Health impacts of air pollution in China

•Impacts of air pollution on various body systems health in China were highlighted. •China’s actions to control air pollution and their effects were briefly introduced. •Challenges and perspectives of the health effects of air pollution are provided. The health effects of air pollution have attracted considerable attention in China. In this review, the status of air pollution in China is briefly presented. The impacts of air pollution on the health of the respiratory system, the circulatory system, the nervous system, the digestive system, the urinary system, pregnancy and life expectancy are highlighted. Additionally, China’s actions to control air pollution and their effects are briefly introduced. Finally, the challenges and perspectives of the health effects of air pollution are provided. We believe that this review will provide a promising perspective on the health impacts of air pollution in China, and further elicit more attention from governments and researchers worldwide.     

Transparent exopolymer particles (TEPs)-associated protobiofilm: A neglected contributor to biofouling during membrane filtration

• Bacteria could easily and quickly attached onto TEP to form protobiofilms. • TEP-protobiofilm facilitate the transport of bacteria to membrane surface. • More significant flux decline was observed in the presence of TEP-protobiofilms. • Membrane fouling shows higher sensitivity to protobiofilm not to bacteria level. Transparent exopolymer particles (TEPs) are a class of transparent gel-like polysaccharides, which have been widely detected in almost every kind of feed water to membrane systems, including freshwater, seawater and wastewater. Although TEP have been thought to be related to the membrane fouling, little information is currently available for their influential mechanisms and the pertinence to biofouling development. The present study, thus, aims to explore the impact of TEPs on biofouling development during ultrafiltration. TEP samples were inoculated with bacteria for several hours before filtration and the formation of “protobiofilm” (pre-colonized TEP by bacteria) was examined and its influence on biofouling was determined. It was observed that the bacteria can easily and quickly attach onto TEPs and form protobiofilms. Ultrafiltration experiments further revealed that TEP-protobiofilms served as carriers which facilitated and accelerated transport of bacteria to membrane surface, leading to rapid development of biofouling on the ultrafiltration membrane surfaces. Moreover, compared to the feed water containing independent bacteria and TEPs, more flux decline was observed with TEP-protobiofilms. Consequently, it appeared from this study that TEP-protobiofilms play a vital role in the development of membrane biofouling, but unfortunately, this phenomenon has been often overlooked in the literature. Obviously, these findings in turn may also challenge the current understanding of organic fouling and biofouling as membrane fouling caused by TEP-protobiofilm is a combination of both. It is expected that this study might promote further research in general membrane fouling mechanisms and the development of an effective mitigation strategy.     

高氯酸铁可见分光光度法测定水中叠氮化物研究

基于Fe~(3+)显色技术,建立了测定地表水、地下水、生活污水和工业废水中叠氮化物的高氯酸铁分光光度法。研究结果表明:N_3~-与Fe~(3+)反应生成的棕红色络合物的特征吸收峰为454 nm;氨基磺酸铵可有效掩蔽NO_2~-的干扰,蒸馏能消除色度、CN~-、SCN~-硫化物等对测定的影响;当取样体积为150 mL、蒸馏定容体积为100 mL、使用10 mm比色皿时,方法检出限为0.08 mg/L(以N_3~-计),测定下限为0.32 mg/L;平均回收率为88.0%~104%,相对标准偏差(n=6)为0.3%～5.6%。对实际工业废水样品进行了测定,结果为1.37 mg/L。该方法准确度高、精密度好、操作简单,能够满足水污染物排放标准中叠氮化物的测定要求。     

Effects of climate variables on the transmission of COVID-19: a systematic review of 62 ecological studies

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 was initially discovered at the end of 2019 in Wuhan City in China and has caused one of the...     

Environmental effects and risk control of antibiotic resistance genes in the organic solid waste aerobic composting system: A review

• ARGs were detected in livestock manure, sludge, food waste and fermentation dregs. • The succession of microbial community is an important factor affecting ARGs. • Horizontal transfer mechanism of ARGs during composting should be further studied. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been diffusely detected in several kinds of organic solid waste, such as livestock manure, sludge, antibiotic fermentation residues, and food waste, thus attracting great attention. Aerobic composting, which is an effective, harmless treatment method for organic solid waste to promote recycling, has been identified to also aid in ARG reduction. However, the effect of composting in removing ARGs from organic solid waste has recently become controversial. Thus, this article summarizes and reviews the research on ARGs in relation to composting in the past 5 years. ARGs in organic solid waste could spread in different environmental media, including soil and the atmosphere, which could widen environmental risks. However, the conventional composting technology had limited effect on ARGs removal from organic solid waste. Improved composting processes, such as hyperthermophilic temperature composting, could effectively remove ARGs, and the HGT of ARGs and the microbial communities are identified as vital influencing factors. Currently, during the composting process, ARGs were mainly affected by three response pathways, (I) “Microenvironment-ARGs”; (II) “Microenvironment-microorganisms-ARGs”; (III) “Microorganisms-horizontal gene transfer-ARGs”, respectively. Response pathway II had been studied the most which was believed that microbial community was an important factor affecting ARGs. In response pathway III, mainly believed that MGEs played an important role and paid less attention to eARGs. Further research on the role and impact of eARGs in ARGs may be considered in the future. It aims to provide support for further research on environmental risk control of ARGs in organic solid waste.     

