Narrow Results

The aim of this study is to develop a method for monitoring water pollution caused by dissolved sulfides and other harmful elements by means of PIXE offering the advantage of multielemental nature, high sensitivity and speed of analysis for a wide variety of samples. Sulfide ions dissolved in an aqueous sample were converted to insoluble CuS compounds and then collected on a thin organic filter suitable as a backing foil for PIXE measurements. The standard method for scavenging CuS precipitate is founded on an investigation of the pH-dependence of the recovery of dissolved sulfides and the calibration curve covering the concentration range from 10 to 1000 ppb. The recovery-factor of CuS showed a maximum value at around pH 8 although it changed with the intrinsic pH of samples. The recovery factor for pH adjusted to 7.50 was kept constant in a wide concentration range of sulfide ions from 10 to 1000 ppb. The concentration of tens of ppm sulfur compound was detected in both drain water from the industrial waste disposal and in peripheral agricultural water, but the fraction of dissolved sulfide was only about 1%. The low concentration of dissolved sulfides was discussed from the viewpoint of the oxidation condition originated from the soluble and insoluble components detected in samples by PIXE analysis.

Radio-Ecology Study to Improve Future Environmental Risk Assessment.

Biotechnology Applied to Treat Water Pollution.

Progress in Male Sterility Gene Research.

Malaria Vaccine Modeled Against Parasitic Antigen.

Soy Extract May Benefit Early-Staged Prostate Cancer Patients.

Living on a Gradient: A Glimpse on How Genetic Evolution shapes High-Altitude Tibetans’ Survival

Ascletis as the First Chinese Company to File Clinical Applications for Interferon-Free HCV Treatment

Anti-Cancer formulation derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine receives FDA’s approval for Phase III Clinical Trial

Kunming Institute of Zoology unveils the most diverse form of HIV-1 viral strain transmission at Burma Border

Chinese Biologists Find Duckweed to Tackle Water Pollution

A new publication in Science on the parvalbumin-positive excitatory visual pathway

Liquid biopsies and its implications on Asia

Making precision oncology a reality

Water woes: Fast-approaching global water calamity

Water pollution by pesticides as the result of intensive agriculture and horticulture has brought many negative consequences to humans and ecosystems. Among others, chemical sensor systems are under intense development for direct pesticide analysis in aqueous samples as a cost effective and simple alternative analytical method. In this work, a set of zinc phthalocyanines is studied in its liquid sensing properties using quartz crystal microbalances. Four different species selected from the two most common organophosphorus and carbamate classes of pesticides are used as test analytes. The phthalocyanines are chemically modified with different fluorinated substituents to increase sensor sensitivity and govern pesticide selectivity in order to create sensors with widely diverging analyte responses. By this means, sensors with a general high sensitivity and selectivity for the two pesticide classes were obtained and detection limits down to 0.03 mg.L^-1 could be achieved. The response data of the sensors are analyzed in detail using exploratory multivariate data evaluation methods. The results show that phthalocyanine based sensors are a truly capable platform for chemical analysis systems of aqueous samples.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of trace heavy metals in aqueous environment are rapidly assuming significance along with the rapid development of industry. In this paper, gold microelectrode array (MEA) plated with mercury film was used for simultaneous voltammetric detection of zinc, cadmium, lead and copper ions in water. The electrochemical behavior and the actual surface area of the MEA were investigated by cyclic voltammetry in K₃[Fe(CN)₆]. Electrochemical impedance spectrum (EIS) was utilized to examine the deposition of mercury on the electrode surface. Based on anodic stripping voltammetry, mercury film–Au MEA was applied to the detection of heavy metals in artificial analyte, where good calibrate linearity was obtained for cadmium, lead and copper ions, but with zinc exhibiting poor linearity.

