Environmental Safety Evaluation Research Articles

A near-infrared fluorescent probe for simultaneous detection of pH and viscosity

In this work, we developed a ratiometric fluorescent probe (NT) based on ICT framework in near-infrared (NIR) which could detect pH and viscosity simultaneously. Long emission wavelength in NIR could protect the probe from interference of background fluorescence and improve the accuracy of the test. Due to the presence of thiazole-salt, the probe possessed good water solubility and could respond immediately to pH in water system. The pH values measured by NT in the actual samples were not much different from that measured by the pH meter, therefore, NT could give excellent accuracy. NT realized the reversible detection of pH by protonation and deprotonation. NT was used successfully to detect the pH of actual water samples, human serum and meat, as well as the viscosity variation caused by thickeners. Additionally, NT could monitor the changes of pH and viscosity in living cells. Therefore, the novel probe exhibited potential application in the fields of the environment, human health and food safety evaluation.

Research on Environmental Safety Evaluation of Urban Parks Based on Analytic Hierarchy Process: A Case Study of Four Urban Parks in Fuzhou City

In this study, Analytic Hierarchy Process was used to construct the environmental safety evaluation level of physical spatial layout, social environment guidance and security technical means as the evaluation criteria. In addition, using the complete evaluation index system constructed after the weight value is given, the environmental safety of the four research object urban parks in Fuzhou city is evaluated, and the comprehensive evaluation grade is divided. The results show that: 1) The each evaluation index in the criterion layer is ranked from high to low as physical spatial layout (0.4097), security technical means (0.3244), social environment guidance (0.2659); 2) In the factor layer, the top 5 places in the overall weight value order of the evaluation index factors are CCTV monitoring (0.1040), organization of social activities (0.0840), lighting (0.0827), plant furnishing (0.0806), mixed crowd (0.0743); 3) In terms of environmental safety construction of the four research object urban parks in Fuzhou city, the comprehensive evaluation results are that Wenquan park is in Grade I (Very Good), Xihu Park and Chating Park are in Grade Ⅱ (Good), and Wangzhuang Nanhu Park is in Grade III (Average).

Study on establishment of residual analysis methods and residue degradation regulation of natural pyrethrin in barley plants and soil on Qinghai Plateau

The purpose of this study is to develop an accurate and efficient assay for the detection of pyrethroid residues and degradation in barley and soil in the Qinghai Plateau region. A sensitive and selective method was developed for the determination of pyrethrin residues in highland barley (kernel, stem, and root) and soil in the Qinghai Plateau by liquid chromatography (LC-MS/MS). Multi-residue analysis of pyrethrin in samples involves simple extraction with acetonitrile, salt-out with NaCl, MgSO4 absorption of water, cleaning with GCB and PSA, respectively, followed by separation with XR-ODS II column, and multi-reaction detection mode detection using a positive mode electrospray ionization source (ESI + ). The results showed that the 6 different components of pyrethrin had a good detection effect in the concentration range of 0.01 ∼ 1.0 mg/L, and the correlation coefficient was greater than 0.9990. The limits of quantitation of each component on each substrate were 0.01 ∼ 0.05 mg/kg, the average daily recoveries were 87.58 ∼ 95.44 %, and the relative standard deviations were 0.4 ∼ 3.8 %. The half-life of pyrethrin in barley grains, stems and soil was 0.77 ∼ 2.57 d. In soil and highland barley, the maximum dose of pyrethrin and twice the maximum dose of pyrethrin were applied, and the final residue 7 days after treatment was less than 0.2 mg/kg. The degradation behavior of pyrethrin in soil at three test sites showed that organic carbon and pH were important factors affecting the degradation of pyrethrin, and the effect of pH on the degradation of six pyrethrin components was greater than that of organic carbon. These studies provide theoretical basis for environmental safety evaluation caused by pyrethrin use in the Qinghai Plateau.

