Phytoremediation of Cadmium‐Contaminated Soil by Two Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) Genotypes

Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) can be used not just for bioethanol production, bur potentially also for soil phytoremediation via removal of heavy metal pollutants. An experiment was carried out to characterize the phytoextraction efficiency of two Jerusalem artichoke genotype (NY2 and NY5) in cadmium (Cd) contaminated soil. After 90 days of growth, NY5 had greater plant biomass and greater Cd accumulation in tissues than NY2. The chlorophyll content and chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters were slightly higher when plants were grown in Cd‐contaminated versus control soil. It implies that this examined NY2 and NY5 can extract more Cd than some hyperaccumulators, indicating that NY2 and NY5 can be applied to clean up Cd‐contaminated soils. Compared with NY2, NY5 had higher phytoextraction potential due to more biomass and higher concentrations of Cd in tissues, and may therefore be the better candidates for phytoremediation in Cd‐contaminated soil.     

能源转型路径的经济环境健康效益评估——以粤港澳大湾区为例

能源转型是推动“双碳”目标实现的关键举措,文中构建能源转型综合评价模型并以粤港澳大湾区为例,设计了基准情景、转型情景和深度转型情景,评估不同能源转型路径对大湾区经济产业、环境正外部性和健康效益的影响。结果显示,相比基准情景,能源清洁替代促进转型情景和深度转型情景的碳排放分别在2025年和2022年提前达峰,到2035年碳排放分别下降了22.0%和35.9%,转型情景电力结构优化促使碳排放减少了0.59亿t,占全社会减排量的53%;投资结构优化和产业转型升级推动转型情景2035年GDP相比基准情景增长0.68%,而深度转型情景碳限制过于严格,造成GDP损失0.34%;能源转型对环境产生正外部性,2035年转型情景SO₂、NO_X、PM2.5、PM10排放分别下降35%、20%、36%、37%,带来155.6亿元的环境健康效益,约占大湾区GDP的0.05%。综合考虑能源转型对全社会的经济、环境、健康影响,转型情景的经济性较好,2035年相对基准情景增加了0.73%的经济效益。粤港澳大湾区应合理设置碳减排目标,稳步推进能源转型,实现绿色能源转型和能源...     

Comparison of Trace Elements in Bottled and Desalinated Household Drinking Water in Kuwait

The levels of the trace elements aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), boron (B), barium (Ba), beryllium (Be), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), mercury (Hg), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), antimony (Sb), selenium (Se), strontium (Sr), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), and zinc (Zn) were determined in 93 brands of non‐carbonated (BW) and carbonated (CBW) bottled water available in Kuwaiti markets and in 321 samples of desalinated household water (HW) collected from 99 sampling locations, which covered 95% of Kuwait's residential areas. The study yielded a large range of results for most of these elements, and the difference between the lowest and highest measured values exceeded three orders of magnitude for some elements in a number of the BW and CBW brands. With a few exceptions, the results for the HW and BW were found to comply with the United States‐Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization guideline values. The elements Fe, Pb, Hg, and Ni exceeded these GVs in 8.5, 0.3, 1.2, and 1% of the HW samples, respectively. One brand of BW exceeded the GV for B, while the levels of B, Ba, Be, Fe, and Mn exceeded the GVs in 35, 15, 5, 75, and 25% of the CBW brands, respectively. Correlations were found between the levels of some elements and either the desalination plant that produced the HW or the country of origin of the BW or CBW. The levels of the elements Al, Cu, Fe, and Zn in HW were higher in the summer than in the winter, with 14, 14, 42, and 18% increases, respectively. Nutritional evaluation revealed that significant percentages of the DRIs of Cr, Cu, Fe, and Se can be provided by drinking 2 L of HW, and significant percentages of the DRIs of B, Cr, Cu, and Mo can be provided by drinking 2 L of BW.     

