• Title/Summary/Keyword: Farming Waste

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Spatial assessment of soil contamination by heavy metals from informal electronic waste recycling in Agbogbloshie, Ghana

  • Kyere, Vincent Nartey;Greve, Klaus;Atiemo, Sampson M.
    • Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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    • v.31
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    • pp.6.1-6.10
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    • 2016
  • Objectives This study examined the spatial distribution and the extent of soil contamination by heavy metals resulting from primitive, unconventional informal electronic waste recycling in the Agbogbloshie e-waste processing site (AEPS) in Ghana. Methods A total of 132 samples were collected at 100 m intervals, with a handheld global position system used in taking the location data of the soil sample points. Observing all procedural and quality assurance measures, the samples were analyzed for barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn), using X-ray fluorescence. Using environmental risk indices of contamination factor and degree of contamination ($C_{deg}$), we analyzed the individual contribution of each heavy metal contamination and the overall $C_{deg}$. We further used geostatistical techniques of spatial autocorrelation and variability to examine spatial distribution and extent of heavy metal contamination. Results Results from soil analysis showed that heavy metal concentrations were significantly higher than the Canadian Environmental Protection Agency and Dutch environmental standards. In an increasing order, Pb>Cd>Hg>Cu>Zn>Cr>Co>Ba>Ni contributed significantly to the overall $C_{deg}$. Contamination was highest in the main working areas of burning and dismantling sites, indicating the influence of recycling activities. Geostatistical analysis also revealed that heavy metal contamination spreads beyond the main working areas to residential, recreational, farming, and commercial areas. Conclusions Our results show that the studied heavy metals are ubiquitous within AEPS and the significantly high concentration of these metals reflect the contamination factor and $C_{deg}$, indicating soil contamination in AEPS with the nine heavy metals studied.

A Deterministic Safety Assessment of a Pyro-processed Waste Repository (A-KRS 처분 시스템 결정론적 안전성 평가)

  • Lee, Youn-Myoung;Jeong, Jongtae;Choi, Jongwon
    • Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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    • v.10 no.3
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    • pp.171-188
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    • 2012
  • A GoldSim template program for a safety assessment of a hybrid-typed repository system, called "A-KRS," in which two kinds of pyro-processed radioactive wastes, low-level metal wastes and ceramic high-level wastes that arise from the pyro-processing of PWR nuclear spent fuels are disposed of, has been developed. This program is ready both for a deterministic and probabilistic total system performance assessment which is able to evaluate nuclide release from the repository and farther transport into the geosphere and biosphere under various normal, disruptive natural and manmade events, and scenarios. The A-KRS has been deterministically assessed with 5 various normal and abnormal scenarios associated with nuclide release and transport in and around the repository. Dose exposure rates to the farming exposure group have been evaluated in accordance with all the scenarios and then compared among other.

A Probabilistic Safety Assessment of a Pyro-processed Waste Repository (A-KRS 처분 시스템 확률론적 안전성 평가)

  • Lee, Youn-Myoung;Jeong, Jongtae
    • Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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    • v.10 no.4
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    • pp.263-272
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    • 2012
  • A GoldSim template program for a safety assessment of a hybrid-typed repository system, called A-KRS, in which two kinds of pyro-processed radioactive wastes, low-level metal wastes and ceramic high-level wastes that arise from the pyro-processing of PWR nuclear spent fuels are disposed of, has been developed. This program is ready both for a deterministic and probabilistic total system performance assessment which is able to evaluate nuclide release from the repository and farther transport into the geosphere and biosphere under various normal, disruptive natural and manmade events, and scenarios. The A-KRS has been probabilistically assessed with 9 selected input parameters, each of which has its own statistical distribution for a normal release and transport scenario associated with nuclide release and transport in and around the repository. Probabilistic dose exposure rates to the farming exposure group have been evaluated. A sensitivity of 9 selected parameters to the result has also been investigated to see which parameter is more sensitive and important to the exposure rates.

