Indicators Of Environmental Quality Research Articles

Operating room environmental improvements with Venturi valves and Environmental Quality Indicator risk prediction may help reduce Surgical Site Infections

Introduction: There is mounting evidence supporting the connection of the operating room airborne environment to Surgical Site Infections (SSI). Environmental Quality Indicators (EQI) can be measured to determine the risk of microbial contamination in the OR by room sector. This risk picture is used to inform educated improvements to the aseptic environment. When improvements based on the EQI risk picture are combined with precise control of the airborne environment using Venturi technology, the asepsis of the OR is maintained and the risk of contamination is lower. This study sought to determine if precisely maintained asepsis in the OR based on EQI risk picture lowered the SSI rate. Methods: The environmental quality indicators in a Craniotomy OR were measured and a risk picture, by room sector, was created. The EQIs measured included air change rates, humidity, temperature, pressure, particle counts, occupancy, traffic patterns, air flow and directionality, and door openings, among others. Improvements to the OR performance were made based on the risk picture and Venturi technology was used to precisely control the airborne environment. SSIs were tracked for 17 months prior to improvements and then for 10 months following the improvements. Results: The asepsis of the OR airborne environment was improved and an EQI risk picture was developed following improvements to document improvement. In the 17 months prior to improvements to the OR, there were 14 SSIs out of 430 total surgeries and the SSI rate was 3.9%. In the 10 months following the improvements, there was 1 SSI out of 180 surgeries, and the SSI rate was 0.5%. The reduction in SSIs was statistically significant at p=.0377 following improvements. Conclusion: Improvement of the airborne environment in ORs improves the asepsis and may help reduce SSI.

Оценка влияния инструментов экологической политики Российской Федерации на региональные инвестиции в охрану окружающей среды

The implementation of the sustainable development concept determines economic growth while reducing the negative impact on the environment. To achieve this, investments in environmental protection are required, which, first of all, should be stimulated by the national environmental policy. The purpose of the article is to assess the impact of environmental policy instruments (charges for emission limits, charges for exceeding emission limits, fines, costs for eco-control, interbudgetary transfers, mandatory environmental insurance, regional tax incentives) on the development of regional investments in environmental protection in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation based on Federal State Statistics Service data. The research methods are panel regressions with fixed and random effects, the typology of regions by industry specialization based on the values of the localization coefficients, various types of analysis (structural, groupings). Our findings demonstrate that the Russian environmental policy pursued in Russia contributed to a slight increase in current environmental expenditures in the regions, primarily in the regions of agricultural specialization, but did not stimulate an increase in environmental investments in fixed assets. As a result, environmental quality indicators did not improve in the majority of Russian regions. Eco-control costs (in industrial regions), and charges for emission limits (in industrial and agro-industrial regions) have the greatest incentive to increase environmental costs. Fines, interbudgetary transfers, mandatory environmental insurance, regional tax incentives do not have a significant impact on environmental investment in fixed assets in Russian regions. To improve the efficiency of the state environmental policy the authors propose to increase the charge for exceeding emission limits and fines for environmental law violation, to revise the target nature of interbudgetary transfers in terms of stimulating environmental investments in fixed assets, and to implement pilot projects to introduce environmental policy instruments that comply with best international practices.

A multi-criteria approach to assessing the quality of the urban environment

It is known that currently one of the most significant challenges in the field of construction and housing and communal services, is to improve the comfort and affordability of housing, to improve the quality of urban environment. This is also evidenced by the relationship between strategic plans for the period up to 2030 and the activities of the national project “Housing and Urban Environment”. This article analyses the level of citizens’ life quality of the Russian Federation in urban agglomerations and approaches to its assessment. In the framework of the study it has been revealed that nowadays the main indicator for assessing the quality of life is the index of urban environment quality, which consists of 6 indicators assessed according to 6 criteria. The authors decided to also consider the main environmental and economic indicator, expressed as an assessment of damage from environmental pollution, which includes 4 components. Preliminary the results of the conducted research determine the necessity of identifying the most significant criteria (and their sub-criteria) in order to develop an integrated approach to their assessment. As a comprehensive approach, the authors propose a multi-criteria evaluation methodology that includes expert opinion and consideration of weighting coefficients depending on the importance of a particular criterion. Within the framework of this article, the authors propose to test the proposed multi-criteria approach on the most significant space - housing and the surrounding area. The obtained results influence the positive decision to conduct further research for all the spaces included in the current methodology of the urban environment quality index assessment.

