3-Way pattern-recognition of PAHs from Galicia (NW Spain) seawater samples after the Prestige's wreck

In November 2002 the oil tanker ‘Prestige’ released 65 000 tons of a heavy fuel oil throughout the Galician coastline (NW Spain), causing extensive damage to marine life, natural resources and economic activities at Northern Portugal, Spain and SW France. To evaluate the impact of the oil spill on the aquatic system, 30 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including alkylated derivatives, were analyzed in seawater on five different sampling campaigns from 2002 to 2004. Sampling was made along the Galician continental shelf. In each station three samples were collected at three different depths (surface, mid-depth and bottom). Four different approaches for 3-way analyses (Catenated-PCA, Matrix-Augmented Principal Components Analysis, Parallel Factor Analysis and Procrustes rotation) have been used to asses the major sources of PAHs into the seawater. They revealed two main pollution patterns: one related to oil spillages and discharge of petroleum products, and another more associated with a diffuse anthropogenic origin.     

Immobilization of non-point phosphorus using stabilized magnetite nanoparticles with enhanced transportability and reactivity in soils

Laboratory batch and column experiments were conducted to investigate the immobilization of phosphorus (P) in soils using synthetic magnetite nanoparticles stabilized with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-NP). Although CMC-stabilized magnetite particles were at the nanoscale, phosphorus removal by the nanoparticles was less than that of microparticles (MP) without the stabilizer due to the reduced P reactivity caused by the coating. The P reactivity of CMC-NP was effectively recovered when cellulase was added to degrade the coating. For subsurface non-point P pollution control for a water pond, it is possible to inject CMC-NP to form an enclosed protection wall in the surrounding soils. Non-stabilized “nanomagnetite” could not pass through the soil column under gravity because it quickly agglomerated into microparticles. The immobilized P was 30% in the control soil column, 33% when treated by non-stabilized MP, 45% when treated by CMC-NP, and 73% when treated by both CMC-NP and cellulase.     

Characterization of plutonium in deep-sea sediments of the Sulu and South China Seas

Anthropogenic Pu isotopes are important geochemical tracers for sediment studies. Their distributions and sources in the water columns as well as the sediments of the North Pacific have been intensively studied; however, information about Pu in the Southeast Asian seas is limited. To study the isotopic composition of Pu, and thus to identify its sources, we collected sediment core samples in the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea during the KH-96-5 Cruise of the R/V Hakuho Maru. We analysed the activities of ^239+240Pu and the atom ratios of ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu using isotope dilution sector-field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS). The ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu atom ratios in the sediments of both areas (inventory weighted mean: 0.251 for the South China Sea and 0.280 for the Sulu Sea) were higher than the global fallout value (0.178 ± 0.019), suggesting the existence of Pu from the Pacific Proving Grounds in the North Pacific. Low inventories of ^239+240Pu in sediments were observed in the South China Sea (3.75 Bq/m²) and the Sulu Sea (1.38 Bq/m²). Most of the Pu input is still present in the water column. Scavenging and benthic mixing processes were considered to be the main processes controlling the distribution of Pu in the deep-sea sediments of both study areas.     

Occurrence,elimination, and risk of anticoagulant rodenticides and drugs during wastewater treatment

Anticoagulants are biocides widely used as pest control agents in agriculture, urban infrastructures, and domestic applications for the control of rodents. Other anticoagulants such as warfarin and acenocoumarol are also used as drugs against thrombosis. After use, anticoagulants are discharged to sewage grids and enter wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Our hypothesis is that WWTP effluents can be a source of anticoagulants to receiving waters and that these can affect aquatic organisms and other nontarget species. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine the occurrence of 11 anticoagulants in WWTPs receiving urban and agricultural wastewaters. Warfarin was the most ubiquitous compound detected in influent waters and was partially eliminated during the activated sludge treatment, and low nanograms per liter concentration were found in the effluents. Other detected compounds were coumatetralyl, ferulenol, acenocoumarol, flocoumafen, brodifacoum, bromadiolone, and difenacoum at concentrations of 0.86–87.0 ng L^?1. Considering water volumes of each WWTP, daily emissions were estimated to be 0.02 to 21.8 g day^?1, and thus, WWTPs contribute to the loads of anticoagulants to receiving waters. However, low aquatic toxicity was observed using Daphnia magna as a model aquatic organism.     

盐酸脱附Pb(Ⅱ)负载氨基膦酸树脂的基本性能

氨基膦酸树脂是一种常用的广谱性重金属螯合树脂,对水中的Pb(Ⅱ)具有很好的选择性分离去除能力,但吸附Pb(Ⅱ)后的树脂再生较为困难。系统研究了盐酸脱附Pb(Ⅱ)-负载氨基膦酸树脂D860的基本性能,优化了基本脱附参数。实验表明,采用盐酸作为脱附剂具有较为良好的脱附效果,10%吸附量树脂脱附反应平衡较快仅需10 min,脱附本身受Pb(Ⅱ)在盐酸溶液中的溶解度影响显著。脱附流速从1 BV/h升高到5 BV/h,脱附效果受到的影响很小。升高温度可以提高PbCl2溶解度,进而提高脱附效率。固定床脱附采用1.0 mol/L盐酸,在1 BV/h和303 K条件下,仅需7 BV脱附剂即可实现较高的脱附效率。     

