Immobilization of lead in anthropogenic contaminated soils using phosphates with/without oxalic acid

Understanding the effects of oxalic acid (OA) on the immobilization of Pb(II) in contaminated soils by phosphate materials, has considerable benefits for risk assessment and remediation strategies for the soil. A series of phosphate amendments with/without oxalic acid were applied to two anthropogenic contaminated soils. We investigated the immobilization of Pb(II) by KH₂PO₄, phosphate rock (PR), activated phosphate rock (APR) and synthetic hydroxyapatite (HAP) at different phosphate:Pb (P:Pb) molar ratios (0, 0.6, 2.0 and 4.0) in the presence/absence of 50 mmol oxalic acid/kg soil, respectively. The effects of treatments were evaluated using single extraction with deionized water or CaCl₂, Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) sequential extraction and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) methods. Our results showed that the concentration of water extractable, exchangeable and TCLP-Pb all decreased with incubation time. The concentration of water-extractable Pb after 120 days was reduced by 100% when soils were amended with APR, HAP and HAP + OA, and the TCLP-Pb was < 5 mg/L for the red soil at P:Pb molar ratio 4.0.Water-soluble Pb could not be detected and the TCLP-Pb was < 5 mg/L at all treatments applied to the yellow-brown soil. BCR results indicated that APRwasmost effective, although a slight enhancement of water-soluble phosphate was detected at the P:Pbmolar ratio 4.0 at the beginning of incubation. Oxalic acid activated phosphates, and so mixing insoluble phosphates with oxalic acid may be a useful strategy to improve their effectiveness in reducing Pb bioavailability.     

Sources and characteristics of fine particles over the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea using online single particle aerosol mass spectrometer

Marine aerosols over the East China Seas are heavily polluted by continental sources. During the Chinese Comprehensive Ocean Experiment in November 2012, size and mass spectra of individual atmospheric particles in the size range from 0.2 to 2.0 μm weremeasured onboardby a single particle aerosol mass spectrometer (SPAMS). The average hourly particle number (PN) was around 4560 ± 3240 in the South Yellow Sea (SYS), 2900 ± 3970 in the North Yellow Sea (NYS), and 1700 ± 2220 in the Bohai Sea (BS). PN in NYS and BS varied greatly over 3 orders of magnitude, while that in SYS varied slightly. The size distributions were fitted with two log-normal modes. Accumulation mode dominated in NYS and BS, especially during episodic periods. Coarse mode particles played an important role in SYS. Particles were classified using an adaptive resonance theory based neural network algorithm (ART-2a). Six particle types were identified with secondary-containing, aged sea-salt, soot-like, biomass burning, fresh sea-salt, and lead-containing particles accounting for 32%, 21%, 18%, 16%, 4%, and 3% of total PN, respectively. Aerosols in BS were relatively enriched in particles from anthropogenic sources compared to SYS, probably due to emissions from more developed upwind regions and indicating stronger influence of continental outflowonmarine environment. Variation of source types dependedmainly on origins of transported air masses. This study examined rapid changes in PN, size distribution and source types of fine particles in marine atmospheres. It also demonstrated the effectiveness of high-time-resolution source apportionment by ART-2a.     

Individual particle analysis of aerosols collected at Lhasa City in the Tibetan Plateau

To understand the composition and major sources of aerosol particles in Lhasa City on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), individual particles were collected from 2 February to 8 March, 2013 in Tibet University. The mean concentrations of both PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ during the sampling were 25.7 ± 21.7 and 57.2 ± 46.7 μg/m³, respectively, much lower than those of other cities in East and South Asia, but higher than those in the remote region in TP like Nam Co, indicating minor urban pollution. Combining the observations with the meteorological parameters and back trajectory analysis, it was concluded that local sources controlled the pollution during the sampling. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) combined with energydispersive X-ray spectra (EDS) was used to study 408 particles sampled on four days. Based on the EDS analysis, a total of 8 different particle categories were classified for all 408 particles, including Si-rich, Ca-rich, soot, K-rich, Fe-rich, Pb-rich, Al-rich and other particles. The dominant elements were Si, Al and Ca, which were mainly attributed to mineral dust in the earth's crust such as feldspar and clay. Fe-, Pb-, K-, Al-rich particles and soot mainly originated from anthropogenic sources like firework combustion and biomass burning during the sampling. During the sampling, the pollution mainly came from mineral dust, while the celebration ceremony and religious ritual produced a large quantity of anthropogenic metal-bearing particles on 9 and 25 February 2013. Cement particles also had a minor influence. The data obtained in this study can be useful for developing pollution control strategies.     