An Analysis of Reducing Perchloroethylene Emissions in the Urban Environment: A Case Study of Taiwan

Selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from commercial activities and industrial processes have been classified as hazardous air pollutants, posing a potential health risk in the urban environment. In this respect, perchloroethylene (PCE), a suspected human carcinogen, is the most noticeable compound because it is widely used in laundries and hotels as a dry‐cleaning solvent. The objective of this paper was to quantify the emissions of PCE and other petroleum‐based solvents from dry cleaning business in illustration of the regulatory infrastructure of reducing PCE exposure in the environment of Taiwan. Based on the Emission Factors (AP‐42) method, the emissions of the non‐methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) from dry cleaning business had decreased from 5100 metric tons in 1997 to 2800 metric tons in 2007. The success of significant reduction of NMHCs in Taiwan has been ascribed to the fact that Taiwan established the relevant regulations at the end of the 1990s. From the data on the industrial/commercial demand for PCE and the emission inventories of NMHCs from dry cleaning business, the reduction of PCE emissions will show a declining trend in the near future.     

Physico‐Chemical and Bacterial Characteristics of Water Quality in Three Villages West of Lake Nasser,Egypt

The present study aims to investigate physico‐chemical and bacterial characteristics of Nasser Lake water and houses drinking water, as well as fish cultures and its wastewater, in three villages west of Lake Nasser, Egypt. Fifteen representative water samples (Nasser Lake, different drinking water, fish cultures, and wastewater sources) were collected from three villages (Garf Hussein, Bashaier, and Kalabsha) in the west of Lake Nasser. Physico‐chemical, total viable counts, and bacterial qualification of water were achieved. The obtained results indicated that the produced water, supposed to be for domestic use in the three villages, contained all the tested organisms. The investigated water samples of the lake and drinking water in the selected three villages are supposed to be chemically safe according to World Health Organization and to Egyptian standards for drinking water. Water pollution index (WPI) was used in this study and the result concluded that for irrigation canals from the lake to the agriculture site, fish cultures (both concrete and earth pond systems), and drainage canal of fish ponds need to be treated before it is discharged to the lake. It is better to reuse it after treatment for agricultural purposes or recycled it to the fish cultures.     

Microbial Quality in Coastal Waters of Dardanelles in Relation to the Pollution Sources and Transport Pathways

The coastal water quality of Çanakkale Dardanelles (Turkey) was assessed based on bacteriological data and physical–chemical parameters. Total coliform (TC), fecal coliform (FC), and enterococci (ENT) bacteria along with physicochemical parameters were measured monthly up to a year at 12 different sampling sites located through both coastal lines of the strait. The fecal bacteria were abounded at several sampling sites such as B1, B3, G3, and G4 due to direct wastewater discharges and septic leakages or overloading. Storm water runoff and sediment resuspension were important pathways for the transport of coliform and ENT bacteria to the Dardanelles, as the region receives high precipitation and strong winds for most part of the year. The values of pH, temperature, and salinity were in typical ranges for the studied area. The microbiological and physicochemical data were correlated individually and in combination. The best fit correlations for bacterial data were attained between TC and FC or TC and ENT (R = 0.67 or ?0.68), while those for the combined data were obtained for TC with temperature (R = 0.94) and TC with salinity (R = ? 0.70).     

First health and pollution study on harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) living in the German Elbe estuary

The Elbe is one of the major rivers releasing pollutants into the coastal areas of the German North Sea. Its estuary represents the habitat of a small population of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). Only little is known about the health status and contamination levels of these seals. Therefore, a first-ever seal catch was organized next to the islands of Neuwerk and Scharhörn in the region of the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park. The investigations included a broad set of health parameters and the analysis of metals and organic pollutants in blood samples. Compared to animals of other Wadden Sea areas, the seals showed higher γ-globulin levels, suggesting higher concentrations of pathogens in this near-urban area, elevated concentrations for several metals in particular for V, Sn, Pb, and Sr, and comparable ranges for chlorinated organic contaminants, except for elevated levels of hexachlorobenzene, which indicates characteristic inputs from the Elbe.     

