Pollution levels and characteristics of phthalate esters in indoor air of offices

The pollution status and characteristics of PAEs (phthalate esters) were investigated in indoor air of offices, and PAEs of both gas-phase and particulate-phase were detected in all the samples. The concentration (sum of the gas phase and the particulate phase) was 4748.24 ng/m³, ranging between 3070.09 and 6700.14 ng/m³. Diethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate were the most abundant compounds, together accounting for 70% of the Σ6PAEs. Dividing the particulate-phase PAEs into four size ranges (<2.5, 2.5-5, 5-10, >10 μm), the result indicated that PAEs in PM_2.5 were the most abundant, with the proportion of 72.64%. In addition, the PAE concentration in PM_2.5 correlated significantly with the total particulate-phase PAEs (R² = 0.85). Thus, the amount of PAEs in PM_2.5 can be estimated from the total amount of particulate-phase PAEs using this proportion. In a comparison between the offices and a newly decorated study room, it was found that pollution characteristics were similar between these two places. Thus, it is implied that the PAE concentration decreased by 50% 2 yr after decorating.     

电沉积处理含镉废水的性能研究

电沉积含镉废水考察溶液的不同初始p H、镉的不同初始浓度、电流密度及金属配合物对电沉积效果的影响,利用SEM和XRD对沉积物的表面形貌和物相成分进行分析,研究沉积物金属的存在形式。实验结果表明,p H在1.5~3.5时,溶液中镉的去除效果达到99.3%;一级动力学常数随着初始镉溶液浓度增加而变大;当电流密度为4.46 m A/cm2进行90 min电沉积时反应速率较快且沉积量最大;氨水与镉形成的配合物可以促进电沉积镉的反应速率;对电沉积后的沉积物进行扫描电镜(SEM)和X-射线衍射(XRD)测试。SEM表明,沉积物呈现树枝状的纳米结构。XRD表明,沉积物主要成分为氢氧化镉和镉。     

黄姜皂素废酸液在均相离子膜中渗析规律的研究

为了研究皂素水解废液在离子交换膜中的渗析规律,实验考察了废液中电导率、含盐量、氢离子浓度、硫酸盐浓度、Ca离子浓度、Mg离子浓度和有机物浓度随渗析时间的关系。研究结果表明:渗析时间进行100 h后,处理效果达到稳定状态;废液与渗析液的电导率几乎相等;含盐量、H+浓度、SO2-4浓度的分离效率分别为71%、62%、78%;Ca去除效果优于Mg去除效果;大部分有机物无法通过离子交换膜。     

铁碳微电解法预处理猪场沼液中氨氮的研究

铁碳微电解是新型的污水处理技术,为了研究猪场沼液中氨氮的去除,将铁碳微电解技术应用于预处理难降解的厌氧沼液中的氨氮。经预先浸泡处理后的铁碳已达到吸附饱和,以此铁碳材料,分别采用了单因素实验和正交试验,用可见光分光光度法测试氨氮的浓度。单因素实验确定了铁碳微电解法影响氨氮去除的因素,选取pH值、反应时间、铁碳比为正交试验因素,通过正交试验得到,当温度为(20±1)℃,铁碳比为1∶1,pH值为3,反应时间为60 min时去除氨氮的效果最好,去除率为34.01%。铁碳微电解法预处理猪场沼液有一定的应用前景。     

Applying a new method for direct collection,volume quantification and determination of N2 emission from water

The emission of N2 is important to remove excess N from lakes, ponds, and wetlands. To investigate the gas emission from water, Gao et al.(2013) developed a new method using a bubble trap device to collect gas samples from waters. However, the determination accuracy of sampling volume and gas component concentration was still debatable. In this study, the method was optimized for in situ sampling, accurate volume measurement and direct injection to a gas chromatograph for the analysis of N2 and other gases. By the optimized new method, the recovery rate for N2 was 100.28% on average; the mean coefficient of determination(R2) was 0.9997; the limit of detection was 0.02%. We further assessed the effects of the new method, bottle full of water, vs. vacuum bag and vacuum vial methods, on variations of N2 concentration as influenced by sample storage times of 1,2, 3, 5, and 7 days at constant temperature of 15°C, using indices of averaged relative peak area(%) in comparison with the averaged relative peak area of each method at 0 day.The indices of the bottle full of water method were the lowest(99.5%–108.5%) compared to the indices of vacuum bag and vacuum vial methods(119%–217%). Meanwhile, the gas chromatograph determination of other gas components(O2, CH4, and N2O) was also accurate. The new method was an alternative way to investigate N2 released from various kinds of aquatic ecosystems.     