Effect of chlorine content of chlorophenols on their adsorption by mesoporous SBA-15

Studies on the effect of the chlorine content of chlorophenols (CPs) on their adsorption from aqueous solution by mesoporous SBA-15 are important in understanding the mechanisms of CP adsorption. In this study, three CPs with different degrees of chlorine content (i.e., 2-chlorophenol, 2,6-dichlorophenol and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol) were investigated. The effects of parameters such as temperature and solution pH were studied. The results showed that CP adsorption by SBA-15 increased with increasing number of chlorine substituents and depended strongly on the temperature and solution pH. Thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy change (ΔG⁰), enthalpy change (ΔH⁰) and entropy change (ΔS⁰) were also calculated. By comparison of the adsorption coefficient of CPs with varying physical-chemical properties (size, hydrophobicity and electron density), we propose that hydrophobic interactions between CPs and the SBA-15 surface, as well as electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complexes between oxygen of the siloxane surface of SBA-15 (e^--donor) and the πup-system of the CPs (e^--acceptor), were dominant adsorption mechanisms.     

铁还原环境四氯乙烯生物降解及其影响因素

通过实验研究了铁还原环境下四氯乙烯(PCE)的生物降解。以醋酸为共代谢基质,在20℃时,PCE可以顺序脱氯为TCE和DCEs。反应速率常数为0.2489d-1,半衰期为2.78d。在实验的第1天和第10天分别检测到了TCE和DCEs。TCE最高浓度为358.98nmol/L,是最主要的反应产物。碳平衡为88.7%～109.3%。在13d的实验周期中,微生物的数量和活性都有所增加。同时研究了不同的影响因素,如低温、不同pH和电子受体对PCE生物降解的影响。结果表明,在12℃时,PCE可以脱氯为TCE,半衰期为6.45d,降解速率为0.1075d-1,较20℃时的降解速率要低。脱氯的最佳pH值在7.0左右,较高和较低的pH值均会抑制脱氯微生物的活性。加入不同电子受体NO3-和SO42-,PCE脱氯受到不同程度的抑制,前者可能是由于NO3-是相对强的氧化剂,造成微环境中的氧化还原电位升高;后者则可能是SO42-的存在,会抑制脱氯菌的作用。     

太湖水中微囊藻毒素的测定及其分布特征

为了调查太湖水体中微囊藻毒素的污染程度,运用固相萃取-高效液相色谱技术测定了微囊藻毒素(MC-RR,MC-LR)的含量水平。该方法线性范围0.2～5 mg/L,相关系数大于0.99,2种藻毒素的最低检测限分别为0.05μg/L(MC-RR)和0.048μg/L(MC-LR)。结果表明,夏季太湖水体中MCs总体含量高于冬季;微囊藻毒素MC-LR的含量大于MC-RR。总体上看来,太湖北部(梅梁湾)水域中藻毒素的污染比其它区域水体严重。     

预处理方式对氧化-还原联合技术修复硝基苯污染地下水的影响

为了探究氧化与还原预处理对氧化-还原联合技术修复硝基苯污染地下水的影响,选取2,4-DNT（2,4-二硝基甲苯）为研究对象,构建过硫酸盐/铁炭修复技术体系,分别设置2个试验槽,一个试验槽以过硫酸盐作为氧化预处理联合以铁炭作为还原后处理,另一个试验槽以铁炭作为还原预处理联合以过硫酸盐作为氧化后处理,对比研究构建的氧化-还原联合系统中不同氧化与还原预处理方式对2,4-DNT去除机制的影响.结果表明:①过硫酸盐氧化材料填充位置显著影响试验槽pH和ORP（氧化还原电位）的变化,在运行周期5 PV（PV为孔隙体积,1 PV时间约为4 h）内,pH可显著增至11左右,ORP值达到最高.②在运行周期5 PV内,氧化填充层S₂O₈2-浓度和还原填充层Fe2+浓度均显著降低.③在运行周期5 PV内,随运行周期的增加,以过硫酸盐作为氧化预处理联合以铁炭作为还原后处理的协同技术体系对2,4-DNT的去除效果显著降低,以铁炭作为还原预处理联合以过硫酸盐作为氧化后处理的协同技术体系对2,4-DNT的去除率维持在100%.④通过液相-质谱联用技术,识别构建的氧化-还原联合技术体系内2,4-DNT降解的主要中间产物,同时结合铁炭微电解还原机制和过硫酸盐氧化机制提出了2,4-DNT协同处理机制及其可能的降解路径.研究显示,还原预处理更有利于氧化-还原联合技术对地下水中2,4-DNT的去除,可为有效处理硝基苯化合物污染地下水提供理论支撑.      