A Study on the Development of Model on Environmental Education Program for Livestock Farmer -Focused on Hongsung-gun, Chungcheungnamdo- (축산업자 환경교육 프로그램 개발 연구 - 충청남도 홍성군을 중심으로 -)

  • Nam, Young-Sook;Yun, Sun-Deok
    • Hwankyungkyoyuk
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    • v.20 no.2
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    • pp.93-107
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    • 2007
  • Livestock agriculture plays an essential role Hongsung's economy. Unfortunately, if manure is manage properly it can contaminate water and pollute the air. The purposes of this study were to provide awareness of environmental impact and to design educational programs with sustainable agriculture. I used the specific steps of processes. First, collecting informations through survey on environmental awareness of livestock farmers in Hongsung-gun and recognizing the tendencies. Second, analyzing on educational status of livestock farmers. Third, finding objectives of environmental educational programs. At the end of processes, establishing programs which concerning on environmental education. I used two research methods to gather and analyze the data for developing an environmental education program. The first one is a general survey among 50 livestock farmers from Hongseong-gun, Chungcheongnam-do. The second one is the in-depth interviews with specialists in environmental education and government officials from the central government - the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry - and the local government - Hongsung-gun who are in charge of livestock farming. I found the following results from this research. First, most livestock farmers replied with 'highly likely' to the five items on the recognition of the necessity of environment preservation, whereas only 38.7% answered with 'likely' to the item on the environmental pollution caused by livestock farming. This shows the tendency that they have less recognition of the reality than necessary. Second, most of the contents among 5 areas(knowledge, recognition, function, attitude, and participation) are the knowledge areas. That results are analyzed training materials for livestock farmers made by Hongsung-gun in 2004 and in 2005 by using goal categories suggested in the Tbilisi Resolution. Third, after analyzing the survey and in-depth interviews, I found that the need for education to recognize the environmental pollution, environmental protection and recycling of the livestock waste. We can summarize conclusions from this research. First, we need on educational program improve the livestock farmers' recognition of importance in environmental protection. Second, it is necessary to develop educational program with the viewpoint that livestock waste is not one of the culprits of the environmental pollution, but a recyclable resource. Third, contents of the environmental education program, should include all the educational elements, namely, knowledge, recognition, attitude, function and participation. The education for livestock farmers requires a research on the environmental education program that can be used with crop farmers who can use the resources recycled from the livestock waste from the viewpoint of recycling resources. This research is focused on the collection and analysis of the basic data for developing an environmental education program and the composition of the program. A further research on the implementation and assessment of this program is required.

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Effects of Coal Fly Ash as a Bulking Agent under Co-composting with Swine Manure and Saw Dust

  • Lee, Chang Hoon;Park, Seong Jin;Kim, Myung Sook;Yun, Sun Kang;Sonn, Yeon Kyu
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.47 no.5
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    • pp.356-361
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    • 2014
  • The coal fly ash (CFA) may be utilized as an extender for organic waste composting at the same time fully expected to solve all industrial waste disposal and sawdust tribe. The main objective in this study was to evaluate the effect of CFA addition as a bulking agent for swine manure composting. To determine the suitable addition rate of CFA as a bulking agent, 0, 10, 20 and 30% of saw dust were mixed with 30, 20, 10 and 0% of coal fly ash, respectively. Compost quality for swine manure composting was to evaluate temperature, pH, C/N ratio, and phytotoxicity as germination index. Stability of compost increased with increasing levels of CFA as bulking agent during swine manure composting due to the high alkaline materials including CFA. C to N ratio in treatment added CFA was higher than that of the control without CFA. After finishing composting, germination index of lettuce and cabbage in swine manure compost added 10% of CFA was similar to the control, all the heavy metal contents were far below the stipulated standard for organic farming. These results indicated tahr coal fly ash as bulking agents might be alternative materials to save saw dust and apply industrial products for swine manure composting.

Solid Culture Medium Selection Criteria for Hydroponics Farm Households (양액재배 농가의 고형배지 선택 기준에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Dong-Seok;Kim, Dae-Young;Hwang, Jae-Hyun;Yun, Hoa-Young
    • Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.841-854
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    • 2014
  • This study aimed to analyze the selection criteria and priority settings for solid culture medium used in hydroponic crop production in farm households. Expert brain storming was carried out to extract solid culture medium selection criteria for hydroponic farming. As a result, 3 criteria of economy (cost), productivity, and environment, and 9 factors were extracted. A questionnaire survey of hydroponic farm households was conducted in Gyeonggi, Gangwon, and Chooncheong provinces. AHP analysis of the hydroponic solid culture medium selection criteria identified productivity as the most important criterion, chosen by 58.7% of the respondents, followed by economy (28.4%) and environment (12.9%). The 9 factors were rated by the respondents in the following decreasing order of importance: 1, crop yield (28.3%); 2, pest occurrence (18.5%); 3, maintenance/management costs (12.0%); 4, convenience of maintenance/management (13.4%); 5, initial investment cost (11.6%); 6, material energy consumption (6.5%); 7, waste recyclability (4.0%); 8, waste disposal costs (3.4%); and 9 environmental emissions (1.81%). These results imply that hydroponic farm households consider cultivation-related quality factors more important than economic factors, such as price of culture medium or installation cost.