Design of a sustainable light-up flavonol probe for dual-ratiometric fluorescent sensing and visual differentiating ammonia and hydrazine.

Ammonia (NH3) and hydrazine (N2H4) present potential risks to human health, food and environmental safety. A sustainable flavonol-based probe, quercetin pentaacetate (QPA, weak blue emission 417nm), was fabricated for dual-ratiometric fluorescent sensing and visual differentiating NH3 and N2H4. Excited state intramolecular proton transfer-on products with green (487nm) and yellow (543nm) emissions occurred as meeting with NH3 and N2H4, respectively, for their different nucleophilicities. Such a promising response offered a great opportunity of QPA to discriminatively detect NH3 and N2H4 with large Stokes shifts (>122nm), high sensitivity (limit of detection: 35.4μM and 0.70ppm for NH3 solution and gas; 0.26μM for N2H4 solution), excellent accuracy (spiked recoveries from 98.6 % to 105 %), and superior selectivity. Importantly, QPA was utilized for monitoring NH3 vapor in fish spoilage procedures and detecting N2H4 in water samples for food and environmental safety evaluation.

Insights into the impacts of chloride ions on the oxidation of 2,4-dinitrotoluene using ferrous activated persulfate: Removal efficiency, reaction mechanism, transformation pathway, and toxicity assessment

Persulfate/Fe2+-based advanced oxidation processes are widely used to treat water contaminated with 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT). However, the oxidation of DNT by persulfate/Fe2+ in the presence of the chloride ion (Cl⁻) has not been addressed, and the transformation pathways and toxicities of the intermediate products remain unclear. In this study, the effect of different Cl⁻ concentrations on the oxidation of DNT was investigated by persulfate/Fe2+. After the addition of 1.0 mM Cl⁻ and 6 h of oxidation, the removal efficiency of DNT increased by 68.5%. Scavenging experiments and an electron spin resonance analysis suggested that Cl⁻ caused hydroxyl radicals to increase in content in the persulfate/Fe2+ system, thus promoting the removal of DNT. Eight intermediate products of DNT were accurately detected using high-resolution mass spectrometry, and the transformation pathways of DNT were proposed, including hydroxylation/oxidation, elimination of the nitro group, and chlorination process. The acute and chronic toxicities of the intermediate products decreased during the oxidation process, but chlorinated by-products posed a higher toxicological risk. This result is vital for the practical application and environmental safety evaluation of persulfate/Fe2+-based advanced oxidation.

Occurrence and risk assessment of three chloroamide herbicides in water and soil environment in northeastern, eastern and southern China

Chloroamide herbicides can cause adverse effects on nontarget organisms, but there is limited information about their occurrence in the environment of major cropland growing regions. In this study, a total of 1012 soil samples, 617 surface water samples and 737 groundwater samples were collected from 2020 to 2021 in three regions of China to evaluate the occurrence and risk of three important chloroamide herbicides alachlor, acetochlor and butachlor using the improved QuEChERS extraction method and high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that residues of the three chloroamide compounds in surface water and groundwater ranged from 0.1 to 176.0 μg L−1, of which acetochlor was frequently detected from surface water (17.5%). As for the soil, mass fraction was varied between 1.0 and 1540.3 μg kg−1, similarly acetochlor had the highest detection frequency (49.6%). Timewise, the median mass fraction of selected chloroamide herbicides in soil in 2021 (7.8 μg kg−1) was significantly lower than that in 2020 (10.9 μg kg−1). Spatially, there were regional differences in the content of environmental residues, and the overall level of residues in the northeast was relatively high. The environmental risk assessment based on the improved Risk Quotient (RQ) method indicated that the selected herbicides were currently within an acceptable range for human health risks in the soil and water environment in various regions, but acetochlor and butachlor had contributed to the RQ values of fish and earthworms (0.01＜RQ＜0.1) in recent years, respectively, which might pose a certain risk of oral exposure to aquatic and terrestrial organisms. This study provides valuable data and ideas for the rational application, pollution control and environmental safety evaluation of chloroamide herbicides in China.

