Modeling VOC-odor exposure risk in livestock buildings

This paper describes a novel idea of linking models of exposure, internal dosimetry, and health effects. Risk assessment approach that integrates predicted odor caused by volatile organic compounds (VOC-odor) of toluene/xylene concentrations in human tissues leads to predict exposure risks in livestock buildings. First, VOC transport model was developed to calculate airborne toluene/xylene concentrations. Based on a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model, concentrations within five compartments representing lung, liver, fat, slowly perfused tissues, and rapidly perfused tissues could be quantified. By using a pharmacodynamic (PD) Hill model, we can optimally fit data from rat and human experiments to reconstruct dose-response relationships for accounting human health effects from nose poke and eye irritation. Results demonstrated that peak tissue concentration occurring at 5-10h in that fat contains the highest concentration than other tissues at around 4ppm of toluene and 1.8ppm of xylene. The EC(10) values are 114 and 232ppm, whereas expected risks are estimated to be 0.71% and 0.26% of human exposure to toluene and xylene, respectively. Risk analyses indicate that inhalation exposure in livestock buildings poses no significant threat to human health under the present environmental conditions. This method provides a rigorous and effective approach to relate target tissue concentration to human nose poke or eye irritation. We suggest that our probabilistic framework and methods be taken seriously because they produce general conclusions that are more robust and could offer a risk-management framework for discussion of future establishment of limits for respiratory exposure to VOC-odor.     

Short-term effects of gaseous pollutants on cause-specific mortality in Wuhan, China

In Asia, limited studies have been published on the association between daily mortality and gaseous pollutants of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). Our previous studies in Wuhan, China, demonstrated long-term air pollution effects. However, no study has been conducted to determine mortality effects of air pollution in this region. This study was to determine the acute mortality effects of the gaseous pollutants in Wuhan, a city with 7.5 million permanent residents during the period from 2000 to 2004. There are approximately 4.5 million residents in Wuhan who live in the city's core area of 201 km2, where air pollution levels are highest, and pollution ranges are wider than the majority of the cities in the published literature. We used the generalized additive model to analyze pollution, mortality, and covariate data. We found consistent NO2 effects on mortality with the strongest effects on the same day. Every 10-microg/m3 increase in NO2 daily concentration on the same day was associated with an increase in nonaccidental (1.43%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.87-1.99%), cardiovascular (1.65%; 95% CI: 0.87-2.45%), stroke (1.49%; 95% CI: 0.56-2.43%), cardiac (1.77%; 95% CI: 0.44-3.12%), respiratory (2.23%; 95% CI: 0.52-3.96%), and cardiopulmonary mortality (1.60%; 95% CI: 0.85-2.35%). These effects were stronger among the elderly than among the young. Formal examination of exposure-response curves suggests no-threshold linear relationships between daily mortality and NO2, where the NO2 concentrations ranged from 19.2 to 127.4 microg/m3. SO2 and O3 were not associated with daily mortality. The exposure-response relationships demonstrated heterogeneity, with some curves showing nonlinear relationships for SO2 and O3. We conclude that there is consistent evidence of acute effects of NO2 on mortality and suggest that a no-threshold linear relationship exists between NO2 and mortality.     

A full-scale sequencing batch reactor system for swine wastewater treatment

A full-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system was evaluated for its ability to remove carbon and nitrogen from swine wastewater. The SBR was operated on four, six-hour cycles each day, with each cycle consisting of 4.5 hours of "React," 0.75 hours of "Settling", 0.75 hours for "Draw" and "Fill." Within each cycle, an amount of wastewater equivalent to about 5% of the reactor volume (5,500 litres) was removed and added. The SBR system was able to remove 82% of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and more than 75% of nitrogen. Even though the SBR effluent, with an average effluent BOD5 of about 588 mg L(-1), did not meet the discharge criteria, it enabled a reduction of the land base required for land application of swine wastewater by about 75%. Results indicated that the SBR system was a viable method for the treatment of swine wastewater.     

Survey of heavy metal pollution and assessment of agricultural soil in Yangzhong district, Jiangsu Province, China

We investigated concentrations of Hg, Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, As, Ni, and Cr in samples of soil, cereal, and vegetables from Yangzhong district, China. Compared to subsoils, the sampled topsoils are enriched in Hg, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As. High levels of Cd and Hg are observed in most agricultural soils. Concentrations of Cr and Ni show little spatial variation, and high Cu, Pb, and Zn contents correspond well to areas of urban development. High As contents are primarily recorded at the two ends of the sampled alluvion. The contents of Cd, Hg, and total organic carbon (TOC) increase gradually to maximum values in the upper parts of soil profiles, while Cr and Ni occur in low concentrations within sampled profiles. As, Pb, Cu, and Zn show patterns of slight enrichment within the surface layer. Compared to data obtained in 1990, Cd and Hg show increased concentrations in 2005; this is attributed to the long-term use of agrochemicals. Cr and Ni contents remained steady over this interval because they are derived from the weathering of parent material and subsequent pedogenesis. The measured As, Cu, Pb, and Zn contents show slight increases over time due to atmospheric deposition of material sourced from urban anthropogenic activity. Low concentrations of heavy metals are recorded in vegetables and cereals because the subalkaline environment of the soil limits their mobility. Although the heavy metal concentrations measured in this study do not pose a serious health risk, they do affect the quality of agricultural products.     

