Environmental Risk Index Research Articles

Adaptation of EVIAVE methodology to landfill environmental impact assessment in Uganda – A case study of Kiteezi landfill

The Kiteezi landfill is the only landfill in Uganda, and it is currently facing significant environmental and sustainability challenges. The comprehensive quantification of the landfill's impact was needed to guide decision making regarding management and remediation. Therefore, this study aimed to quantify the environmental impact of the Kiteezi landfill on the surrounding water bodies, soil, flora, fauna and air and to identify suitable management options. An environmental diagnosis was conducted using the EVIAVE (Evaluación del Impacto Ambiental en Vertederos) methodology with adaptation to Uganda's socioeconomic conditions and legal requirements. The results showed that the Kiteezi landfill is located in an environmentally sensitive area for surface water, groundwater, atmosphere and soils, making conservation of these elements of most significant concern in this landfill's immediate environment. All values of the Environmental Risk Index due to operation (ERIo) were higher than those due to the landfill siting (ERIs), indicating that the landfill's continued operation will create more environmental problems. The overall probability of contamination for each element was high, apart from human health and soil, which had a very high probability (>0.8). Human health had the highest (4.688) ERIo, followed by the atmosphere with an ERIo of 3.571, while flora had the lowest ERIo of 0.926. The high values of ERIo, coupled with the exceeded landfill capacity, indicate that it is not environmentally friendly to continue operating the landfill. Hence, the most sustainable course of action is its closure.

Environmental risk assessment in selected dumpsites in Abakaliki metropolis, Ebonyi state, southeastern Nigeria

Metal leaching into adjacent agricultural soil from dumpsites continues to hamper the quality of produce around the world. Three strategically located major solid waste Dumpsites within Abakaliki metropolis were selected and assessed for potential environmental risks of heavy metals. Samples of the soils from the dumpsites were collected from 0 to 15 cm and 15 to 30 cm soil depth. Multivariate approaches, descriptive statistics and contamination indices were employed. Metal concentrations were compared with local and international standard and most were found to be within the threshold. The results further showed that phosphate (PO43−), nitrate (NO3−) sulphate (SO42−), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) varied within depths and across dumpsites. Metal concentration was generally higher at 0–15 cm depth and decreased at 15–30 cm. The distribution trend across the studied dumpsites was Fe > Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd. Anions (NO3−, PO43− and SO42−) concentrations generally increased with depth. We used the world average elemental concentrations as a benchmark for risk assessment. The factor of contamination (CF) and the environmental risk index (RI) indicated high contamination as well as environmental risks. The factor of enrichment (EF), Geo-accumulation index (Igeo) and modified environmental risk index (MRI) indicated very high enrichment and environmental risks of Pb, Cd, and Cu. Phyto-remediation, bioremediation, perimeter fencing, and periodic soil monitoring were recommended to restore the degraded soil for improved agricultural productivity.

Early warning of water quality degradation: A copula-based Bayesian network model for highly efficient water quality risk assessment

In the context of global climate change and increasingly severe environmental pollution, drinking water quality risk assessments to provide crucial early warnings have become essential routine work. At present, traditional water quality assessment methods are commonly used without considering the correlation among different indicators and the substantial uncertainty from multiple sources, which limit their applications. To address this issue, a copula-based Bayesian network (CBN) method was proposed in this study to concretely evaluate the water quality risk with multiple environmental risk indicators in a large drinking water reservoir in Tianjin city, China. Taking rainfall and water temperature (WT) as external environmental risk indicators and pH, ammonia nitrogen (NH3–N), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and permanganate index (CODMn) as internal environmental risk indicators, the CBN model was constructed to investigate the interaction between the indicators and water quality state and assess the contingent risk. Our results showed that TN and NH3–N should be considered key risk indicators. Additionally, we performed forward and backward risk analyses to assess water quality risk during different seasons and determined the distributions of key indicators under different water quality risk grades. From a time perspective, the reservoir's water quality risk is much higher in winter and spring than in other seasons affected by winter snowfall. From a spatial perspective, the water quality risk is much higher at the reservoir's entrance than at other locations affected by water diversion. Furthermore, we found that the probability of water quality risk events may be relatively high when the TN concentration is 3.6 mg/L to 6.4 mg/L at the reservoir's entrance. The results reveal that the CBN method could be an invaluable decision-support tool for reservoir managers and scientists, which could provide an early warning of water quality degradation by only inputting monitoring data.

