Aims Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a large class of ubiquitously occurring persistent organic pollutants (POP). Plants can take up PAHs through atmospheric sedimentation and sewage irrigation, resulting in serious hazards on the food safety and human’s health. Our objective was to investigate the effects of fluoranthene (FLU) and benzo-a-pyrene (B[a]P) on growth, physiological performance, and quality of rape (Brassica chinensis), and to understand their patterns of accumulations in stem and leaves.Methods Rape seedlings were transplanted to grow in soils with different rates of FLU and B[a]P addition, i.e. 0, 0.5, 1.0, 5.0, and 10.0 mg·kg-1, respectively. Growth indicators including leaf length, leaf width, plant height and aboveground biomass, and physiological properties including photosynthetic rate (Pn), chlorophyll content, and the content of vitamin C were measured to determine the effects of the two PAHs on rape. Accumulations of FLU and B[a]P were measured by the method of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Pearson correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relationships between the accumulations of the PAHs and various growth indicators.Important findings We found that the accumulated concentrations of FLU and B[a]P in rapes increased with the level of FLU and B[a]P in soils. The accumulations of FLU in stems and leaves differed significantly (p < 0.05) among treatments with different rates of FLU addition. As compared with the control (CK), the accumulations of B[a]P in rapes significantly increased in treatments with 5.0 and 10.0 mg·kg-1 B[a]P addition, and the highest amount of accumulation at 10 mg·kg-1 was below the national food security standard. Low concentrations of FLU and B[a]P had positive effects on leaf length, leaf width and the aboveground biomass; whereas high concentrations had negative impacts. As compared with CK, plant height and Pn significantly decreased with of the level of FLU and B[a]P treatments. Chlorophyll content increased at lower concentrations but declined at higher concentrations. Overall, the reduced vitamin C was inhibited by FLU; it was lowest at 5.0 mg·kg-1 of FLU. The reduced vitamin C varied irregularly with B[a]P treatments; it increased slightly at 0.5 mg·kg-1of B[a]P and was lowest at 5.0 mg·kg-1 of B[a]P, compared with CK.
An amendment to the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife has been incorporated into the annual legislative plan for 2020. Although the current Law has been revised many times, its existing problems, such as a narrow scope of wildlife protection, outdated regulatory system, uninformed law enforcement, and imperfect legal system, do not meet the new requirements and regulations put forth in the “Healthy China” and “Beautiful China” era. The decision to ban illegal wildlife trade altogether, eliminate the abuse of wild animals, and ensure people’s health and safety that was adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress provides a good opportunity for revising the Law. We suggest that the revision of the Law should be carefully studied and implemented in the legislative process by reasonably defining the scope of protection, improving the “black and white” directory and licensing system, optimizing wildlife protection supervision and responsibility, and properly handling coordination with other relevant laws. These steps will promote the modernization of the environmental management system and its capacity.
As one of the components of urban air pollutants, pollen seriously affects our living environment and health, which is highly concerned by government and scientific community. Here, based on the airborne pollen data of past 60 years in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, we summarize the major pollen types and their seasonal distribution characteristics in this region, and the data shows that the annual variation of airborne pollen concentration basically follows the ‘bimodal' pattern, viz. arboreal pollen such as Cupressaceae, Salicaceae and Betulaceae dominate the peak in spring, while herbaceous pollen like Artemisia, Humulus/Cannabis sativa, Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae dominate the peak in summer and autumn. Then we discuss the dominant meteorological factors related to pollen concentration and the characteristics of pollinosis. Furthermore, we point out that human activities (e.g., land reconstruction and roadside tree planting) may have an impact on the changes of airborne pollen composition in Beijing over these years. Finally, we emphasize the important role of future long-term airborne pollen monitoring in atmospheric environment assessment, pollinosis prevention, and urban greening construction.