Sensitivity enhancement of paper-based sandwich immunosensor via nanobody immobilization instead of IgG antibody, taking aflatoxingenetic fungi as an analyte example

Aflatoxingenetic fungi producing highly toxic and carcinogenic mycotoxins and threatening human health widely exist in our living environment and food. Taking aflatoxingenetic fungi as an analyte example, here we report a way to improve the sensitivity of paper-based sandwich immunosensor for macromolecule. With a biomarker-specific nanobody and polyclonal antibody (IgG), two modes of paper-based immunosensors were constructed, immobilization nanobody mode and immobilization IgG mode. It was found that the sensitivity of the immobilization nanobody mode was at least 500 times higher than that of the immobilization IgG mode. The reasons for the large difference in sensitivity were also theoretically. Under the optimized conditions, the immobilization nanobody mode sensitivity reached 0.035 μg/mL aflatoxingenetic mycelia, each assay was finished within 15 min, and the spiked recoveries of aflatoxingenetic mycelium reference in peanuts were 77.0∼91.6%. And then, two important application cases were successfully demonstrated to identify the abundance of aflatoxingenetic fungi in market peanuts and peanut rhizosphere soil for environmental safety evaluation. This is the first report of time-resolved paper-based sandwich immunosensor for aflatoxingenetic fungi with nanobody immobilization, and the first sensitivity comparison between nanobody immobilization and IgG immobilization, which provides a new approach to develop highly sensitive immunosensor for macromolecular hazard materials.

Application of modified Gaussian plume algorithm in hazard assessment of toxic chemicals in nuclear power plants

The leakage or explosion of hazardous chemicals will seriously affect the operation safety of nuclear power plants. Therefore, in the nuclear safety review, it has been clearly proposed that the environmental risks of off-site toxic chemicals should be evaluated. When calculating the toxic chemical leakage accident, as HABIT model calculation result is based on the 2 min concentration limit condition assumed in RG1.78, and the longest duration is only 7.5 min, so it cannot be applied to the safety assessment of offsite toxic hazards. This paper presents a detail analysis of the impact on toxic chemical release using modified Gaussian plume algorithm model in ALOHA. The Gaussian plume algorithm is mainly used to calculate the plume diffusion emitted by continuous point sources, assuming that its concentration distribution obeys the empirical model of normal distribution. The plume is transported downwind at an average wind speed, ignoring turbulent diffusion downwind, with vertical and horizontal lateral diffusion described by diffusion parameters. The Gaussian plume algorithm has many advantages such as high computational efficiency and simple calculation method. Therefore, it has a wide application in the field of atmospheric diffusion. Calculation shows for the chlorine and ammonia leakage accident, chlorine’s influence area is much larger than ammonia. For ammonia, safe distance is about 3.5 km, but for chlorine, hydrogen fluoride and hydrazine, with the increase of storage capacity, their safety distance change slower at 8 km, which is consistent with HAD101/04. The storage amount of liquid ammonia shows an exponential increase, indicating that for liquid ammonia, the chemical safety control distance will not exceed 3.5 km. Conclusion of this paper has a long last meaning to NPP environmental assessment and safety evaluation, and full filled area of toxic chemicals quantitative analysis.

Environmental safety issues and challenges and geodynamic monitoring at the Karachaganak oil and gas condensate field