Toxicological and ecotoxicological pressure assessment on the use of synthetic pesticides in Sancti Spíritus, Cuba

A study to quantify the toxicity and ecotoxicological pressure of pesticides in the Sancti Spíritus province, Cuba, was carried out between 2011 and 2014. A longitudinal descriptive work was designed for the study period to identify potential risks to the environment and also to human health associated with the use of pesticides in the country. The Spread Equivalents (ƩSeq) and Pesticide Occupational and Environmental Risk (POCER) indicators, as well as the Toxic Load (TL) methodology of Instituto Cubano de Sanidad Vegetal, were used to determine the toxicity and ecotoxicity of pesticide use. One hundred and twenty-four active ingredients corresponding to 62 chemical families were applied in the province during the study period. Organophosphates, triazoles, sulfonylurea, pyrethroids, inorganic compounds (such as copper), carbamates, dithiocarbamates, neonicotinoids, aryloxyphenoxypropionates, and organochlorines predominated due to their use frequency. The use of toxic pesticides, and the lack of personal protection equipment, among others, made workers, residents, and applicators the toxicological modules with the highest risk of exposure. On the other hand, aquatic organisms, and the persistence of the pesticides in the soil and in groundwater, are the modules with the highest ecotoxicological pressure. By using the POCER and ƩSeq indicators, a more accurate toxicity and ecotoxicity assessment for certain pesticides can be performed in Cuba, in comparison to the one obtained when using only the TL equation currently employed in the country. In addition, substituting the most toxic pesticides (e.g., parathion, endosulfan, bifenthrin, copper oxychloride, mancozeb, paraquat, diquat, and ametryn) with less toxic ones (e.g., cypermethrin, tebuconazole, triadimenol, and bispyribac-sodium) could help reduce synthetic pesticide pressure on humans and the environment.

Cumulative Environmental Vulnerability Assessment in the Area of Influence of the Pecém Port Industrial Complex (Ceará, Brazil): A Spatial Analysis.

The municipalities of Caucaia and São Gonçalo do Amarante are located in the metropolitan region of Fortaleza (CE) and are home to the Pecém Port Industrial Complex (PPIC). We know that economic development is not necessarily related to improvements in the quality of life of the population. Furthermore, the bonuses and burdens of this particular installation can occur unevenly. This study aimed to assess the cumulative environmental vulnerability of these municipalities. We used the cumulative environmental vulnerability assessment methodology to assess the population’s degree of vulnerability, considering census sectors as a spatial unit. This approach combines three indices: environmental risk index, social vulnerability index, and health index. Finally, we calculated the arithmetic mean of each indicator in each census sector. We built choropleth maps to assess the spatial distribution of environmental vulnerability. We found that many maps demonstrated high cumulative environmental vulnerability census sectors around the PPIC, while the Caucaia, located downtown, exhibited a substantial majority of the low cumulative environmental vulnerability census sectors. The district of Guararu, in Caucaia, was notable for having proportionally more census sectors with high health index values. Environmental vulnerability was heterogeneously distributed, and the most impoverished areas are also the most vulnerable.

Fuzzy-Mamdani environmental quality assessment of gas refinery chemical wastewater in the Pars special economic and energy zone

This study accomplishes fuzzy wastewater environmental quality assessment in South Pars Complex. Indeed, the proposed Fuzzy Wastewater Quality Index FWWQI comprises four pollutants: COD, BOD, TSS, and pH. Limits of fuzzy quality levels in membership functions are prepared by literature advice, environmental standards, and environmental expertise judgments. The research results express those dominant pollutants in Fuzzy Environmental Quality Index FWWQI are known as COD and BOD. FWWQIs of refinery#A of the South Pars Gas Complex in 2013 and 2014 equal 48.8 (Good) and 44 (Good), respectively. This matter represents perfect standardization of refinery#A in wastewater pollution control, which improves environmental quality and risk indices with a fair time pattern. For the computerized interface of FWQI assessment, created in this research, a Matlab code using Microsoft Office Excel Sheet for Input/output data of the Inference System. This benefit is an important achievement of management systems: ISO 14001 and Health, Safety and, Environment Management System.

