Disruption of iron homeostasis and resultant health effects upon exposure to various environmental pollutants: A critical review

Environmental pollution has become one of the greatest problems in the world, and the concerns about environmental pollutants released by human activities from agriculture and industrial production have been continuously increasing. Although intense efforts have been made to understand the health effects of environmental pollutants, most studies have only focused on direct toxic effects and failed to simultaneously evaluate the long-term adaptive, compensatory and secondary impacts on health. Burgeoning evidence suggests that environmental pollutants may directly or indirectly give rise to disordered element homeostasis, such as for iron. It is crucially important to maintain concerted cellular and systemic iron metabolism. Otherwise, disordered iron metabolism would lead to cytotoxicity and increased risk for various diseases, including cancers. Thus, study on the effects of environmental pollutants upon iron homeostasis is urgently needed. In this review, we recapitulate the available findings on the direct or indirect impacts of environmental pollutants, including persistent organic pollutants (POPs), heavy metals and pesticides, on iron homeostasis and associated adverse health problems. In view of the unanswered questions, more efforts are warranted to investigate the disruptive effects of environmental pollutants on iron homeostasis and consequent toxicities.     

CuO/Al_2O_3和CeO_2/Al_2O_3催化氧化菲的实验研究

多环芳烃(PAHs)是一类持久性有机污染物,由于具有"三致"效应受到人们广泛关注,高效经济地捕集PAHs意义深远。选取一种典型的PAHs菲为研究对象,通过浸渍法制备Cu O/Al2O3和Ce O2/Al2O32种催化剂,采用固定床催化反应装置研究其对菲的催化能力,考察活性组分、负载率、气体流量、反应温度对菲去除率的影响。结果表明,随着负载率的升高,2种催化剂对菲的去除率均呈现增大的趋势,Cu O/Al2O3和Ce O2/Al2O3对菲催化效果最好的负载率分别为18%和25%;随着气体流量的增加,18%Cu O/Al2O3对菲的去除率逐渐下降,18%Ce O2/Al2O3没有明显变化;随着反应温度的升高,2种催化剂对菲的去除率均逐渐增加,18%Cu O/Al2O3和18%Ce O2/Al2O3对菲的去除率分别在300℃和325℃得到显著提升;通过对比不同负载率及工况下菲的去除率可以发现,Cu O/Al2O3对菲的催化能力要优于Ce O2/Al2O3。     

铝在红沿河核电厂地区的初期大气腐蚀表征

目的研究铝在辽宁红沿河核电厂地区的初期大气腐蚀行为。方法按GB/T 6464—1997,将制备好的试样在红沿河核电厂进行大气暴露试验,利用XRD,FTIR,SEM分析技术,对试验6个月和10个月的试样进行腐蚀产物观察与分析。结果铝在红沿河大气暴露腐蚀6个月和10个月样品表面均布满了点蚀坑、腐蚀产物及沉积物,腐蚀产物主要为Al2O3,Al OOH以及一些含氯和含硫的铝盐。腐蚀产物都较疏松,上下表面均有龟裂纹,相邻较近的点蚀坑已相互连接。随腐蚀时间延长,点蚀坑变深变大,朝地面点蚀坑深度已达上百微米。结论铝在红沿河核电厂大气环境中腐蚀以点蚀为主要特征,其腐蚀比普通大气环境中的严重,朝地面的腐蚀比朝天面严重,大气中氯离子及SO2参与铝的腐蚀过程并起促进作用。     

超声雾化法捕集气溶胶的试验研究

核设施退役过程,放射性气溶胶浓度较高,需要进行处理,以降低工作人员辐照风险。研究捕集剂配方、雾化通入量等对模拟气溶胶捕集效果的影响,结果表明:捕集剂配方对气溶胶捕集的效果差异明显;粒径越小的气溶胶粒子被雾化捕集的速度较慢;捕集剂通入量在0.06 kg/m3以下,对气溶胶捕集效果影响显著。对等离子切割解体设备产生的241Am、239Pu污染气溶胶进行雾化捕集,初始污染水平为136 Bq/m3的气溶胶经雾化捕集后可降至1.23 Bq/m3,捕集的效果显著。     

NaOH改性玉米秸秆对石油类污染物的吸附研究

采用正交试验设计,对农业废弃物玉米秸秆进行NaOH化学改性,制得吸附剂,并分别考察其对原油、0#柴油、97#汽油的吸附性能。结果表明,在温度为80℃、NaOH质量分数为1%、固液比为1∶20、时间为12 h的条件下,玉米秸秆经NaOH改性后对3种油类的最大吸附量分别比改性前提高了22.62%、37.57%和38.50%。对改性前后秸秆主要组成成分和FTIR的分析发现,改性后秸秆中木质素和半纤维素的相对含量减少了,纤维素的相对含量增加了;主要存在于木质素和半纤维素中的羧基在改性后显著减少,代表纤维素的醇峰峰值却得到了提升,与改性前后组分变化一致。通过对比分析改性前后玉米秸秆的SEM图像表明,NaOH破坏了玉米秸秆的原始表面结构,使其变得疏松多孔,从而更加有利于秸秆对油的吸附。     

