Environmental and biological monitoring of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)

This study was conducted to evaluate the usefulness of various biological parameters for monitoring of workers exposed to methyl ethyl ketone (MEK). Fifty male workers from a large magnetic videotape factory participated in this study. Personal air samples were collected using 3M organic vapor monitors and analysed for MEK by gas chromatography with flame ionisation detector (FID). 10 mL of urine; blood (1 mL) and exhaled air were also collected at the end of an 8-hour workshift. The headspace GC method was applied for measurement of urinary and blood MEK. MEK in expired air was analysed directly by using a GC/FID.The correlation coefficients (r) between environmental MEK and all other biological parameters measured show significant positive relationships. The r for environmental MEK and urine MEK was 0.84; for blood 0.73 and for breath 0.64. The correlation coefficients between blood and urine was 0.72; blood and breath was 0.88 and urine and breath 0.60. These findings suggest that measurements of unmetabolised MEK in blood, exhaled air and urine can be used for biological monitoring of MEK exposure. Nevertheless, laboratory methodological assessment is in favour of measuring urinary MEK as it is non-invasive and does not have to be analysed immediately after collection.     

柴油机尾气中PAH_s的分析

本文概述了柴油机尾气中ＰＡＨｓ的分析方法，着重论述了采样及预处理方法，特别对预处理方法进行了深入的探讨。另外，通过对柴油机两种不同工况下产生的尾气进行分析后发现，柴油机转速越高，其排放尾气中ＰＡＨｓ的含量就越低。     

菲和镉单一及复合污染条件下在毛蚶体内的富集动力学研究

采用室内半静态双箱动力学模型实验,研究了菲和镉单一及复合污染条件下在毛蚶(Anadara subcrenata)体内的生物富集,通过对富集与释放过程中毛蚶体内菲和Cd的富集量进行非线性曲线拟合,获得了菲和Cd单一及复合污染条件下在毛蚶体内的吸收速率常数k1、释放速率常数k2、生物富集因子BCF、生物半衰期B1/2和平衡状态下最大富集量CA max等动力学参数。实验结果表明,菲和Cd在实验前期富集速率较高,8 d以后富集速率减缓,释放阶段与富集阶段相似。毛蚶对菲的BCF值为37.80,远大于Cd的BCF值13.12,且生物半衰期时间更长,菲更容易在生物体内富集。菲和Cd联合暴露条件下,在毛蚶体内的CA max和BCF值均大于单一作用,说明二者同时暴露时,毛蚶对菲和镉的吸收富集均有所增强。实验模型拟合度较好,输出值和实测值之间无显著性差异,拟合方程和拟合参数可信。     

Producing biodiesel from waste animal oil by modified ZnO

Biodiesel produced by transesterification of waste animal oil is a promising green fuel in the future. ZnO-Al₂O₃ and ZnO/Zn₂Al composition oxides were prepared by co-precipitation method and impregnation method, respectively. The above catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer--Emmett--Teller (BET) and CO₂ adsorption and temperature-programmed desorption (CO₂-TPD) and show that the high activity for the catalyst is attributed to its high alkalinity. The reaction parameters were optimized and the results show that the transesterification ratio of waste animal oil can reach 98.7% with 10% ZnO/Zn₂Al catalyst after 2 h. Moreover, 10%ZnO/Zn₂Al compound oxides can be active for the successive cycles. The glycerol as a predominant by-product after transesterification is of high purity with high use value.     

Characterization of cattle fecal Streptomyces strains converting cellulose and hemicelluloses into reducing sugars

To characterize Streptomyces isolated from cattle feces for converting lignocellulose into reducing sugars, five Streptomyces strains were screened. All the strains could convert lignocellulose into reducing sugars. The strain A16 accumulate 3.3-folds more reducing sugars on cottonseed shells treated with ethanol than without the treatment (P?<?0.05). The five strains did not accumulate more reducing sugars on rice straws and wheat brans than those on cottonseed shells. Compared with A10 alone, the microbial combination of F1 + A10 accumulated 19, 61, and 25 % less reducing sugars on cottonseed shell, rice straw, and wheat bran than those by A10 solely, respectively (P?<?0.05). Further studies indicated that the activities of avicelase and xylanase were not correlated with the reducing sugar amount accumulated by the test strains. Strain A7 could produce more cellular lipids with xylose and glucose as the sole carbon sources. This study shows the potential for Streptomyces strains from herbivore feces to convert lignocelluloses into lipids and reducing sugars for fuel production.     

