Occurrence,sources, and ecological risks of PBDEs,PCBs, OCPs,and PAHs in surface sediments of the Yangtze River Delta city cluster,China

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 25 surface sediments in three cities (Nantong, Wuxi, and Suzhou) in the Yangtze River Delta, eastern China were measured. The mean concentrations were 378, 45.8, 1.98, 4,002 ng/g for PBDEs, OCPs, PCBs, and PAHs, respectively. Their levels in the sediments in the three cities were generally consistent with the city industrialization. PBDEs and OCPs were markedly dominated by deca-BDE (>90 %) and DDTs (>70 %). A principle component analysis of the analytes identified three major factors suggesting different sources of the contaminants in the sediments. PBDEs and the organic carbon in the sediments have common sources from industrial activities; whereas OCPs and PCBs, correlated with the second factor, were mainly from historical sources. The third factor with loadings of PAHs is indicative of various combustion sources. Ecological risk assessment indicated that the potential highest risk is from DDTs, for which 22 sites exceed the effects range low (ERL) values and three sites exceed the effects range median (ERM) value.     

Prediction of half-life for adsorption kinetics in a batch reactor

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Besides adsorption rate constant, the half-life was also a basic factor that described the characteristics of adsorption kinetics. However, the direct...     

Structural regulation of electroplating sludge by a metal–organic framework synthesis method for an enhanced denitrification activity

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Electroplating sludge contained multi-metals and organics. In previous reports, electroplating sludges were usually recycled by direct calcination...     

Improving artificial forest biomass estimates using afforestation age information from time series Landsat stacks

China maintains the largest artificial forest area in the world. Studying the dynamic variation of forest biomass and carbon stock is important to the sustainable use of forest resources and understanding of the artificial forest carbon budget in China. In this study, we investigated the potential of Landsat time series stacks for aboveground biomass (AGB) estimation in Yulin District, a key region of the Three-North Shelter region of China. Firstly, the afforestation age was successfully retrieved from the Landsat time series stacks in the last 40 years (from 1974 to 2013) and shown to be consistent with the surveyed tree ages, with a root-mean-square error (RMSE) value of 4.32 years and a determination coefficient (R ²) of 0.824. Then, the AGB regression models were successfully developed by integrating vegetation indices and tree age. The simple ratio vegetation index (SR) is the best candidate of the commonly used vegetation indices for estimating forest AGB, and the forest AGB model was significantly improved using the combination of SR and tree age, with R ² values from 0.50 to 0.727. Finally, the forest AGB images were mapped at eight epochs from 1985 to 2013 using SR and afforestation age. The total forest AGB in seven counties of Yulin District increased by 20.8 G kg, from 5.8 G kg in 1986 to 26.6 G kg in 2013, a total increase of 360 %. For the persistent forest area since 1974, the forest AGB density increased from 15.72 t/ha in 1986 to 44.53 t/ha in 2013, with an annual rate of about 0.98 t/ha. For the artificial forest planted after 1974, the AGB density increased about 1.03 t/ha a year from 1974 to 2013. The results present a noticeable carbon increment for the planted artificial forest in Yulin District over the last four decades.     

Optimization of bio-drying of kitchen waste: inoculation,initial moisture content and bulking agents

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Bio-drying has been proved to be a promising method for treatment of MSW (municipal solid waste) and sewage sludge due to its high energy...     

Dissipation and residue of triforine in strawberry and soil

Two independent field trials were performed in Guangdong and Hubei, China in 2011 to investigate the dissipation and residue levels of triforine in strawberry and soil. A fast and simple method using gas chromatography with electron capture detector was developed and validated to determine triforine levels in strawberry and soil. The average recovery of triforine in strawberry ranged from 87.46 to 104.32 % with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.72 to 4.54 %; that in soil ranged from 83.82 to 103.01 % with an RSD of 3.89 to 4.36 %. The limit of quantification of the proposed method was 0.01 mg/kg for both strawberry and soil. The results suggest that the triforine dissipation curves followed the first-order kinetic. The half-lives of triforine in strawberry from Guangdong and Hubei were 3.58 and 4.42 days, respectively; those in soil were 3.53 and 4.10 days, respectively. The terminal residues of triforine in strawberry ranged from 0.032 to 0.264 mg/kg at preharvest intervals of 0.5, 1, and 3 days. These values are lower than the maximum residue limit of 1 mg/kg in strawberry set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.     

