Quasi-dynamic leaching characteristics of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans from raw and solidified waste incineration residues

Quasi-dynamic leaching characteristics of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) from raw and solidified air pollution control (APC) residues were examined via a nine-time multiple leaching test. The effect of injected activated carbon in the APC residues on the PCDD/F leachability was also evaluated. When humic acid solution was used as a leachant, the leaching concentrations of PCDD/Fs fluctuated between the first and the fifth leaching, followed by a gradual increase and then suddenly reached maximum values at the leaching sequences around seventh and eighth. This significant enhancement in PCDD/F leachability was mainly due to an increase in the release of highly chlorinated PCDD/Fs. Leaching of PCDD/Fs with n-hexane was, in contrast, primarily caused by the partitioning of hydrophobic PCDD/Fs between the APC residue surface and the liquid phase of n-hexane. Consequently, the largest leaching concentrations for n-hexane tests achieved at the first leaching, followed by a decrease and reached plateaus. Solidification/stabilization (S/S) decreased the PCDD/F leachability up to the fifth leaching by the use of humic acid solution. However, S/S increased the PCDD/F leaching concentrations and rates with n-hexane. The activated carbon in APC residues significantly inhibited the release of PCDD/F with n-hexane. The inhibiting effect provided by activated carbon was, however, less significant by the use of humic acid solution.     

Aging activity of DDE in dissimilar rice soils in a greenhouse experiment

A green-house study was conducted in late 2005 to investigate the aging behavior of p,p'-DDE in two types of soil, Hydragric Anthrosols (An) and Hydragric Acrisols (Ac), according to the World Reference Base (WRB) [FAO/ISRIC/ISSS. 1998. World reference base for soil resources. World soil resources reports, Rome. p. 87]. Paddy rice and dry rice were grown in submerged paddy soils and non-submerged upland soils, respectively. The concentration of extractable p,p'-DDE in fresh DDE-spiked soils was 746.2ngg(-1). During the first few weeks of the experiment, the extractability of p,p'-DDE became increasingly low as the aging period prolonged. However, certain amount of p,p'-DDE that had been captured by soil minerals and organic matter (OM) could be released and became extractable in the later period. The extractability of p,p'-DDE in submerged soils was significantly lower than that in non-submerged soil, because flooding could increase the binding of pollutants to soil particles. The plantation of both dry rice and paddy rice slowed down the aging process of p,p'-DDE. After one month's growth of rice, p,p'-DDE bound to soil particles was released and became extractable. The OM and silt content of An are higher than that of Ac, resulting in more bound residues and relative lower extractability of p,p'-DDE in An. In addition, the extractability of p,p'-DDE could be reduced by the addition of rice straw to soils.     

Radiation-induced degradation of methyl orange in aqueous solutions

Degradation of methyl orange under gamma-irradiation was investigated. The reactions followed pseudo first-order kinetics. Apparent degradation rate constant, estimated through linear regression analysis, increased with an increase of dose rate and a decrease of initial methyl orange concentration. Degradation of methyl orange was significantly accelerated under oxidative condition, but was slightly enhanced under reductive condition. However, the result of decoloration was better under reductive condition than oxidative one. An analysis on the intermediates using Fourier transform infrared and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry demonstrates that the radiolytic degradation of methyl orange was processed with different C-N cleavages under oxidative and reductive conditions.     

