Effect of depithing on the safety and environmental aspects of bagasse stockpiling

Large scale sugarcane bagasse storage in uncovered stockpiles has the potential to result in adverse impacts on the environment and surrounding communities through hazards associated with nuisance dust, groundwater seepage, spontaneous combustion and generation of contaminated leachates. Managing these hazards will assist in improved health and safety outcomes for factory staff and reduced potential environmental impacts on surrounding communities. Removal of the smaller fibres (pith) from bagasse prior to stockpiling reduced the dust number of bagasse by 50% and modelling suggests peak ground level PM₁₀ dust emissions would reduce by 70%. Depithed bagasse has much lower water holding capacity (～43%) than whole bagasse.This experimental and modelling study investigated the physical properties of depithed and whole bagasse. Dust dispersion modelling was undertaken to determine the likely effects associated with storage of whole and depithed sugarcane bagasse.     

Competitive mimicry: synthesis of a neglected class of mimetic relationships

Protective mimicry has been studied extensively for over a century. Mimicry in a competitive context, however, has remained largely neglected. It has been overlooked in mimicry classification schemes, and few systems have been rigorously studied. We define "competitive mimicry" as mimicry that enables access to a defended resource or aids in defense of a resource. We explain how competitive mimicry fits with existing mimicry classification schemes and outline criteria for identifying competitive mimicry systems. For each form of competitive mimicry, we describe the effects of the mimic on the model and receiver, predict the evolutionary dynamics of the system, and present examples. We then identify key directions for the study of competitive mimicry.     

Sampling and Analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds Evolved During Thermal Processing of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Composite Resins

Abstract

The evaluation of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during processing of resins is of interest to resin manufacturers and resin processors. An accurate estimate of the VOCs emitted from resin processing has been difficult due to the wide variation in processing facilities. This study was designed to estimate the emissions in terms of mass of emitted VOC per mass of resin processed.

A collection and analysis method was developed and validated for the determination of VOCs present in the emissions of thermally processed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins. Four composite resins were blended from automotive, general molding, pipe, and refrigeration grade ABS resins obtained from the manufacturers. Emission samples were collected in evacuated 6-L Summa canisters and then analyzed using gas chromatography/flame ionization detection/mass selective detection (GC/FID/MSD). Levels were determined for nine target analytes detected in canister samples, and for total VOCs detected by an inline GC/FID. The emissions evolved from the extrusion of each composite resin were expressed in terms of mass of VOCs per mass of processed resin. Styrene was the principal volatile emission from all the composite resins. VOCs analyzed from the pipe resin sample contained the highest level of styrene at 402 μg/g. An additional collection and detection method was used to determine the presence of aerosols in the emissions. This method involved collecting particulates on glass fiber filters, extracting them with solvents, and analyzing them using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). No significant levels of any of the target analytes were detected on the filters.     

Potential effects of environmental contamination on Yuma Myotis demography and population growth.

Unplanned natural and anthropogenic disasters provide unique opportunities for investigating the influence of perturbations on population vital rates and species recovery times. We investigated the potential effects of a major pesticide spill by comparing annual survival rates using mark-recapture techniques on a riparian bat species, Yuma Myotis (Myotis yumanensis). Demography and population dynamics for most bat species remain poorly understood despite advances in mark-recapture estimation and modeling techniques. We compared survival and population growth rates of two roost populations exposed to a large chemical (metam sodium) spill in the upper Sacramento River in Northern California with two roost populations outside the contaminated area from 1992 to 1996. Hypotheses about long-term effects of the spill on female juvenile and adult survival were tested using an information-theoretic approach (AIC). Working hypotheses included effects of age, chemical spill, and time trend on survival. Female adult survival was higher than female juvenile survival across all sites, suggesting stage-specific mortality risks. Model-averaged estimates of female juvenile survival in the contaminated area (0.50-0.74) were lower than in control roosts (0.60-0.78) for each year in the study, suggesting that the spill may have reduced juvenile survival for several years. Female adult survival (0.73-0.89) did not appear to be strongly affected by the spill during the years of the study. There was an increase in survival for both stage-classes across all populations during the study period, which may have been caused by the end of an extended drought in California in the winter of 1993. The spill-affected population was in decline for the first year of the study as indicated by an estimated growth rate (lambda) < 1, but population growth rates increased during the four-year period.