Heavy metal pollution and ecological risk assessment of tailings in the Qinglong Dachang antimony mine, China.

The pollution of heavy metals and their harm to human health and the ecological environment have caused widespread concern. In this research, we collected Qinglong antimony mine tailings (8-meter deep) and then analyzed the content changes, geochemical behavior, and ecological risk assessment of 7 heavy metals (Sb, As, Cr, Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb) in the tailing profile, providing a theoretical basis for strengthening the source control and risk control of heavy metals. In addition, the chemical forms of Sb and As were analyzed, and the relationship between their forms and their physical and chemical properties was analyzed by redundancy analysis (RDA). The results showed that the concentrations of Sb (671.97-13896.62 mg/kg), As (287.38-657.36 mg/kg), Cu (27.61-74.48 mg/kg), and Cd (0.49-1.76 mg/kg) in the tailings greatly exceeded their background values, those of Pb (15.67-125.74 mg/kg) and Cr (22.69-185.88 mg/kg) moderately exceed their background values, while that of Zn (41.66-94.48 mg/kg) was slightly below its background value. Among the chemical forms of Sb and As, the residual fraction (F4) had the highest concentration. RDA showed that the pH and tailing particle size were significantly correlated with the chemical species content of Sb and As (p < 0.05). The improved Igeo analysis showed that the tailings were extremely polluted with Sb; highly polluted with As; uncontaminated to moderately polluted with Cd, Cu, and Pb; and uncontaminated with Zn and Cr, and the average Igeo values were in the following order: Sb >As > Pb > Cd > Cu > Zn > Cr. The potential environmental risk index showed that Sb and As imposed a serious risk and Cr, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn imposed a low risk, which was basically consistent with the results of the improved Igeo values. This research provides comprehensive theoretical approaches to better understand the source control and risk control of heavy metals in tailing ponds.

Impact of social lockdown due to COVID-19 on environmental and health risk indices in India

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread across the globe through the human transmission. The World Health Organization suggested social distancing to curb the community spread. After national social lockdown started in India, air quality improved drastically. This further hypothesized to influence the environment and human health, and this study is positively the first to weigh it using multiple indices. The calculated environmental indices are photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP), acidification potential (AP), and eutrophication potential (EP). The cancer risk, chronic health index (CHI), and acute health index (AHI) were considered to calculate the health risk. The spatial trend change in the air pollution reflecting on these indices are calculated for four Indian megacities Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. Temporal variation was accounted for monthly (2019 vs 2020), one-week and two-weeks period during the social lockdown. The results showed a significant decrease in environmental and health risk during the lockdown due to a corresponding decrement in air pollution. The decrease in the particulate matter was found to play a vital role in altering the air pollution mediated risks of interest. Delhi showed a maximum difference in POCP and Acute HI by recording a dip of 70.79% and 43.53% respectively in 2020 during lockdown. The maximum reduction in health risk indices was 41%, 31%, 17%, 19% for Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. Bangalore recorded the maximum decline in EP, Cancer risk, Chronic HI by 66.66%, 58.62%, and 58.76% in 2020 compared to 2019. A maximum fall in AP was seen in Kolkata by 57.23% in 2020 among all cities. The connection between these drop-in indices and the cause of air pollutants were well discussed. This present paper gives more in-depth insights into air pollution's effect on environmental and health parameters by connecting and converging various air pollution aspects into a single scale. This study also enlightens the importance of controlling air pollution to have a better environment and healthy life to attain sustainable development.