Purpose. Environmental safety evaluation and geodynamic monitoring of the Karachaganak oil and gas condensate field (KOGCF) explored on the north board of the Pre-Caspian depression in order to predict the consequences of long-term operation of this field. Methodology. Synthesis and system analysis of the articles and archival literature on environmental hazards and geodynamic monitoring of the complex methods, repeated levelling process, GPS-measurements, high-precision gravimetry and seismological monitoring. Findings. At a qualitative and quantitative level, the activation of vertical and horizontal movements of rock masses, changes in the field of local gravity anomalies, more frequent earthquakes whose hypocentres are located at depths comparable to the intervals of field development are substantiated. Trends and tendencies in the study on the relationship between the continuously changing geodynamic state of the subsoil and field-geological processes are outlined. All these manifestations in one way or another find manifestations in the environmental risks of the area of the exploited deposit. In the conclusions, it is recommended to carry out a set of measures to reduce environmental risks. Originality. The results of geodynamic monitoring at the KOGCF for the northern board of the Pre-Caspian depression for the first time made it possible to obtain convincing evidence in favour of noticeable seismic-deformation processes in the upper part of the earths crust under the influence of hydrocarbon production processes. Practical value. The conclusions obtained in the work confirm the necessity and binding of geodynamic monitoring in order to study and assess the possibility of different scenarios of geodynamic situations related to the development of hydrocarbon fields, are recommended for levelling factors of potential geodynamic risk at the KOGCF.

Study on degradation characteristics of imazamox by Streptomycetaceae

The residues of imazamox (IMX) will cause phytotoxicity to subsequent crops after long-term use, and will also pollute the soil and its surrounding environment. This study isolates and identifies two strains of Streptomycetaceae JX02 and JX06 that can effectively degrade IMX. Use response surface method Box–Behnken design to optimize physicochemical parameters. The optimal degradation conditions of strains JX02 and JX06 are obtained and verified: IMX concentration is 150 mg L−1, the initial dosage is 9.9%, 9.1% (OD600 = 0.1), the temperature is 26.4 and 27.5 °C, and pH value is 7.0 and 7.7, respectively. The degradation rates of 150 mg L−1 IMX detected by HPLC within 4 d were 99 and 94%, respectively. After adding strains JX02 and JX06, the half-life of IMX in the soil is shortened to 11 d and 13 d, indicating that Streptomycetaceae had a positive effect on the remediation of soil. It is expected to provide scientific information for the rational use, environmental safety evaluation of IMX, and provide a basis for future research and development of microbial agents.

A smartphone integrated ratiometric fluorescent sensor for point-of-care testing of fluoride ions.

In view of the high toxicity and widespread availability, it is of great importance to develop accurate, sensitive, and convenient assays for fluoride ion (F-) detection. Herein, a ratiometric fluorescent system is established for point-of-care testing (POCT) of F- with a smartphone as analyzer. The sensing system of calcein-QDs-Eu3+ contains two fluorescent probes of calcein (green emission) and ZnCdSe/ZnS QDs (red emission). The sensing system only presents red emission in that the calcein emission is quenched due to the combination between calcein and Eu3+. When F- is introduced, the fluorescence of calcein is recovered due to the stronger interaction between F- and Eu3+, which changes the emission from red to green. The ratiometric strategy offers an obvious fluorescence color change of the system, which eliminates interference and improves the detection accuracy. Specifically, the sensing system has excellent selectivity in that Eu3+ is more inclined to bind with F- rather than other anions. The developed assay was further used to prepare a test paper and hydrogel for POCT. To further improve the detection sensitivity and realize quantitative analysis, a smartphone installed with a color scan app is integrated as signal reader and analyzer, which is used for POCT of F- in real samples, showing great application potential in environmental protection and food safety evaluation.

Hydroxyl group-enriched microporous organic network for high-performance solid-phase extraction of triazine herbicides: Experiment and DFT calculation on adsorption behavior