Protective effects of dietary betaine on intestinal barrier function and cecal microbial community in indigenous broiler chickens exposed to high temperature environment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - High temperature environment causes reduction in productivity in broilers by disrupting the intestinal barrier function. This study aimed to...     

Improved product selectivity of electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide by tuning local carbon dioxide concentration with multiphysics models

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) is promising to alleviate carbon emissions and produce fuels and materials in a circular way, yet effective...     

贵州喀斯特山区不同种植年限花椒根际土壤细菌群落结构特征研究

以贵州花江峡谷花椒(Zanthoxylum bungeamun)林为研究对象,采用16S rRNA高通量测序技术,分析种植5、10、20、30 a花椒根际土壤细菌群落结构和多样性特征,探讨不同种植年限花椒土壤理化因子对根际细菌群落分布的影响,为喀斯特石漠化地区花椒农业可持续发展提供有效的理论依据。结果表明,随着花椒种植年限的增加,土壤含水率、pH和有效磷逐渐升高,有机质、铵态氮和硝态氮含量先降低后升高(P<0.05)。根际土壤细菌Shannon、Simpson指数总体呈现上升趋势,OTUs、Chao1指数在10a较低。PCo A分析显示,不同种植年限花椒根际细菌群落组成差异显著,并且随着年限的增加,群落结构趋于相似;差异指示种分析表明,5—30a差异指示种分别为Firmicutes(厚壁菌门)、Cyanobacteria(蓝藻菌门)、Planctomycetes(浮霉菌门)、Entotheonellaeota(肠杆菌门)。RDA分析表明,有机质和含水率与细菌群落分布显著相关(P<0.05)。系统发育多样性分析表明,丰富类群多样性与环境因子存在较多的正相关,稀有类群比丰富类群有更强的发育信号。Bug Base预测分析发现:随着年限增加根际土壤好氧细菌增加,厌氧细菌下降,5、10 a氧化胁迫耐受菌低于20、30 a,致病菌在5、10 a高于20、30 a。综上,种植年限影响了花椒根际土壤细菌群落多样性,不同年限根际土壤肥力不同使得土壤细菌选择性生长,随着一定时间发育花椒抗病能力提高。     

硫酸铜和马度米星铵联合暴露对鲫鱼的毒性和效应标记物研究

为探究硫酸铜和马度米星铵对水产动物的生态毒性,本研究以鲫鱼为模型,从急性毒性、亚急性毒性和遗传毒性3个方面研究硫酸铜和马度米星铵单一与联合暴露对鲫鱼的毒性效应.结果 表明,硫酸铜对鲫鱼96 h的半数致死浓度(50％ lethal concentration,LC50)为3.6 mg·L-1,硫酸铜和马度米星铵联合暴露时,硫酸铜对鲫鱼的96 h-LC50为1.4 mg· L-1,马度米星铵对鲫鱼的96 h-LC50为4.2 mg·L-1,硫酸铜对鲫鱼为高等毒性;硫酸铜和马度米星铵对鲫鱼的联合毒性表现为协同作用.染毒第7天,硫酸铜和马度米星铵均可影响过氧化氢酶(catalase,CAT)和谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(glutathione peroxidase,GPx)的活性,随着剂量和染毒时间的增加,CAT和GPx的活性逐渐下降.硫酸铜和马度米星铵单一或联合暴露7d或21 d显著下调cat基因表达,对sod和gpx基因表达无显著影响.染毒后期,染毒组谷丙转氨酶(alanine aminotransferase,ALT)、谷草转氨酶(aspartate transaminase,AST)和碱性磷酸酶(alkaline phosphatase,ALP)活性及丙二醛(malondialdehyde,MDA)含量均高于对照组.硫酸铜和马度米星铵单一及联合染毒均能诱导鲫鱼红细胞产生微核,微核数与硫酸铜和马度米星铵的浓度呈正相关;随着硫酸铜和马度米星铵浓度的增加,肝细胞的脱氧核糖核酸(deoxyribonucleic acid,DNA)出现断裂,彗星尾部所占比例逐渐升高;高浓度联合染毒组红细胞微核率和肝细胞尾部DNA百分比显著高于单一染毒组.硫酸铜和马度米星铵联合暴露可导致鲫鱼血液毒性、肝细胞氧化损伤及遗传毒性的加和性,为评估Cu2+与马度米星铵复合污染对鲫鱼的生态毒性提供基础数据和理论依据.     

Enhanced arsenate removal from aqueous solution by Mn-doped MgAl-layered double hydroxides

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, Mn-doped MgAl-layered double hydroxides (LDHs) were successfully synthesized for efficient removal arsenate from aqueous solution. The...