ТЯЖЕЛЫЕ МЕТАЛЛЫ В ГОРОДСКИХ ПОЧВАХ: ОЦЕНКА СОДЕРЖАНИЯ И ЭКОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО РИСКА

Актуальность исследования обусловлена необходимостью выявления особенностей накопления тяжелых металлов в почвах урболандшафтов Владивостока и Уссурийска и установления величины потенциального экологического риска. Целью работы является оценка геохимического состояния почв различных функциональных зон урболандшафтов с использованием нескольких индексов загрязнения. Методы. Валовое содержание элементов в почвах определяли методом рентгенфлуоресцентного анализа на спектрометре EDX-800HS (Shimadzu). Результаты. Под влиянием сильной техногенной нагрузки в верхних горизонтах почв урболандшафтов в наибольшей степени накапливаются хром, медь, цинк и свинец. Содержание ванадия, кобальта и никеля сравнимо с кларком или ниже его. Средние и максимальные значения комплексных коэффициентов загрязнения PLI и NPI свидетельствуют о деградации поверхностного слоя городских почв и сильной степени загрязнения тяжелыми металлами. Потенциальный экологический риск колеблется от незначительного до среднего. Степень загрязнения почв различных функциональных зон увеличивается в следующем ряду: рекреационная&lt;многоэтажной застройки&lt;транспортно-селитебная&lt;малоэтажной застройки, уровень загрязнения варьирует от оценки «чиста почва» до оценки «сильно загрязненная почва». В некоторых почвах рекреационной зоны выявлена слабая аккумуляция хрома, цинка и меди. В почвах зоны многоэтажной застройки во Владивостоке обнаружено накопление хрома, меди, свинца и цинка (от слабого до среднего), а в Уссурийске отмечено только накопление меди. В почвах транспортно-селитебной зоны и зоны малоэтажной застройки с разной степенью интенсивности аккумулируются хром, медь, свинец и цинк. Более высокие значения как индивидуальных (Igeo, EF, PI), так и комплексных показателей загрязнения (NPI, PLI, PERI) выявлены в почвах Владивосток.

Characterizing Khetri copper mine environment using geospatial tools

Mines result in land use and land cover (LULC) change due to degradation of natural resources and establishment of new infrastructure for ore extraction and beneficiation. The present study was carried out to, with objectives, (1) characterize LULC change (from 1975 to 2017) in Khetri copper mine region, (2) spatial distribution of pollution indices and (3) spectral response of elemental concentration of soil and groundwater using Landstat and ASTER satellite data. The study was designed to fulfil the objectives and for the same NDVI values were calculated for LULC classification and generated maps were analyzed for landscape pattern. Spatial distribution of pollution indices calculated using geochemical data of soil and groundwater was plotted to understand the impact of contamination on landscape pattern. The correlation of spectral response of Landstat bands with heavy metals concentration was plotted to assess their possible use in quantification of heavy metals. Results show constant increase in settlements, mines and open area while vegetation cover has decreased. Landscape and class level metrics (number of patch, patch density, aggregation index and landscape shape index) indicate increase in the fragmentation of landscape in recent years. Shannon’s Evenness Index indicates increase in uniformity in landscape and it is attributed to loss of vegetation and agriculture patches. Pollution indices, Pollution Load Index for soil is high near the overburden materials and Index of Environmental Risk (IER) and Contamination Index for ground water is high near abandoned mines. Spectral bands 5 and 6 (SWIR 1) show significant negative correlation, and 9 (Cirrus) shows significant positive correlation with metal concentration in soil and water suggesting the possible use of remote sensing in assessment of metal concentration at ground level. Thus, it can be concluded that mines significantly influence the landscape pattern and remote sensing could be used for the assessment and predication of heavy metal contamination at broader scale in a cost-effective way.

Risk Assessment of Soil Contamination with Heavy Metals from Municipal Sewage Sludge

Sewage sludge (SS) is a by-product of processes conducted during the treatment of wastewater. It can be used in many different ways. One of them is the use of SS in agriculture as an organic fertiliser, but the main criterion for such use is the heavy metals (HMs) content. Knowledge of the total content of HMs in SS does not translate into the danger it may pose. The toxicity of metals is largely dependent on their mobility. The mobility of SS from three different wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, which were characterised by an increased zinc content, was examined in this study. The aim of the study was to prove whether the high level of zinc in SS actually disqualifies the possibility of its natural use. Calculations were made for five environmental hazard indicators: the geoaccumulation index of heavy metals in soil (Igeo), potential environmental risk indicator (PERI), risk assessment code (RAC), environmental risk factor (ERF), and the authors’ own environmental risk determinant (ERD) indicator. The obtained results show how important mobility analysis is when assessing the possibility of natural use of SS.

