UV/H2O2 oxidation of tri(2-chloroethyl) phosphate: Intermediate products, degradation pathway and toxicity evaluation

Tri(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) with the initial concentration of 5 mg/L was degraded by UV/H₂O₂ oxidation process. The removal rate of TCEP in the UV/H₂O₂ system was 89.1% with the production of Cl^? and PO₄^3? of 0.23 and 0.64 mg/L. The removal rate of total organic carbon of the reaction was 48.8% and the pH reached 3.3 after the reaction. The oxidative degradation process of TCEP in the UV/H₂O₂ system obeyed the first order kinetic reaction with the apparent rate constant of 0.0025 min^?1 (R²=0.9788). The intermediate products were isolated and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer. The addition reaction of HO? and H₂O and the oxidation reaction with H₂O₂ were found during the degradation pathway of 5 mg/L TCEP in the UV/H₂O₂ system. For the first time, environment risk was estimated via the “ecological structure activity relationships” program and acute and chronic toxicity changes of intermediate products were pointed out. The luminescence inhibition rate of photobacterium was used to evaluate the acute toxicity of intermediate products. The results showed that the toxicity of the intermediate products increased with the increase of reaction time, which may be due to the production of chlorine compounds. Some measures should be introduced to the UV/H₂O₂ system to remove the highly toxic Cl-containing compounds, such as a nanofiltration or reverse osmosis unit.     

不同浓度锌处理下水稻幼苗对镉的累积效应

为探究锌（Zn）对水稻镉（Cd）累积的影响及其根表铁膜所发挥的作用,选取Cd高累积型水稻品种中9优547（简称"Z547"）和Cd低累积型水稻品种金优402（简称"J402"）,采用温室水培试验,研究0、2、5、10、15和20 μmol/L等6个Zn浓度下水稻幼苗对Cd的累积效应,以及不同浓度Zn处理对根表铁膜生成量的影响.结果表明:①随着c（Zn）的增加,Z547和J402水稻幼苗生物量均呈先增后减的趋势,分别在c（Zn）为2和10 μmol/L时达到最大值.②Z547和J402水稻幼苗中w（Cd）均呈先降后增的趋势,分别在c（Zn）为5和2 μmol/L时达到最小值;当水稻幼苗中w（Cd）达到最小值时,Z547根和地上部中w（Cd）分别为31.65和11.47 mg/kg,J402根和地上部中w（Cd）分别为22.58和14.36 mg/kg.③不同浓度Zn处理下水稻幼苗各部位中w（Cd）均与根表铁膜中w（Mn）、w（Fe）、w（Fe+Mn）呈显著正相关,高铁膜处理水稻幼苗中w（Cd）显著高于低铁膜处理,表明根表铁膜生成量的增加会促进Cd在水稻幼苗中的累积.研究显示,当c（Zn）较低时,c（Zn）的增加会抑制水稻幼苗对Cd的累积;当c（Zn）较高时,c（Zn）的增加会促进水稻幼苗对Cd的累积,而Zn可通过控制根表铁膜的生成来影响水稻幼苗对Cd的累积.      

On-going nitrification in chloraminated drinking water distribution system (DWDS) is conditioned by hydraulics and disinfection strategies

Within the drinking water distribution system (DWDS) using chloramine as disinfectant, nitrification caused by nitrifying bacteria is increasingly becoming a concern as it poses a great challenge for maintaining water quality. To investigate efficient control strategies, operational conditions including hydraulic regimes and disinfectant scenarios were controlled within a flow cell experimental facility. Two test phases were conducted to investigate the effects on the extent of nitrification of three flow rates (Q = 2, 6, and 10 L/min) and four disinfection scenarios (total Cl₂=1 mg/L, Cl₂/NH₃-N=3:1; total Cl₂=1 mg/L, Cl₂/NH₃-N=5:1; total Cl₂=5 mg/L, Cl₂/NH₃-N=3:1; and total Cl₂=5 mg/L, Cl₂/NH₃-N=5:1). Physico-chemical parameters and nitrification indicators were monitored during the tests. The characteristics of biofilm extracellular polymetric substance (EPS) were evaluated after the experiment. The main results from the study indicate that nitrification is affected by hydraulic conditions and the process tends to be severe when the fluid flow transforms from laminar to turbulent (2300<Re<4000). Increasing disinfectant concentration and optimizing Cl₂/NH₃-N mass ratio were found to inhibit nitrification to some extend when the system was running at turbulent condition (Q = 10 L/min, Re = 5535). EPS extracted from biofilm that was established at the flow rate of 6 L/min had greater carbohydrate/protein ratio. Furthermore, several nitrification indicators were evaluated for their prediction efficiency and the results suggest that the change of nitrite, together with total organic carbon (TOC) and turbidity can indicate nitrification potential efficiently.     

