Organically modified low-grade kaolin as a secondary containment material for underground storage tanks

Batch scale reactions were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of modified low-grade kaolin for the treatment of petroleum contaminants. Low-grade kaolin, which has been unvalued as material in the mining process because of its low quality for commercial products, was modified with HDTMA (hexadecyl-trimethylammonium), and its efficiency was compared with that of HDTMA-modified bentonite, which is used as a secondary containment barrier for underground storage tanks. The sorption capacity and hydraulic conductivity of both the HDTMA-modified bentonite and low-grade kaolin were investigated and showed distribution coefficients in the sorption of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene ranging between 45.7 and 583.7 and 57.0 and 525.1, respectively. The hydraulic conductivities were 2.53 × 10⁻⁸ and 5.62 × 10⁻⁸ cm/s for the HDTMA-modified bentonite and low-grade kaolin, respectively. These results suggest that HDTMA-modified low-grade kaolin could be used as a hydraulic barrier against advection migration of petroleum contaminants. Simulation of the one-dimensional transport of benzene through a liner made of either one of the compounds was also performed. These results also showed that HDTMA-modified kaolin more effectively retards the transport of benzene.     

气相色谱法同时测定苯系物和汽油化合物

气相色谱法具有较高的灵敏度和良好的线性关系。按照EPA QA／QC的要求,将该方法运用于实际样品分析。结果表明。水中汽油检出限为0．04mg／L。水中苯系物检出限为0．003-0．005mg／L,土壤中汽油检出限为0．5mg／kg,土壤中苯系物检出限为0.005-0．008mg／kg。样品加标回收率为97．1％～106．8％。变异系数为2．1％～4．6％,结果令人满意。     

2008~2010年北京城区大气BTEX的浓度水平及其O3 生成潜势

苯、甲苯、乙苯及二甲苯是典型的人为排放有机物,不仅危害人体健康还参与对流层的光化学反应,生成O3和二次有机气溶胶.为认知北京大气中BTEX的浓度水平,评估其O3生成潜势,于2007年12月～2010年11月使用被动采样和化学分析相结合的方法对BTEX和O3浓度进行了连续3 a的同步观测.结果表明,北京城区大气BTEX中甲苯的浓度高达(8.7±3.1)μg·m-3,其次为苯、乙苯和间对二甲苯,浓度分别为(7.1±3.3)、(4.2±1.4)和(3.4±1.5)μg·m-3.BTEX总浓度在春、夏、秋和冬季的平均值分别为(16.8±1.4)、(24.7±2.8)、(25.9±4.9)和(26.8±12.1)μg·m-3,冬季苯的浓度全年最高,而夏季甲苯浓度高于冬季.采用最大增量反应活性方法计算了北京城区大气BTEX夏季O3生成潜势,发现间对二甲苯的贡献最大.北京2008、2009和2010年夏季BTEX的O3生成潜势分别为65.2、60.2和75.7μg·m-3,与O3实际浓度的年际变化趋势一致(同期浓度分别为80.5、65.0和101.9μg·m-3).机动车尾气和溶剂挥发是北京城区大气BTEX的主要来源,冬季苯的浓度可能受取暖燃煤的影响,夏季溶剂挥发对BTEX影响更大,并对O3的生成有一定贡献.     

2009年北京市苯系物污染水平和变化特征

采用Tenax-TA/吸附热解吸、光离子化气相色谱法(GC-PID)对北京市大气中苯系物(BTEX)的小时平均浓度进行了为期1年的观测.结果表明,苯、甲苯、乙苯、间/对-二甲苯和邻二甲苯的年平均浓度分别为:4.43、7.03、2.27、4.18和2.06μg.m-3.苯系物之间具有很好的同源性,其浓度存在明显的日变化和季节变化,这些变化特征与交通尾气排放、采暖期化石燃料燃烧、光化学反应活性等密切相关.苯与甲苯特征比值(B/T)的分析表明,交通尾气排放是北京市大气中苯系物的主要来源,冬季和早春采暖期化石燃料燃烧也是北京市大气中BTEX的重要来源之一.乙苯与二甲苯比值(E/X)的季节变化为:夏季>春季>秋季>冬季,与北京市大气光化学反应活性季节变化趋势相似.2009年北京夏季总苯系物的平均浓度比2004年夏季减少了2/3,表明北京市政府为改善空气质量所采取的一系列控制措施十分有效.     

Anaerobic BTEX degradation in soil bioaugmented with mixed consortia under nitrate reducing conditions

Different concentrations of BTEX, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and three xylene isomers, were added into soil samples to investigate the anaerobic degradation potential by the augmented BTEX-adapted consortia under niwate reducing conditiom. All the BTEX substrates could be anaerobically biodegraded to non-detectable levels within 70 d when the initial concentrations were below 100 mg/kg in soil. Toluene was degraded faster than any other BTEX compounds, and the high-to-low order ofdegradation rates were toluene>ethylbenzene>m. xylene>o-xylene>benzene>P. xylene. Nitrite was accumulated with nitrate reduction. but the accumulation of nitrite had no inhibitory effect on the degradation of BTEX throughout the whole incubation. Indigenous bacteria in tIle soil could enhance the BTEX biodegradation ability of the enriched mixed bacteria. When the six BTEX compounds were simultaneously present in soil, there was no apparent inhibitory effect on their degradation with lower initial concentrations. Alternatively, benzene, o-xylene, and P-xylene degradation were inhibited with higher initial concentrations of 300 mg/kg. Higher BTEX biodegradation rates were observed in soil samples with the addition of sodium acetate compared to the presence of a single BTEX substrate. and the hypothesis of primary-substrate stimulation or cometabolic enhancement of BTEX biodegradation seems likely.     