There is ample evidence indicating that political institutions and official mobility influence the economy, finance, and environment. Specifically, political turnovers have been found to be essential for the functioning and oversight of economic institutions. Chinese cities, where the party secretary frequently changes every few years, provide an interesting context for studying political turnovers. In this study, we investigated the effects of political turnovers on urban sewage discharge in 242 Chinese cities between 2003 and 2018. The findings revealed a significant impact of the timing of the Chinese Communist Party Congress on urban sewage discharge. Leading up to and including the year of the Party Congress, there was a marked reduction in urban sewage discharge. Conversely, discharge increased substantially during the year or two years following the Party Congress. These results suggest that political turnovers play a critical role in environmental governance performance in China.

This research uses a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) model to assess the impact of the water resource fee to tax (WRFT) policy on water pollution in China from 2004 to 2020. The study finds that the WRFT policy can reduce chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions by 17.7% and ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) emissions by 31.6% on average. These findings are supported by various robustness tests, such as the parallel trend test, the placebo test, and the changing standard errors. The study also finds that the impact of the WRFT policy is stronger in regions with higher economic development levels and lower water pollution levels, but does not show heterogeneity in water resource abundance. The mechanism analysis suggests that the WRFT policy achieves the effect of reducing water pollution by reducing sewage discharge, increasing intensity of water pollution prevention, and promoting green R&D innovation. The study addresses potential endogeneity issues such as reverse causality, sample self-selection, and omitting variable bias. Based on these findings, the study offers some policy recommendations to further enhance the WRFT policy effects and reduce water pollution in China.

In the past few decades, precipitation across North America and Europe has become increasingly more acidic having an immense effect on the ecosystem. Any rain below the natural pH level is considered acid rain. Acid rain primarily occurs when extraneous sulfur dioxide is released into the atmosphere and mixes with the air; nitric oxide, typically from burning of fossil fuels, is a secondary cause. First being discovered in the mid-20th century, the phenomena has had detrimental effects on lakes, rivers, soils, plants, and the overall environments that cannot neutralize water. This chapter thoroughly covers the history, causes, and environmental effects of acid rain.

Ecological impact of sanitary landfill is discussed in this chapter. Landfill design, leachate control, and landfill gas (LFG) management are developed and their applications are illustrated. Landfill pollution control, collection, and treatment of LFG, and utilization of LFG energy are discussed in detail. Cost data and practical examples for planning, LFG management, and operation are presented.

Water pollution refers to a kind of phenomenon of water quality deterioration which causes by the intervention of certain substances that result in changing of its chemical, physical and affecting the effective use of water and being harmful to human health. Water pollution involves surface water pollution and groundwater pollution. Along with the acceleration of urbanization and development of economy, the demand of water resources is increasing and the strength of the development and utilization of water resources is also increasing gradually. Meanwhile, Suzhou city is facing water pollution problems such as poor water quality, shortage of drinking water, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the research status of water pollution and accelerate the adjustment and optimization of the structure of the water quality. Based on the water quality conditions of its surface water and groundwater and related water pollution data, this article analyzes and evaluates the variations of water quality.

From the beginning of the reform and open door policy period, in 1978, to the present moment, China has consistently subordinated the importance of environmental protection to the pursuit of rapid economic growth in the name of constructing a socialist modernized state. Remarkable achievements in economic development have been made in the last three decades, and people's living standards, in material terms, have been vastly improved, but China has paid a very heavy price, in environmental terms, for such gains. Confronted with a widening spectrum of problems manifesting rapid environmental deterioration, major initiatives and measures have been repeatedly undertaken by the Central government to improve the efficacy of the country's environment protection apparatus. This chapter reviews the challenges encountered, and progress made, in the field of environmental protection, tracing the impacts of rapid industrial and urban growth on the country's environmental contours and ecological landscape. We argue that, despite of the pro-environment actions undertaken by the Central government, the prospect for a quick reversal of the current trends of environmental degradation remains slim because such efforts have always been resisted or even negated by local governments bent on pursuing economic growth at the cost of environmental protection. Unless China's political culture is reformed to allow a greater degree of transparency in local governance matters and that the implementation of environmental policies and programs is effectively and vastly strengthened, the country will be hard pressed to achieve even its modest environmental targets in the foreseeable future.