Sorption of pentachlorophenol on surficial sediments: the roles of metal oxides and organic materials with co-existed copper present

The sorption characteristics of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in the surficial sediments were investigated using a selective extraction procedure. The results show that the Gamma(max) of PCP sorption decreased from 1.60mumolg(-1) to 0.69mumolg(-1) by approximately 60% after selective removal of organic materials from the sediments. The sorption of PCP in the sediments after selective removal of Mn oxides increased nearly up to 600% (from 1.60mumolg(-1) to 11.11mumolg(-1)) and, to a less degree, the PCP sorption in the sediments after simultaneous removal of Fe/Mn oxides (Gamma(max)=3.53mumolg(-1)). The analysis of the data using an additional model indicates that the contribution of Mn oxides to PCP sorption was negative, and Fe oxides and organic materials both have greater potential for sorption of PCP with less contribution from residues including Mn and Fe oxides in the residual fractions determined by a sequential extraction procedure and clay and silicate minerals. The differences in the decreased degrees of PCP sorption with increasing of Cu suggest that competition between Cu and PCP for sorption sites mainly takes place on Fe oxides.     

Antioxidative response to Cd in a newly discovered cadmium hyperaccumulator, Arabis paniculata F

A hydroponic experiment was carried out to study the effect of cadmium (Cd) on growth, Cd accumulation, lipid peroxidation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) content and antioxidative enzymes in leaves and roots of Arabis paniculata F., a new Cd hyperaccumuator found in China. The results showed that 22-89 microM Cd in solution enhanced the growth of A. paniculata after three weeks, with 21-27% biomass increase compared to the control. Cd concentrations in shoots and roots increased with increasing Cd supply levels, and reached a maximum of 1662 and 8670 mg kg(-1) Cd dry weight at 178 microM Cd treatment, respectively. In roots, 22-89 microM Cd reduced the content of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide (O(2)(-1)) and H(2)O(2) as well as the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR). In leaves, the contents of MDA, O(2)(-1) and H(2)O(2) remained unaffected by 22-89 microM Cd, while 178 microM Cd treatment significantly increased the MDA content, 69.5% higher than that of the control; generally, the activities of SOD, catalase (CAT), GPX and APX showed an increasing pattern with increasing Cd supply levels. Our present work concluded that A. paniculata has a great capability of Cd tolerance and accumulation. Moderate Cd treatment (22-89 microM Cd) alleviated the oxidative stress in roots, while higher level of Cd addition (178 microM) could cause an increasing generation of ROS, which was effectively scavenged by the antioxidative system.     

A strategy for aromatic hydrocarbon bioremediation under anaerobic conditions and the impacts of ethanol: a microcosm study

Increased use of ethanol-blended gasoline (gasohol) and its potential release into the subsurface have spurred interest in studying the biodegradation of and interactions between ethanol and gasoline components such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene isomers (BTEX) in groundwater plumes. The preferred substrate status and the high biological oxygen demand (BOD) posed by ethanol and its biodegradation products suggests that anaerobic electron acceptors (EAs) will be required to support in situ bioremediation of BTEX. To develop a strategy for aromatic hydrocarbon bioremediation and to understand the impacts of ethanol on BTEX biodegradation under strictly anaerobic conditions, a microcosm experiment was conducted using pristine aquifer sand and groundwater obtained from Canadian Forces Base Borden, Canada. The initial electron accepter pool included nitrate, sulfate and/or ferric iron. The microcosms typically contained 400 g of sediment, 600 approximately 800 ml of groundwater, and with differing EAs added, and were run under anaerobic conditions. Ethanol was added to some at concentrations of 500 and 5000 mg/L. Trends for biodegradation of aromatic hydrocarbons for the Borden aquifer material were first developed in the absence of ethanol, The results showed that indigenous microorganisms could degrade all aromatic hydrocarbons (BTEX and trimethylbenzene isomers-TMB) under nitrate- and ferric iron-combined conditions, but not under sulfate-reducing conditions. Toluene, ethylbenzene and m/p-xylene were biodegraded under denitrifying conditions. However, the persistence of benzene indicated that enhancing denitrification alone was insufficient. Both benzene and o-xylene biodegraded significantly under iron-reducing conditions, but only after denitrification had removed other aromatics. For the trimethylbenzene isomers, 1,3,5-TMB biodegradation was found under denitrifying and then iron-reducing conditions. Biodegradation of 1,2,3-TMB or 1,2,4-TMB was slower under iron-reducing conditions. This study suggests that addition of excess ferric iron combined with limited nitrate has promise for in situ bioremediation of BTEX and TMB in the Borden aquifer and possibly for other sites contaminated by hydrocarbons. This study is the first to report 1,2,3-TMB biodegradation under strictly anaerobic condition. With the addition of 500 mg/L ethanol but without EA addition, ethanol and its main intermediate, acetate, were quickly biodegraded within 41 d with methane as a major product. Ethanol initially present at 5000 mg/L without EA addition declined slowly with the persistence of unidentified volatile fatty acids, likely propionate and butyrate, but less methane. In contrast, all ethanol disappeared with repeated additions of either nitrate or ferric iron, but acetate and unidentified intermediates persisted under iron-enhanced conditions. With the addition of 500 mg/L ethanol and nitrate, only minor toluene biodegradation was observed under denitrifying conditions and only after ethanol and acetate were utilized. The higher ethanol concentration (5000 mg/L) essentially shut down BTEX biodegradation likely due to high EA demand provided by ethanol and its intermediates. The negative findings for anaerobic BTEX biodegradation in the presence of ethanol and/or its biodegradation products are in contrast to recent research reported by Da Silva et al. [Da Silva, M.L.B., Ruiz-Aguilar, G.M.L., Alvarez, P.J.J., 2005. Enhanced anaerobic biodegradation of BTEX-ethanol mixtures in aquifer columns amended with sulfate, chelated ferric iron or nitrate. Biodegradation. 16, 105-114]. Our results suggest that the apparent conservation of high residual labile carbon as biodegradation products such as acetate makes natural attenuation of aromatics less effective, and makes subsequent addition of EAs to promote in situ BTEX biodegradation problematic.     