Coupling mechanism of activated carbon mixed with dust for flue gas desulfurization and denitrification

To clarify the effect of coking dust, sintering dust and fly ash on the activity of activated carbon for various industrial flue gas desulfurization and denitrification, the coupling mechanism of the mixed activated carbon and dust was investigated to provide theoretical reference for the stable operation. The results show that coking dust had 34% desulfurization efficiency and 10% denitrification efficiency; correspondingly, sintering dust and fly ash had no obvious desulfurization and denitrification activities. For the mixture of activated carbon and dust, the coking dust reduced the desulfurization and denitrification efficiencies by blocking the pores of activated carbon, and its inhibiting effect on activated carbon was larger than its own desulfurization and denitrification activity. The sintering dust also reduced the desulfurization efficiency on the activated carbon while enhancing the denitrification efficiency. Fly ash blocked the pores of activated carbon and reduced its reaction activity. The reaction activity of coking dust mainly came from the surface functional groups, similar to that of activated carbon. The reaction activity of sintering dust mainly came from the oxidative property of Fe₂O₃, which oxidized NO to NO₂ and promoted the fast selectively catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO to form N₂. Sintering dust was activated by the joint action of activated carbon, and both had a coupling function. Sintering dust enhanced the adsorption and oxidation of NO, and activated carbon further promoted the reduction of NO_x by NH₃; thus, the denitrification efficiency increased by 5%-7% on the activated carbon.     

Photodegradation of Hexafluoropropylene Oxide Trimer Acid under UV Irradiation

As a novel alternative to traditional perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), hexafluoroproplyene oxide trimer acid (HFPO-TA) has been detected worldwide in surface water. Moreover, recent researches have demonstrated that HFPO-TA has stronger bioaccumulation potential and higher hepatotoxicity than PFOA. To treat these contaminants e.g. PFOA and PFOS, some photochemical techniques by adding exogenous substances had been reported. However, there is still no report for the behavior of HFPO-TA itself under direct UV irradiation. The current study investigated the photo-transformation of HFPO-TA under UV irradiation in aqueous solution. After 72 hr photoreaction, 75% degradation ratio and 25% defluorination ratio were achieved under ambient condition. Reducing active species, i.e., hydrated electrons and active hydrogen atoms, generated from water splitting played dominant roles in degradation of HFPO-TA, which was confirmed by different effects of reaction atmospheres and quenching experiments. A possible degradation pathway was proposed based on the products identification and theoretical calculations. In general, HFPO-TA would be transformed into shorter-chain PFASs, including hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA), perfluoropropionic acid (PFA) and trifluoroacetate (TFA). This research provides basic information for HFPO-TA photodegradation process and is essential to develop novel remediation techniques for HFPO-TA and other alternatives with similar structures.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in benthos of the northern Bering Sea Shelf and Chukchi Sea Shelf

Eighteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were detected in benthos collected onboard the ‘Snow Dragon’ in the Northern Bering Sea Shelf and Chukchi Sea Shelf during the 6^th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition (CHINARE 2014). Σ₁₈PAHs for all biota samples ranged from 34.2 to 128.1 ng/g dry weight (dw), with the highest concentration observed in fish muscle (Boreogadus saida) samples close to St. Lawrence Island. The PAH composition pattern was dominated by the presence of lighter 3 ring (57%) and 2 ring (28%) PAHs, indicating oil-related or petrogenic sources as important origins of PAH contamination. Concentrations of alkyl-PAHs (1-methylnaphthalene and 2-methylnaphthalene) were lower than their parent PAH (naphthalene) in all biological tissue, and their percentage also decreased significantly (p<0.05) compared with those in the corresponding sediment. There were no significant relationships between PAH concentrations and trophic levels, which is possibly due to the combined results of the complex benthic foodweb in the subarctic/Arctic shelf region, as well as a low assimilation/effective metabolism for PAHs. According to toxic potency evaluation results from TCDD toxic equivalents (TEQs) and BaP-equivalent (BaPE) values, whelk (Neptunea heros) and starfish (Ctenodiscus crispatus) are two macroinvertebrate species showing relatively higher dioxin-like toxicity and carcinogenic risk.     