高原环境对车辆动力性的影响及动力提升措施

在总结我国高原气候和地理环境特点的基础上,从反映车辆动力性能的指标出发,以加速时间、最大爬坡度和最高车速入手,理论分析了对整车高原动力性影响较大的因素,主要包括有效热效率、循环喷油量、滚动阻力系数、空气密度对空气阻力的影响等。通过分析高原环境对这些因素的影响,总结出了高原环境对车辆动力性的影响机理,并进一步提出了整车高原动力性改进的技术措施,认为先进增压、燃烧优化、高压共轨燃油喷射、高原环境标定、热平衡控制和富氧进气燃烧等技术措施成为提高车辆动力性的有效技术措施。     

美人蕉根系对不同基质结构水平潜流人工湿地水力特性的影响

为了研究植物根系对不同基质结构潜流人工湿地水力特性的影响,根据填料渗透系数,分别设置单层及多层基质结构潜流人工湿地小试实验系统,以美人蕉作为湿地植物,在植物栽种前与成熟后对两系统分别开展示踪试验研究.实验结果表明,美人蕉根系对于单层结构人工湿地水力特性有较明显的改善作用,有效体积从0.49提高到了0.53,短路值由0.60降低到0.41,水力效率提高最大由43%提高到59%.比较而言,植物根系对多层结构湿地有效体积和短路值有轻微负面影响,而对水力效率则有明显的改善作用(由64%提高到83%).此外,植物成熟后,两人工湿地系统中示踪剂回收率均有所下降,其中,单层结构湿地降低较显著,回收率由72%降到62%.可见,植物根系对系统水力特性有较大影响,应在人工湿地设计过程中给予考虑.     

腐殖酸改性针铁矿对铀U（Ⅵ）的吸附性能及机理研究

通过人工合成的方法制得腐殖酸改性针铁矿(HA-α-FeOOH),考察了吸附时间、吸附剂用量、U(Ⅵ)初始浓度和pH值等因素对吸附U(Ⅵ)过程的影响.同时,利用傅里叶红外光谱(FTIR)、扫描电镜(SEM)和X射线能谱(EDS)分析了其对U(Ⅵ)的吸附机理.试验结果表明,在25℃、pH为4的条件下,腐殖酸改性针铁矿作用4 h对5 mg·L-1的含铀废水的去除率几乎达到100%.Freundlich等温吸附模型、准二级动力学模型对吸附过程的拟合效果较好,主要吸附模式为多层吸附;改性针铁矿对U(Ⅵ)的吸附是自发的吸热反应.SEM-EDS和FIIR分析结果表明,改性针铁矿吸附U(Ⅵ)的机理主要表现为内层络合作用及离子交换,与U(Ⅵ)作用的基团主要是羟基、酚羟基和羧基.     

Enhancing plant-microbe associated bioremediation of phenanthrene and pyrene contaminated soil by SDBS-Tween 80 mixed surfactants

The use of surfactants to enhance plant-microbe associated dissipation in soils contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) is a promising bioremediation technology. This comparative study was conducted on the effects of plant-microbe treatment on the removal of phenanthrene and pyrene from contaminated soil, in the presence of low concentration single anionic, nonionic and anionic-nonionic mixed surfactants. Sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate(SDBS) and Tween 80 were chosen as representative anionic and nonionic surfactants, respectively. We found that mixed surfactants with concentrations less than 150 mg/kg were more effective in promoting plant-microbe associated bioremediation than the same amount of single surfactants. Only about(m/m) of mixed surfactants was needed to remove the same amount of phenanthrene and pyrene from either the planted or unplanted soils, when compared to Tween 80. Mixed surfactants( 150 mg/kg) better enhanced the degradation efficiency of phenanthrene and pyrene via microbe or plant-microbe routes in the soils. In the concentration range of 60–150 mg/kg, both ryegrass roots and shoots could accumulate 2–3 times the phenanthrene and pyrene with mixed surfactants than with Tween 80. These results may be explained by the lower sorption loss and reduced interfacial tension of mixed surfactants relative to Tween 80, which enhanced the bioavailability of PAHs in soil and the microbial degradation efficiency. The higher remediation efficiency of low dosage SDBS-Tween 80 mixed surfactants thus advanced the technology of surfactant-enhanced plant-microbe associated bioremediation.     

Multiple biomarkers response in maize (Zea mays L.) during exposure to copper

Biomarkers in higher plants played an important role to estimate exposure effects of pollutants in soil ecosystem and have received increasing attention in recent years. The qualitative and quantitative modifications arising in amplified fragment length polymorphism （AFLP） profiles as a measure of DNA effects were compared with a number of parameters, namely, the root length, total soluble protein content in root tips, chlorophylls content and shoot size to select the most sensitive biomarker responding to copper stress in the range of 0--600 mg/kg. The changes occurring in AFLP profiles of root tips following Cu treatment included loss of normal bands and appearance of new bands and variation in band intensity in comparison to that of the normal seedlings, A reduction in root length was observed at the 200 mg/kg of copper, which was accompanied with a decrease in total soluble protein content. According to their sensitivity to the copper toxicity, the above indicator rank in the following order： AFLP profiles 〉 total soluble protein content 〉 root length 〉 chlorophylls content 〉 shoot. We concluded that the AFLP offered a useful alternative hiomarker assay for the detection of genotoxic effects of environmental pollutants.