Integrated environmental risk index in justification of nature-oriented decision-making under uncertainty: A case-study of liquid industrial storage

Integrated environmental risk index in justification of nature-oriented decision-making under uncertainty: A case-study of liquid industrial storage

Інструментарій оцінки ризиків безпекового розвитку країн

The article is devoted to the study of security issues of countries development, in particular Ukraine, in terms of considering assessing risks in ensuring the countries economic security. It has been proven that a systematic and comprehensive assessment of the security level is possible by providing evaluation and constant monitoring of risks, that are an integral component of the countries socio-economic development in modern conditions. It was determined that in world practice at macroeconomic level the national systems of the risks and threats assessment are created and they are the important elements of strategic planning and ensuring of national stability and sustainable development. At the international level, international institutions and private agencies are engaged in the country risks assessment, they create and apply different methodological approaches to comprehensive risk assessment, on the basis of which the ratings of the countries by the security development level are formed, for instance, Business Environment Risk Index, Political and Country Risk of CRG, Euromoney Country Risk, EIU, International Country Risk Guide of PRS group etc. It has been studied that in the risk assessment theory, in general the sequence of assessment stages can consist the following stages: determination of internal and external factors that increase or decrease the degree of a certain type of risk; analysis of identified factors; assessment of a certain type of risk; establishing an acceptable level of risk; analysis of individual transactions connected with the chosen level of risk; development of measures to reduce the degree of risk. The authors proposed a methodical instrument for assessing the level of risk of the country's security development, which allows to provide a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the conditions of national economy sustainable development from the point of view of the impact of risks and threats. It is based on the algorithm that provides the following steps: the formation of the system of the quantitative risk indicators; their classification from the point of view of the nature of the impact on increasing or decreasing the dangers; assessment of the dynamics intensity of the indicators with a further correlation with respect to the generalized level of change; calculation of quantitative (from 1 to 4 points) and qualitative (absent, low, moderate, high, very high levels) levels using the proposed scale of deviations; assessment of the quantitative integral indicator of risk (score and relative level) and determination of its level according to the proposed scale (absent, low, moderate, high, very high). In the future, the practical application of the developed toolkit will make it possible to assess the risks of Ukraine's security development and identify the level of integral risk, which will be taken into account to determine and make changes in measures that help to adapt or minimize the impact or risks in order to ensure sustainable socio-economic development

O QUÍMICO E O MEIO AMBIENTE: ASPECTOS HISTÓRICOS E AS CONTRIBUIÇÕES DO ENSINO DE GESTÃO AMBIENTAL

CHEMICALS AND THE ENVIRONMENT: HISTORICAL ASPECTS AND THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT TEACHING. Global environmental issues have gained strength since the 1960 decade and the relationship between the chemical industry and the environment has become increasingly tight since then. In this sense, environmental management has gained more space making organizations think strategically about their business and the possible impacts that they can promote on the environment. The present paper shows two brief timelines: the history of the chemical industry and the important events for environmental issues. In addition, it reports an investigation into the insertion of the discipline of environmental management in curricular matrices of institutions in Paraná and didactic experiments carried out at the State University of Ponta Grossa: simulation of environmental audit and analysis of the environmental management of the chemistry teaching laboratories of that institution a from the survey of environmental aspects and impacts and the elaboration of the environmental risk index. Finally, a questionnaire is shown with the graduates who took the discipline and how they perceive the importance of it in professional life. The reflection on social and environmental responsibility is extremely important for sustainable development and the chemist has a leading role in this path.

