Simulation of Revised Puff Trajectory Model in Regional Atmospheric Environmental Risks

[Objective] The aim was to research application of revised puff trajectory model in atmospheric environmental risks simulation.[Method] In the research,theory of puff trajectory model for pollution diffusion in atmosphere in urban areas was analyzed and CALPUFF,a revised puff trajectory model,was applied in prediction on atmospheric environmental risks in Xining City.[Result] The simple puff trajectory model can not be applied for long-distance transport or in complex terrain and airflow field.In contrast,CALPUFF would be applied in urban areas,and complex terrain or underlying surface.With high resolution ratio,it would depict the beginning condition and detailed distribution of pollutants transport and diffusion.For prediction on atmospheric environmental risks in Xining City,northwest wind dominated in Huangshui Valley;north wind dominated in Beichuan Valley;temperature inversion occurred at high altitude.These had a significant effect on the downwind direction in Xining urban district.The simulation results indicated that puffs usually spread along Huangshui Valley and some non-steady phenomena occurred,such as blocking effect by mountains,deformation of puff by airflow field in ridges and influence of valley wind.[Conclusion] The research is of significance for precise prediction on characters,influence and extent of atmospheric environmental risks in cities.

An analysis of environmental risks in Sichuan Province to relocate the textile industry from east China

The trend of transferring eastern textile industry to western regions in China is increasingly obvious.As for Sichuan Province,it is a chance to promote economic development and upgrade the textile industry through the incident compared with the other western regions.This paper analyzes the risk to environment in Sichuan Province when accepting the transfer and puts forwards relevant measures to this point.

Companies and Sustainable Development:The Adequacy of Environmental Impact Assessment for the Management of Environmental Risks

The choice of the environmental risk management instrument to be used within the scope of corporate governance in companies is of paramount importance to avoid or mitigate the triple environmental responsibility to which they are exposed.In this sense,the following research problem arises:The Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA),an instrument of the National Environment Policy and a model of environmental risk management adopted by some companies,proves to be efficient,effective and effective for the fulfillment of the duty to protect the environmental balance and,therefore,for sustainable development?The present study aims to elucidate this research problem.To this end,analyzes were carried out on risk and environmental damage,from a perspective of the socio-environmental function of companies today;the need for a new posture by companies in view of the reflexes of environmental risks in business activity;and the question of the adequacy or inadequacy of the EIA as an instrument of the National Environment Policy and as a model for managing environmental risks and damages,in the pursuit of sustainable development.The method of approach used was the deductive one,and the research was carried out using the method of bibliographic procedure,through which research was carried out on books,scientific articles and legislation.The result points out the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the EIA for the management of environmental risks and,thus,for the fulfillment of the duty to protect the environmental balance by companies.

Spatial distribution, environmental risks, and sources of potentially toxic elements in soils from a typical abandoned antimony smelting site

The rapid development of the smelting industry increases the release of antimony(Sb)into the soil environment,which threatens human health and ecosystems.A total of 87 samples were collected from an abandoned Sb smelting site to evaluate pollution characteristics and environmental risks of the potentially toxic elements(PTEs).The contents of As,Cu,Ni,Pb,Sb,and Zn in the fresh soils determined by P-XRF were 131,120,60,145,240,and 154 mg/kg,respectively,whilst following drying,grinding,and sieving pretreatments,the corresponding contents increased to 367,179,145,295,479,and 276 mg/kg,respectively.There was a significant correlation between the data obtained by P-XRF and ICP-OES in the treated samples,which showed the application feasibility of P-XRF.The average contents of Sb and As were 440.6 and 411.6 mg/kg,respectively,which exceeded the control values of the development land in GB 36600-2018.The ecological risk levels of the six PTEs decreased in the following order:As>Sb>Pb>Zn>Ni>Cu.Non-carcinogenic risk revealed that As,Pb,and Sb posed health risks for children,whilst for carcinogenic risk,the risk values for As and Ni were higher than the limit values for both children and adults.Anthropogenic sources accounted for more than 70.0%of As,Pb,and Sb concentrations in soils,indicating a significant influence on PTEs accumulation.The findings provide a basis for quick determination of the contamination characteristics and risk control of PTEs at Sb smelting sites.