Particulate matter exchange between atmosphere and roads surfaces in urban areas

The deposition and the re-suspension of particulate matter (PM) in urban areas are the key processes that contribute not only to stormwater pollution, but also to air pollution. However, investigation of the deposition and the re-suspension of PM is challenging because of the difficulties in distinguishing between the resuspended and the deposited PM. This study created two Bayesian Networks (BN) models to explore the deposition and the re-suspension of PM as well as the important influential factors. The outcomes of BN modelling revealed that deposition and re-suspension of PM10 occurred under both, high-traffic and low-traffic conditions, and the re-suspension of PM2.5 occurred under low-traffic conditions. The deposition of PM10 under low-volume traffic condition is 1.6 times higher than under high-volume traffic condition, which is attributed to the decrease in PM10 caused by relatively higher turbulence under high-volume traffic conditions. PM10 is more easily resuspended from road surfaces compared to PM2.5 as the particles which larger than the thickness of the laminar airflow over the road surface are more easily removed from road surfaces. The increase in wind speed contributes to the increase in PM build-up by transporting particulates from roadside areas to the road surfaces and the airborne PM2.5 and PM10 increases with the increase in relative humidity. The study outcomes provide a step improvement in the understanding of the transfer processes of PM2.5 and PM10 between atmosphere and urban road surfaces, which in turn will contribute to the effective design of mitigation measures for urban stormwater and air pollution.     

Analytical methods and environmental processes of nanoplastics

The degradation of plastic debris may result in the generation of nanoplastics (NPs). Their high specific surface area for the sorption of organic pollutions and toxic heavy metals and possible transfer between organisms at different nutrient levels make the study of NPs an urgent priority. However, there is very limited understanding on the occurrence, distribution, abundant, and fate of NPs in the environment, partially due to the lack of suitable techniques for the separation and identification of NPs from complex environmental matrices. In this review, we first overviewed the state-of-the-art methods for the extraction, separation, identification and quantification of NPs in the environment. Some of them have been successfully applied for the field determination of NPs, while some are borrowed from the detection of microplastics or engineered nanomaterials. Then the possible fate and transport of NPs in the environment are thoroughly described. Although great efforts have been made during the recent years, large knowledge gaps still exist, such as the relatively high detection limit of existing method failing to detect ultralow masses of NPs in the environment, and spherical polystyrene NP models failing to represent the various compositions of NPs with different irregular shapes, which needs further investigation.     

Reviews of emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in Asia

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in the atmosphere play important roles in the formation of ground-level ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in global scale and also in regional scale under some condition due to their large amount and relatively higher reactivity. In places with high plant cover in the tropics and in China where air pollution is serious, the effect of BVOCs on ozone and secondary organic aerosols is strong. The present research aims to provide a comprehensive review about the emission rate, emission inventory, research methods, the influencing factors of BVOCs emissions, as well as their impacts on atmospheric environment quality and human health in recent years in Asia based on the summary and analysis of literatures. It is suggested to use field direct measurement method to obtain the emission rate and model method to calculate the emission amount. Several recommendations are given for future investigation and policy development on BVOCs emission.     

银川市冬季PM2.5重污染特征、来源与成因分析

近年来银川市冬季重污染过程频发,为明确银川市冬季PM_2.5重污染的特征,分析其主要来源及成因,于2016年12月-2017年1月在银川市选取3个采样点开展PM_2.5的样品采集与化学组分分析,利用CMB（化学质量平衡）模型对银川市冬季PM_2.5进行来源解析,对比分析了重污染日与非重污染日污染特征的差异.结果表明:①银川市冬季重污染日ρ（PM_2.5）[（181±33.6）μg/m3]是非重污染日的2.1倍;重污染日和非重污染日的ρ（NO₃-）/ρ（SO₄2-）均小于1,表明燃煤仍是银川市冬季PM_2.5的重要来源.银川市冬季PM_2.5中ρ（SOC）为（14.4±7.34）μg/m3,约占ρ（OC）的65.2%.②与非重污染日相比,重污染日人为源无机元素As、Pb、Cd和Zn质量浓度在ρ（PM_2.5）中的占比分别升高33.2%、18.4%、9.8%和2.9%,表明银川市冬季重污染主要受人为源贡献影响.③源解析结果表明,燃煤源、机动车尾气源、二次离子源和扬尘源是银川市PM_2.5的主要污染源,与非重污染日相比,重污染日机动车尾气源的贡献率明显降低.研究显示,银川市冬季重污染受人为源污染物排放的影响较大,燃煤源是银川市冬季PM_2.5的重要来源.