Bioaccumulation of zinc,lead, copper,and cadmium from contaminated sediments by native plant species and Acrida cinerea in South China

This research was conducted to search and identify spontaneously growing heavy metal-tolerant plant species that are potentially useful for phytoremediation in contaminated sediment. Five sites were selected for collection of plants growing on polluted shore (river bank) sediment of the Xiang River, China. The concentrations of Zn, Pb, Cu and Cd in plants, sediments, and grasshoppers were determined using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS700, Perkin-Elmer, USA). Considering translocation factor and bioaccumulation factor, Rumex crispus (Polygonaceae), Rumex dentatus (Polygonaceae), and Lagopsis supina (Labiatae) could be potentially useful for phytostabilization of metals. R. crispus can be considered potentially useful for phytoextraction of Cd. In light of the biomagnification factors, grasshoppers are deconcentrators for Pb and Cd, microconcentrators for Zn and macroconcentrators for Cu to the plants, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first report on Zn, Pb, Cu and Cd accumulation in R. crispus and L. supina, providing a pioneer contribution to the very small volume of data available on the potential use of native plant species from contaminated sediments in phytostabilization and phytoremediation technologies.     

Analytical methods for microplastics in the environment: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Microplastic pollution is a recently discovered threat to ecosystems requiring the development of new analytical methods. Here, we review classical and advanced...     

Markers of oxidative stress and toxicant exposure among young waterpipe smokers in the USA

Waterpipe (aka hookah) tobacco smokers are exposed to toxicants that can lead to oxidative DNA and RNA damage, a precursor to chronic disease formation. This study assessed toxicant exposure and biomarkers of DNA [8-oxo-7, 8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG)] and RNA [8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine (8-oxoGuo)] oxidative damage during smoking of flavored and non-flavored waterpipe tobacco. Thirty waterpipe smokers completed two counterbalanced 2-h lab waterpipe smoking sessions (flavored vs. non-flavored waterpipe tobacco). Urinary concentrations of 8-oxodG and 8-oxoGuo and expired carbon monoxide (eCO) were measured before and after the smoking sessions. A significant increase in the urinary concentrations of 8-oxodG (from 2.12 ± 0.83 to 2.35 ± 0.91 ng/mg creatinine, p = 0.024) and 8-oxoGuo (from 2.96 ± 0.84 to 3.45 ± 0.76 ng/mg creatinine, p = 0.003) were observed after smoking the non-flavored and flavored waterpipe tobacco, respectively. Our results also showed that the mean ± SD of eCO increased significantly after smoking the flavored (from 1.3 ± 1.1 to 20.3 ± 23.6 ppm, p < 0.001) and non-flavored waterpipe tobacco (from 1.8 ± 1.2 to 24.5 ± 26.1 ppm, p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the means of 8-oxodG (p = 0.576), 8-oxoGuo (p = 0.108), and eCO (p = 0.170) between the flavored and non-flavored tobacco sessions. Smoking non-flavored and flavored waterpipe tobacco leads to oxidative stress and toxicant exposure. Our findings add to the existing evidence about the adverse effects of waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) and the need for strong policies to inform and protect young people from the risks of WTS.

     

Establishment of a comprehensive analysis method for the microfaunal movement in activated sludge

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Microfaunal identification and analysis are very complex; thus, an image analysis method was utilized in this paper to overcome the shortcomings of...