High-efficiency monitoring of triazine herbicides residues is vital in the evaluation of environmental and agro-food safety. Herein, we fabricated a spherical hydroxylated microporous organic network (OH–MON) with high surface area, high stability and rich hydrogen-bonding affinity sites suitable as an advanced solid-phase extraction (SPE) adsorbent for efficient adsorption of triazine herbicides. Density–functional theory calculations and competitive enrichment tests confirmed that hydrogen bonding played a vital role to the enrichment of triazine herbicides by OH–MON. This OH–MON SPE cartridge showed satisfactory reproducibility, maintaining its adsorption capacity after 10 adsorption–desorption cycles. Furthermore, we developed a sensitive analytical approach for determining triazine herbicides residues in water and fruit juice samples. Desirable linear correlations within 0.50–250 ng⋅L-1, an ultra-low detection limit (0.03–0.15 ng⋅L-1 for water; 0.04–0.21 ng⋅L-1 for fruit juice), good precision and high enrichment factor for triazine herbicides were achieved. A preliminary practical application of the developed method was proved by the efficient detection of triazine herbicides in water and fruit samples with good recoveries (72.8%−100.4% and 72.0%−97.7% for water and juice samples, respectively). This study serves as a good reference for designing the high-functionalized MON to capture contaminants and address environmental and agro-food safety issues.

Effect of Long-Term Biodegradable Film Mulch on Soil Physicochemical and Microbial Properties.

Biodegradable mulches have become the focus of attention, as pollution caused by leftover plastic mulch material becomes increasingly severe. However, the impact of biodegradable mulches to the soil needs to be further investigated. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of no-mulch, biodegradable film mulch (BM) and polyethylene film mulch (PM) on the soil’s physical, chemical and biological properties after six years (2013–2019) of mulching in garlic growing season in a garlic-maize rotation. Results showed that the soil bulk density of the 10–20 cm soil layer under BM decreased by 12.09–17.17% compared with that under PM. The soil total nitrogen content increased significantly by 14.75–28.37%, and the soil available phosphorus and potassium content increased by 64.20% and 108.82%, respectively. In addition, BM increased the soil’s microbial, soil urease, and soil catalase activities compared with those for PM. To sum up, BM can reduce soil bulk density, and long-term use of BM does not cause a decrease in soil nutrient content and microbial activity. On the contrary, it can improve soil quality. This study helps accumulate data for the environmental safety evaluation of BM and provides theoretical and technical support for the large-scale promotion of biodegradable mulches.

Recording of Falls in Elderly Fallers in Northern Greece and Evaluation of Aging Health-Related Factors and Environmental Safety Associated with Falls: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background Elderly falls constitute a global problem with huge social and economic aspects. Fall risk factors are both intrinsic (physical and psychological) and extrinsic (related with environmental safety). Aim To record both intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors and their correlation in elderly fallers in order to suggest specific guidelines for their medical care and environmental modification inside and outside the home. Method The study involved 150 elderly fallers (median age 70 (67-74)), who completed a record containing information on known risk factors related to their health status, as well as information on the conditions and causes that led to the fall. Each fall was considered an independent event, while measurements were performed regarding balance, strength, their functional ability, and the fear of a possible fall. Descriptive analysis and frequency analysis were used to record the health and activity status of the participants as well as the fall-related environmental factors. Severity of each fall event across a variety of locations was examined using the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. Multiple linear regression was applied to examine the effect of the mean values of functional tests and medical records on the number of fall events. Results In the span of 12 months, a total of 304 fall events were recorded. Regarding location, 77.6% occurred indoors; more frequent were the bedroom (28.6%) and the bathroom (28%). The interior stairs (10.5%), the kitchen (4.9%), and the living room (3.3%) were the less frequent locations. Concerning danger, falling on the interior stairs caused the longest hospitalization, followed by the kitchen and the bathroom. Extrinsic factors that led to both indoor and outdoor falls were the administration of psychotropic medication, poor space ergonomics, lack of basic safety standards, and poor lighting conditions. Vision problems and dizziness resulted in more falls than other intrinsic factors. Furthermore, reduced performance in the FICSIT-4 test and the 30-Second Chair Stand Test, as well as high scores in the CONFbal–GREEK questionnaire and the Short FES-I, shows a linear relationship with an increased number of falls. Conclusions Ergonomic interventions can help prevent indoor elderly falls. Poor construction and lack of adequate lighting mainly cause outdoor falls. Regular eye examinations, management of vertigo, improvement of the balance and strength of the lower limbs, and reduction of fear of impending falls are the intrinsic factors that help prevent falls the most.

