Sample purification for analysis of organochlorine pesticides in sediment and fish muscle

The methods of sample purification for determinations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in sediment and fish muscle were investigated in this study. A two-step procedure with preliminary cleanup and florisil column fraction was adopted. The working conditions of florisil column were firstly optimized. As to preliminary cleanup, liquid-liquid extraction by mixture of dimethyl formamide (DMF) and hexane and sulphonation by concentrated sulfuric acid were applied respectively and compared for the studied samples. The results indicated that liquid-liquid distribution could effectively separate lipids from fish muscle extracts, while failed in elimination of chlorophyll extracted from the relicts of hydrophytes in the sediment sample. In view of the sample appearance and clarity of gas chromatogram, sulphonation was more suitable to purify the sediment sample, however, the recoveries of the spiked standards were poor. The use of eluting solvent with stronger polarity could improve the corresponding recoveries significantly. Due to complete loss of Dieldrin, Endrin, and Endrin aldehyde after sulphonation, this pretreatment was improper to the three components. Sulfur, as the particular disturbing element in sediment, could be removed sufficiently by addition of activated copper powder. The relevant detection limits of the selected methods for OCPs in the studied substrates were also provided.     

Characteristics of single atmospheric particles in a heavily polluted urban area of China: size distributions and mixing states

To investigate the chemical composition, size distribution, and mixing state of aerosol particles on heavy pollution days, single-particle aerosol mass spectrometry was conducted during 9–26 October 2015 in Xi’an, China. The measured particles were classified into six major categories: biomass burning (BB) particles, K-secondary particles, elemental carbon (EC)–related particles, metal-containing particles, dust, and organic carbon (OC) particles. BB and EC-related particles were the dominant types during the study period and mainly originated from biomass burning, vehicle emissions, and coal combustion. According to the ambient air quality index, two typical episodes were defined: clean days (CDs) and polluted days (PDs). Accumulation of BB particles and EC-related particles was the main reason for the pollution in Xi’an. Most types of particle size were larger on PDs than CDs. Each particle type was mixed with secondary species to different degrees on CDs and PDs, indicating that atmospheric aging occurred. The mixing state results demonstrated that the primary tracers were oxidized or vanished and that the amount of secondary species was increased on PDs. This study provides valuable information and a dataset to help control air pollution in the urban areas of Xi’an.

Graphical abstract

     

Toxicity of arsenate and arsenite on germination, seedling growth and amylolytic activity of wheat

Effects of different concentrations of arsenite and arsenate (0-16 mg/l) on seed germination, relative root length and shoot height, arsenic accumulation in young seedlings, alpha-amylase, beta-amylase and total amylolytic activity in wheat were investigated in order to elucidate the toxicity of arsenic in the early developmental stage. Germination percentages of different wheat varieties had different responses to arsenic species and decreased significantly with increasing arsenic concentrations except Duokang 1. Relative root length (RRL) and relative shoot height (RSH) of wheat seedlings decreased with increasing concentrations of arsenite and arsenate. The relative root lengths were correlated with the relative shoot heights for arsenite (r2 = 0.79) and arsenate (r2 = 0.77). Arsenic uptake by seedlings increased with the increasing concentrations of arsenite or arsenate and followed the Michaelis-Menten kinetics function. The average total amylolytic activity and beta-amylase activity had no significant difference comparable to that of controls at the concentration 2 mg/l arsenite or arsenate, but decreased apparently when the concentration was higher than 2 mg/l. Whereas the alpha-amylase activity decreased with increasing concentrations of arsenite or arsenate over the whole concentration range. Arsenite decreased all the endpoints more remarkably than arsenate. In comparison, shoot height and root length were more sensitive to arsenic than other endpoints and might be used as indicators for arsenic toxicity.     

