Outdoor air pollution exposure and the risk of asthma and wheezing in the offspring

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - According to the “fetal origin of disease” hypothesis, air pollution exposure in pregnancy may play an important role in stimulating the...     

MICP结合南海岛礁资源加固珊瑚砂的方法及效果研究∗

为解决南海岛礁地基加固所需材料运输困难的问题,利用双极膜电渗析系统和海水生成盐酸,溶解岛礁上的珊瑚砂后得到 MICP 加固所需的自制钙源。然后通过自制钙源、化学纯钙源的 MICP 水溶液及砂柱加固对比试验, 研究了自制钙源的适用性及加固效果。结果表明：通过双极膜电渗析装置可制得 1.5 mol/L 的盐酸,溶解珊瑚砂即可得到氯化钙纯度为 94.9% 以上的自制氯化钙溶液,其 MICP 水溶液试验的效果优于化学纯钙源组,自制钙源组的加固后砂柱强度均值为 2.1 MPa,远高于化学纯钙源组的 628 kPa。自制钙源中的镁、铝离子等能改变沉淀矿物形貌和成分,同时可生成更多的碳酸钙,使得自制钙源组加固砂柱的总体效果优于化学纯钙源组。     

Hydroxyl radical generation and oxidative stress in Carassius auratus liver as affected by 2,4,6-trichlorophenol

With Carassius auratus, one of the main economic fish species in Eastern China as test material, this paper studied the hydroxyl radical generation and oxidative stress in its liver under the effect of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP). Different doses of 2,4,6-TCP were injected intraperitoneally into the fishes, and the Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of hepatic free radicals, activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione-s-transferase (GST), levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG), and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were determined 24h after injection. The results showed that under the effects of 2,4,6-TCP, the generation of free radical that was considered to be hydroxyl radical increased significantly, the activities of antioxidant enzymes decreased, with CAT most strongly affected and followed by SOD and GST, the GSH level decreased significantly while GSSG level had little difference, resulting in a decreased GSH/GSSG ratio, and the MDA content increased significantly. All the test parameters showed that C. auratus was subjected to oxidative stress and damage when exposed to 2,4,6-TCP.     

Residues of dioxins and PCBs in fat of growing pigs and broilers fed contaminated feed

To investigate the kinetics of PCBs and dioxins, 3 week old broilers and 3 month old pigs were fed with a 10-fold diluted feed from the Belgium crisis for one week, followed by a period on clean feed. In the case of broilers this resulted in levels for dioxins, non-ortho and mono-ortho PCBs in fat of 102, 84 and 216 ng TEQ/kg, summarized to 402 ng TEQ/kg. Total levels decreased to 217 and 109 ng TEQ/kg after 1 and 3 weeks on clean feed. Indicator PCB levels decreased from an initial 6.2 mg/kg fat to respectively 3.2 and 1.5 mg/kg. The ratio of indicator PCBs to dioxins TEQs was stable over this period. Levels in back fat of pigs at the end of the exposure period were 26, 15, 82 and 123 ng TEQ/kg for respectively dioxins, non-ortho PCBs, mono-ortho PCBs and the sum. Total TEQ levels decreased to respectively 95, 70, 40, 22 and 12 ng TEQ/kg after 1, 2, 4, 8 or 12 weeks on clean feed. After 12 weeks dioxin levels were around 1 ng TEQ/kg. Indicator PCB levels decreased from 3.48 mg/kg to 2.65, 2.01, 1.25, 0.76 and 0.45 mg/kg fat, again after 1, 2, 4, 8 or 12 weeks on clean feed. Levels of dioxins decreased more rapidly than those of indicator PCBs, also reflected by the ratio of indicator PCBs to dioxins, being 133,000 at the end of the exposure period and 357,000 after week 12. It is concluded that the use of indicator PCBs for dioxins, in the case of a combined exposure, is a safe alternative for screening and in the case of pigs results in an overestimation rather than underestimation of the dioxin levels.     