Challenges in Nanomaterial Characterization - From Definition to Analysis.

Nanomaterials have outstanding properties and have several applications, ranging from foods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals to energy, construction, etc. As with all novel products, the benefits of nanomaterials use must be weighed against its health and environmental impact. They have different origins, natural, incidental, or engineered, they are widespread, and they need to be classified and characterized for various purposes, including nanotoxicology studies and risk assessment, workplaces and environment safety evaluation, consumer products evaluation, as well as manufacturing process control. To properly characterize nanomaterials, a consensual definition of nanomaterial is needed, and several analyses using the available characterization techniques must be performed. Various properties are relevant in the characterization process and many of them, namely size, are still a challenge that the research community is facing. The measurement of physical and chemical properties is very important in the case of nanomaterials. In view of this, in this chapter, available analytical techniques are reviewed based on nanomaterials classification, regulatory demands and toxicology assessment. Additionally, some of the current major challenges and gaps in nanomaterials characterization are identified and listed.

Cytotoxicity profiling of decabromodiphenyl ethane to earthworm (Eisenia fetida): Abnormity-recovery-dysregulation physiological pattern reflects the coping mechanism

Response of terrestrial invertebrates to decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) is an emerging field of research nowadays, while cytotoxicity of DBDPE and self-defense strategies of invertebrates are poorly understood. In this study, earthworms (Eisenia fetida) were incubated in the DBDPE-spiked soil system (10, 30, 50, 70, and 100 mg kg−1 dw) for 28-d uptake. The bioaccumulation and distribution of DBDPE, a series of biomarkers associated with lysosomes/mitochondria, and the apoptosis rate of coelomocytes have been evaluated on the 7th, 14th, 21th, and 28th day. At experimental endpoint, the autophagy/apoptosis phenomena have been observed under transmission electron microscopy and the expression levels of six target genes have been explored. Findings in this paper revealed that: bioaccumulation factors decreased with the incremental DBDPE concentrations in the soil. Intestinal ingestion, but not epidermal contact predominated the absorption of DBDPE. The fluctuations of biomarkers and the apoptosis rate were described as the “abnormity-recovery-dysregulation” pattern. Intense oxidative stress, energy demands, membrane-system damage, pathological organelles, and apoptosis were observed in the treated groups. Conclusively, the cytotoxicity of DBDPE initiated the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway which affected the physiological status of lysosomes, autophagy, and the expression of genes. The coping mechanisms of Eisenia fetida to DBDPE included activating mitochondrial electron transport processes, reorganizing actin cytoskeleton, and initiating autophagy. Earthworms resisted the cytotoxicity of DBDPE to a certain extent, while long-term exposure still resulted in apoptosis of coelomocytes. This study works as a laboratory simulation for the environmental safety evaluation of DBDPE and the detoxification mechanisms for earthworm.

Validation of Vehicle Driving Simulator from Perspective of Velocity and Trajectory Based Driving Behavior under Curve Conditions

With their advantages of high experimental safety, convenient setting of scenes, and easy extraction of control parameters, driving simulators play an increasingly important role in scientific research, such as in road traffic environment safety evaluation and driving behavior characteristics research. Meanwhile, the demand for the validation of driving simulators is increasing as its applications are promoted. In order to validate a driving simulator in a complex environment, curve road conditions with different radii are considered as experimental evaluation scenarios. To attain this, this paper analyzes the reliability and accuracy of the experimental vehicle speed of a driving simulator. Then, qualitative and quantitative analysis of the lateral deviation of the vehicle trajectory is carried out, applying the cosine similarity method. Furthermore, a data-driven method was adopted which takes the longitudinal displacement, lateral displacement, vehicle speed and steering wheel angle of the vehicle as inputs and the lateral offset as the output. Thus, a curve trajectory planning model, a more comprehensive and human-like operation, is established. Based on directional long short-term memory (Bi–LSTM) and a recurrent neural network (RNN), a multiple Bi–LSTM (Mul–Bi–LSTM) is proposed. The prediction performance of LSTM, MLP model and Mul–Bi–LSTM are compared in detail on the validation set and testing set. The results show that the Mul–Bi–LSTM model can generate a trajectory which is very similar to the driver’s curve driving and have a preferable generalization performance. Therefore, this method can solve problems which cannot be realized in real complex scenes in the simulator validation. Selecting the trajectory as the validation parameter can more comprehensively and intuitively reflect the simulator’s curve driving state. Using a speed model and trajectory model instead of a real car experiment can improve the efficiency of simulator validation and lay a foundation for the standardization of simulator validation.