Suitable error evaluation criteria selection in the wind energy assessment via the K-means clustering algorithm

In this paper, wind energy potential of four locations in Xinjiang region is assessed. The Weibull distribution as well as the Logistic and the Lognormal distributions are applied to describe the distributions of the wind speed at different heights. In determining the parameters in the Weibull distribution, four intelligent parameter optimization approaches including the differential evolutionary, the particle swarm optimization, and two other approaches derived from these two algorithms and combined advantages of these two approaches are employed. Then the optimal distribution is chosen through the Chi-square error (CSE), the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test error (KSE), and the root mean square error (RMSE) criteria. However, it is found that the variation range of some criteria is quite large, thus these criteria are analyzed and evaluated both from the anomalous values and by the K-means clustering method. Anomaly observation results have shown that the CSE is the first one should be considered to be eliminated from the consequent optimal distribution function selection. This idea is further confirmed by the K-means clustering algorithm, by which the CSE is clustered into a different group with KSE and RMSE. Therefore, only the reserved two error evaluation criteria are utilized to evaluate the wind power potential.     

Immobilization of fungal laccase onto a nonionic surfactant-modified clay material: application to PAH degradation

Nonionic surfactant-modified clay is a useful absorbent material that effectively removes hydrophobic organic compounds from soil/groundwater. We developed a novel material by applying an immobilized fungal laccase onto nonionic surfactant-modified clay. Low-water-solubility polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (naphthalene/phenanthrene) were degraded in the presence of this bioactive material. PAH degradation by free laccase was higher than degradation by immobilized laccase when the surfactant concentration was allowed to form micelles. PAH degradation by immobilized laccase on TX-100-modified clay was higher than on Brij35-modified clay. Strong laccase degradation of PAH can be maintained by adding surfactant monomers or micelles. The physical adsorption of nonionic surfactants onto clay plays an important role in PAH degradation by laccase, which can be explained by the structure and molecular interactions of the surfactant with the clay and enzyme. A system where laccase is immobilized onto TX-100-monomer-modified clay is a good candidate bioactive material for in situ PAHs bioremediation.     

光照条件对跑道池光生物反应器内蛋白核小球藻生长特性的影响

本文采用多孔曝气管的曝气方式,以蠕动泵为藻液循环的动力,研究了气体流量、光照强度、光照周期等因素对跑道池光生物反应器内蛋白核小球藻生长与代谢特性的影响,并利用傅里叶红外光谱半定量法对不同光照条件下藻细胞内蛋白质、油脂以及多糖含量变化进行了分析。研究结果表明,适当的气体流量、光照强度和光照周期有利于跑道池内蛋白核小球藻细胞的生长和代谢。在本实验条件下,在最佳气体流量2 000 m L/min条件下,光照强度为3 500μW/cm2,光照周期为16∶8时最有利于蛋白核小球藻的生长;光照强度为2 000μW/cm2和光照周期为16∶8的条件均有利于藻细胞内油脂的积累。     

鲢鱼放养控制北京城市河湖水华试验研究

介绍了利用鲢鱼控制北京城市河湖水华的试验研究,通过不同放养密度(0、17、51和103 g/m3)的现场围隔试验,对鲢鱼放养对水体水质和浮游生物的影响进行了分析.研究结果表明,鲢鱼放养使有鱼围隔中浮游生物量极低,从而使浮游植物基本不受浮游动物影响,而直接受鱼类影响;同时,中等密度(51 g/m3)的鲢鱼放养使水华蓝藻和微小藻的生长均得到了有效抑制,使藻类生物量最低.     

水环境数学模型与GIS的集成研究

从地理信息系统(GIS)的功能特点、环境信息的特性和水环境数学模型软件应用时存在不足的3个方面分析了GIS和水环境数学模型软件集成的必要性.介绍了GIS和水环境数学模型的集成方式以及苏州河三期综合整治决策支持系统的主要功能结构,重点从GIS和水环境数学模型集成方面介绍了地图矢量化、模型计算结果转化为相应数据库文件、数据库文件和GIS实现绑定以及断面水位动态演示的实现方法和重要作用.     

新型单级A/O程序无回流复合膜生物反应器处理氨氮废水的试验

采用单级A/O程序复合膜生物反应器(HSMBR)处理高氨氮废水,研究在低DO浓度下系统对有机物、氨氮和总氮的去除效率。研究结果表明:在低DO浓度下,CODCr、氨氮的平均去除率分别为94.4%和92.8%。由于进水CODCr/TN值仅为2.01,则使得总氮平均去除率仅为69.4%,但是当系统亚硝化累积率从60.5%～67.1%提高到83.5%～86.4%时,系统总氮去除率提高了17.7%。另外,维持低DO浓度可以实现亚硝酸型同时硝化反硝化反应。