Removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from aqueous solution by raw and modified plant residue materials as biosorbents

Removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs）, e.g., naphthalene, acenaphthene, phenanthrene and pyrene, from aqueous solution by raw and modified plant residues was investigated to develop low cost biosorbents for organic pollutant abatement. Bamboo wood, pine wood, pine needles and pine bark were selected as plant residues, and acid hydrolysis was used as an easily modification method. The raw and modified biosorbents were characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The sorption isotherms of PAHs to raw biosorbents were apparently linear, and were dominated by a partitioning process. In comparison, the isotherms of the hydrolyzed biosorbents displayed nonlinearity, which was controlled by partitioning and the specific interaction mechanism. The sorpfion kinetic curves of PAHs to the raw and modified plant residues fit well with the pseudo second-order kinetics model. The sorption rates were faster for the raw biosorbents than the corresponding hydrolyzed biosorbents, which was attributed to the latter having more condensed domains （i.e., exposed aromatic core）. By the consumption of the amorphous cellulose component under acid hydrolysis, the sorption capability of the hydrolyzed biosorbents was notably enhanced, i.e., 6-18 fold for phenanthrene, 6-8 fold for naphthalene and pyrene and 5-8 fold for acenaphthene. The sorpfion coefficients （Kd） were negatively correlated with the polarity index [（O＋N）/C], and positively correlated with the aromaticity of the biosorbents. For a given biosorbent, a positive linear correlation between logKoc and logKow for different PAHs was observed. Interestingly, the linear plots of logKoc-logKow were parallel for different biosorbents. These observations suggest that the raw and modified plant residues have great potential as biosorbents to remove PAHs from wastewater.     

Aerobic granules cultivated and operated in continuous-flow bioreactor under particle-size selective pressure

A novel method based on the selective pressure of particle size （particle-size cultivation method, PSCM） was developed for the cultivation and operation of aerobic granular sludge in a continuous-flow reactor, and compared with the conventional method based on the selective pressure of settling velocity （settling-velocity cultivation method, SVCM）. Results indicated that aerobic granules could be cultivated in continuous operation mode by this developed method within 14 days. Although in the granulation process, under particle-size selective pressure, mixed liquor suspended solids （MLSS） in the reactor fluctuated greatly and filamentous bacteria dominated the sludge system during the initial operation days, no obvious difference in profile was found between the aerobic granules cultivated by PSCM and SVCM. Moreover, aerobic granules cultivated by PSCM presented larger diameter, lower water content and higher specific rates of nitrification, denitrifieation and phosphorus removal, but lower settling velocity. Under long term operation of more than 30 days, aerobic granules in the continuous-flow reactor could remain stable and obtain good chemical oxygen demand （COD）, NH4^＋-N, total nitrogen （TN） and total phosphorus （TP） removal. The results indicate that PSCM was dependent on the cultivation and maintenance of the stability of aerobic granules in continuous-flow bioreactors.     

Potential bioremediation of mercury-contaminated substrate using filamentous fungi isolated from forest soil

The use of filamentous fungi in bioremediation of heavy metal contamination has been developed recently. This research aims to observe the capability of filamentous fungi isolated from forest soil for bioremediation of mercury contamination in a substrate. Six fungal strains were selected based on their capability to grow in 25 mg/L Hg2+-contaminated potato dextrose agar plates. Fungal strain KRP1 showed the highest ratio of growth diameter, 0.831, thus was chosen for further observation.Identification based on colony and cell morphology carried out by 18S rRNA analysis gave a 98%match to Aspergillus flavus strain KRP1. The fungal characteristics in mercury(Ⅱ) contamination such as range of optimum pH, optimum temperature and tolerance level were 5.5–7 and 25–35℃ and 100 mg/L respectively. The concentration of mercury in the media affected fungal growth during lag phases. The capability of the fungal strain to remove the mercury(Ⅱ) contaminant was evaluated in 100 mL sterile 10 mg/L Hg2+-contaminated potato dextrose broth media in 250 mL Erlenmeyer flasks inoculated with 108spore/mL fungal spore suspension and incubation at 30℃ for 7 days. The mercury(Ⅱ) utilization was observed for flasks shaken in a 130 r/min orbital shaker(shaken) and nonshaken flasks(static) treatments. Flasks containing contaminated media with no fungal spores were also provided as control. All treatments were done in triplicate. The strain was able to remove 97.50%and 98.73% mercury from shaken and static systems respectively. A. flavus strain KRP1 seems to have potential use in bioremediation of aqueous substrates containing mercury(Ⅱ) through a biosorption mechanism.     

