Environment, Development and Sustainability - Disposal of healthcare waste is a key issue of environmental sustainability in the world. The amount of healthcare waste is increasing every day, and... 相似文献
The use of molecular tools, principally qPCR, versus traditional culture-based methods for quantifying microbial parameters (e.g., Fecal Indicator Organisms) in bathing waters generates considerable ongoing debate at the science–policy interface. Advances in science have allowed the development and application of molecular biological methods for rapid (~2 h) quantification of microbial pollution in bathing and recreational waters. In contrast, culture-based methods can take between 18 and 96 h for sample processing. Thus, molecular tools offer an opportunity to provide a more meaningful statement of microbial risk to water-users by providing near-real-time information enabling potentially more informed decision-making with regard to water-based activities. However, complementary studies concerning the potential costs and benefits of adopting rapid methods as a regulatory tool are in short supply. We report on findings from an international Working Group that examined the breadth of social impacts, challenges, and research opportunities associated with the application of molecular tools to bathing water regulations. 相似文献
The socio-cultural assessment of ecosystem services has been proposed as a promising tool for eliciting people’s preferences towards ecosystem services. Despite an increasing integration of the socio-cultural perspective in ecosystem service research, little knowledge exists about linkages between landscape and the socio-cultural values people assign to ecosystem services. This paper combines a socio-cultural valuation approach with the use of landscape pictures to analyse and compare people’s perceived importance of the provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem service categories across three landscape types (i.e. larch meadows, spruce forests, and hay meadow). A survey with 470 tourists visiting the region of South Tyrol (Italy) was conducted to link people’s perceived importance to their socio-demographic background and to the landscape types explored. The results show that regulating ecosystem services are preferred over provisioning and cultural services, whereby environmental awareness is found to be more influential than formal education levels regarding the perceived importance of regulating services. The results further demonstrate that cultural background is an important driver in determining people’s perceived importance of cultural services. The underlying landscape types, however, exert an even stronger influence on people’s socio-cultural valuation of ecosystem service categories. This finding suggests that the focus of most ecosystem services assessments on the study area as a whole risks mistakenly attributing differences in people’s socio-cultural values to socio-demographic characteristics only. A better knowledge of the spatial integration of socio-cultural values, however, could help with anticipating the consequences of changes in the landscape and provide better guidance for future landscape planning. 相似文献
Bulk samples collected on a daily basis at three principal meteorological stations in central Serbia were analyzed on chloride (Cl(-)), nitrate [Formula: see text], sulfate [Formula: see text], sodium (Na(+)), ammonium [Formula: see text], potassium (K(+)), calcium (Ca(2+)), and magnesium (Mg(2+)) in addition to precipitation amount, pH and conductivity measurements over the period 1998-2004. The data were subjected to variety of analyses (linear regression, principal component analysis, time series analysis) to characterize precipitation chemistry in the study area. The most abundant ion was [Formula: see text] with annual volume weighted mean concentration of 242 microeq L(-1). Neutralization of precipitation acidity occurs both as a result of the dissolution of alkaline compounds containing Ca(2+), Mg(2+), and K(+) as well as the absorption of ammonia. The ratio of [Formula: see text] was above 5, which indicated that the combustion process of low-grade domestic lignite for electricity generation from coal-fired thermal power plants was the main source of pollution in the investigated area. A considerable mean annual bulk wet deposition of SO(4)-S determined by precipitation amount and concentrations of sulfate in the precipitation was calculated to be 12-35 kg ha(-1). 相似文献
Influence of the economic criterion, called Profit, on the ranking of copper concentrates is investigated. Values of the criterion, which correspond to alternatives, are derived as earning values obtained by the exploitation of individual concentrates. Various scenarios with respect to the weight w14, corresponding to the additional economical criterion, are defined and solved. A discrete set of results is generated, applying DECISION LAB software implementation of the PROMETHEE-GAIA methodology. Interpolating these results, we derived continuous interpolation functions which compute necessary quantities of concentrates for each real value of w14 within the interval [0, 100]. 相似文献
Yearly, huge amounts of sock refuse are discarded into the environment. Socks contain many molecules, and worn ones, which are rich in smell-causing bacteria, have a strong influence on animals’ behaviors. But the impacts of sock odor on the oviposition behavior of dengue vectors are unknown. We assessed whether Aedes albopictus changes its oviposition activity in response to the presence of used socks extract (USEx) in potential breeding grounds, using choice and no-choice bioassays (NCB). When furnished even chances to oviposit in two sites holding USEx and two others containing water (control), Ae. albopictus deposited significantly less eggs in USEx than in water sites. A similar pattern of oviposition preference was also observed when there were more oviposition options in water. When there were greater oviposition opportunities in USEx sites, Ae. albopictus oviposited preferentially in water. Females laid significantly more eggs during the NCB involving water than USEx. Also, significantly more mature eggs were retained by females in the NCB with USEx than in that with water. These observations strongly suggest the presence of molecules with either repellent or deterrent activities against Ae. albopictus females and provide an impetus to advocate the integration of used socks in dengue control programs. Such applications could be a realistic end-of-life recourse to reroute this waste from landfills.