Removal of carbon dioxide by a spray dryer

With the global warming due to greenhouse effects becoming serious, many efforts are carried out to decrease the emissions of CO2 from the combustion of carbonaceous materials. In Taiwan, there are 19 large-scale municipal solid waste incinerators running and their total emission of CO2 is about 16,950 kton y-1. Spray dryer is the most prevailing air pollution control devise for removing acid gas in waste incineration; however, the performance of spray dryer on the removal of CO2 is seldom studied. This study employs a laboratory-scale spray dryer to investigate the removal efficiency of CO2 under different operating conditions. The evaluated parameters include different absorbents mixed with CaOH2, operating temperature, the concentration of absorbent, and the inlet concentration of CO2. Experimental results show that the best removal efficiency of CO2 by a spray dryer is 48% as the absorbent is 10%NaOH+5%CaOH2 and the operating temperature is 150 degrees C. Comparing this result with previous study shows that the performance of spray dryer is better than traditional NaOH wet scrubber. For NaOH+CaOH2 spray dryer, the removal efficiency of CO2 is decreased with the inlet concentration of CO2 increased and the optimum operating temperature is 150 degrees C. Except NaOH+CaOH2, absorbents DEA+CaOH2, TEA+CaOH2, and single CaOH2 are not effective in removing CO2 by a spray dryer.     

Ammonia inhibition on thermophilic anaerobic digestion

This study evaluated both chronic and acute toxicity of ammonia in thermophilic anaerobic digestion of synthetic wastewater over a range of acclimation concentrations. The inhibition effects of ammonia, in terms of total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), under various pH values and acclimation conditions on thermophilic aceticlastic methanogens were investigated. Completely mixed thermophilic anaerobic reactors operated at a chemical oxygen demand (COD) loading rate of 4 g/lday and a solid retention time (SRT) of 7 days were subjected to TAN concentrations of 0.40, 1.20, 3.05, 4.92, and 5.77 g/l. The reactor operations presented a case of chronic inhibition and it was observed that TAN concentrations of 4.92 and 5.77 g/l caused a drop in methane production by as much as 39% and 64%, respectively with respect to control. Batch anaerobic toxicity assays (ATA) were also performed to evaluate the acute toxicity effects of TAN and pH on methanogenesis at thermophilic condition. Modeling based on the results of ATA indicated that aceticlastic methanogens acclimated to high concentrations of TAN were less sensitive to increase in TAN and could tolerate wider pH ranges. TAN concentration causing 100% inhibition occurred in the range of 8-13 g/l, depending on acclimation condition and system pH.     

Comparison of the effects of aluminum and iron(Ⅲ) salts on ultrafiltration membrane biofouling in drinking water treatment

Coagulation plays an important role in alleviating membrane fouling, and a noticeable problem is the development of microorganisms after long-time operation, which gradually secrete extracellular polymeric substances(EPS). To date, few studies have paid attention to the behavior of microorganisms in drinking water treatment with ultrafiltration(UF)membranes. Herein, the membrane biofouling was investigated with different aluminum and iron salts. We found that Al_2(SO_4)_3·18 H_2O performed better in reducing membrane fouling due to the slower growth rate of microorganisms. In comparison to Al_2(SO_4)_3·18H_2O,more EPS were induced with Fe_2(SO_4)_3·x18H_2O, both in the membrane tank and the sludge on the cake layer. We also found that bacteria were the major microorganisms, of which the concentration was much higher than those of fungi and archaea. Further analyses showed that Proteobacteria was dominant in bacterial communities, which caused severe membrane fouling by forming a biofilm, especially for Fe_2(SO_4)_3·x18H_2O. Additionally, the abundances of Bacteroidetes and Verrucomicrobia were relatively higher in the presence of Al_2(SO_4)_3·18 H_2O,resulting in less severe biofouling by effectively degrading the protein and polysaccharide in EPS. As a result, in terms of microorganism behaviors, Al-based salts should be given preference as coagulants during actual operations.     