Analysis of the state of green spaces in small cities of the Ural Federal District using the urban environment quality index

Analysis of the state of green spaces in small cities of the Ural Federal District using the urban environment quality index

Abstract A018: Geographic disparities in aggressive prostate cancer varies by region-specific environmental and sociodemographic characteristics: A statewide analysis

Abstract Background: Although the overall 5-year survival rate for prostate cancer (PCa) is relatively high, there are substantial differences in survival by stage at diagnosis. In contrast to men diagnosed with localized or regional stage PCa, both of which have a 5-year survival rate of nearly 100%, only 31% of patients survive five years after being diagnosed with distant or metastatic disease. Given PCa remains the second leading cause of cancer death among U.S. men, targeted PCa screening interventions centered on early detection for men at risk for more aggressive PCa subtypes appear warranted. Under a Precision Public Health approach, the application of geospatial analysis to cancer surveillance data can help to identify and “narrow down” geographic areas where rates of aggressive PCa are higher than expected to target for intervention. Thus, the primary objective of this study was to conduct a geospatial scan to identify clusters of aggressive PCa in a State-wide analysis. Given well-known racial disparities and associations between socioeconomic status and PCa stage at diagnosis and survival, the secondary objective was to evaluate geographic variation, or changes in aggressive PCa clusters, by area-level sociodemographics and environmental exposures. Methods: The study population included 82,580 patients diagnosed with incident PCa from the Pennsylvania (PA) State Registry from 2005-2015. Patient addresses were geocoded. Patient clinical data from the registry (age, race/ethnicity, insurance status) were linked via geocodes to area-level sociodemographic measures generated from the US Census Bureau at the census tract level, and to Environmental Quality Indices (Air, water, soil) from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the county level. Aggressive PCa was evaluated using 3 separate definitions based on TNM staging and/or Gleason grade. A Bayesian geoadditive modeling approach identified census tract clusters with higher than expected rates of aggressive PCa, adjusted for individual-level factors (age, race, diagnosis year) (Baseline model). The baseline model was then compared to models that included sociodemographic and/or environmental measures by evaluating changes in model fit (DIC), cluster size, and relative risk (RR). Results: We identified 3 main clusters in PA where rates of aggressive PCa were higher than expected near Philadelphia, Altoona, and Pittsburgh. Clusters of aggressive PCa in Philadelphia were eliminated and could be fully explained after adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics (insurance, poverty, etc), but not environmental measures. In contract, clusters of aggressive PCa in Pittsburgh were only reduced after adjustment for environmental variables, particularly water quality. Conclusion: PCa screening interventions could be prioritized in high risk cluster areas. Results are novel in that they preliminarily suggest that the type of intervention and focus of future etiologic studies in aggressive PCa might vary by geographic location, even within a single State. Citation Format: Daniel Wiese, Kevin A. Henry, Carolyn Fang, Adam Reese, Mary Daly, Camille Ragin, Shannon M. Lynch. Geographic disparities in aggressive prostate cancer varies by region-specific environmental and sociodemographic characteristics: A statewide analysis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 15th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2022 Sep 16-19; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A018.

Качество городской среды в Ленинградской области в период 2018—2021 годов

Since 2019, the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation has annually assessed the quality of the urban environment in more than 1,114 cities. The paper takes the case of the Leningrad region to consider a number of hypotheses about the correspondence between the Urban Environment Quality Index (UEQI) values, the city’s remoteness from agglomeration centers, population changes and migration growth, absolute population and municipal budget expenditures. The use of cartographic and mathematical methods made it possible to conclude that there is no significant direct correlation between the values of the UEQI and the indicators previously specified. Spatial differentiation of cities according to the values of UEQI was revealed. The study has determined that the quality of living category is not limited to the category of quality of the urban environment, while any attempts to solve socio-economic problems in cities focused only on the improvement of the urban environment are clearly an oversimplification. This study, which is the first of this kind, engages all the cities of the Leningrad region.