Phytoremediation of levonorgestrel in aquatic environment by hydrophytes

Adsorption and degradation of levonorgestrel （LNG） by two hydrophytes, Cyperus alternfolius （CA） and Eichhornia crassipes （EC）, were investigated under light-shielding conditions in the water column. Variations of LNG concentrations in water, plant root epidermis, root, stem and leaf of the plants were analyzed. The results indicated that the removal efficiency of LNG by hydrophytes over the period of 50 days was significantly greater than the blank control （p 〈 0.05）, with the removal rates of 79.80%± 3.10% and 78.86% ± 2.55% for CA and EC, respectively. Compared with bio-adsorption, bio-conversion of LNG was found to be the dominant elimination pathway, evidenced by relatively high conversion rates （77.31% ±2.68% for CA and 77.82% ± 2.95% for EC）, while the adsorption rates were lower （1.77% ± 0.90% for CA and 1.05% ± 0.40% for EC）. The bio-adsorption and conversion of LNG showed no significant differences between the two hydrophytes. Additionally, the mineralization on root epidermis played an important role in the reduction of LNG in water.     

垃圾“零填埋”,路在何方?

<正>垃圾主要指在日常生活中为日常生活提供服务的活动中产生的固体废物。与其他固体废物不同的是,垃圾是我们每个人每一天都要产生和排放的,不可避免地要与我们经常性地发生"亲密接触",处理不当会影响市容、传播疾病和污染环境。正因为     

秸秆生物炭还田对围垦盐碱土壤的低碳化改良

利用芦苇秸秆和其生物炭还田改良围垦盐碱土壤。通过盆栽实验,从改良后土壤的脱盐率、植物的生长情况和生物量以及土壤呼吸和有土壤机碳含量等方面研究和比较了芦苇及其生物炭还田对围垦盐碱土壤的改良效应以及对土壤碳收支的影响。研究结果表明:秸秆和秸秆生物炭改良后土壤的含盐量显著低于空白对照,两者改良后的植物总收获量(干重)基本相同,均显著高于未改良的空白对照,但生物炭还田改良后的土壤呼吸强度显著低于秸秆直接还田,改良后其土壤有机碳含量也高于后者以及空白对照。高度稳定的生物炭还田能有效抵抗微生物的分解作用,因此其土壤微生物总量低于秸秆直接还田,从而导致土壤异养微生物活性较弱,使得生物炭中的碳得以在土壤中长期保存,增加了土壤有机碳含量,降低了土壤呼吸,是一种较低碳的秸秆还田措施。     

污染影响了健康,证据呢？

@大林崔：风险管理,重点是特征污染物。当前环境与健康风险不断加大,环保问题很容易发展为社会问题甚至政治问题,必须通过风险管理,从特征污染物的产生、排放、暴露控制等方面降低其致害风险。@文迪姐姐：制定环境与健康基准,只要有10年以上的数据积累,就完全可以实现。这甚至可以成为地方执政者的绩效考核标准。@绿色水滴2013：近年来,我国突发环境事件持续上升,环境风险比较突出,迫切需要开展环境基准和风险评估研究。@污染的健康很寂静：健康风险管理,核心是风险管理,重点是健康风险评估,要不然又是白忙活。     

污泥浓度对生物海绵铁体系中Fe~0的腐蚀影响研究

通过单因素实验,研究了不同活性污泥浓度对海绵铁体系中铁离子浓度变化的影响。结果表明:随着反应的进行,反应器泥水混合液中Fe(Ⅱ)和TFe浓度在不断升高,与活性污泥浓度成正相关性;pH值也呈现升高趋势,活性污泥浓度越高,pH值变化的越小;试验还发现海绵铁释铁过程包括生物腐蚀和化学腐蚀,生物腐蚀的影响要远远大于化学腐蚀。     

植物性食物中重金属生物可利用性研究进展

重金属生物可利用性是衡量重金属污染对人体危害的重要指标,也是健康风险评价中最为关键的因子。该文以植物性食物中重金属生物可利用性为出发点,综述了国内外有关重金属在土壤、植物以及人体中的生物可利用性最新研究进展,分析了化学提取法、植物指示法和生物模拟法在重金属生物可利用性研究中的应用现状,并提出了未来的研究方向和重点。     

微生物与铀的相互作用及其应用前景

放射性核素铀可能会对周围环境造成长期污染,因此,放射性废物中铀的处理受到了普遍关注。近年来,越来越多的证据表明,放射性核素污染微生物处理法与无机材料处理法同等重要。微生物与铀的相互作用机制主要包括以下几个方面:生物吸附,细胞内的聚积、沉淀和氧化还原转换。目前正在开展的研究旨在阐明从放射性物质贮存相关的各种极端环境中分离获得的菌株与铀之间相互作用的关键过程。对这些能与铀相互作用的细菌有了基本的了解,将有助于放射性废物处理、修复技术的发展及其在环境放射性污染防治中的推广应用。