水体BTEX污染对大型溞和霍普水丝蚓的毒性效应及水环境安全评价

以大型溞(daphnia magna)和霍普水丝蚓(Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri)为受试生物,研究了甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯等苯系物(BTEX)的水生生态毒性效应.结果表明,3种污染物对大型溞和霍普水丝蚓毒性影响呈明显的剂量-效应关系,且毒性作用随暴露时间延长而增加.水体中甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯污染对大型溞的24h EC50分别是172.1、50.1和63.6 mg·L-1,48h EC50分别是136.9、42.9和50.3 mg·L-1;对霍普水丝蚓的24hLC50分别是194.8、71.9和88.0 mg·L-1;48h LC50分别是185.2、46.8和75.6 mg·L-1;96h LC50分别是170.4、38.8和71.9 mg·L-1.根据3种污染物对2种受试生物的毒性试验结果,预测水体中甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯的安全浓度sc分别为13.7、3.9和5.0 mg·L-1,最大允许浓度MPC分别为1.4、0.4和0.5 mg·L-1.     

Anaerobic biodegradation of benzene series compounds by mixed cultures based on optional electronic acceptors

A series of batch experiments were performed using mixed bacterial consortia to investigate biodegradation performance of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and three xylene isomers （BTEX） under nitrate, sulfate and ferric iron reducing conditions. The results showed that toluene, ethylbenzene, m-xylene and o-xylene could be degraded independently by the mixed cultures coupled to nitrate, sulfate and ferric iron reduction. Under ferric iron reducing conditions the biodegradation of benzene and p-xylene could be occurred only in the presence of other alkylbenzenes. Alkylbenzenes can serve as the primary subs＇rates to stimulate the transformation of benzene and p-xylene under anaerobic conditions. Benzene and p-xylene are more toxic than toluene and ethylbenzene, under the three terminal electron acceptors conditions, the degradation rates decreased with toluene 〉 ethylbenzene 〉 m-xylene 〉 o-xylene〉 benzene 〉 p- xylene. Nitrate was a more favorable electron acceptor compared to sulfate and ferric iron. The ratio between sulfate consumed and the loss of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, m-xylene, p-xylene was 4.44, 4.51, 4.42, 4.32, 4.37 and 4.23, respectively; the ratio between nitrate consumed and the loss of these substrates was 7.53, 6.24, 6.49, 7.28, 7.81, 7.61, respectively; the ratio between the consumption of ferric iron and the loss of toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, m-xylene was 17.99, 18.04, 18.07, 17.97, respectively.     

Levels, sources and health risks of carbonyls and BTEX in the ambient air of Beijing, China

The atmospheric concentrations of carbonyls and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m,p-xylene and o-xylene) were measured simultaneously at a same sampling site in Beijing from September 2008 to August 2010. The average concentrations of the total measured carbonyls during autumn, winter, spring, and summer were 37.7, 31.3, 39.7, 50.5 μg/m³, respectively, and maximal values for their diurnal variations usually happened at noontime. In contrast to carbonyls, the average concentrations of the total measured BTEX during the four seasons were 27.2, 31.9, 23.2, 19.1 μg/m³, respectively, and minimal values for their diurnal variations always occurred in the early afternoon. The average concentration for carbonyls increased about 24% from September 2008-August 2009 to September 2009-August 2010, for BTEX, increased about 15%. Integrated life time cancer risks for three carcinogens (benzene, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde) in Beijing exceeded the value of 1E-06, and the hazard quotient (HQ) of non-cancer risk of exposure to formaldehyde exceeded unity.     

Characterization of volatile organic compounds in the urban area of Beijing from 2000 to 2007

Beijing is one of the most polluted cities in the world. In this study, the long-term and continuous measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the urban area of Beijing, specifically at Beijing 325 m Meteorological Tower, were conducted from 2000 to 2007. The annual record of VOC trends exhibited in two different phases was separated in 2003. Records show that VOC concentrations increased from 2000 to 2003 due to the abrupt increase in vehicle number. Contrarily, since 2003, there had been a decrease in VOCs concentrations as the policy on gasoline and air pollution was implemented. Toluene, benzene, and i-pentane are the chemicals that abound in and are directly related to vehicle activity, such as in vehicle exhaust and gasoline evaporation. Furthermore, records indicate that there had been seasonal variation in VOCs levels in that VOCs level in summer is higher than that in winter. As such, temperature is considered to significantly contribute to VOCs in Beijing. Records also show that VOCs level was high in the morning and during rush hours in the evening. In contrast, VOCs level was low during midday due to photochemical destruction with OH radical and dilution effect. In this study, a particular benzene to toluene ratio range (0.4-1.0) was used as the indicator of air propelled by vehicular exhaust. We also applied the correlation coefficients between BTEX and i-pentane to evaluate evaporation influence to ambient BTEX in the Beijing urban area.     

苯高效降解菌群富集及其降解机理研究

微生物绿色、低耗、原位修复去除污染土壤与地下水中可降解污染物日益受到关注.本研究从江苏某农药厂苯系物污染土壤中以苯为唯一碳源富集获得苯降解菌群.在28℃、pH=8.0、添加100 mg·L^-1酵母粉条件下,该菌群在6 h内完全降解100 mg·L^-1的苯,利用Q-TOF解析出苯酚和邻苯二酚等主要代谢产物,并通过PCR扩增出苯酚单加氧酶基因（GenBank登录号：MW388722）.该菌群30 h内可完全降解30 mg·L^-1的苯、甲苯和乙苯混合物,高通量测序结果显示该菌群主要含有Cupriavidus、Arthrobacter、Dyella、Corynebacterium、Microbacterium等菌属,其中Cupriavidus为优势菌,菌群群落结构稳定且可高效降解苯,具有潜在的应用前景.