Aim and contents—1st International Symposium on Green Technology and Ecosystem Health, Hangzhou, China, Oct. 13~15, 2007

Aim and contents—1st International Symposium on Green Technology and Ecosystem Health, Hangzhou, China, Oct. 13~15, 2007 first-author MOE Key Laboratory of Polluted Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310029, China MOE Key Laboratory of Polluted Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310029, China 1 Due to fast economic development and growth of population, the degradation and contamination of soil, water and air environments have become more and more severe worldwide in recent years. Environmental pollution can result in soil quality degradation, water supply shortage, crop yield reduction, and poor quality of agricultural products, and consequently pose significant hazards to humans, animals and ecosystem. The threat of toxic pollutants is exacerbated by their long-term persistence in the environment. Pollutants may be transferred and accumulated in the bodies of animals or human beings through food chain, which may cause DNA damage and carcinogenic effects by their mutagenic ability. Green technologies involve the use of plants combined with physical, chemical and microbial processes to remediate harmful contaminants in soil, water and air environments, recycle wastes and nutrients, and improve ecosystem functions and food quality. They are considered to be environmentally friendly and cost-effective. In recent years, extensive studies have been conducted on green technologies and their applications in the remediation of soil, water and air, attracting great interest from scientists, governments and enterprises. Information needs to be exchanged, pooled and integrated to better direct future research and new applications. Organized by Zhejiang University and University of Florida, the First International Symposium on Green Technology and Ecosystem Health was held on Oct. 13~15, 2007, Hangzhou, China, with an objective to provide a forum for scientists to share information on various topics of green technologies and their applications in ecosystem restoration, environmental remediation, food safety, and human health. Over 150 scientists, experts and students from 15 countries in the world attended this symposium. A total of 108 papers were presented at the symposium as either an oral presentation or a poster. The themes addressed by the participants included: (1) aquatic ecosystem health and wetland technologies, (2) agro-ecosystem health and phytoremediation of soils, (3) green technologies for wastes reuse/recycling and environmental health, (4) green technologies for food safety/quality and human health, and (5) green technologies for ecological county (city) construction and pollution abatement. This special issue is comprised of six review papers by keynote speakers and six technical articles which were selected from the full-text papers submitted to the International Symposium. 2008-01-28 2008-01-28 2022-01-05 Copyright © 2008, Journal of Zhejiang University Science 2008 Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B (Biomedicine and Biotechnology) 03 09