Multiresidue determination and potential risks of emerging pesticides in aquatic products from Northeast China by LC–MS/MS

A simple method for determining 33 pesticides with a wide polarity range(log Kow0.6-4.5) in aquatic products was developed based on LC–MS/MS. The target analytes included three types of widely used pesticides: insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. Based on the optimization of ultrasonic assisted extraction and GPC clean-up procedures, the matrix effect, extraction recoveries and LOD were improved distinctively. LOQ of this method was below 0.5 ng/g for all pesticides, which is superior to values in the literature, and the matrix effect was reduced effectively(-14.7% to 7.5%). The method was successfully applied to investigate the pesticide residue levels of twenty-five samples including seven common kinds of fishes from Northeast China. The results showed that all targeted pesticides were present in the fish samples; however, their levels were low, except for atrazine, linuron,ethoprophos, tetrachlorvinphos, acetochlor and fenthion. Atrazine and linuron caught our attention because the concentrations of atrazine in fish samples from Liaoning province were in the range of 0.5-8 ng/g(w/w) with mean concentration of 2.3 ng/g, which were far above those of other pesticides. The levels of linuron were in the range of 0.6-6 ng/g(mean concentration 2.8 ng/g), which were the highest among all targeted pesticides in the Inner Mongolia. This is the first systematic investigation on the characteristics and levels of these pesticides in aquatic products from northeast China. Considering their toxicity and bioaccumulation, the potential risk of atrazine and linuron from consuming aquatic products should be paid more attention.     

Observations of atmospheric pollutants at Lhasa during 2014–2015: Pollution status and the influence of meteorological factors

Atmospheric pollutants including SO₂, NO₂, CO, O₃ and inhalable particulate matter (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) were monitored continuously from March 2014 to February 2015 to investigate characteristics of air pollution at Lhasa, Tibetan Plateau. Species exhibited similar seasonal variations except O₃, with the peaks in winter but low valleys in summer. The maximum O₃ concentration was observed in spring, followed by summer, autumn, and winter. The positive correlation between O₃ and PM₁₀ in spring indicated similar sources of them, and was assumed to be turbulent transport. Temperature was the dominant meteorological factor for most species in spring. High temperature accelerates O₃ photochemistry, and favors air disturbance which is conductive to dust resuspension in spring. Relative humidity (RH) and atmospheric pressure were the main meteorological factors in summer. RH showed negative correlations with species, while atmospheric pressure posed opposite situation. Wind speed (WS) was the dominant meteorological factor in autumn, the negative correlations between WS and species indicated diffusion by wind. Most species showed non-significant correlations with meteorological factors in winter, indicating the dependence of pollution on source emission rather than restriction by meteorology. Pollution weather character indicated that emissions were from biomass burning and dust suspension, and meteorological factors also played an important role. Air stream injection from the stratosphere was observed during O₃ pollution period. Air parcels from Southwest Asia were observed during air pollution period in winter. An enhancement in air pollutants such as O₃ would be expected in the future, more attention should be given to countermeasures for prevention of air pollution in the future.     

Inhibition of thrombin by functionalized C60 nanoparticles revealed via in vitro assays and in silico studies

The studies on the human toxicity of nanoparticles (NPs) are far behind the rapid development of engineered functionalized NPs. Fullerene has been widely used as drug carrier skeleton due to its reported low risk. However, different from other kinds of NPs, fullerene-based NPs (C₆₀ NPs) have been found to have an anticoagulation effect, although the potential target is still unknown. In the study, both experimental and computational methods were adopted to gain mechanistic insight into the modulation of thrombin activity by nine kinds of C₆₀ NPs with diverse surface chemistry properties. In vitro enzyme activity assays showed that all tested surface-modified C₆₀ NPs exhibited thrombin inhibition ability. Kinetic studies coupled with competitive testing using 3 known inhibitors indicated that six of the C₆₀ NPs, of greater hydrophobicity and hydrogen bond (HB) donor acidity or acceptor basicity, acted as competitive inhibitors of thrombin by directly interacting with the active site of thrombin. A simple quantitative nanostructure-activity relationship model relating the surface substituent properties to the inhibition potential was then established for the six competitive inhibitors. Molecular docking analysis revealed that the intermolecular HB interactions were important for the specific binding of C₆₀ NPs to the active site canyon, while the additional stability provided by the surface groups through van der Waals interaction also play a key role in the thrombin binding affinity of the NPs. Our results suggest that thrombin is a possible target of the surface-functionalized C₆₀ NPs relevant to their anticoagulation effect.