Could wastewater analysis be a useful tool for China? — A review

Analysingwastewater samples is an innovative approach that overcomesmany limitations of traditional surveys to identify and measure a range of chemicals that were consumed by or exposed to people living in a sewer catchment area. First conceptualised in 2001, much progress has been made to make wastewater analysis (WWA) a reliable and robust tool for measuring chemical consumption and/or exposure. At the moment, the most popular application of WWA, sometimes referred as sewage epidemiology, is to monitor the consumption of illicit drugs in communities around the globe, including China. The approach has been largely adopted by lawenforcement agencies as a device tomonitor the temporal and geographical patterns of drug consumption. In the future, themethodology can be extended to other chemicals including biomarkers of population health (e.g. environmental or oxidative stress biomarkers, lifestyle indicators or medications that are taken by different demographic groups) and pollutants that people are exposed to (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, perfluorinated chemicals, and toxic pesticides). The extension of WWA to a huge range of chemicals may give rise to a field called sewage chemical-information mining (SCIM) with unexplored potentials. China has many densely populated cities with thousands of sewage treatment plants which are favourable for applying WWA/SCIM in order to help relevant authorities gather information about illicit drug consumption and population health status. However, there are some prerequisites and uncertainties of the methodology that should be addressed for SCIM to reach its full potential in China.     

A 1-dodecanethiol-based phase transfer protocol for the highly efficient extraction of noble metal ions from aqueous phase

A 1-dodecanethiol-based phase-transfer protocol is developed for the extraction of noble metal ions from aqueous solution to a hydrocarbon phase, which calls for first mixing the aqueous metal ion solution with an ethanolic solution of 1-dodecanethiol, and then extracting the coordination compounds formed between noble metal ions and 1-dodecanethiol into a non-polar organic solvent. A number of characterization techniques, including inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis demonstrate that this protocol could be applied to extract a wide variety of noble metal ions from water to dichloromethane with an efficiency of >96%, and has high selectivity for the separation of the noble metal ions from other transition metals. It is therefore an attractive alternative for the extraction of noble metals from water, soil, or waste printed circuit boards.     

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 Ca Cl2, 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 after120 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 APR was most effective, although a slight enhancement of water-soluble phosphate was detected at the P:Pb molar 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.     

Do vehicular emissions dominate the source of C6–C8 aromatics in the megacity Shanghai of eastern China?

The characteristic ratios of volatile organic compounds(VOCs) to i-pentane, the indicator of vehicular emissions, were employed to apportion the vehicular and non-vehicular contributions to reactive species in urban Shanghai. Two kinds of tunnel experiments, one tunnel with more than 90% light duty gasoline vehicles and the other with more than 60% light duty diesel vehicles, were carried out to study the characteristic ratios of vehicle-related emissions from December 2009 to January 2010. Based on the experiments, the characteristic ratios of C6–C8aromatics to i-pentane of vehicular emissions were 0.53 ± 0.08(benzene), 0.70 ± 0.12(toluene),0.41 ± 0.09(m,p-xylenes), 0.16 ± 0.04(o-xylene), 0.023 ± 0.011(styrene), and 0.15 ± 0.02(ethylbenzene), respectively. The source apportionment results showed that around 23.3% of C6–C8 aromatics in urban Shanghai were from vehicular emissions, which meant that the non-vehicular emissions had more importance. These findings suggested that emission control of non-vehicular sources, i.e. industrial emissions, should also receive attention in addition to the control of vehicle-related emissions in Shanghai. The chemical removal of VOCs during the transport from emissions to the receptor site had a large impact on the apportionment results. Generally, the overestimation of vehicular contributions would occur when the VOC reaction rate constant with OH radicals(k OH) was larger than that of the vehicular indicator, while for species with smaller k OH than the vehicular indicator, the vehicular contribution would be underestimated by the method of characteristic ratios.     

Effect of AlCl3 concentration on nanoparticle removal by coagulation

In recent years, engineered nanoparticles, as a new group of contaminants emerging in natural water, have been given more attention. In order to understand the behavior of nanoparticles in the conventional water treatment process, three kinds of nanoparticle suspensions, namely multi-walled carbon nanotube-humic acid (MWCNT-HA), multi-walled carbon nanotube-N,N-dimethylformamide (MWCNT-DMF) and nanoTiO₂-humic acid (TiO₂-HA) were employed to investigate their coagulation removal efficiencies with varying aluminum chloride (AlCl₃) concentrations. Results showed that nanoparticle removal rate curves had a reverse “U” shape with increasing concentration of aluminum ion (Al^3 +). More than 90% of nanoparticles could be effectively removed by an appropriate Al^3 + concentration. At higher Al^3 + concentration, nanoparticles would be restabilized. The hydrodynamic particle size of nanoparticles was found to be the crucial factor influencing the effective concentration range (ECR) of Al^3 + for nanoparticle removal. The ECR of Al^3 + followed the order MWCNT-DMF > MWCNT-HA > TiO₂-HA, which is the reverse of the nanoparticle size trend. At a given concentration, smaller nanoparticles carry more surface charges, and thus consume more coagulants for neutralization. Therefore, over-saturation occurred at relatively higher Al^3 + concentration and a wider ECR was obtained. The ECR became broader with increasing pH because of the smaller hydrodynamic particle size of nanoparticles at higher pH values. A high ionic strength of NaCl can also widen the ECR due to its strong potential to compress the electric double layer. It was concluded that it is important to adjust the dose of Al^3 + in the ECR for nanoparticle removal in water treatment.     

