Ammonia in the atmosphere: a review on emission sources, atmospheric chemistry and deposition on terrestrial bodies

Gaseous ammonia (NH₃) is the most abundant alkaline gas in the atmosphere. In addition, it is a major component of total reactive nitrogen. The largest source of NH₃ emissions is agriculture, including animal husbandry and NH₃-based fertilizer applications. Other sources of NH₃ include industrial processes, vehicular emissions and volatilization from soils and oceans. Recent studies have indicated that NH₃ emissions have been increasing over the last few decades on a global scale. This is a concern because NH₃ plays a significant role in the formation of atmospheric particulate matter, visibility degradation and atmospheric deposition of nitrogen to sensitive ecosystems. Thus, the increase in NH₃ emissions negatively influences environmental and public health as well as climate change. For these reasons, it is important to have a clear understanding of the sources, deposition and atmospheric behaviour of NH₃. Over the last two decades, a number of research papers have addressed pertinent issues related to NH₃ emissions into the atmosphere at global, regional and local scales. This review article integrates the knowledge available on atmospheric NH₃ from the literature in a systematic manner, describes the environmental implications of unabated NH₃ emissions and provides a scientific basis for developing effective control strategies for NH₃.     

Co-pyrolysis of sewage sludge and biomass for stabilizing heavy metals and reducing biochar toxicity: A review

The huge amounts of sewage sludge produced by municipal wastewater treatment plants induce major environmental and economical issues, calling for advanced disposal methods. Traditional methods for sewage sludge disposal increase greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. Moreover, biochar created from sewage sludge often cannot be used directly in soil applications due to elevated levels of heavy metals and other toxic compounds, which alter soil biota and earthworms. This has limited the application of sewage sludge-derived biochar as a fertilizer. Here, we review biomass and sewage sludge co-pyrolysis with a focus on the stabilization of heavy metals and toxicity reduction of the sludge-derived biochar. We observed that co-pyrolyzing sewage sludge with biomass materials reduced heavy metal concentrations and decreased the environmental risk of sludge-derived biochar by up to 93%. Biochar produced from sewage sludge and biomass co-pyrolysis could enhance the reproduction stimulation of soil biota by 20‒98%. Heavy metals immobilization and transformation are controlled by the co-feed material mixing ratio, pyrolysis temperature, and pyrolysis atmosphere.

     

High genotoxicity of shipyard contaminants on Allium cepa and calf thymus DNA

Water pollution is a major environmental problem worldwide. In particular, shipyards are contaminating waters with iron, lead and copper filings, paints, petrochemical products and solvents. There are only a few reports on the genotoxicity of shipyard contaminants. Here, we study genotoxic effects of surface water from five sites of Hooghly River in West Bengal, India, along the banks of which many shipbuilding and scrap industries are located. Genotoxicity was measured by the detection of micronuclei in Allium cepa and other chromosomal aberrations, as well as damage to genomic DNA of calf thymus. Results show that A. cepa roots treated with contaminated water induced morphological distortions, formation of micronuclei and various types of chromosomal aberrations. The mitotic index was lower than 50 % in the treated samples. The breakage of calf thymus DNA was time-dependent with acute damage of 100 % for overnight incubation as evidenced by agarose gel electrophoresis. We conclude that the workers of local shipbuilding and scrap industries, the residents of nearby areas and the aquatic biodiversity are vulnerable to contaminated waters.     

碱性固体对污泥的调质堆肥影响及产品对土壤的改良潜力

为了科学评判不同碱性固体物质对调质污泥高温堆肥的影响及其有机肥对贫瘠土壤的改良潜力,通过用质量分数为10%的秸秆(干)炭、硬木炭、粉煤灰和石灰等碱性固体物质对污泥和锯末混合物料进行了调质,运用好氧堆肥的方式研究了不同碱性固体物质对调质污泥高温堆肥的影响,并用小青菜盆栽试验法探讨了有机肥对贫瘠土壤的改良潜力.结果表明,污泥经外源碱性固体调质后,可以延长高温期的时间,促进堆肥物料的热灭活无害化;秸秆炭和硬木炭调质能显著促进有机质矿化,达21.65%和18.16%;堆肥过程中各处理堆肥pH先降低后升高最终逐渐稳定在6.78~7.33之间,但粉煤灰和石灰调质会使得堆肥初期pH较高;碱性固体调质有利于降低堆肥产品的水溶性盐分含量,至堆肥结束各处理EC均低于3 000μS·cm-1;污泥经过调质后,堆肥的总氮含量逐渐增加,但粉煤灰和石灰调质会导致堆肥初期存在一定的氮素损失,而秸秆炭和硬木炭调质可以减少堆肥初期氮素损失;各调质处理中NH+4-N含量先增加后降低,NO_3~--N均呈现出逐渐增加的趋势,秸秆炭和硬木炭调质可以促进污泥NO_3~--N的转化,而石灰和粉煤灰调质则对NO_3~--N的转化和种子发芽产生一定的抑制作用,但均不会影响堆肥的腐熟;贫瘠土壤经过调质堆肥改良后,土壤有机质和NPK含量显著增加,小青菜生物量增加显著;与未调质堆肥相比,虽然调质后的堆肥对小青菜Cu、Zn的吸收具有一定的抑制作用,但相比于原贫瘠土壤而言,本研究获得的各种堆肥仍能促进小青菜对微量元素Cu、Zn的吸收.研究表明,相比于硬木炭、粉煤灰和石灰等碱性固体物质,秸秆炭更适合于污泥堆肥调质,其堆肥产品具有较好的贫瘠土壤改良潜力.