Fine particulate matter and cardiorespiratory health in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies

This review aimed to systematically summarize the epidemiological literature on the cardiorespiratory effects of PM_2.5 published during the 13^th Five-Year Plan period (2016–2020) in China. Original articles published between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2021 were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, the China National Knowledge Internet Database and Wanfang Database. Random- or fixed-effects models were used to pool effect estimates where appropriate. Of 8558 records identified, 145 met the full eligibility criteria. A 10 µg/m³ increase in short-term PM_2.5 exposure was significantly associated with increases of 0.70%, 0.86%, 0.38% and 0.96% in cardiovascular mortality, respiratory mortality, cardiovascular morbidity, and respiratory morbidity, respectively. The specific diseases with significant associations included stroke, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, arrhythmia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia and allergic rhinitis. The pooled estimates per 10 µg/m³ increase in long-term PM_2.5 exposure were 15.1%, 11.9% and 21.0% increases in cardiovascular, stroke and lung cancer mortality, and 17.4%, 11.0% and 4.88% increases in cardiovascular, hypertension and lung cancer incidence respectively. Adverse changes in blood pressure, heart rate variability, systemic inflammation, blood lipids, lung function and airway inflammation were observed for either short-term or long-term PM_2.5 exposure, or both. Collectively, we summarized representative exposure-response relationships between short- and long-term PM_2.5 exposure and a wide range of cardiorespiratory outcomes applicable to China. The magnitudes of estimates were generally smaller in short-term associations and comparable in long-term associations compared with those in developed countries. Our findings are helpful for future standard revisions and policy formulation. There are still some notable gaps that merit further investigation in China.     

Response of PM2.5-bound elemental species to emission variations and associated health risk assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic in a coastal megacity

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is disrupting the world from many aspects. In this study, the impact of emission variations on PM_2.5-bound elemental species and health risks associated to inhalation exposure has been analyzed based on real-time measurements at a remote coastal site in Shanghai during the pandemic. Most trace elemental species decreased significantly and displayed almost no diel peaks during the lockdown. After the lockdown, they rebounded rapidly, of which V and Ni even exceeded the levels before the lockdown, suggesting the recovery of both inland and shipping activities. Five sources were identified based on receptor modeling. Coal combustion accounted for more than 70% of the measured elemental concentrations before and during the lockdown. Shipping emissions, fugitive/mineral dust, and waste incineration all showed elevated contributions after the lockdown. The total non-carcinogenic risk (HQ) for the target elements exceeded the risk threshold for both children and adults with chloride as the predominant species contributing to HQ. Whereas, the total carcinogenic risk (TR) for adults was above the acceptable level and much higher than that for children. Waste incineration was the largest contributor to HQ, while manufacture processing and coal combustion were the main sources of TR. Lockdown control measures were beneficial for lowering the carcinogenic risk while unexpectedly increased the non-carcinogenic risk. From the perspective of health effects, priorities of control measures should be given to waste incineration, manufacture processing, and coal combustion. A balanced way should be reached between both lowering the levels of air pollutants and their health risks.     

Nitrogen-cycling microbial community functional potential and enzyme activities in cultured biofilms with response to inorganic nitrogen availability

Biofilms mediate crucial biochemical processes in aquatic ecosystems. It was hypothesized that eutrophication may promote the growth of biofilms, resulting in larger numbers of functional genes. However, the metabolic activity and the roles of biofilms in N cycling will be affected by ambient inorganic nitrogen availability, not by the abundance of functional genes. Biofilms were cultured either with replete inorganic nitrogen(N-rep) or without exogenous inorganic nitrogen supply(N-def) in a flow incubator, and the N-cycling gene abundances(nifH, N_2 fixation; amoA, ammonia oxidation, archaea and bacteria; nirS and nirK, denitrification) and enzyme activities(nitrogenase and nitrate reductase) were analyzed. The results showed that, comparing the N-def and N-rep biofilms, the former contained lower nifH gene abundance, but higher nitrogenase activity(NA), while the latter contained higher nifH gene abundance, but lower NA. Different patterns of NA diel variations corresponded to the dynamic microbial community composition and different stages of biofilm colonization. Ammonia oxidizing bacteria(AOB), detected only in N-def biofilms, were responsible for nitrification in biofilms. N-rep biofilms contained high nirS and nirK gene abundance and high denitrification enzyme activity, but N-def biofilms contained significantly lower denitrification gene abundance and activity. In general,the strong N_2 fixation in N-def biofilms and strong denitrification in N-rep biofilms assured the balance of aquatic ecosystems. The results suggested that evaluation of the functional processes of N cycling should not only focus on genetic potential, but also on the physiological activity of biofilms.     