Effect of aeration rate on composting of penicillin mycelial dreg

Pilot scale experiments with forced aeration were conducted to estimate effects of aeration rates on the performance of composting penicillin mycelial dreg using sewage sludge as inoculation. Three aeration rates of 0.15, 0.50 and 0.90 L/(min·kg) organic matter(OM) were examined. The principal physicochemical parameters were monitored during the 32 day composting period. Results showed that the higher aeration rate of 0.90 L/(min·kg) did not corresponded to a longer thermophilic duration and higher rates of OM degradation;but the lower aeration rate of 0.15 L/(min·kg) did induce an accumulation of NH+4-N contents due to the inhibition of nitrification. On the other hand, aeration rate has little effect on degradation of penicillin. The results show that the longest phase of thermophilic temperatures ≥ 55°C, the maximum NO-3-N content and seed germination, and the minimum C/N ratio were obtained with 0.50 L/(min·kg) OM. Therefore, aeration rates of0.50 L/(min·kg) OM can be recommended for composting penicillin mycelial dreg.     

基于QSAR和ICE模型的磺胺类药物的水质基准研究

药物水环境污染是一个严重的环境问题,引起了人们越来越多的关注。磺胺类药物是一类广泛使用的药物。文章应用水质毒性快速检测仪测定一系列磺胺类药物的发光菌毒性,建立发光菌毒性QSAR模型,从而解决ICE模型的基准物种毒性数据缺失的问题。基于发光菌毒性测试和QSAR、ICE毒性估算方法获得更多毒性数据,初步推导了保护水生生物的磺胺类化合物的水质基准,并为建立更加具有生态统计学意义的物种敏感性分布(SSD)模型提供一定的数据支撑。同时,结合国内外水环境中磺胺类药物的暴露水平,对我国磺胺类药物的风险水平做了初步评估,其中磺胺甲恶唑、磺胺嘧啶和磺胺喹恶林的风险较高。     

沼气产生菌的低温筛选及其复配研究

采用厌氧培养技术、低温培养技术(8℃)及多种菌群的混合培养技术,分别通过限制性培养基,分离筛选出产甲烷菌(MPB)、纤维素降解菌(FDB)、蛋白酶产生菌(PPB)、硫酸盐还原菌(SRB)以及产氢细菌(HPB),以猪粪、油菜秸秆、牛粪为发酵底物,进行复合发酵沼气试验。结果表明:当MPB、FDB、PPB、SRB、HPB混合比例为4∶3∶3∶1∶2时,甲烷的产量最高,其得率达200.13 m L/L,明显高于未添加复合菌剂时的甲烷产量(仅48.02 m L/L)。     

郑州市环境空气中VOCs的空间分布及源解析

郑州市环境空气中挥发性有机物(VOCs)以芳香烃、醛酮类、烷烃类为主。各类挥发性有机物的年度平均浓度,芳香烃类为131μg/m3、烷烃类为118μg/m3、酮类为84.3μg/m3。年平均浓度最高的化合物为丙酮(66.2μg/m3)、乙醇(27.5μg/m3)、正十一烷(24.4μg/m3)和甲苯(17.2μg/m3)。挥发性有机物浓度在水平方向上的分布特征为城市老区和工业区最高,其他各功能区基本持平,但城市间的挥发性有机物污染分界不明显;高度方向上,40m左右达到浓度峰值;PCA和PMF源解析结果显示,机动车尾气和工业排放为主要污染源,分别占源总量的34%和19%。     

毛皮染色废水工艺的处理效率及微生物群落的影响

毛皮染色废水是一种高盐度、难降解、高污染的工业废水,整个处理环节都对环境生态有潜在的危害。文章采用4种不同废水处理工艺在相似操作运行参数下对毛皮染色废水进行处理,并利用T-RFLP技术观察不同处理工艺下活性污泥中细菌群落的多样性及群落结构的变化。结果表明,在4种处理工艺中,效果最好的是HA-SBR法,其COD、BOD5及NH4+-N的去除率分别可以达到93.75%、94%和93.59%。T-RFLP分析表明处理工艺的不同对细菌群落结构的变化有着较大的决定作用,变形杆菌门(Proteobacteria)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)及拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)是活性污泥中的优势种群,不同处理工艺下微生物群落多样性同NH4+-N浓度关系最为密切。研究还表明,通过添加特定微生物菌剂或调节生化工艺可以增加微生物群落多样性,从而增强污泥体系抗污染物冲击性能,提高处理效果。