Establishment of a comprehensive analysis method for the microfaunal movement in activated sludge

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Microfaunal identification and analysis are very complex; thus, an image analysis method was utilized in this paper to overcome the shortcomings of...     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and n-alkane pollution characteristics and structural and functional perturbations to the microbial community: a case-study of historically petroleum-contaminated soil

Characterization of the typical petroleum pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and n-alkanes, and indigenous microbial community structure and function in historically contaminated soil at petrol stations is critical. Five soil samples were collected from a petrol station in Beijing, China. The concentrations of 16 PAHs and 31 n-alkanes were measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The total concentrations of PAHs and n-alkanes ranged from 973 ± 55 to 2667 ± 183 μg/kg and 6.40 ± 0.38 to 8.65 ± 0.59 mg/kg (dry weight), respectively, which increased with depth. According to the observed molecular indices, PAHs and n-alkanes originated mostly from petroleum-related sources. The levels of ΣPAHs and the total toxic benzo[a]pyrene equivalent (ranging from 6.41 to 72.54 μg/kg) might exert adverse biological effects. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing was employed to investigate the indigenous microbial community structure and function. The results revealed that Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were the most abundant phyla, and Nocardioides and Microbacterium were the important genera. Based on COG and KEGG annotations, the highly abundant functional classes were identified, and these functions were involved in allowing microorganisms to adapt to the pressure from contaminants. Five petroleum hydrocarbon degradation-related genes were annotated, revealing the distribution of degrading microorganisms. This work facilitates the understanding of the composition, source, and potential ecological impacts of residual PAHs and n-alkanes in historically contaminated soil.

     

Delayed association of acute particulate matter 2.5 air pollution exposure with loss of complexity in cardiac rhythm dynamics: insight from detrended fluctuation analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - There is a delayed (lag 1 to 2 days) correlation between acute PM 2.5 (particulate matter <?2.5 μm in aerodynamic...     

Desorption of CO2, SO2, and NH3 in the vacuum evaporation of desulfurization wastewater

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Mechanical vapor compression and multi-effect evaporation have been widely used in achieving zero discharge of desulfurization wastewater as they are...     

Sugarcane monoculture drives microbial community composition,activity and abundance of agricultural-related microorganisms

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Sugarcane monoculture (SM) often leads to soil problems, like soil acidification, degradation, and soil-borne diseases, which ultimately pose a...     

滤坝基质排布方式对微污染水体净化效果的影响

采用吸附效果较好的火山石和炉渣作为填料,构筑了3个室内滤坝小试系统,研究了不同的基质组合配置对滤坝净化污染物的影响.3种不同的基质组配分别方式为:火山石和炉渣均匀混合、沿水流方向先火山石后炉渣和沿水流方向先炉渣后火山石.结果表明,3个滤坝系统对微污染水体具有明显的净化效果,总氮(TN)、总磷(TP)、氨氮(NH3-N)和化学需氧量(COD)去除率最高可达85.7％、46.5％、47.2％和53.4％.基质组合排布方式对COD和NH3-N的去除效果没有明显的影响,而火山石和炉渣均匀混合的配置方式有利于TP的去除,沿水流方向先炉渣后火山石的配置方式有利于TN的去除.微生物群落分析结果表明,在炉渣和火山石均匀混合的滤坝中,微生物优势菌为除磷优势菌——气单胞菌属,沿水流方向先后排布炉渣火山石的2个滤坝的优势菌为肠杆菌属,该细菌可以进行反硝化产生N2,这可能是沿水流方向先炉渣后火山石的滤坝TN去除效果较好的原因.     

不同湿地模型中根系微生物的多样性

为了研究不同植物和滤料组合的小型湿地模型在处理养殖池塘水体过程中根系微生物群落的特征,并分析植物对根系微生物富集的影响,本研究对两种植物(茭白和慈菇)和两种滤料(石榴石和磁铁矿)进行组合构建了6种不同的湿地模型,并利用高通量测序技术分析湿地植物根系微生物的结构特点和多样性.结果表明:不同湿地模型根系微生物的种类和数量各不相同;所有收集的微生物总体上属于52个门,118个纲,455科,905个属和1 426个种;根据Shannon指数,茭白(平均为5.77)比慈菇(平均为5.29)在微生物富集方面具有更强的能力;但是,慈菇和茭白根系微生物中变形菌门的比例分别平均为61.97%和51.78%,说明慈菇能够更好地富集变形菌.β-变形菌纲为实验期间不同植物根际富集的主要细菌类群.本研究结果为人工湿地植物优化选择提供了理论基础和湿地组合最佳构建提供了基础资料.     

Simultaneous removal of Cu(II) and Cr(VI) by Mg–Al–Cl layered double hydroxide and mechanism insight

Mg–Al–Cl layered double hydroxide (Cl-LDH) was prepared to simultaneously remove Cu(II) and Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. The coexisting Cu(II) (20 mg/L) and Cr(VI) (40 mg/L) were completely removed within 30 min by Cl-LDH in a dosage of 2.0 g/L; the removal rate of Cu(II) was accelerated in the presence of Cr(VI). Moreover, compared with the adsorption of single Cu(II) or Cr(VI), the adsorption capacities of Cl-LDH for Cu(II) and Cr(VI) can be improved by 81.05% and 49.56%, respectively, in the case of coexisting Cu(II) (200 mg/L) and Cr(VI) (400 mg/L). The affecting factors (such as solution initial pH, adsorbent dosage, and contact time) have been systematically investigated. Besides, the changes of pH values and the concentrations of Mg²⁺ and Al³⁺ in relevant solutions were monitored. To get the underlying mechanism, the Cl-LDH samples before and after adsorption were thoroughly characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. On the basis of these analyses, a possible mechanism was proposed. The coadsorption process involves anion exchange of Cr(VI) with Cl⁻ in Cl-LDH interlayer, isomorphic substitution of Mg²⁺ with Cu²⁺, formation of Cu₂Cl(OH)₃ precipitation, and the adsorption of Cr(VI) by Cu₂Cl(OH)₃. This work provides a new insight into simultaneous removal of heavy metal cations and anions from wastewater by Cl-LDH.     

Capability of cation exchange technology to remove proven N-nitrosodimethylamine precursors

N-nitrosodimethylamine(NDMA) precursors consist of a positively charged dimethylamine group and a non-polar moiety, which inspired us to develop a targeted cation exchange technology to remove NDMA precursors. In this study, we tested the removal of two representative NDMA precursors, dimethylamine(DMA) and ranitidine(RNTD), by strong acidic cation exchange resin. The results showed that pH greatly affected the exchange efficiency, with high removal(DMA 78% and RNTD 94%) observed at pH pk_a-1 when the molar ratio of exchange capacity to precursor was 4. The exchange order was obtained as follows: Ca~(2+) Mg~(2+) RNTD~+ K~+ DMA~+ NH_4~+ Na~+. The partition coefficient of DMA~+to Na~+was 1.41 ± 0.26, while that of RNTD~+to Na~+was 12.1 ± 1.9. The pseudo second-order equation fitted the cation exchange kinetics well. Bivalent inorganic cations such as Ca~(2+)were found to have a notable effect on NA precursor removal in softening column test. Besides DMA and RNTD, cation exchange process also worked well for removing other 7 model NDMA precursors. Overall, NDMA precursor removal can be an added benefit of making use of cation exchange water softening processes.