Antibiotic resistance genes in manure-amended paddy soils across eastern China: Occurrence and influencing factors

• Manure fertilization resulted in antibiotic residues and increased metal contents. • The tet and sul genes were significantly enhanced with manure fertilization. • Soil physicochemical properties contributed to 12% of the variations in ARGs. • Soil metals and antibiotics co-select for ARGs. Pig manure, rich in antibiotics and metals, is widely applied in paddy fields as a soil conditioner, triggering the proliferation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in soil. However, comprehensive studies on the effects of manure fertilization on the abundance of ARGs and their influencing factors are still insufficient. Here, pig manure and manure-amended and inorganic-amended soils were collected from 11 rice-cropping regions in eastern China, and the accumulation of antibiotics, metals, and ARGs was assessed simultaneously. The results showed that manure fertilization led to antibiotic residues and increased the metal content (i.e., Zn, Cu, Ni, and Cr). Tetracycline and sulfonamide resistance genes (tetM, tetO, sul1, and sul2) were also significantly enhanced with manure fertilization. According to variance partitioning analysis, the most important factors that individually influenced ARGs were soil physicochemical properties, accounting for 12% of the variation. Significant correlations between soil nutrients and ARGs indicated that manure application enhanced the growth of resistant microorganisms by supplying more nutrients. Metals and antibiotics contributed 9% and 5% to the variations in ARGs, respectively. Their co-occurrence also increased the enrichment of ARGs, as their interactions accounted for 2% of the variation in ARGs. Interestingly, Cu was significantly related to most ARGs in the soil (r = 0.26–0.52, p<0.05). Sulfapyridine was significantly related to sul2, and tetracycline resistance genes were positively related to doxycycline. This study highlighted the risks of antibiotic and ARG accumulation with manure fertilization and shed light on the essential influencing factors of ARGs in paddy soils.     

Techno-economic characteristics of wastewater treatment plants retrofitted from the conventional activated sludge process to the membrane bioreactor process

• Retrofitting from CAS to MBR increased effluent quality and environmental benefits. • Retrofitting from CAS to MBR increased energy consumption but not operating cost. • Retrofitting from CAS to MBR increased the net profit and cost efficiency. • The advantage of MBR is related to the adopted effluent standard. • The techno-economy of MBR improves with stricter effluent standards. While a growing number of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are being retrofitted from the conventional activated sludge (CAS) process to the membrane bioreactor (MBR) process, the debate on the techno-economy of MBR vs. CAS has continued and calls for a thorough assessment based on techno-economic valuation. In this study, we analyzed the operating data of 20 large-scale WWTPs (capacity≥10000 m³/d) and compared their techno-economy before and after the retrofitting from CAS to MBR. Through cost-benefit analysis, we evaluated the net profit by subtracting the operating cost from the environmental benefit (estimated by the shadow price of pollutant removal and water reclamation). After the retrofitting, the removal rate of pollutants increased (e.g., from 89.0% to 93.3% on average for NH₃-N), the average energy consumption increased from 0.40 to 0.57 kWh/m³, but the operating cost did not increase significantly. The average marginal environmental benefit increased remarkably (from 0.47 to 0.66 CNY/g for NH₃-N removal), leading to an increase in the average net profit from 19.4 to 24.4 CNY/m³. We further scored the technical efficiencies via data envelopment analysis based on non-radial directional distance functions. After the retrofitting, the relative cost efficiency increased from 0.70 to 0.73 (the theoretical maximum is 1), while the relative energy efficiency did not change significantly. The techno-economy is closely related to the effluent standard adopted, particularly when truncating the extra benefit of pollutant removal beyond the standard in economic modeling. The modeling results suggested that MBR is more profitable than CAS given stricter effluent standards.     

Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies between short-term exposure to ambient carbon monoxide and non-accidental,cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality in China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Although a growing number of original epidemiological studies imply a link between ambient pollution exposure and mortality risk, the findings...     

Inactivation of E. coli and Streptococcus agalactiae by UV/persulfate during marine aquaculture disinfection

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Sulfate radical (?SO4?)–based advanced oxidation processes have attracted a great deal of attention for use in water disinfection...     

How does turions production of Potamogeton crispus L. respond to parental population biomass and living environment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Turions production is the dominant means of propagation in Potamogeton crispus L. To understand how parental population and their living environmental...     

The role of N6-methyladenosine methylation in environmental exposure-induced health damage

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The health risks caused by environmental pollution have long been of substantial concern. With the development of epigenetics, a large number of...     

城市污水预水解对二级生化处理的影响

为考察预水解对后续二级生化处理的影响,结合无锡市城北污水处理厂实际运行情况进行了生产性试验研究。结果表明,对于工业废水占40%的城市污水而言,原水经过水解预处理后的可生化性得到提高,并且由于水解池在未满负荷运行的情况下对碳源有机物的去除率较高,对后续硝化脱氨、反硝化脱氮和除磷存在不同的影响。     

4个甘薯品种不同生育期的乙醇发酵比较

为了寻找适于燃料乙醇生产的甘薯品种,分别测定了4个甘薯品种--品种1、品种2、品种3、南薯88(对照)生育期100 d、130 d和160 d的可发酵糖含量和乙醇发酵参数,并进行了比较分析.结果表明,品种1和品种2的单位面积乙醇产量分别达4.79 t hm-2和4.83 t hm-2,均高于对照品种南薯88(4.58 t hm-2);品种1和品种2生长到d 130时单位面积乙醇产出速度最快,分别为36.84 kg hm-2d-1和37.13 kg hm-2d-1,对照品种南薯88的乙醇产出速度为35.24 kg hm-2d-1;生产1t无水乙醇,使用不同甘薯品种的原料消耗量依次为品种1(6.40 t)＜品种2(6.49 t)＜品种3(7.31t)＜南薯88(9.17t),发酵废渣排放量(按干重计)依次为品种1(0.56 t)＜品种3(0.60 t)＜品种2(0.63 t)＜南薯88(0.64 t).说明品种1可在甘薯燃料乙醇生产上推广应用,且生长130天时即可收获,以提高甘薯燃料乙醇生产的经济性.图4表1参14     

絮凝—γ射线辐照技术处理印染废水

采用絮凝—γ射线辐照技术处理印染废水,研究了最佳絮凝条件以及吸收剂量率、吸收剂量、废水pH和H2O2浓度对废水辐照处理效果的影响.实验结果表明:采用絮凝和辐照技术联用对印染废水的处理效果明显优于两个方法单独使用的效果;辐照可以显著降低废水中COD、TOC、TC和苯胺类物质的含量,并提高废水的可生化性;吸收剂量率对废水处理效果影响不大;随废水中H2O2浓度增加,COD、TOC、TIC及苯胺类含量均有所下降.     

河北省环境保护工作的新举措

河北省为加强环境保护工作成立了省环保工作领导小组,强化环保机构统一监督管理,发挥各部门在环境保护工作中的作用,坚决落实建设项目环境保护“第一审批权制度”,加强环保工作的督导,健全行政执法责任制,建立人大环保监督制约机制。这些做法很好,本文对此进行简要介绍。