Applying a new method for direct collection, volume quantification and determination of N2 emission from water

The emission of N₂ is important to remove excess N from lakes, ponds, and wetlands. To investigate the gas emission from water, Gao et al. (2013) developed a new method using a bubble trap device to collect gas samples from waters. However, the determination accuracy of sampling volume and gas component concentration was still debatable. In this study, the method was optimized for in situ sampling, accurate volume measurement and direct injection to a gas chromatograph for the analysis of N₂ and other gases. By the optimized new method, the recovery rate for N₂ was 100.28% on average; the mean coefficient of determination (R²) was 0.9997; the limit of detection was 0.02%. We further assessed the effects of the new method, bottle full of water, vs. vacuum bag and vacuum vial methods, on variations of N₂ concentration as influenced by sample storage times of 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 days at constant temperature of 15°C, using indices of averaged relative peak area (%) in comparison with the averaged relative peak area of each method at 0 day. The indices of the bottle full of water method were the lowest (99.5%-108.5%) compared to the indices of vacuum bag and vacuum vial methods (119%-217%). Meanwhile, the gas chromatograph determination of other gas components (O₂, CH₄, and N₂O) was also accurate. The new method was an alternative way to investigate N₂ released from various kinds of aquatic ecosystems.     

Preparation of steel slag porous sound-absorbing material using coal powder as pore former

The aim of the study was to prepare a porous sound-absorbing material using steel slag and fly ash as the main raw material, with coal powder and sodium silicate used as a pore former and binder respectively. The influence of the experimental conditions such as the ratio of fly ash, sintering temperature, sintering time, and porosity regulation on the performance of the porous sound-absorbing material was investigated. The results showed that the specimens prepared by this method had high sound absorption performance and good mechanical properties, and the noise reduction coefficient and compressive strength could reach 0.50 and 6.5 MPa, respectively. The compressive strength increased when the dosage of fly ash and sintering temperature were raised. The noise reduction coefficient decreased with increasing ratio of fly ash and reducing pore former, and first increased and then decreased with the increase of sintering temperature and time. The optimum preparation conditions for the porous sound-absorbing material were a proportion of fly ash of 50% (wt.%), percentage of coal powder of 30% (wt.%), sintering temperature of 1130°C, and sintering time of 6.0 hr, which were determined by analyzing the properties of the sound-absorbing material.     

Pollution levels and characteristics of phthalate esters in indoor air in hospitals

The concentrations of phthalate esters(PAEs) in Chinese hospitals were investigated by simultaneously determining concentrations of gas- and particle-phase PAEs. PAEs were detected in two third-class first-grade hospitals, two second-class first-grade hospitals, and a community health service center. Hospital drugstores had the highest concentration(24.19 μg/m3), which was 1.54 times that of newly decorated houses. The second highest concentration was found in the transfusion rooms, averaging 21.89 μg/m3; this was followed by the concentrations of PAEs in the nurse's workstations, the wards, and the doctor's offices, with mean concentrations of 20.66, 20.0, and 16.92 μg/m3, respectively. The lowest concentrations were found in the hallways(16.30 μg/m3). Of the six different kinds of PAEs found, major pollutants included diethyl phthalates, dibutyl phthalates, butylbenzyl phthalates and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalates, comprising more than 80% of all PAEs present.Meanwhile, a comparison between different wards showed that PAE concentrations in the maternity wards were 1.63 times higher than in the main wards. Based on known health hazards, our results suggest that the PAEs seriously influence the health of the pregnant women and babies; therefore, it is of great importance to take the phthalate concentrations in hospitals into consideration. In addition, hospital indoor air was more seriously contaminated than the air of newly decorated houses.     

Mercury adsorption characteristics of HBr-modified fly ash in an entrained-flow reactor

In this study, the mercury adsorption characteristics of HBr-modified fly ash in an entrained-flow reactor were investigated through thermal decomposition methods. The results show that the mercury adsorption performance of the HBr-modified fly ash was enhanced significantly. The mercury species adsorbed by unmodified fly ash were HgCl₂, HgS and HgO. The mercury adsorbed by HBr-modified fly ash, in the entrained-flow reactor, existed in two forms, HgBr₂ and HgO, and the HBr was the dominant factor promoting oxidation of elemental mercury in the entrained-flow reactor. In the current study, the concentration of HgBr₂ and HgO in ash from the fine ash vessel was 4.6 times greater than for ash from the coarse ash vessel. The fine ash had better mercury adsorption performance than coarse ash, which is most likely due to the higher specific surface area and longer residence time.     

Composition and source apportionment of dust fall around a natural lake

The aim of this study was to determine the source apportionment of dust fall around Lake Chini, Malaysia. Samples were collected monthly between December 2012 and March2013 at seven sampling stations located around Lake Chini. The samples were filtered to separate the dissolved and undissolved solids. The ionic compositions(NO-3, SO2-4, Cl-and NH+4) were determined using ion chromatography(IC) while major elements(K, Na, Ca and Mg) and trace metals(Zn, Fe, Al, Ni, Mn, Cr, Pb and Cd) were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS). The results showed that the average concentration of total solids around Lake Chini was 93.49 ± 16.16 mg/(m2·day). SO2-4, Na and Zn dominated the dissolved portion of the dust fall. The enrichment factors(EF) revealed that the source of the trace metals and major elements in the rain water was anthropogenic, except for Fe. Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis(HACA) classified the seven monitoring stations and 16 variables into five groups and three groups respectively. A coupled receptor model, principal component analysis multiple linear regression(PCA-MLR), revealed that the sources of dust fall in Lake Chini were dominated by agricultural and biomass burning(42%),followed by the earth's crust(28%), sea spray(16%) and a mixture of soil dust and vehicle emissions(14%).