As(V)在金红石TiO_2颗粒表面吸附特性及机理

通过静态动力学和热力学吸附实验,研究了温度、共存离子以及溶质的初始浓度对As(V)在金红石TiO2颗粒表面吸附的影响,探讨了As(V)在金红石TiO2颗粒表面吸附特性及机理。结果表明,在As(V)初始浓度为10 mg/L,pH为7的条件下,25℃时的吸附量0.41 mg/g高于30℃时的吸附量0.31 mg/g,As(V)在金红石TiO2上的吸附为放热过程。CaCl2和MgCl2的添加对As(V)在金红石TiO2表面吸附起到明显的促进作用。T=25℃,Ca2+或Mg2+浓度为10 mmol/L时,As(V)吸附量分别为0.64和0.56 mg/g,Ca2+比Mg2+对As(V)吸附促进作用强。As(V)在金红石TiO2的吸附等温线符合Frendlich方程,Lagergren二级动力学方程能较好地描述As(V)在金红石TiO2颗粒表面吸附的动力学过程。     

Assessing and managing freshwater ecosystems vulnerable to environmental change

Freshwater ecosystems are important for global biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services. There is consensus in the scientific literature that freshwater ecosystems are vulnerable to the impacts of environmental change, which may trigger irreversible regime shifts upon which biodiversity and ecosystem services may be lost. There are profound uncertainties regarding the management and assessment of the vulnerability of freshwater ecosystems to environmental change. Quantitative approaches are needed to reduce this uncertainty. We describe available statistical and modeling approaches along with case studies that demonstrate how resilience theory can be applied to aid decision-making in natural resources management. We highlight especially how long-term monitoring efforts combined with ecological theory can provide a novel nexus between ecological impact assessment and management, and the quantification of systemic vulnerability and thus the resilience of ecosystems to environmental change.     

Hypoxia in the Baltic Sea: Biogeochemical Cycles, Benthic Fauna, and Management

Hypoxia has occurred intermittently over the Holocene in the Baltic Sea, but the recent expansion from less than 10 000 km² before 1950 to >60 000 km² since 2000 is mainly caused by enhanced nutrient inputs from land and atmosphere. With worsening hypoxia, the role of sediments changes from nitrogen removal to nitrogen release as ammonium. At present, denitrification in the water column and sediments is equally important. Phosphorus is currently buried in sediments mainly in organic form, with an additional contribution of reduced Fe-phosphate minerals in the deep anoxic basins. Upon the transition to oxic conditions, a significant proportion of the organic phosphorus will be remineralized, with the phosphorus then being bound to iron oxides. This iron-oxide bound phosphorus is readily released to the water column upon the onset of hypoxia again. Important ecosystems services carried out by the benthic fauna, including biogeochemical feedback-loops and biomass production, are also lost with hypoxia. The results provide quantitative knowledge of nutrient release and recycling processes under various environmental conditions in support of decision support tools underlying the Baltic Sea Action Plan.     

Valorization of solid waste products from olive oil industry as potential adsorbents for water pollution control—a review

The global olive oil production for 2010 is estimated to be 2,881,500 metric tons. The European Union countries produce 78.5 % of the total olive oil, which stands for an average production of 2,136,000 tons. The worldwide consumption of olive oil increased of 78 % between 1990 and 2010. The increase in olive oil production implies a proportional increase in olive mill wastes. As a consequence of such increasing trend, olive mills are facing severe environmental problems due to lack of feasible and/or cost-effective solutions to olive-mill waste management. Therefore, immediate attention is required to find a proper way of management to deal with olive mill waste materials in order to minimize environmental pollution and associated health risks. One of the interesting uses of solid wastes generated from olive mills is to convert them as inexpensive adsorbents for water pollution control. In this review paper, an extensive list of adsorbents (prepared by utilizing different types of olive mill solid waste materials) from vast literature has been compiled, and their adsorption capacities for various aquatic pollutants removal are presented. Different physicochemical methods that have been used to convert olive mill solid wastes into efficient adsorbents have also been discussed. Characterization of olive-based adsorbents and adsorption mechanisms of various aquatic pollutants on these developed olive-based adsorbents have also been discussed in detail. Conclusions have been drawn from the literature reviewed, and suggestions for future research are proposed.     

气升回流一体化工艺处理生活污水简

针对分散型生活污水处理开发了气升回流一体化工艺,以校园生活污水为对象,研究其对生活污水中污染物的去除效果。该系统由好氧区、厌氧区、沉淀区和气升室组成,以曝气的剩余气体的气升作用实现混合液的回流,节省动力消耗。结果表明,本工艺对COD、氨氮及悬浮物（SS）有较好的去除效果,去除率分别达到80%、90%和75%左右,出水COD、NH₄⁺-N及SS平均浓度在40 mg/L、6.5 mg/L和10 mg/L左右。当进水COD在100~1 000 mg/L之间波动时,出水水质稳定。该工艺有较强的抗冲击负荷能力,且可实现剩余污泥的自消解。本工艺具有结构紧凑、占地少,运行费用低,维护简单的特点。