Bioassay: A useful tool for evaluating reclaimed water safety

Wastewater reclamation and reuse has been proved to be an effective way to relieve the fresh water crisis. However, toxic contaminants remaining in reclaimed water could lead to potential risk for reuse, and the conventional water quality standards have difficulty guaranteeing the safety of reclaimed water. Bioassays can vividly reflect the integrated biological effects of multiple toxic substances in water as a whole, and could be a powerful tool for evaluating the safety of reclaimed water. Therefore, in this study, the advantages and disadvantages of using bioassays for evaluating the safety of reclaimed water were compared with those of conventional water quality standards. Although bioassays have been widely used to describe the toxic effects of reclaimed water and treatment efficiency of reclamation techniques, a single bioassay cannot reflect the complex toxicity of reclaimed water, and a battery of bioassays involving multiple biological effects or in vitro tests with specific toxicity mechanisms would be recommended. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the safety of reclaimed water based on bioassay results, various methods including potential toxicology, the toxicity unit classification system, and a potential eco-toxic effects probe are summarized as well. Especially, some integrated ranking methods based on a bioassay battery involving multiple toxicity effects are recommended as useful tools for evaluating the safety of reclaimed water, which will benefit the promotion and guarantee the rapid development of the reclamation and reuse of wastewater.     

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.     

Mercury levels in human population from a mining district in Western Colombia

A biomonitoring study was carried out to examine the adverse impacts of total mercury in the blood(HgB), urine(Hg U) and human scalp hair(HgH) on the residents of a mining district in Colombia. Representative biological samples(scalp hair, urine and blood) were collected from volunteered participants(n = 63) to estimate the exposure levels of THg using a Direct mercury analyzer. The geometric mean of THg concentrations in the hair,urine and blood of males were 15.98 μg/g, 23.89 μg/L and 11.29 μg/L respectively, whereas the females presented values of 8.55 μg/g, 5.37 μg/L and 8.80 μg/L. Chronic urinary Hg(HgU)levels observed in male workers(32.53 μg/L) are attributed to their long termed exposures to inorganic and metallic mercury from gold panning activities. On an average, the levels of THg are increasing from blood(10.05 μg/L) to hair(12.27 μg/g) to urine(14.63 μg/L).Significant positive correlation was found between hair and blood urinary levels in both male and female individuals. Thus the present biomonitoring investigation to evaluate the Hg levels and associated health issues would positively form a framework for further developmental plans and policies in building an ecofriendly ecosystem.     

纳米材料对环境和健康的潜在危害

随着越来越多的纳米商品材料在生产和生活中的应用，纳米材料的环境安全问题逐渐引起关注，纳米科技和纳米材料的潜在风险及其负面影响已成为专家共识。文章综述了纳米材料对环境和生命健康带来的可能危害及其毒性特性，并认为深入研究纳米材料的环境安全问题将有助于建立正确生产，使用和处理纳米材料的科学规范。     

Assessing the impact of pesticides on the environment

Pesticide use in agriculture can cause undesirable effects on humans and the natural environment. One of the objectives of integrated agriculture is the elimination or reduction of possible sources of environmental pollution such as pesticides. To achieve this objective, farmers need a method to assist them in estimating the environmental impact of pesticide use. This paper addresses a two-part question: what factors should be taken into consideration to assess pesticide environmental impact, and how can impact be quantified? As the environmental impact of a pesticide depends on its dispersion in the environment and on its toxicological properties, the literature on these topics is reviewed to address the first part of the question. To address the second part of the question, six recent approaches to assess the impact of pesticides on the environment are compared regarding choice, transformation and aggregation of input parameters. The use of simulation models to assess environmental impact is discussed.     

Toxic metals in sewage sludge-amended soils: has promotion of beneficial use discounted the risks?

Land application of contaminated waste products has been defended as beneficial use by some scientists and regulators, based on the premise that the behavior of any toxins accumulated in soils from this practice is reasonably well understood and will not have detrimental agronomic or environmental impacts into the foreseeable future. In this review, I use the case of toxic metals in sewage sludges applied to agricultural land to illustrate that metal behavior in soils and plant uptake is difficult to generalize because it is strongly dependent on the nature of the metal, sludge, soil properties and crop. Nevertheless, permitted agricultural loadings of toxic metals from sewage sludges are typically regulated using the sole criterion of total metal loading or concentrations in soils. Several critical generalizing assumptions about the behavior of sludge-borne metals in soil-crop systems, built into the US EPA risk assessment for metals, have tended to underestimate risks and are shown not to be well justified by published research. It is argued that, in the absence of a basic understanding of metal behavior in each specific situation, a more precautionary approach to toxic metal additions to soils is warranted.     

水环境中重金属的生物毒性预测模型

简要介绍了近年来发展的几种金属生物毒性预测模型，如FIAM、GSIM和BLM等模型。金属与生物有效性和毒性之间的关系，是制定金属的水质标准的依据，随着对金属形态及其生物有效性和毒性关系研究的深入，产生了很多的机理描述模型。描述金属与生物作用的现存模型有多种，分别从多种角度解释了环境因素对金属形态分布及其生物毒性的影响，各模型在一定程度上可给出重金属的生物毒性信息，但都存在缺陷，不能完全替代毒性实验。建立合理的金属毒性预测模型，为建新的水质标准提供依据，正是国际环境界研究的热点。     

水生植物毒性试验及在生态风险评价中的作用

综述了利用大型水生毒性试验的主要技术和方法，地其在环境监测和评价中的特点进行分析，讨论了它在污染物生态风险评价中的作用和地位，并介绍国内外对水生植物生态毒理学研究和应用现状及发展趋势。     

取代苯类化合物的二维息定量结构-活性相关研究

为了预测非反应性麻醉型化合物对发光菌的发光半抑制浓度,评价该类化合物的毒性效应,采用独特的二维HQSAR分析方法,根据分子碎片的类型,将分子结构转变成具有特征的分子指纹,并用数字进行标记。这些标记出的数字作为QSAR的描述符,经过偏最小二乘法计算,建立起化合物结构与生物毒性之间的相关关系,由此所获得的HQSAR预测值与实测值之间也存在较好的相关性,即-1g_(pre)EC_(50)=0.311 0.929(-1g_(exp)EC_(50))(n=13,r=0.964)。这一模型的预测效果明显优于传统的二维QSAR模型,其结果可以为定量评估同类化合物的生物毒性提供可靠依据。     

二噁英的毒性与防治

分析了二英的化学结构与毒性的关系，二英的来源，对人体健康的潜在危害以及可能造成的环境污染，提出了防治措施。