In this paper, particular attention was paid to the presence of aerosol solid particles, which occurred mainly as a result of exploitation and coal combustion in the thermal power plants of the Kolubara basin. Not all of the particles created by this type of anthropogenic pollution have an equal impact on human health, but it largely depends on their size and shape. The mineralogical composition and particle size distribution in the samples of aero sediments were defined. The samples were collected close to the power plant and open pit coal mine, in the winter and summer period during the year 2007. The sampling was performed by using precipitators placed in eight locations within the territory of the Lazarevac municipality. In order to characterize the sedimentary particles, several methods were applied: microscopy, SEM-EDX and X-ray powder diffraction. The concentration of aero sediments was also determined during the test period. Variety in the mineralogical composition and particle size depends on the position of the measuring sites, geology of the locations, the annual period of collecting as well as possible interactions. By applying the mentioned methods, the presence of inhalational and respiratory particles variously distributed in the winter and in the summer period was established. The most common minerals are quartz and feldspar. The presence of gypsum, clay minerals, calcite and dolomite as secondary minerals was determined, as well as the participation of organic and inorganic amorphic matter. The presence of quartz as a toxic mineral has a particular impact on human health. 相似文献
Health effects of ambient air pollution were studied in three groups of schoolchildren living in areas (suburban, urban and urban-traffic) with different air pollution levels in Eski?ehir, Turkey. This study involved 1,880 students aged between 9 and 13 years from 16 public primary schools. This two-season study was conducted from January 2008 through March 2009. Symptoms of asthma, rhinitis and eczema were determined by the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire in 2008. Two lung function tests were performed by each child for summer and winter seasons with simultaneous ambient air measurements of ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) by passive sampling. Effects of air pollution on impaired lung function and symptoms in schoolchildren were estimated by multivariate logistic regression analyses. Girls with impaired lung function (only for the summer season evaluation) were more observed in suburban and urban areas when compared to urban-traffic area ([odds ratio (OR)?=?1.49; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.04–2.14] and [OR?=?1.69 (95 % CI 1.06–2.71)] for suburban vs. urban-traffic and urban vs. urban-traffic, respectively). Significant association between ambient ozone concentrations and impaired lung function (for an increase of 10 μg m?3) was found only for girls for the summer season evaluation [OR?=?1.11 (95 % CI 1.03–1.19)]. No association was found for boys and for the winter season evaluation. No association was found between any of the measured air pollutants and symptoms of current wheeze, current rhinoconjunctivitis and current itchy rash. The results of this study showed that increasing ozone concentrations may cause a sub-acute impairment in lung function of school aged children. 相似文献
Artificial particles, specifically a diverse selection of chromatographical resins, have been recommended and used as a useful experimental model to predict the bioavailability and bioaccumulation of sediment-bound organic chemicals. In this work the same experimental model was adopted to investigate the bioavailability and bioaccumulation of lead by the freshwater oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus. Particle-water partition coefficients were also determined. Sand particles and the anionic exchange resin promoted a similar uptake and bioaccumulation of lead. Instead, in the presence of the cationic exchanger the metal was not detected in the animals. For neutral particles, the uptake and accumulation depended on the chemistry of the functional groups at the active sites. In addition, a significant negative correlation was found between bioaccumulation and the particle-water partition coefficients. These studies may help to develop alternative methods for chemical remediation of lead-contaminated aquatic systems. 相似文献