基于白碳黑的水化硅酸钙制备及其磷回收特性简

以白碳黑、硅灰、硅藻土和硅胶筛选硅质原料,并与钙质原料电石渣制备了水化硅酸钙。借助XRF、BET、FTIR等表征手段,通过多次重复除磷实验,研究了硅质原料特性对水化硅酸钙回收磷性能的影响。结果表明,白碳黑具有极高的反应活性,因此可作为制备具有磷回收特性的水化硅酸钙的硅质原料。结合XRD等表征发现,白碳黑的有效利用率是影响水化硅酸钙回收磷性能的关键,该利用率取决于白碳黑与电石渣的摩尔配比以及水热反应温度。当电石渣与白碳黑的摩尔比为1.6：1,反应温度为170℃时,白碳黑具有最佳的利用效率。该条件制备的水化硅酸钙可作为晶种,在其表面结晶形成羟基磷灰石,从而达到磷回收的目的,磷回收后固体物质中的磷含量为19.05%。     

偶氮类染料脱色率的定量构效关系

偶氮类染料的生产和使用过程中存在着三废多、难脱色和污染严重等问题,该染料是印染工业的主要污染物。选取偶氮类染料的分子结构参数和其光催化氧化脱色率之间建立定量结构活性关系(QSAR),进而得到回归方程,为印染废水处理和染料环境行为评价提供理论预测。结果表明,偶氮类染料的光催化氧化脱色率与其结构之间存在着线性相关性,线性方程为:D=0.647μ+66.277,(D为脱色率、μ为偶极矩)R=0.989方程具有预测能力。     

Occurrence, distribution, and potential influencing factors of sewage sludge components derived from nine full-scale wastewater treatment plants of Beijing, China

Millions of tons of waste activated sludge (WAS) produced from biological wastewater treatment processes cause severe adverse environmental consequences. A better understanding of WAS composition is thus very critical for sustainable sludge management. In this work, the occurrence and distribution of several fundamental sludge constituents were explored in WAS samples from nine full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of Beijing, China. Among all the components investigated, active heterotrophic biomass was dominant in the samples (up to 9478 mg/L), followed by endogenous residues (6736 mg/L), extracellular polymeric substances (2088 mg/L), and intracellular storage products (464 mg/L) among others. Moreover, significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in composition profiles of sludge samples among the studied WWTPs. To identify the potential parameters affecting the variable fractions of sludge components, wastewater source as well as design and operational parameters of WWTPs were studied using statistical methods. The findings indicated that the component fraction of sewage sludge depends more on wastewater treatment alternatives than on wastewater characteristics among other parameters. A principal component analysis was conducted, which further indicated that there was a greater proportion of residual inert biomass in the sludge produced by the combined system of the conventional anaerobic/anoxic/oxic process and a membrane bioreactor. Additionally, a much longer solids retention time was also found to influence the sludge composition and induce an increase in both endogenous inert residues and extracellular polymeric substances in the sludge.     

Screening and degrading characteristics and community structure of a high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading bacterial consortium from contaminated soil

Inoculation with effcient microbes had been proved to be the most important way for the bioremediation of polluted environments. For the treatment of abandoned site of Beijing Coking Chemical Plant contaminated with high level of high-molecular-weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(HMW-PAHs) ,a bacterial consortium capable of degrading HMW-PAHs,designated 1-18-1,was enriched and screened from HMW-PAHs contaminated soil.Its degrading ability was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) ,and the community structure was investigated by construction and analyses of the 16S rRNA gene clone libraries(A,B and F) at different transfers.The results indicated that 1-18-1 was able to utilize pyrene,fluoranthene and benzoapyrene as sole carbon and energy source for growth.The degradation rate of pyrene and fluoranthene reached 82.8%and 96.2%after incubation for 8 days at 30°C,respectively;while the degradation rate of benzoapyrene was only 65.1%after incubation for 28 days at 30°C. Totally,108,100 and 100 valid clones were randomly selected and sequenced from the libraries A,B,and F.Phylogenetic analyses showed that all the clones could be divided into 5 groups,Bacteroidetes,α-Proteobacteria,Actinobacteria,β-Proteobacteria andγ-Proteobacteria.Sequence similarity analyses showed total 39 operational taxonomic units(OTUs) in the libraries.The predominant bacterial groups wereα-Proteobacteria(19 OTUs,48.7%) ,γ-Proteobacteria(9 OTUs,23.1%) andβ-Proteobacteria(8 OTUs,20.5%) . During the transfer process,the proportions ofα-Proteobacteria andβ-Proteobacteria increased greatly(from 47%to 93%) ,while γ-Proteobacteria decreased from 32%(library A) to 6%(library F) ;and Bacteroidetes group disappeared in libraries B and F.