Heavy metal pollution and ecological risk assessment in the Maowei sea mangrove, China

The level and ecological impact of heavy metal pollution in the Maowei Sea mangrove are poorly understood. This work first investigated the distribution and ecological risk of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn in Maowei Sea mangrove sediments. The results showed that heavy metals were mainly concentrated in the top 10 cm of mangrove stands, declined up to 20 cm deep, and were constant afterwards. Exceptionally, Mn concentration increased significantly with depth in the mudflat. Multiple environmental risk indices indicated that the investigated area was broadly contaminated by heavy metals and that Cd was the dominant contributor to potential ecological risks. However, the biological toxicity posed by these metals was negligible. Multivariate analyses implied that Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn originated mainly from anthropogenic sources, whereas Mn was primarily from natural processes. These findings could provide insightful information for future management of this mangrove.

Combining human and snail indicators for an integrative risk assessment of metal(loid)-contaminated soils

With the new soil uses such as land restoration and to protect wilderness, the human health risk assessment (HHRA) and environmental risk assessment (ERA) should be combined. Based on the relationships demonstrated between an indicator of soil quality, the land snail, and human exposure, the aim of this study is to examine the snail and human risk indicators for twenty-nine soils contaminated by metal(loid)s. HHRA was evaluated by both hazard quotient and carcinogenic risk. When the human health indicators were ranked as uncertain, they were weighted by bioaccessibility to refine the risk assessment. The ERA was performed with risk coefficient after ex situ snail exposure. The results showed strong and novel relationships between human health and environmental risk indicators that had never been found before. For 62% of the soils, both indicators revealed either a confirmed risk or an uncertain level of risk. Overall pollutants present greater risk for human than for environment, with 55 vs 28% of the studied soils classified in the proven risk, respectively. An original integrative risk assessment of polluted soils has been proposed, that shall help setting up relevant strategies to manage contaminated soils considering not only human but also environmental indicators of risk.

Group density, disease, and season shape territory size and overlap of social carnivores.

The spatial organization of a population can influence the spread of information, behaviour and pathogens. Group territory size and territory overlap and components of spatial organization, provide key information as these metrics may be indicators of habitat quality, resource dispersion, contact rates and environmental risk (e.g. indirectly transmitted pathogens). Furthermore, sociality and behaviour can also shape space use, and subsequently, how space use and habitat quality together impact demography. Our study aims to identify factors shaping the spatial organization of wildlife populations and assess the impact of epizootics on space use. We further aim to explore the mechanisms by which disease perturbations could cause changes in spatial organization. Here we assessed the seasonal spatial organization of Serengeti lions and Yellowstone wolves at the group level. We use network analysis to describe spatial organization and connectivity of social groups. We then examine the factors predicting mean territory size and mean territory overlap for each population using generalized additive models. We demonstrate that lions and wolves were similar in that group-level factors, such as number of groups and shaped spatial organization more than population-level factors, such as population density. Factors shaping territory size were slightly different than factors shaping territory overlap; for example, wolf pack size was an important predictor of territory overlap, but not territory size. Lion spatial networks were more highly connected, while wolf spatial networks varied seasonally. We found that resource dispersion may be more important for driving territory size and overlap for wolves than for lions. Additionally, canine distemper epizootics may have altered lion spatial organization, highlighting the importance of including infectious disease epizootics in studies of behavioural and movement ecology. We provide insight about when we might expect to observe the impacts of resource dispersion, disease perturbations, and other ecological factors on spatial organization. Our work highlights the importance of monitoring and managing social carnivore populations at the group level. Future research should elucidate the complex relationships between demographics, social and spatial structure, abiotic and biotic conditions and pathogen infections.

Evaluation of thermal indices based on their relationships with some physiological responses of housed lactating cows under heat stress.