Advances in preparation,application in contaminant removal,and environmental risks of biochar-based catalysts:a review

As a carbon-rich material produced by pyrolysis of biomass,biochar features low cost,large specific surface area,and widely available feedstocks based on the functional diversity and environmental-friendly properties,it has received increasing attention in the fields of pollutant removal due to three win-win effects of water remediation,carbon sequestration and reutilization of wastes.To design excellent biochar-based catalysts for environmental applications,one must understand recent advances in the catalysts for contaminant removal.This review focuses on the current application of biochar-based catalysts in redox systems,Fenton-like systems,sonocatalytic systems and photocatalytic systems.Besides in-depth discussion in effects of preparation conditions on physicochemical characteristics of biochars,the review supplements new preparation technologies of biochar and biochar-based catalysts.Most importantly,the advantages/shortcomings,catalysis mechanisms,as well as the pollutant removal ability of different types of biochar-based catalysts are discussed.The environmental risks of the catalyst applications are also elaborated on.Future research on biochar-based catalyst production and its environmental applications is discussed.The review provides a good overview of the current advances of biochar-based catalysts in pollutant control and the future research directions.

Environmental risks for application of iron and steel slags in soils in China: A review

Iron and steel slags are smelting wastes, mainly including blast furnace slag(BFS) and steel slag(SS) produced in the iron and steel industry. Utilization of iron and steel slags as resources for solving the problem of slag disposals has attracted much attention with increasing iron and steel smelting slags in China. Because the iron and steel slags contain calcium(Ca), magnesium(Mg), phosphorus(P), and silicon(Si), some have tried to use them as Si-and P-fertilizers, for producing Ca-Mg-P fertilizers, or as soil amendments in agriculture. However, in the iron metallurgical process, several pollutants in iron ores can inevitably transfer into iron and steel slags, resulting in the enrichment of pollutants both in BFS(mainly nickel(Ni), copper(Cu), mercury, zinc(Zn),cadmium(Cd), chromium(Cr), arsenic, lead, selenium, fluorine(F), and chlorine(Cl)) and in SS(mainly Ni, Cr, Cd, Zn, Cu, F, and Cl), in which some of pollutants(especially Cr, Ni, F, and Cl) exceed the limits of environmental quality standards for soils and groundwater. The elements of manganese, barium,and vanadium in iron and steel slags are higher than the background values of soil environment. In order to ensure soil health, food safety, and environmental quality, it is suggested that those industrial solid wastes, such as iron and steel slags, without any pretreatment for reducing harmful pollutants and with environmental safety risk, should not be allowed to use for soil remediation or conditioning directly in farmlands by solid waste disposal methods, to prevent pollutants from entering food chain and harming human health.

Current situation and forecast of environmental risks of a typical lead-zinc sulfide tailings impoundment based on its geochemical characteristics

The potential environmental implications of a Pb(Lead)-Zn(Zinc)sulfide tailing impoundment were found to be dependent on its geochemical characteristics.One typical lead-zinc sulfide tailing impoundment was studied.Ten boreholes were set with the grid method and 36 tailings were sampled and tested.According to the results of metal content analysis,the tailing samples contained considerably high contents of heavy metals,ranging from 6.99 to 89.0 mg/kg for Cd,75.3 to 602 mg/kg for Cu,0.53%to 2.63%for Pb and 0.30%to 2.54%for Zn.Most of the heavy metals in the sample matrix showed a uniform concentration distribution,except Cd.Cd,Pb,Zn,and Mn were associated with each other,and were considered to be the dominant contributors based on hierarchical cluster analysis.XRD,SEM and XPS were employed for evaluation of the tailing weathering characteristics,confirming that the tailings had undergone intensive weathering.The maximum potential acidity of the tailings reached 244 kg H2SO4/ton;furthermore,the bioavailability of heavy metals like Pb,Cd,Cr,Cu,and Zn was 37.8%,12.9%,12.2%,5.95%,and 5.46%respectively.These metals would be potentially released into drainage by the weathering process.Analysis of a gastrointestinal model showed that Pb,Cr,Ni and Cu contained in the tailings were high-risk metals.Thus,control of the heavy metals’migration and their environmental risks should be planned from the perspective of geochemistry.