Assessment of service sector quality as an area of urban environment

The article considers the specifics of the urban environment functioning from the viewpoint of the implementation of service companies’ activities. The paper contains the main methods for assessing the quality of life in an urban environment. The research also provides a modern classification of service sectors. The main value of the work is the results of assessing the development level of infrastructure in the service sector in terms of the Urban Environment Quality Index. The authors arrive at a conclusion about the peculiarities of the functioning of service enterprises in an urban environment.

Urban environment quality assessment and its ecological factors

The article analyses the international and domestic experience of integrated approach and the process of indicators system formation for the urban environment quality assessment. The analysis of the presented indexes and indicators systems of the urban development quality showed that the ecological factors and the quality of urban environment occupy a significant place among the main components of the assessment. It is noted that during the last decade in the Russian Federation there was significantly increased an interest for the development of various indicators and mechanisms for a comprehensive assessment of the situation for solving economic, social and environmental problems in regions and cities. One of the generally accepted approach creation process results was the approval of the Methodology for the formation of the Urban Environment Quality Index. The possibilities of taking into account such ecological factors like the atmospheric air pollution, water bodies quality, the elimination of accumulated environmental damage results and a noise level were analysed in the Urban Environment Quality Index. It is concluded that at the first stage of expanding and optimizing the criteria system for calculating the Urban Environment Quality Index, it is necessary to consider the possibility of applying criteria reflecting the results of federal projects to resolve environmental problems of cities for the development of the urban environment and improving its quality.

ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ БЛАГОПРИЯТНОЙ ГОРОДСКОЙ СРЕДЫ САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГА ЗА СЧЕТ ВНЕДРЕНИЯ РЕШЕНИЙ «УМНОГО ГОРОДА»

The quality of the urban environment is one of the most important criteria for the standard of living of the population, and therefore it is necessary to take actions to create the comfort of using the urban environment and each of its components. Increasing the efficiency of the development of such an environment can be realized with the help of modern digital technologies of the “smart city”, which in turn can also provide resource savings and reduce the negative impact on the environment. The study of the urban environment and its components as a link between a person and the city was carried out, the relationship between the urban environment and landscaping was determined, the composition and mechanism of calculating the urban environment quality index were studied. The main characteristics of a smart city and the principles of the development of digital technologies are determined, existing solutions for creating a smart city on the example of St. Petersburg in various directions are investigated: transport, communications, security, healthcare. At the end of the work, the impact of the use of smart digital technologies on the formation of the urban environment and its interaction with citizens was investigated.

Lichen - rock interaction in a temperate environment: A case study from a Panzipora area, Kashmir, India

The diversity of Saxicolous lichens with their rock strata has been investigated in the rural area of Kashmir to enrich the lichen inventory in the region. The study also focuses on the quantification of the regional distribution of lichens. A total of 32 lichens belonging to 10 families and 15 genera, with each species having an average 60–70% of consistency, were found occurring on the sedimentary rocks. The diversity and relationship of particular lichen groups (e.g. Nitrophytic, Acidophytic, Neutrophytic) with growth forms (e.g. crustose, foliose, fructicose) and substratum, and with environmental variables in the habitat suggest that Lichens can act as an indicator of environmental quality in the given area. The significant variability in the spatiotemporal patterns of lichen diversity and growth indicates the crucial role of microhabitat conditions and associated micro-environmental conditions, which in turn drive the biodiversity of saxicolous lichens in the region.

Indicators and methods for assessing acoustical preferences and needs of students in educational buildings: A review

Sounds (e.g., human activity, nature, building systems) are one of the indoor environmental stimuli that may have positive and/or negative effects on students’ well-being and performance in educational buildings. Students in educational buildings have individual acoustical preferences and needs as portrayed by occupant-related indicators, for example perception. Acoustical guidelines for educational buildings are generally focused on acoustical performance in terms of dose-related (e.g., sound pressure level) and building-related indicators (e.g., sound absorbing walls), while occupant-related indicators (e.g., heart rate) are rarely mentioned. In contrast, previous studies such as indoor soundscape studies, do take into consideration occupant-related indicators, including physiological and psychological. Therefore, this study aimed at summarizing these indicators in a comprehensive overview that is essential for investigating the students’ acoustical preferences and needs in educational buildings. A literature review of relevant studies in the domain of indoor acoustics and soundscape was carried out. A number of key indicators (occupant-related, dose-related, building-related) and methods that are fundamental to be considered were identified. Only in a few studies, students’ acoustical preferences and needs were investigated by considering occupant-related indicators (both physiological and psychological). In addition, dose-related indicators of other indoor environmental quality (IEQ) factors and building-related indicators were rarely taken into account in previous studies.