Occupational health and safety hazards in Atlantic Canadian aquaculture: Laying the groundwork for prevention

The growing aquaculture industry is projected to feature ever more prominently in the lives and economies of rural coastal communities in Atlantic Canada and around the world. Both private industry and government have a responsibility to ensure employment opportunities created in aquaculture take place in healthy, safe environments. However, systematic occupational health and safety (OHS) research within this industry, an important prevention tool, is still in its infancy. With particular emphasis on marine aquaculture in Atlantic Canada, we provide a detailed outline of the structure of the industry from feed production through to processing, identify potential OHS hazards associated with each of these activities and make recommendations for future research and action.     

A safe haven of SARS-CoV-2 in the environment: Prevalence and potential transmission risks in the effluent,sludge, and biosolids

The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which has caused millions of death globally is recognized to be unstable and recalcitrant in the environment, especially in the way it has been evolving to form new and highly transmissible variants. Of particular concerns are human-environment interactions and the handling and reusing the environmental materials, such as effluents, sludge, or biosolids laden with the SARS-CoV-2 without adequate treatments, thereby suggesting potential transmission and health risks. This study assesses the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in effluents, sludge, and biosolids. Further, we evaluate the environmental, ecological, and health risks of reusing these environmental materials by wastewater/sludge workers and farmers. A systematic review of literature from the Scopus database resulted in a total of 21 articles (11 for effluents, 8 for sludge, and 2 for biosolids) that met the criteria for meta-analysis, which are then subdivided into 30 meta-analyzed studies. The prevalence of SAR-CoV-2 RNA in effluent and sludge based on random-effect models are 27.51 and 10^12.25, respectively, with a 95% CI between 6.14 and 48.89 for the effluent, and 10^4.78 and 10^19.71 for the sludge. However, the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the biosolids based on the fixed-effect model is 30.59, with a 95% CI between 10.10 and 51.08. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in environmental materials indicates the inefficiency in some of the treatment systems currently deployed to inactivate and remove the novel virus, which could be a potential health risk concern to vulnerable wastewater workers in particular, and the environmental and ecological issues for the population at large. This timely review portends the associated risks in handling and reusing environmental materials without proper and adequate treatments.     

Human health as a motivator for climate change mitigation: results from four European high-income countries

Invoking health benefits to promote climate-friendly household behavior has three unique advantages: (i) health co-benefits accrue directly to the acting individual, they are "private goods" rather than public ones; (ii) the evidence base for, and magnitude of health co-benefits is well-established; and (iii) the idea of a healthy life-style is well-engrained in public discourse, much more so than that of a climate-friendly life-style. In previous research, assessing the influence of information on health effects on people’s motivation to adopt mitigation actions, health co-benefits for the individual were typically confounded with collective health co-benefits, for example from pollution reduction. The present research aims to overcome this limitation by providing information on individual health co-benefits that are unconditional on the actions of others (direct health co-benefits). We report effects of this kind of health information on stated willingness to adopt mitigation actions as well as on simulation-based carbon emission reductions in a pre-registered experimental setting among 308 households in 4 mid-size case-study cities in 4 European high-income countries: France, Germany, Norway and Sweden. For each mitigation action from the sectors food, housing, and mobility, half of the sample received the amount of CO₂equivalents (CO₂-eq) saved and the financial costs or savings the respective action generated. The other half additionally received information on direct health co-benefits, where applicable. For households receiving information on direct health co-benefits, we find a higher mean willingness to adopt food and housing actions, and a greater proportion very willing to adopt one or more mitigation actions (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.1, 3.12); and a greater simulated reduction in overall carbon footprint: difference in percent reduction -2.70%, (95% CI -5.34, -0.04) overall and -4.45%, (95% CI -8.26, -0.64) for food. Our study is the first to show that providing information on strictly unconditional, individual health co-benefits can motivate households in high-income countries to adopt mitigation actions.