Holistic identification and assessment of environmental risks of arable land use in two grain producing areas of China

Taking two typical grain producing areas of southern(Dongting Lake Region)and northern China(Shandong Province)as examples,this study used fault tree analysis and parametric estimation to provide a comparative analysis for environmental risks of intensive arable land use.The results show that(1)in the risks of eutrophication,toxicity,soil structure,greenhouse effect and air pollution,the greenhouse effect was the most prominent with the highest discharge;(2)the Dongting Lake Region discharged less pollutants annually than did Shandong Province,while surpassing Shandong in cumulative pollutant discharge in 2007-2018;(3)the spatial distribution of environmental risk in the Dongting Lake Region was mostly concentrated in the northern area,whereas that in Shandong Province displayed a scattered pattern;(4)in the Dongting Lake Region,Yueyang,Changde,and Yiyang were high environmental risk cities in 2007-2018,whereas in Shandong Province,Zaozhuang,Heze,Liaocheng,and Dezhou exhibited higher comprehensive environmental risk indexes in 2007-2008,while Rizhao replaced them in 2018.The results indicated that ago-production material use must be controlled,reasonable zoning for areas posing environmental risks must be employed and cities with high environmental risk must be dynamically monitored to prevent the intensification of environmental risks of arable land use.

Environmental risk assessment on slag and iron-rich matte produced from reducing-matting smelting of lead-bearing wastes and iron-rich wastes

A new process for utilization of hazardous lead-bearing wastes and iron-rich wastes by reducing-matting smelting has been developed.The slag（SG） and the iron-rich matte（IRM） are the main by-products from reducing-matting smelting of lead-bearing wastes and iron-rich wastes.The environmental risk of heavy metals（Cd,Zn,Pb and As） in the main by-products versus the charging material for reducing-matting smelting（CM） has been systematically assessed using leaching toxicity test,the three-stage sequential extraction procedure of European Community Bureau of Reference（BCR） and Hakanson Potential Ecological Risk Index Method（PERI）.The results demonstrate that the ecological risk level of heavy metals for SG and IRM is significantly reduced after the reducing-matting smelting process compared with that for CM.

Adsorption and Desorption Characteristics of Cadmium and Lead in Typical Paddy Soils of Jiangxi Province and Its Environmental Risk Assessment

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the adsorption and desorption characteristics of cadmium and lead in typical paddy soils of Jiangxi Province. [Method] Gleyed paddy soil and waterloggogenic paddy soil were collected from Jiangxi Province and used as experimental materials to investigate single and com- petitive adsorption and desorption behaviors of cadmium and lead by batch equilib- rium method. The environmental risk of the presence of cadmium and lead in paddy soils was assessed using distribution coefficients. [Result] Under equal ratio condi- tions, the adsorption capacity of lead by two types of paddy soils was higher than that of cadmium, and the adsorption rate in waterloggogenic paddy soil was higher than that in gleyed paddy soil. The desorption capacity of cadmium by two types of paddy soils was higher than that of lead, and the desorption rate in gleyed paddy soil was higher than that in waterloggogenic paddy soil. Under competitive condi- tions, the adsorption capacity of cadmium and lead by paddy soils was significantly reduced compared with single ion system, while the desorption rate was remarkably improved. The potential environmental risk of cadmium contamination was greater than that of lead in paddy soils. Moreover, environmental risks of cadmium and lead were reduced with the increase of pH, which increased significantly under the coex- istence state. [Conclusion] In the coexistence of cadmium and lead, cadmium con- tamination should be controlled and avoided compared with lead contamination in paddy soils.

