Mercury waste management in China: implications on the implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Existing management standards in China for mercury waste classification and disposal and those of the Minamata Convention on Mercury (the...     

Microfiber pollution: an ongoing major environmental issue related to the sustainable development of textile and clothing industry

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Textiles release microfibers to the environment during production, use, and at end-of-life disposal. There is a potentially large and growing risk to...     

基于农村生活污水生态处理工艺研究

伴随我国经济发展的进步,虽然农村的生活水平得到一定的改善,但是并没有根据实际情况将相关生态处理技术应用,导致农村污水处理的效率无法有效的提升,严重影响农村的发展。基于此,本文主要分析了农村生活污水处理的方式,以及污水处理不当对人们的危害与影响,并阐述了农村污水处理的主要对策与方案,笔者根据自身经验提出相应的建议与意见。     

EDTA滴定法测定高锰水体总硬度的干扰和消除

测定水质总硬度最常用的是EDTA 滴定法,该法易受到多种因素的影响,而锰是重要影响因素之一。分析了锰对EDTA滴定法的影响,对比了两种掩蔽剂对不同浓度锰的掩蔽效果和对检测结果的影响。对实验结果进行了总结分析,为EDTA滴定法测定高锰水体总硬度过程中不同掩蔽剂的选择提供一定的依据。     

绿色化工环保技术与环境治理的关系

我国化工产业的不断发展,带动了我国经济的飞速发展,给人们的生活带来了许多便利条件,但是与此同时也对我国的环境造成了严重的破坏,化工生产用到许多化学材料,在生产过程中会产生大量的化学废弃物,对环境的污染造成很严重的影响。我国对化工生产给环境保护造成的影响高度重视,随着绿色化工环保技术的出现,有效解决了化工产业造成的环境污染问题,对我国的环境问题进行了有效的改善,对我国工业的发展具有重要意义。本文针对绿色化工环保技术进行分析,探讨绿色化工环保技术在环境治理中的有效应用。     

Biofiltration and disinfection codetermine the bacterial antibiotic resistome in drinking water: A review and meta-analysis

• Published data was used to analyze the fate of ARGs in water treatment. • Biomass removal leads to the reduction in absolute abundance of ARGs. • Mechanism that filter biofilm maintain ARB/ARGs was summarized. • Potential BAR risks caused by biofiltration and chlorination were proposed. The bacterial antibiotic resistome (BAR) is one of the most serious contemporary medical challenges. The BAR problem in drinking water is receiving growing attention. In this study, we focused on the distribution, changes, and health risks of the BAR throughout the drinking water treatment system. We extracted the antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) data from recent publications and analyzed ARG profiles based on diversity, absolute abundance, and relative abundance. The absolute abundance of ARG was found to decrease with water treatment processes and was positively correlated with the abundance of 16S rRNA (r² = 0.963, p<0.001), indicating that the reduction of ARG concentration was accompanied by decreasing biomass. Among treatment processes, biofiltration and chlorination were discovered to play important roles in shaping the bacterial antibiotic resistome. Chlorination exhibited positive effects in controlling the diversity of ARG, while biofiltration, especially granular activated carbon filtration, increased the diversity of ARG. Both biofiltration and chlorination altered the structure of the resistome by affecting relative ARG abundance. In addition, we analyzed the mechanism behind the impact of biofiltration and chlorination on the bacterial antibiotic resistome. By intercepting influent ARG-carrying bacteria, biofilters can enrich various ARGs and maintain ARGs in biofilm. Chlorination further selects bacteria co-resistant to chlorine and antibiotics. Finally, we proposed the BAR health risks caused by biofiltration and chlorination in water treatment. To reduce potential BAR risk in drinking water, membrane filtration technology and water boiling are recommended at the point of use.     

Photosynthesis and related metabolic mechanism of promoted rice (Oryza sativa L.) growth by TiO2 nanoparticles

• The rice growth was promoted by nano-TiO₂ of 0.1–100 mg/L. • Nano-TiO₂ enhanced the energy storage in photosynthesis. • Nano-TiO₂ reduced energy consumption in carbohydrate metabolism and TCA cycle. Titanium dioxide nanoparticle (nano-TiO₂), as an excellent UV absorbent and photo-catalyst, has been widely applied in modern industry, thus inevitably discharged into environment. We proposed that nano-TiO₂ in soil can promote crop yield through photosynthetic and metabolic disturbance, therefore, we investigated the effects of nano-TiO₂ exposure on related physiologic-biochemical properties of rice (Oryza sativa L.). Results showed that rice biomass was increased >30% at every applied dosage (0.1–100 mg/L) of nano-TiO₂. The actual photosynthetic rate (Y(II)) significantly increased by 10.0% and 17.2% in the treatments of 10 and 100 mg/L respectively, indicating an increased energy production from photosynthesis. Besides, non-photochemical quenching (Y(NPQ)) significantly decreased by 19.8%–26.0% of the control in all treatments respectively, representing a decline in heat dissipation. Detailed metabolism fingerprinting further revealed that a fortified transformation of monosaccharides (D-fructose, D-galactose, and D-talose) to disaccharides (D-cellobiose, and D-lactose) was accompanied with a weakened citric acid cycle, confirming the decrease of energy consumption in metabolism. All these results elucidated that nano-TiO₂ promoted rice growth through the upregulation of energy storage in photosynthesis and the downregulation of energy consumption in metabolism. This study provides a mechanistic understanding of the stress-response hormesis of rice after exposure to nano-TiO₂, and provides worthy information on the potential application and risk of nanomaterials in agricultural production.     

High heterogeneity of bacterioplankton community shaped by spatially structured environmental factors in West Lake,a typical urban lake in eastern China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Elucidating the bacterioplankton spatial distribution patterns and its determinants is a central topic in ecological research. However, research on...     

Compartmentation and effects of lead (Pb) in the collembolan,Folsomia candida

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The impact of soil lead (Pb) pollution on survival, growth, and reproduction of the collembolan, Folsomia candida, and Pb compartmentation in its gut...     

Thermal conversion of rice husks and sawdust to liquid fuel

The paper focuses on studying the conversion of rice husks and sawdust into liquid fuel. Rice husks, sawdust and their mixture are pyrolyzed at temperatures between 420 and 540 degrees C, and the main product of liquid fuel is obtained. The experimental result shows that the yield of liquid fuel depends on various factors such as feedstock and temperature. The maximum yields for rice husks, sawdust and their mixture are 56%, 61% and 60% at 465, 490 and 475 degrees C, respectively. Analyses with GC-MS and other apparatus show that the liquid fuel is a complicated compound with low caloric value and can be directly used as a fuel oil for combustion in a boiler or a furnace without any upgrading. Alternatively, the fuel can be refined to be used by vehicles.