The Impact of Foreign Direct Investments on Environmental Quality: The Case of China

Çin 2018 yılında küresel fosil yakıt tüketiminin %24.57’sinden, küresel CO2 emisyonlarının %28.88’inden sorumlu olmuştur. Ayrıca Çin, çevre kalitesinin başka bir göstergesi olan ekolojik ayakizinde BRICS ülkeleri arasında 2018 yılında 1990 yılına göre %160.19 artışla en fazla çevre kalitesini olumsuz etkileyen ülke olmuştur. Dolayısıyla Çin’de çevre kirliliğini etkileyen faktörlerin belirlenmesi önem taşımaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı da 1990-2018 dönemi için Çin’de Doğrudan Yabancı Yatırım (DYY) girişlerinin kirliliği artırıcı mı yoksa azaltıcı mı olduğunu araştırmaktır. Bunun için kişi başı DYY girişi, kişi başı enerji kullanımı ve kişi başı CO2 emisyonu yıllık değişkenlerinin olduğu model kullanılmıştır. Değişkenler arasındaki uzun dönemli ilişkinin varlığı Fourier ADL yöntemiyle araştırılmıştır. Uzun dönem katsayı tahminleri için ise FMOLS, DOLS ve CCR kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen sonuçlara göre, Çin’de DYY girişleri ve enerji tüketimi CO2 emisyonunu azaltmaktadır. Böylece Çin için kirlilik Halo hipotezinin geçerli olduğu görülmüştür.

Perceived Hospital Environment Quality Indicators: The Case of Healthcare Places for Terminal Patients

The “user-centered” design perspective (Gifford, 2002) suggests that healthcare places should improve their environmental quality in order to both meet the users’ needs and become “more humane” care environments, facilitating a higher level of patients’ satisfaction, wellbeing, and quality of life. The hospice is a specific category of healthcare, given the specificity of its target population, i.e., the terminal patients. This research aimed (i) to verify the factorial structure of an adapted version of the Perceived Hospital Environment Quality Indicators (PHEQIs, Fornara et al., 2006) for the hospice environment; (ii) to test the reliability of such indicators; and (iii) to detect the association between each indicator and the global satisfaction toward the hospice. Participants (N = 135) were patients, their relatives, and staff of eleven Italian hospices. They had to fill in a questionnaire including items tapping three diverse hospice settings (i.e., external spaces, interior common spaces, and interior private spaces). The confirmatory factor analysis run for each scale produced six reliable Hospice PHEQIs. As expected, significant relationships between most of them and the overall users’ satisfaction toward the hospice environment emerged.

Terrain gradient response of landscape ecological environment to land use and land cover change in the hilly watershed in South China

There are abundant resources like climate, water, biological and tourism in the middle and upper reaches of the Ganjiang River (MU-GJR), which is an important ecological protection area in hilly areas of South China. The four periods of land use and land cover (LULC) data from 1980 to 2018 and DEM data are the main data support. The LULC change were analyzed with the area proportion, transfers chord diagram and change characteristics map, the response of ecological environment from LULC change was analyzed by using the landscape ecological environment quality (LEEQ) and contribution index. Then the terrain gradient was used to analyze the impact of LULC transfer on ecological environment under different terrain conditions. (1) The LULC characteristics in the study area show that was dominated by forest land and cultivated land (more than 90 %), various types of land transfer significantly from 2010 to 2018, especially the cultivated land, forest land and grassland. The stable type of LULC change was the most widely distributed, followed by the later change type (2010–2018) and mainly distributed in the flat valley, with the largest change range of cultivated land, forest land and grassland. (2) The LEEQ was generally well, but gradually deteriorates. The obvious change of LEEQ was found after 2010. The deterioration type of quality mostly occurs around the city, while the getting better type occurs in the transition area between the city and the mountains. (3) There are more deterioration categories than improvement categories of LULC transfer from 1980 to 2018. The improvement categories were mainly contributed by the transfer to other land to forest land and build-up land to other land. The deterioration categories were mainly contributed by the transfer of forest land to other land. (4) The impact of LULC change on the ecological environment decreases with the increase of elevation, slope and terrain position. There are differences in the impacts of various types of transfer on the ecological environment under the three gradients. In the elevation gradient, the improvement effect were dominant at −105–100 m and 200–500 m, and the deterioration effect were dominant at 100–200 m, 500–1000 m and 1000–2128 m. In the slope gradient, the improvement effect were dominant at 0–2°, 15–25° and 25–69.7°, and the deterioration effect were dominant at 2–6° and 6–15°. In terrain position gradient, improvement effect were dominant at 0–0.32, 0.32–0.51, 0.7–0.9 and 0.9–1.58, and deterioration effect were dominant at 0.51–0.7. Therefore, the specific conditions of different terrain gradients should be considered for land resource development in the middle and upper reaches of Ganjiang River region.