Carbon emission risk of construction industry in Hebei Province of China based on carbon sink thresholds

In order to assess the environmental risks caused by carbon emissions from the construction industry in Hebei Province of China,an environmental risk assessment model based on forest carbon sink threshold was constructed to evaluate the carbon emission risks of the construction industry in Hebei Province,China from 2005 to 2020.The results are shown as follows:(1)The overall carbon emissions of the construction industry in Hebei Province of China showed an inverted"V"-shaped evolution trend during the past 16 years.Tangshan and Shijiazhuang maintained high carbon emissions,while Langfang,Hengshui and Baoding saw rapid increases in carbon emissions.(2)The environmental safety threshold of carbon emission from the construction industry in Hebei Province,China,has been continuously improved,and the provincial environmental safety threshold is between 9475080-23144760 tons;The environmental safety threshold was the highest in Baoding and Langfang,and the lowest in Xingtai.(3)In the past 16 years,the carbon emission risk of the construction industry in Hebei Province of China has been in a state of extremely serious risk,and the risk index generally presents an inverted"V"type trend.(4)The carbon emission risk of Hebei city in China presents a spatial pattern of"high in the south and low in the north",which goes through two stages:risk increase period and risk reduction period.

Assessment of Phytosanitary Practices in Peri-Urban Agriculture and Associated Environmental and Health Impacts in Developing Countries: Case of Abengourou City (Côte d’Ivoire)

The use of phytosanitary products remains uncontrolled and abusive in the practice of market gardening in most developing countries. However, it remains one of the potential sources of environmental contamination and public health problems. This study examines the health and environmental risks associated with the use of phytosanitary products in market gardening in the town of Abengourou in Cote d’Ivoire. Field surveys carried out among all (30) market gardener sites housed 150 farmers showed that when the products were spread, no health and safety measures were observed. Approximately 80% of the respondents did not wear gloves or face masks. Some products used were not approved for market gardening. Farmers had itching, dizziness, headaches, colds and vomiting on a regular basis when applying the products. The study also revealed the presence of empty packaging in the surrounding surface water and on the ground. In addition to producers, this type of uncontrolled market gardening likely exposes consumers to high health risks and also contributes to environmental degradation. Raising awareness among stakeholders of good agricultural practices could help promote sustainable market gardening. However, studies of the effects of products in such an environment on the health of consumers deserve to be carried out.

A Review on Graphene-Based Nanomaterials in Biomedical Applications and Risks in Environment and Health

Graphene-based nanomaterials(GBNs) have attracted increasing interests of the scientific community due to their unique physicochemical properties and their applications in biotechnology, biomedicine, bioengineering, disease diagnosis and therapy. Although a large amount of researches have been conducted on these novel nanomaterials, limited comprehensive reviews are published on their biomedical applications and potential environmental and human health effects. The present research aimed at addressing this knowledge gap by examining and discussing:(1) the history, synthesis,structural properties and recent developments of GBNs for biomedical applications;(2) GBNs uses as therapeutics,drug/gene delivery and antibacterial materials;(3) GBNs applications in tissue engineering and in research as biosensors and bioimaging materials; and(4) GBNs potential environmental effects and human health risks. It also discussed the perspectives and challenges associated with the biomedical applications of GBNs.

