Waste Related Pollutions and Their Potential Effect on Cancer Incidences in Lebanon

Pollution represents an important threat to human health. Waste pollution with its adverse health risks, mainly cancer incidences, is one of the main issues present in Lebanon. Random disposal of wastes is instilling a complex and challenging situation that is affecting the entire population. Here, a comprehensive study is presented along with collected data addressing the correlation between long-term exposure to the different forms of pollution and the chances of being affected with cancer. Lebanon, a country currently facing an extensive garbage crisis, is undergoing alarming surges in pollution rates. Inevitably, these environmental factors become chief elements in influencing disease statistics. It is therefore of urgent importance to seek all solutions possible while raising awareness in order to reduce life threatening risks.

Current status and strategy of hazardous waste management in China

This paper deals briefly with the pollution caused by hazardous wastes in China, the hazardous waste management at present and the strategy that should be taken for hazardous waste management in the future. Hazardous waste problem has become one of the important environmental concerns in China. Hazardous waste have resulted in ecological and environmental destruction, caused damage to human health, and restricted economic development. Although a great effort has been devoted to the management of hazardous wastes, there remain many issues in legislation, experience, technology and finance to be solved. Some recommendations are made on the strategic measures for improving the hazardous waste management in China, particularly relating to legislation, technical development and international cooperation.

Variation of toxic pollutants emission during a feeding cycle from an updraft fixed bed gasifier for disposing rural solid waste

The variation of toxic pollutants emission during a feeding cycle was examined by field monitoring from a batch feeding updraft fixed bed gasifier for disposing rural domestic solid waste. Results showed that the content of oxygen in flue gas gradually increased, while SO_2 and HCl in flue gas decreased with time after feeding in a whole feeding cycle. Although large amount of CO was produced during the gasifying, low CO content in flue gas could be obtained after the heat treatment with an electric heating device. The distribution characteristics of dioxin congeners in flue gas indicted the re-synthesis of dioxins after flue gas heating, and the increase of oxygen promoted the synthesis of dioxins. The emission content of dioxins could meet the standard(0.1 ng I-TEQ·m^(-3),GB18458-2014) of China when the oxygen content was controlled below 8.3%. Hence, for a batch feeding gasifier,low oxygen condition should be offered by reducing air intake at the later stage of feeding cycle in order to decrease the re-synthesis of dioxins after the flue gas heating.

Effects of sawdust soil amendment on the soil, growth and yield of Solanum esculentum Linn. in waste engine oil-polluted soil

This study investigated the effects of sawdust as a soil amendment on certain growth parameters of Solanum esculentum Linn. grown in soil polluted with various concentrations of waste engine oil, and changes in the physicochemical proper- ties of the soil. The purpose was to assess the soil remediation potentials of sawdust in waste engine oil-polluted soil. The experiment was divided into three regimes： control （air-dried soil without waste engine oil and with clean sawdust）, pol- luted （waste engine oil-contaminated soil）, and amended （oil-polluted soil amended with sawdust）. Enough 3-kg soil samples were sieved and air-dried to prepare five treatment levels of waste engine oil-contaminated soil （30 mL, 1%; 60 mL, 2%; 90 mL, 3%; 120 mL, 4%; and 150 mL, 5%）, as well as five additional treatment levels （the same amounts ofoil contamination） in soil amended with sawdust. The treatment levels were replicated five times in a completely randomized design. A nursery bed was planted with a hybrid tomato variety （Roma V F） obtained from National Horticultural Research Institute （NIHORT） in Ibadan, Nigeria. During the maturation period, the growth parameters such as plant height, number of leaves, and number of branches per plant were determined and then the harvested plants were oven dried at 70 ℃for 48 hours to determine their dry weights. The effects of the sawdust amendment on the soil were assessed by determining the soil pH （glass electrode pH meter）, total nitrogen （Kjeldahl method）, total phosphorus （Bray-1 solution）, and potassium （on the leacheate by a flame photometer）. Chromium, lead, and cadmium contents were determined using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Analysis of variance and a Duncan multiple-range test were employed to test significant differences in the soil properties of the three regimes. The growth performance ofSolanum esculentum Linn. in the amended regime （soil with sawdust） at the 150-mL waste engine oil-contamination level was significantly higher than in the polluted regime （soil without sawdust）. After plant harvest, the pH of the soil was shown to be clearly affected by the addition of waste engine oil. The control soil （air-dried only, no sawdust, no oil） had the highest pH value, 6.60, which was significantly different from the pH values at other levels of waste engine oil contamination. However, when amended with sawdust, the control soil had a significantly lower pH value than the unamended control soil. This study further demonstrates that sawdust has the potential of amending waste engine oil-contaminated soil for increasing tomato growth performance because it is capable of increasing the soil nutrient content and reducing the soil total hydrocarbon content.

Preliminary studies on occurrence of monensin antibiotic in Bosque River Watershed

Water quality impact due to excessive nutrients has been extensively studied. In recent years, however, micro-pollutants such as pharmaceuticals and hormonal products used in animal agriculture have added an additional impact to overall water quality. Pharmaceuticals used in the poultry, swine, beef, and dairy industries have been detected in various environmental matrices such as, soil, groundwater and surface water. In this study, 26 surface water samples were collected throughout the Bosque River Watershed （BRW） with samples representing a range of land use conditions and locations of major dairy operations. Samples were analyzed using commercially available Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay test. Of the 26 samples, three samples consistently tested positive for monensin antibiotic with concentration ranging from 0.30 to 3.41 μg/L. These three samples were collected from sites that received varying amount of agriculture wastes （11.7% to 31.3%） and located downstream from sites associated with moderate levels of animal agriculture. The preliminary results suggest that there is a potential for monensin occurrence in the BRW, although initial findings indicate only very low levels.