Heterogeneous impact of environmental taxes on environmental quality: Tax domain based evidence from the nordic countries by nonparametric quantile approaches

This study aims to examine the heterogeneous causality and impact of environmental taxes at both aggregated and disaggregated levels on environmental quality. In this context, the study focuses on Nordic countries as green economies; handles carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as an environmental quality indicator; includes aggregated and disaggregated levels of environmental taxes as explanatory variables; uses quarterly data for the period 1994/Q1-2020/Q4 as the most recent available data; applies novel nonparametric Granger causality-in-quantiles (GCQ) and quantile-on-quantile regression (QQR) approaches as the main models while using quantile regression (QR) for robustness check. The results present that (i) causal impacts of environmental taxes on CO2 emissions exist in most quantiles at disaggregated levels excluding some lower, middle, and higher quantiles, whereas indicator-, country-, and quantile-based results vary; (ii) environmental tax on energy (ETE) has a mainly decreasing impact in Iceland, a mixed impact in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden based on quantiles; (iii) environmental tax on pollution (ETP) has the highest decreasing impact in most quantiles in Denmark, Iceland, and Norway; (iv) environmental tax in transport (ETT) has a decreasing impact in Norway and Sweden, whereas it has a reverse impact in Denmark, Finland, and Iceland; (v) impact of total environmental tax (TET) has a decreasing impact in Denmark and Norway at some quantiles, whereas an increasing impact in Finland, Iceland, and Sweden; (vi) the robustness of the QQR results are confirmed by the QR approach. Hence, the results underline the importance of country and quantile-based disaggregated analyses and Nordic countries should re-adjust environmental taxes to increase environmental quality.

Identification andAnalysis ofUnderdeveloped Village inThe Border Area ofBogor District (Studi Wirajaya Village Jasinga)

One measure of the success of village development is measured by the achievement of the Village Development Index (IDM), the status of success in the IDM is seen from 5 categories, namely (1). The status of villages is very disadvantaged, (2), underdeveloped villages (3), developing villages (4), advanced villages and (5), independent villages. The villages in the border areas are really cause for concern. Based on the size of the Village Development Index (IDM) 2020, the number of villages on theborder that have underdeveloped status and are very disadvantaged is very dominant. Wirajaya village is the only village in Jasinga District that is included in the category of underdeveloped villages with an IDM in 2020 of 0.5819. Sampling was done by collecting data on all economic, social and environmental aspects. Each indicator has a score. The score was determined using the Analitycal Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. The calculation of the index on each dimension is carried out using the scoring method which is then transformed into an index. The social resilience index consists of 4 indicators: health, education, social capital, and housing. Health indicators have the lowest contribution of 0.57. The economic resilience index consists of 6 indicators,namely, indicators of diversity in production, trade, distribution access, access to credit, economic institutions, regional openness. Of the six indicators, the lowest contribution is the logistic distribution access indicator, which is 0.00. The environmental resilience index consists of 3 indicators, namely, environmental quality indicators, disaster-prone potential and disaster response. Of the three indicators, the lowest contribution is the disaster-prone potential indicator of 0.00.

Impact of economic policy uncertainty, geopolitical risk, and economic complexity on carbon emissions and ecological footprint: an investigation of the E7 countries.

