities of complex environmental samples. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: Due to the intrinsic complexity of environmental samples, a combination of analytical tools is required to realistically assess environmental conditions, especially in aquatic systems. In the evaluation of endocrine disrupting activities, the H295R cell bioassay should be used in combination with other genomic, biological, chemical, and hydrological tests to establish viable modes for endocrine disruption and identify compounds responsible for the observed effects.     

Identification of transport processes in column experiments using a frequency domain approach

When a solute transport process is viewed as a dynamic system with input and output, a system identification technique can be used to study it from input-output data. According to the design of excitation signals in the system identification approach, the commonly used rectangular pulse as input signal for column experiments is not optimum because it does not simultaneously meet the requirements for exciting the studied transport process, i.e., possessing frequency components with high enough amplitude and wide enough passband. In this article, stepped sine signals were proposed to replace the rectangular pulse because their amplitude and passband can be independently chosen. The stepped sine signals of concentration were generated by a High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and used as the input for the column experiments to identify parameters of the convection-dispersion equation (CDE) and mobile-immobile model (MIM). In order to test the effect of noise on the identification of transport process, numerical experiments were carried out to identify the CDE under white noise when the input was designed as stepped sine functions and rectangular pulse. The results of the numerical experiments showed that the input signal of a sine function was more robust and accurate in process identification than that of a rectangular pulse.     

Effects of tributyltin on the energy metabolism of pen shell (Atrina pectinata japonica)

We examined the effects of tributyltin (TBT) on aerobic and anaerobic energy metabolism of pen shell (Atrina pectinata japonica). We exposed pen shells to TBT at nominal concentrations of 0 (control) and 1.0microg/l for 72h under aerobic condition. At the end of the exposure, half of the pen shells in each treatment were wrapped in plastic wrap to simulate exposure to hypoxia and held at 25 degrees C for another 12h. The concentrations of the products of energy metabolism, namely lactate, pyruvate, fumarate and succinate, in adductor muscle were measured. The exposure to TBT under aerobic condition significantly elevated lactate, pyruvate and fumarate concentrations (p<0.001). After subsequent exposure to anaerobic condition, the mean concentration of succinate in the TBT treatment group was 64% of that in the control group, but there were no significant differences. Our results suggest that the energy metabolism of pen shell is disrupted by exposure to TBT.