Big data analytics capabilities for reinforcing green production and sustainable firm performance: the moderating role of corporate reputation and supply chain innovativeness

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The literature review lacks empirical studies on the role of big data analytics (BDA) and green technological innovation capabilities (GTICs) in...     

Recovery of rare and precious metals from urban mines—A review

Urban mining is essential for continued natural resource extraction. The recovery of rare and precious metals (RPMs) from urban mines has attracted increasing attention from both academic and industrial sectors, because of the broad application and high price of RPMs, and their low content in natural ores. This study summarizes the distribution characteristics of various RPMs in urban mines, and the advantages and shortcomings of various technologies for RPM recovery from urban mines, including both conventional (pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical, and biometallurgical processing), and emerging (electrochemical, supercritical fluid, mechanochemical, and ionic liquids processing) technologies. Mechanical/physical technologies are commonly employed to separate RPMs from nonmetallic components in a pre-treatment process. A pyrometallurgical process is often used for RPM recovery, although the expensive equipment required has limited its use in small and medium-sized enterprises. Hydrometallurgical processing is effective and easy to operate, with high selectivity of target metals and high recovery efficiency of RPMs, compared to pyrometallurgy. Biometallurgy, though, has shown the most promise for leaching RPMs from urban mines, because of its low cost and environmental friendliness. Newly developed technologies—electrochemical, supercritical fluid, ionic liquid, and mechanochemical—have offered new choices and achieved some success in laboratory experiments, especially as efficient and environmentally friendly methods of recycling RPMs. With continuing advances in science and technology, more technologies will no doubt be developed in this field, and be able to contribute to the sustainability of RPM mining.

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微波活化过硫酸钾深度处理印染废水

为了深度处理印染废水生化出水,使其达到工业回用要求,利用微波活化过硫酸钾产生具有强氧化性的硫酸根自由基·SO-4,降解印染废水生化出水中的有机污染物。考察了硫酸亚铁的投加量,过硫酸钾的浓度及pH的影响,并通过对比实验讨论了微波活化作用效果。结果表明,过硫酸钾微波组合能够有效地去除生化出水中的TOC和色度。对于某印染废水生化出水,处理效果在pH=10时最好,当过硫酸钾浓度为14 g/L时,TOC去除率达57.60%,脱色率为98.28%。研究结果表明,过硫酸钾微波组合对于印染废水的深度处理效果良好,有较好的应用前景。     

Accumulation of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the polychaete Paraprionospio sp. from the Yodo River mouth,Osaka Bay,Japan

This study presents the levels of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) accumulated by Paraprionospio sp. from the Yodo River mouth, Osaka Bay. Since high concentrations of nonylphenol (NP), bisphenol A (BP), octylphenol (OP), 17β-estradiol (E2), and estrone (E1) have been measured in sediment from Osaka Bay, some bioaccumulation could be expected particularly in benthic animals. EDCs were analysed in Paraprionospio sp., a dominant benthic species in Osaka Bay. The results showed that Paraprionospio sp. had accumulated varying concentrations (wet weight; w.w.) of NP at 1,460–4,410 ng/g; BP at 22.5–39.6 ng/g; OP at 18.9–45.4 ng/g; E2 at 0.89–4.35 ng/g; and E1 at 0.06–2.50 ng/g. Accumulation of NP and OP were highest among the samples gathered in summer (July 2008), while concentrations of BP, E2, and E1 did not much differs within 3 years. EDC levels in Paraprionospio sp. were apparently greater than those in sediments showing bioaccumulation.