There is a plethora of studies on the energy-consumption-environmental-quality nexus. Nevertheless, empirical research on the impact of global uncertainties on environmental quality is lacking. This study contributes to the literature by examining the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU), geopolitical risk (GPR), and economic complexity on the ecological footprint and carbon emissions of E7 economies for the period 1995-2018. Our empirical results indicate a long-term relationship between economic complexity, EPU, GPR, energy consumption, and two environmental quality indicators, carbon dioxide emissions and ecological footprint. In the long run, a divergence from disequilibrium takes 3years to return to the equilibrating position. The environmental effects of key determinants are different in terms of direction, magnitude, and time span. Specifically, an inverted U-shape describes the relationship between economic complexity and environmental degradation in the long-term only, which confirms the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. The environmental effects of EPU and GPR are harmful in the short run but prove to be beneficial in the long run. Higher energy consumption significantly degrades environment quality as expected. Based on these findings, the paper provides several useful suggestions for policymakers in the context of E7 countries.

Environmental Quality of Prambanan Temple and Ratu Boko Temple’s Green Open Space based on Soundscape and Guild of Bird


 
 
 
 Sleman Regency has the most temple cultural heritage in Yogyakarta, supported by Green Open Space (GOS). The area is a habitat for urban birds and can be used as an indicator of environmental quality. This study aims to analyze the environmental quality based on the soundscape and character of the bird community in the GOS of Prambanan Temple and Ratu Boko Temple. Sound recordings were taken with a smartphone, and the recording time was set using the Arbimon touch in the morning, afternoon, and evening. The sound recordings are used to calculate acoustic indexes. The sound recordings and spectrograms are processed to identify bird species and calculate the Bird Community Index. The number of bird species was higher in the Ratu Boko area. According to the NDSI value, the sound of biophony at Ratu Boko Temple is more dominant than anthrophony and geophony. The environmental quality in the Prambanan Temple area is in the low category than in the Ratu Boko Temple area, which is classified as a medium category. The area's topography, the arrangement of vegetation, and the noise of vehicles due to the proximity to the highway affect the environment quality in temple areas.
 
 
 

Local development policy effects on environmental quality: the case of Amathole District Municipality

Sustainability is a global problem which is practically difficult to implement. Pressure from Constitutional developmental obligations present enormous problems in South Africa, hampering the transitioning to sustainability at sub-national levels, where increased resources are required to compliment expertise amid negative effects of incoherent efforts and disaggregated planning that complicates the attainment of minimum sustainability levels. Data gathering is haphazard, making it impossible to get meaningful knowledge of baseline environmental conditions. This study galvanized professionals and academics to develop environmental quality indicators, gather data and conducted an assessment using Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) to stimulate municipalities to implement sustainable policies and comply with national objectives. 6 municipalities were assessed for environmental quality using 25 locally relevant indicators. Information about the district levels of sustainability was provided by the results. The aim being transparency, objective self-assessment and reporting providing the basis for remedial action as recommended by Agenda 21 and NFES

Characteristics of groundwater microbial communities’ structure under the impact of elevated nitrate concentrations in north China plain

In groundwater environments, the interaction between microbial communities and the hydrogeochemical parameters have been investigated extensively in the past years. However, little is known whether the maximum contamination level (MCL) is a threshold value that dictates the microbial composition. In this study, we analyzed 10 groundwater samples for their nitrate, nitrite, COD and sulfate concentrations, and characterized their microbial compositions using 16 S rRNA based high-throughput sequencing methods. All the 10 samples had oxygen demands higher than the corresponding MCL of China (10 mg L−1); moreover, 4 out of 10 samples also had nitrate concentrations higher than the corresponding MCL, which indicated that the groundwater quality was negatively impacted by anthropogenic activities. Comparing the microbial composition of groundwater that had higher-than-MCL nitrate concentrations to those that had lower-than-MCL nitrate concentrations, no significant differences were detected in communities' richness and diversity. However, the non-metric multi-dimensional analysis suggested that the 4 groundwater samples whose nitrate concentration exceed MCL are distinctly different from those of the rest 6 samples, indicating that MCL does have a significant impact on microbial structures. Pearson's correlation analysis suggested that none of the four analyzed hydrochemical parameters had significant impact on microbial communities' richness and diversity; however, at the genus level, the correlation results suggested that JG30-KM-CM45, Sphingomonas and Rhodococcus are closely correlated with nitrate concentration. The findings of this study deepened our understanding with respect to the relationships between the environmental quality indices and the microbial compositions of groundwater.