不同营养水平下沉水植物的抑藻效应

控制水体的营养盐浓度,尤其是磷浓度,可以控制藻类水华的发生.然而,经济成本很高.相对藻类而言,沉水植物对水体营养盐升高敏感性更低,且沉水植物的存在可以改变藻类的群落结构和生长速率.为探讨沉水植物在营养盐与蓝藻水华控制关系中的作用,本研究探讨了有无水生植物存在下,不同营养盐浓度(磷浓度分别为0.025、0.05、0.1 mg·L~(-1),对应地表水Ⅲ～Ⅴ类)下蓝藻水华暴发(chlorophyll-a10μg·L~(-1))的频率、强度和持续时间.结果表明,初始藻浓度为5μg·L~(-1)和10μg·L~(-1)情况下,3种磷浓度下都会发生水华,磷浓度的升高会导致蓝藻水华暴发的强度和持续时间增加.然而,在加入水生植物金鱼藻后,初始藻浓度为5μg·L~(-1)的条件下,没有形成水华.初始藻浓度为10μg·L~(-1)的条件下,各处理组在实验初始时会形成短暂水华,之后,各处理组的叶绿素a浓度均低于10μg·L~(-1),显示蓝藻生长受到抑制.因此,沉水植物存在情况下,在营养盐较高的水体,蓝藻水华也不会发生.     

Evaluation of risk and cost using an age-dependent unavailability modelling of test and maintenance for standby components

The improvement of safety in the process industries is related to assessment and reduction of risk in a cost-effective manner. This paper addresses the trade-off between risk and cost related to standby safety systems. An age-dependent unavailability model that integrates the effects of the test and maintenance (T&M) activities as well as component ageing is developed and represents the basis for calculating risk. The repair “same-as-new” process is considered regarding the T&M activities. Costs are expressed as a function of the selected risk measure. The time-averaged function of the selected risk measure is obtained from probabilistic safety assessment, i.e. the fault tree analysis. This function is further extended with inclusion of additional parameters related to T&M activities as well as ageing parameters related to component ageing. In that sense, a new model of system unavailability, incorporating component ageing and T&M costs, is presented. The testing strategy is also addressed. Sequential and staggered testings are compared. The developed approach is applied on a standard safety system in nuclear power plant although the method is applicable to standby safety systems that are tested and maintained in other industries as well. The results show that the risk-informed surveillance requirements differ from existing ones in technical specifications, which are deterministically based. Moreover, the presented approach achieves a significant reduction in system unavailability over a relatively small increase of total T&M costs.     

溶解性有机物(DOM)与区域土地利用的关系:基于三维荧光-平行因子分析(EEM-PARAFAC)

溶解性有机物（DOM）是水体质量的综合性指标,反映了流域内经济发展和治理保护等多方面因素,可为流域水体保护提供依据.本研究采集了宁波市4个不同城市化程度的区域内的河流样本,运用三维荧光结合平行因子分析法（EEM-PARAFAC）对水体中DOM进行解析,探讨了区域土地利用与DOM的关系.结果表明城市化在含量和组成两方面影响了流域水体中DOM的特征.城市区域（DOC=3.18 mg·L^-1）和城乡结合区域（DOC=7.45 mg·L^-1）水体中DOM的浓度远高于城市化程度较低的农村区域（DOC为2.16~2.62 mg·L^-1,ANOVA,P<0.001）.EEM-PARAFAC解析得到7个荧光组分,主要可归为类腐殖质和类蛋白质类物质.其中,城市区域DOM以类腐殖质物质为主,占比达到61.3%;而城乡结合区域由于受到更多的生活污水排放影响,类蛋白质物质的比例最高为59.4%;相比之下,农村区域虽然DOM浓度相对较低,但类腐殖质物质占比达63.6%~65.7%,面源污染是主要原因.主成分分析表明城市化发展对水质具有重要影响,在城市化初期污染主要来源于生活和工业污染源,当城市化到一定水平污染物更多来源于路面径流.本研究表明EEM-PARAFAC可以半定量辨析水体污染源,可为不同的区域水质恢复与治水策略制定提供针对性数据支撑.