Sampling trip to Sri Lanka in January 2018

2018-02-02 Zhao Shizhen

On Jan 21^_31^st of 2018, three group members, Prof. Jun Li, Dr. Guangcai Zhong and Dr. Shizhen Zhao visited Dr. Parakrama Karunaratne from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. This designed sampling campaign mainly focuses on the current air pollution and historical environmental change in Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) region, which has been key human health issue for more than two decades in Sri Lanka. Many thanks to the strong support from Dr. Parakrama Karunaratne and his excellent team, 65 passive air samplers were installed in Polonnaruwa region with high, medium and low CKDu prevalence. Meanwhile, six sediment cores were sampled in three Ancient Water Tanks (AWTs). Future collaboration plan was also in-depth discussed. We look forward to productive output from this sampling campaign and more intensive cooperation in future. This work is part of our on-going project, Southern Contaminants Programme (SCP, 2017-2019), which is based on international collaboration and funded by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) as part of its Belt & Road Initiatives.

Welcome dinner with Dr. Parakrama Karunaratne, Dr. Nanda Gunawardhana, Dr. Shameen Jindasa, Prof. Jun Li, Shizhen Zhao and Dr. Guangcai Zhong (from left to right).

A hemodialysis room in Polonnaruwa Hospital.

Discussion on detailed sampling plan with the core members of CKD control unit.

Assemble passive air sampler in the back of our van.

Dr. Zhong and Mr. Rajitha was installing two passive air samplers surrounded by curious students.

Most CKDu-affected population works as paddy farmers.

Enjoy fresh coconuts given by hospitable indigene.

On the boat to sample the sediment corer.

Dr. Zhong was taking care of the valuable corer.

Mahaweli River across the University of Peradeniya. It’s the longest river in Sri Lanka.

Visit the lab of Dr. Suranga Kodithuwakku from Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He graduated from the University of Hong Kong.

Relaxing time in the ancient city of Polonnaruwa, the second-oldest city on the island and also an UNESCO World Heritage.

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Kick-off meeting of Project 3 of ATMSYC in Wuhan

2018-01-20 Gan Zhang

On Jan 18-20th, a kick-off meeting of Project 3 of ATMSYC was held in Asia Hotel (亚洲大酒店）of Wuhan. Special guests Ms Liang Shengwen （梁胜文） of Wuhan Environmental Monitoring Centre （武汉市环境监测中心）, Professor Jiang Yiguo （蒋义国）of Guangzhou Medical Science University（广州医科大学） and Professor Li Bin （李兵） of Guangdong Maternal and Child Care Service Centre （广东省妇幼保健院）presented to comment on the research plan of ATMSYC Project 3, which aims at compiling a list of chemical air toxics for national control in China （国家管控有毒有害大气污染物名录筛选）. Gan Zhang gave a brief overview introduction of ATMSYC. Professor Wang Youjie (王友洁）who leads Project 3 gave detailed report on the research plan of the project.

Welcome and instruction in the hotel lobby.

An event going on.

A portrait of the attendants.

Prof Wang Youjie gave the keynote report.

The assessing panel. From left to right: 李兵、梁胜文、蒋义国.

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Kick-off meeting of ATMSYC Project 1 and sampling training workshop

2017-12-10 Gan Zhang

On December 6-7, the kick-off meeting of ATMSYC (阿特姆赛克) Project 1 and sampling training workshop took place in Xin Tao Yuan (新桃源) Hotel of Shenzhen. The event was dedicated to project 1 (有毒有害大气污染物的区域观测与来源) of ATMSYC. A total of 55 people attended, including special guests Professor Chen Changhong (陈长虹) of Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences (上海市环科院), Professor Xue Likun (薛丽坤) of Shangdong University (山东大学), and Professor Zou SIchun (邹世春) of Sun Yat-Sen University (中山大学) . The kickoff meeting was followed by a special workshop to discuss, coordinate field sampling plans as well as technical sampling trainings. The consortium had nice time in the nice hotel thanks for the nice weather in Shenzhen.