Thermal indices as environmental risk indicators have been used to assess heat stress of dairy cows. The present study aimed to evaluate the predictive performance of the typical cattle-related thermal indices by comparing their prediction to heat stress levels and associations with some physiological responses. The study was conducted from August to September 2019 in a naturally ventilated barn in Jiangsu, China. Nine typical cattle-related thermal indices, i.e., temperature-humidity index (THI), black globe temperature index (BGHI), equivalent temperature index, effective temperature (ET) for dairy cows, respiratory rate predictor (RRP), adjusted temperature-humidity index (THIadj), heat load index (HLI), comprehensive climate index (CCI), and equivalent temperature index for cattle (ETIC), were evaluated. Respiration rate (RR) and body surface temperature (BST) were collected twice per day from a total of 287 lactating cows, 18 of which were continuously measured vaginal temperature (VT). Over the experimental period, the average daily RR, VT, and BST were 55.8 breaths/min, 38.7°C, and 32.3 to 36.4°C that depend on body positions, respectively. The study found that the prediction of THI, BGHI, THIadj, and CCI was closer to the actual heat stress conditions which were mild to moderate heat stress. Correlation analyses showed that RR, VT, and BST correlated most closely with effective temperature (r = 0.580; P < 0.05), BGHI (r = 0.642; P < 0.05), and CCI (r = 0.849; P < 0.05). In this evaluation, based on the comprehensive performance of CCI in the relatively accurate prediction to heat stress level and duration, detection on environmental differences between standing and lying zone, and correlations with some physiological responses, CCI is seemingly the promising thermal index to assess heat stress of housed dairy cows.

The Ecological Risk Assessment and the Chemical Speciation of Heavy Metals in Ash after the Incineration of Municipal Sewage Sludge

Popular incineration of sewage sludge results in the increase in heavy metals content in ash. The knowledge of the total content of heavy metals in sewage sludge ash does not demonstrate a potential hazard. The toxicity of heavy metals in great measure depends on the form of their occurrence. The prevailing norms do not require the ecological risk assessment of the environmental burden with heavy metals for the choice of the method of the utilization of sewage sludge ash. The paper presents the research results on the mobility of heavy metals in sewage sludge ash after its incineration. The geo-accumulation index (IGAI), the potential ecological risk index (PERI) and the risk assessment code (RAC) were used for the evaluation of the potential soil contamination with heavy metals. The authors also suggested a new formula, which took into consideration more factors influencing the risk of the contamination of a water-soil environment with heavy metals—the water and soil environment risk index (WSERI). The calculated indices for sewage sludge ash indicate the risk of soil contamination with heavy metals.

Modelling Changes in Soil Phosphorus When Phosphorus Fertiliser Is Reduced or Ceases

In order for land managers and policy makers to manage excessive soil phosphorus (P) concentrations and reduce the risk of this particular source of P from impacting water bodies, models of soil P decline under various scenarios are needed. We modelled the decrease in calcium chloride-extractable P (CaCl2-P), and sodium bicarbonate-extractable P (Olsen-P and Colwell-P) using data from six Australian grazed pasture soils with contrasting P sorption properties, over a period of 4.5 years. Each soil had four initial soil P concentrations (Pinit), each of which received four on-going rates of P fertiliser (Pfert). The model predicts the final P concentration (Pfinal) by taking into account the P concentration previously measured (CaCl2-P, Olsen-P or Colwell-P), Pfert applied since measurement, and time since previous measurement: Final P concentration = (previously measured P concentration + ep x P fertiliser applied) exp (-dp x years since previous P concentration measurement). Where ep is the increase in soil P for each unit of applied P and dp is the decay constant representing how quickly the soil P decreased. The greatest decreases in proportion to Pinit occurred for CaCl2-P, followed by Olsen-P, and then Colwell-P. The model tended to fit the dataset well for Olsen-P and Colwell-P, with mean overestimation (modelled Pfinal concentration greater than actual Pfinal) of the Pfinal concentrations of 6.1 (32%) and 4.3 mg/kg (10%), respectively. Although there was less CaCl2-P data, the model successfully described it, with a mean overestimation of Pfinal CaCl2 of 3.1 mg/kg (26%). The overestimation of Pfinal CaCl2 was possibly due to the high CaCl2-P concentrations of the low P buffering index soils. The model predicted an average of 32 years (ranging from 26 to 49 years) for Olsen-P concentrations of between 55 and 96 mg/kg to decrease to an agronomic optimum of 17 mg/kg. Agronomic optimum was not a reliable indicator of environmental risk as some soils did not exceed the CaCl2-P environmental threshold until Olsen-P concentrations were twice the agronomic optimum, whereas low P sorbing soils tended to exceed the threshold before reaching agronomic optimum. Further work with more soils is required to examine the influence of soil properties – such as P sorption – on decreases in soil P.