Risk forecasting and evaluating model of Environmental pollution accident

Environmental risk(ER) factors come from ER source and they are controlled by the primary control mechanism(PCM) of environmental risk, due to the self failures or the effects of external environment risk trigger mechanism, the PCM could not work regularly any more, then, the ER factors will release environmental space, and an ER field is formed up. The forming of ER field does not mean that any environmental pollution accident(EPA) will break out; only the ER receptors are exposed in the ER field and damaged seriously, the potential ER really turns into an actual EPA. Researching on the general laws of evolving from environmental risk to EPA, this paper bring forwards a relevant concept model of risk forecasting and evaluating of EPA. This model provides some scientific methods for risk evaluation, prevention and emergency response of EPA. This model not only enriches and develops the theory system of environment safety and emergency response, but also acts as an instruction for public safety, enterprise's safety management and emergency response of the accident.

Effect of Phopshate Fertilizer and Manure on Crop Yield, Soil P Accumulation, and the Environmental Risk Assessment

Phosphorus （P） applied from fertilizer and manure is important in increasing crop yield and soil fertility; however, excessive uses of phosphate fertilizer and manure may also increase P loss from agricultural soils, posing environmental impact. A long term experiment was conducted on a calcareous soil （meadow cinnamon） in Hebei Province, China, from 2003 to 2006 to investigate the effects of phosphate fertilizer and manure on the yield of Chinese cabbage, soil P accumulation, P sorption saturation, soluble P in runoff water, and P leaching. P fertilizer （P2O5） application at a rate of 360 kg ha^-1 or manure of 150 t ha^-1 significantly increased Chinese cabbage yield as compared to the unfertilized control. However, no significant yield response was found with excessive phosphate or manure application. Soil Olsen-P, soluble P, bioavailable P, the degree of phosphorus sorption saturation in top soil layer （0-20 cm）, and soluble P in runoff water increased significantly with the increase of phosphate fertilizer and manure application rates, whereas the maximum phosphorus sorption capacity （Qm） decreased with the phosphate fertilizer and manure application rates. Soil Olsen-P and soluble P also increased significantly in the sub soil layer （20-40 cm） with the high P fertilizer and manure rates. It indicates that excessive P application over crop demand can lead to a high environmental risk owing to the enrichment of soil Olsen-P, soluble P, bioavailable P, and the degree of phosphorus sorption saturation in agricultural soils.

Spatial distribution and environmental characterization of sediment-associated metals from middle-downstream of Xiangjiang River,southern China

The contamination and environmental risk assessment of the toxic elements in sediments from the middle-downstream (Zhuzhou-Changsha section) of the Xiangjiang River in Hunan Province of China were studied. The results show that As, Cd, Pb and Zn are major contaminants in sediments, and average concentrations of these elements significantly exceed both the Control Standards for Pollutants in Sludge of China (GB4284-84) for agricultural use in acidic soils and the effect range median (ERM) values. The average concentrations of As, Cd and Pb in the river water slightly exceed the limit of Surface Water Environment Quality Standard (GB3838-2002). The concentrations of As and Cr in depth profiles extensively change, but slight changes are observed in Pb and Zn. Cd and Zn in most sediment samples can easily enter the food-chain and bring possible ecotoxicological risk to organisms living in sediments according to the risk assessment code.

Reducing environmental risk of nitrogen by popularizing mechanically dense transplanting for rice production in China

The high nitrogen(N)application rates typically used in Chinese cropping systems have led to diminishing returns for yields and have also imposed substantial environmental costs.Here,we estimate that the annual N loss from rice production in China reached approximately 2.6×109 kg from 2011 to 2015,and we demonstrate that adoption of the mechanically dense transplanting technique by producers is an effective method to reduce N loss from rice cropping systems without suffering a yield penalty.