Potential Ecological Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Cultivated Land Based on Soil Geochemical Zoning: Yishui County, North China Case Study

Various human production activities have caused tremendous damage to the soil ecological environment of cultivated land. Regional ecological risk assessments and the safe use of cultivated land have received widespread attention. The ecological risk assessment of heavy metals based on soil geochemical zoning has not been reported in the past. Using 14,389 topsoil samples, considering comprehensive geological background information, Yishui County in northern China was divided into three soil geochemical areas and 14 soil geochemical sub-regions by means of principal component factor superposition. The results of environmental quality and risk assessments of eight heavy metals based on soil geochemical zoning show that the single pollution index was greater than 1.0 and the Nemerow pollution index was greater than 0.7 for Ni in a sub-region, indicating that Ni pollution had reached the early warning limit, which demonstrates that Ni has a certain enrichment trend. Meanwhile, the geoaccumulation index of Ni and Cr was greater than zero in some sub-regions, indicating a slight pollution level. In addition, the potential ecological risk factor of the measured heavy metals was greater than 40 in 9 sub-regions, indicating a moderate ecological hazard, and the risk index was greater than 150 in a sub-region, revealing moderate ecological intensity, in which Hg and Cd were leading contributors to potential ecological hazards with a contribution rate between 58% and 76%. This method is suitable for the evaluation of soil environmental quality and safety for medium and large scales, and can provide a scientific basis for further zoning and grading prevention and control of soil pollution in cultivated land.

Environmental safety evaluation of geopark based on CPTED concept and fuzzy comprehensive analysis.

In recent years, with the increasingly popular and openness of Geoparks, Environmental safety has become a major concern for sustainable geo-tourism. It is therefore necessary to conduct an environmental safety performance evaluation for promoting geo-tourism development. In order to identify and figure out the factors influencing the tourists’ environmental safety perception, an index system was established based on six principles of Crime Prevention Through environment design (CPTED) theory. A Questionnaire was adopted for data collection, and the overall evaluation value and concrete index scores at all levels were obtained via the fuzzy comprehensive analysis and Importance-Performance analysis. Empirical results show that: (1) tourists’ perception of environmental safety performance in Shilin Park from high to low was: image and maintenance, Natural Surveillance, territoriality, Access control, Activity support and target hardening; (2) The sub-factors influencing tourists’ safety perception mostly include electronic monitoring device, Lighting system, Public safety management, Road layout, environmental sanitation; While attention should be paid on the following aspects including park service center, inter-personal surveillance, surrounding environment, unobstructed view, parking lot, Signpost, for they are considered as high-importance items with relatively poor performance. Based on the analysis, three optimization measures were proposed, including optimizing the layout and design of each space, strengthening the deterrent force of the park and maintaining a good environmental image. This research provides useful suggestions for Geopark decision-makers on determining the priority of Geopark spatial planning and management, as well as achieving the optimal allocation of resources to promote the sustainable development of Geopark.

Multiphysics of seismic analysis and reactive chemical transport analysis for long-term environmental safety evaluation of RC-built hazardous waste landfill

Multiphysics of seismic analysis and reactive chemical transport analysis for long-term environmental safety evaluation of RC-built hazardous waste landfill