An Experimental Study on the Reinforcing Effects of Mixtures of Vinyl Strip and Cement on the Sand Specimens (비닐스트립-시멘트 혼합 모래시편의 보강효과에 대한 실험연구)

  • Yu, Jeong-Min;Kim, Jong-Min
    • Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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    • v.34 no.10
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    • pp.5-16
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    • 2018
  • The ever-increasing amount of waste vinyl is causing big environmental problems. In particular, those from farming industry are sometimes left on site or even illegally reclaimed due to the lack of environmental concerns and capacity for collection, which worsens the situation. It is, therefore, believed that the recycling of waste vinyl is the most ideal solution in the viewpoint of environmental preservation. In this context, the potential of vinyl strip as a ground reinforcing material is investigated to expand the application of waste vinyl recycling. In this study, a series of uniaxial compression tests and resonant column tests were performed for sand specimens reinforced with vinyl strips and cement to investigate their reinforcing effects on static and dynamic behaviors. The changes in the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), the shear modulus and the damping ratio according to the mixing ratio of vinyl strips and cements were analysed for sand specimens, having 40% and 60% relative densities, under various mixing conditions. As a result, both the static and dynamic reinforcing effects of vinyl strip-cement mixture were confirmed and the optimum mixing ratio was proposed.

A Review on the Role of Duckweed in Nutrient Reclamation and as a Source of Animal Feed

  • Goopy, J.P.;Murray, P.J.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.297-305
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    • 2003
  • The family of lemnacae colloquially known as duckweed contains the world' smallest species of flowering plants (macrophytes). Aquatic and free-floating, their most striking qualities are a capacity for explosive reproduction and an almost complete lack of fibrous material. They are widely used for reducing chemical loading in facultative sewage lagoons, but their greatest potential lies in their ability to produce large quantities of protein rich biomass, suitable for feeding to a wide range of animals, including fish, poultry and cattle. Despite these qualities there are numerous impediments to these plants being incorporated into western farming systems. Large genetically determined variations in growth in response to nutrients and climate, apparent anti-nutritional factors, concerns about sequestration of heavy metals and possible transference of pathogens raise questions about the safety and usefulness of these plants. A clear understanding of how to address and overcome these impediments needs to be developed before duckweed is widely accepted for nutrient reclamation and as a source of animal feed.

Problems of Water Resources with New Measures for Conservation in Italy (이탈리아 수자원의 당면문제와 새로운 보전방안)

  • 조윤승
    • Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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    • v.10 no.3
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    • pp.115-123
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    • 1995
  • Most countries have problems regarding the quantity and quality of their fresh water resources, and many countries are suffering from the e(feces of pollution of their inland and coastal waters. Italy is one of the country in which water supply is extremely uneven, and there are wide areas where it represents a real emergencies during periods of drought. All the watershed's water resources, however, are subjected to considerable anthropogenic pressure such as organic load with heavy metals. The high values of organic materials are accounted for mainly by runoff and percolation waste water from urban and agricultural land extensively ma- nured with effluents (rom livestock farming, while high concentration of heavy metals are found in watersheds of national and interregional significance. More than 35% of the underground water bearing strata of certain basins are already contaminated by pollution boih industrial and agricultural pollutants. In these connection, the problems and new measures of water resources in Italy are overviewed.

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Analysis of Water Quality Characteristics in a Small-Scale Livestock Watershed (축산유역 수질특성 분석)

  • Choi, Yoon-Sun;Hong, Seong-Gu
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers Conference
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    • 2002.10a
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    • pp.465-468
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    • 2002
  • Land application is one of the desirable management practices for animal wastes. Majority of livestock farms adopt composting and land applications for the management of animal waste in this country. Meanwhile, there are only a few studies related with the effects of land application on pollutant loading. This study investigates the water quality characteristics in a rural watershed with intensive livestock farming. The results indicate that major constituents of water quality are substantially increased at the sites near livestock farms and compost incorporated fields during the rainfall-runoff periods. There are no significant differences of water quality parameters among the sampling sites during no rain periods.

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