Study on Environmental Risk and Economic Benefits of Rotation Systems in Farmland of Erhai Lake Basin

This study was designed to find out an optimised planting system of reducing non-point （source） pollution by analyzing the reasons and the factors of influence non-point pollution in farmland of Erhai Lake basin. The results showed that incomes, residual nitrogen in soil, and the loss of nitrogen in surface water in rice-garlic system were higher than those in rice-fava bean system. There were positive correlations between the nitrogen loss of farmland, nitrogen inputs, residual nitrogen in soil, and incomes of farmland. Economic benefits and environment benefits are both appropriate, if the area of rice-garlic system would be reduced to 53% and the area of rice-fava bean system increased to 36% of total cropping area in the investigated watershed. Adjustment of planting structure and introduction of reasonable rotation systems is considered an effective measure of controlling agricultural non-point pollution in watersheds of Erhai Lake.

Environmental risk for application of ammonia-soda white mud in soils in China

In recent years,some reports,mainly from Chinese research,show that there has been an increasing trend in the use of ammonia-soda residue(ASR)(or called ammonia-soda white mud) as a soil conditioner in farmlands.Up to now,the studies on ASR have focused on its utilization for acid soil amendment in agriculture,but few studies have assessed its environmental risk.ASR contains pollutant elements such as mercury(Hg),cadmium(Cd),copper(Cu) and fluorine(F) and the purpose of this study was to review research on the environmental impacts of ASR application in agriculture.Observations obtained from 23 research reports indicate that the concentrations of Hg,Cd,Cu,F and Cl(0-170,0.01-2.8,4.5-200,2000-24700 and 1 600-188 000 mg kg^-1,respectively) in ASR may exceed the limits(≤0.5,≤0.3 and ≤50 mg kg^-1 for Hg,Cd and Cu,respectively) of Chinese Risk Screening Values for Soil Contamination of Agricultural Land(GB 15618-2018 2018) or the refereed critical value(≤800 and ≤200 mg kg^-1 for F and Cl,respectively) based on Chinese research.The concentrations of the elements Hg,Cd,Cu,F and Cl in the leachate of ASR detected by the extraction tests also exceed the limits(Class IV-V) of the Chinese Standard for Groundwater Quality(GB/T 14848-2017 2017).Based on the above results,it is suggested that ASR without any pretreatment for reducing harmful pollutants should not be used for soil remediation or conditioning of farmlands,to ensure soil health,food safety and environmental quality.

Distribution, Chemical Speciation, and Environmental Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Tailings Soils near Dexing Copper Mine, China

To complement information of heavy metals＇ distribution, chemical speciation, activity and environmental risks in agricultural soils surrounding tailings, a total of 16 samples obtained from the 4 # railings site of Dexing copper mine of China were investigated. The total concentrations of heavy metals Zn, Fe, Cu, Pb, Cd, Cr, Hg, As, Mn, Ag, Co, and Ni were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. Chemical speciations of Cu, Cd, and Zn were investigated with the procedures recommended by Tessier（1979）. Two different assessment approaches （GB 15618- 1995 and risk assessment code, RAC ） were employed to estimate heavy metals＇ environmental risks. Results indicated that heavy metals, especially Cu and Cd were in high levels of accumulation in these samples. Chemical speciation analysis results revealed that Cu was mainly in organic matter bound fraction （ORG） and residual fraction （ RES）, and Cd was predominantly in exchangeable fraction （EXC）, while Zn appeared mainly with the RES fraction. Environmental risk analysis results showed that Cd was in ＂heavy＂ pollution level （ classification m ） in almost all samples, which may exert ＂high＂ or ＂very high＂ environmental risks. Whereas, for Cu, one fourth samples showed ＂heavy＂ pollution level, but were located in ＂low＂ or ＂medium＂ environmental risk ranks. For Zn, many samples were grouped in ＂light＂ pollution level （ classification II ）, but were related to ＂ medium＂ and ＂ high＂ environmental risk ranks. These results indicated heavy pollution and high environmental risk of Cd in soils surrounding the 4# tailings site, which should be paid more attention to. Meanwhile, for Cu and Zn, the contrary results obtained by different environmental risk assessment approaches, may suggest that a more scientific, adequate environmental risk assessment criterion should consider both total content and chemical speciation activity of heavy metals.