昆明市城中村火灾事故统计分析

城中村是中国快速城市化进程中的一个普遍现象,由于缺乏统一规划和专门管理,城中村的高火灾风险成为当前面临的重要问题并得到社会各界关注.为获得昆明市城中村火灾的特点和规律,从2004-2006年昆明市火灾统计记录中区分出城中村和非城中村火灾数据,在此基础上采用Bayes统计分析城中村不同用途建筑物的火灾发生概率及概率比例.结果表明,相比城中村其他用途的建筑,居住用房火灾概率较低,而具有生产和加工性质的行业作坊、易燃易爆场所和娱乐场所的火灾概率较高,分别是居住用房的48倍、26倍和18倍.进一步采用火灾原因-场所关联对比分析了城中村和非城中村火灾的特点.从火灾发生场所看,与非城中村相比,城中村居住场所火灾发生比例高7.2%,路边可燃物高88.8%,木材、家具加工厂高184.8%,易燃易爆场所高521.4%; 从火灾原因看,城中村电气、电线短路致灾比例高1 2%,限制行为能力人(小孩和精神病人)致灾比例高65 1%,燃放烟花爆竹致灾比例高3.5%,吸烟致灾比例高50.9%,违章操作致灾比例高59.0%.这些差异基本上反映了城中村的主要外在特征,这些外在特征经城中村实地调研得到证实.     

TiO2-xNx光催化氧化苯甲酸的研究

采用悬浮态光催化反应体系,以氙灯为光源,自制纳米TiO2-xNx为催化剂,考察了苯甲酸光催化氧化过程中TiO2-xNx质量浓度、反应体系初始pH和苯甲酸初始质量浓度对苯甲酸溶液中TOC去除率的影响。实验结果表明：最佳催化剂质量浓度为0．30g／L;TiO2-xNx的等电点为pH=5．3,在酸性条件下（pH=2．0）更有利于苯甲酸在催化剂表面的吸附,以及光生电子与O2反应生成·OH的进行;随苯甲酸初始质量浓度增加,TOC去除率降低,反应速率也相应地降低。TiO2-xNx比P25型TiO2表现出更强的浓度适应能力。