Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a typical class of persistent organic pollutants that is ubiquitous worldwide. Previous animal studies suggested that PAHs had adverse effects on female reproduction. However, the human data regarding relationship of PAHs exposure with women reproductive health, such as ovarian dysfunction, are scarce. In this case-control study, the associations of serum levels of PAHs with the risk of premature ovarian failure (POF) and reproductive hormones in Chinese women were investigated, with recruiting 157 POF patients and 217 healthy women. The serum levels of 12 types of PAHs, as well as reproductive hormones, including follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and anti-mullerian hormone, were determined. In the logistic regression models, most individual PAH congeners showed significantly positive correlations with the risk of POF (p < 0.05), except for fluorine and pyrene. Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), as the most carcinogenic PAH congener, was observed to be significantly positively associated with the risk of POF. After adjustment for age, body mass index, educational levels and household income, per one-unit increase in the log-transformed BaP concentration was significantly correlated with 2.191-fold increased risk of POF (OR = 2.191, 95%CI: 1.634–2.938, p < 0.05). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report an association between internal exposure levels of PAHs and the increased risk of POF in women. 相似文献
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an economically attractive strategy for avoiding carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from, e.g., power plants to the atmosphere. The combination of CCS and biomass combustion would result in a reduction of atmospheric CO2, or net negative emissions, as plant growth is a form of sequestration of atmospheric carbon. Carbon capture can be achieved in a variety of ways, one of which is chemical looping. Chemical-looping combustion (CLC) and chemical looping gasification (CLG) are two promising technologies for conversion of biomass to heat and power or syngas/methane with carbon capture. There have been significant advances made with respect to CLC in the last two decades for all types of fuel, with much less research on the gasification technology. CLG offers some interesting opportunities for production of biofuels together with carbon capture and may have several advantages with respect to the bench mark indirect gasification process or dual-bed fluidized bed (DFBG) in this respect. In CLG, an oxygen carrier is used as a bed material instead of sand, which is common in indirect gasification, and this could have several advantages: (i) all generated CO2 is present together with the syngas or methane in the fuel reactor outlet stream, thus in a concentrated stream, viable for separation and capture; (ii) the air reactor (or combustion chamber) should largely be free from trace impurities, thus preventing corrosion and fouling in this reactor; and (iii) the highly oxidizing conditions in the fuel reactor together with solid oxide surfaces should be advantageous with respect to limiting formation of tar species. In this study, two manganese ores and an iron-based waste material, LD slag, were investigated with respect to performance in these chemical-looping technologies. The materials were also impregnated with alkali (K) in order to gauge possible catalytic effects and also to establish a better understanding of the general behavior of oxygen carriers with alkali, an important component in biomass and biomass waste streams and often a precursor for high-temperature corrosion. The viability of the oxygen carriers was investigated using a synthetic biogas in a batch fluidized bed reactor. The conversion of CO, H2, CH4, and C2H4 was investigated in the temperature interval 800–950 °C. The reactivity, or oxygen transfer rate, was highest for the manganese ores, followed by the LD slag. The conversion of C2H4 was generally high but could largely be attributed to thermal decomposition. The K-impregnated samples showed enhanced reactivity during combustion conditions, and the Mangagran-K sample was able to achieve full conversion of benzene. The interaction of the solid material with alkali showed widely different behavior. The two manganese ores retained almost all alkali after redox testing, albeit exhibiting different migration patterns inside the particles. LD slag lost most alkali to the gas phase during testing, although some remained, possibly explaining a small difference in reactivity. In summary, the CLC and CLG processes could clearly be interesting for production of heat, power, or biofuel with negative CO2 emissions. Manganese ores are most promising from this study, as they could absorb alkali, giving a better conversion and perhaps also inhibiting or limiting corrosion mechanisms in a combustor or gasifier.
Reclamation of degraded grasslands as managed grasslands has been increasingly accelerated in recent years in China. Land use change affects soil nitrogen(N) dynamics and nitrous oxide(N_2O) emissions. However, it remains unclear how large-scale grassland reclamation will impact the grassland ecosystem as a whole. Here, we investigated the effects of the conversion from native to managed grasslands on soil N dynamics and N_2O emissions by field experiments in Hulunber in northern China. Soil(0–10 cm), nitrate(NO_3~-),ammonium(NH_4~+), and microbial N were measured in plots in a temperate steppe(Leymus chinensis grassland) and two managed grasslands(Medicago sativa and Bromus inermis grasslands) in 2011 and 2012. The results showed conversion of L. chinensis grassland to M.sativa or B. inermis grasslands decreased concentrations of NO_3~–-N, but did not change NH_4~–N . Soil microbial N was slightly decreased by the conversion of L. chinensis grassland to M.sativa, but increased by the conversion to B. inermis. The conversion of L. chinensis grassland to M. sativa(i.e., a legume grass) increased N_2O emissions by 26.2%, while the conversion to the B. inermis(i.e., a non-legume grass) reduced N_2O emissions by 33.1%. The conversion from native to managed grasslands caused large created variations in soil NO?3~-+–N and NH_4~–N concentrations. Net N mineralization rates did not change significantly in growing season or vegetation type, but to net nitrification rate. These results provide evidence on how reclamation may impact the grassland ecosystem in terms of N dynamics and N_2O emissions. 相似文献
The discharge of heavy metal ions such as Cu~2+and Pb~2+poses a severe threat to public health and the environment owing to their extreme toxicity and bioaccumulation through food chains Herein, we report a novel organic–inorganic hybrid adsorbent, Al(OH)_3-poly(acrylamide dimethyldiallylammonium chloride)-graft-dithiocarbamate(APD), for rapid and effectiv removal of Cu~2+and Pb~2+. In this adsorbent, the "star-like" structure of Al(OH)3 poly(acrylamide-dimethyldiallylammonium chloride) served as the support of dithiocarbamat(DTC) functional groups for easy access of heavy metal ions and assisted development of larg and compact floccules. The synthesized adsorbent was characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis(TGA). APD was demonstrated to hav rapid adsorption kinetics with an initial rate of 267.379 and 2569.373 mg/(g·min) as well a superior adsorption capacities of 317.777 and 586.699 mg/g for Cu~2+and Pb~2+respectively. Th adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic, involving intraparticle diffusion and chemical interaction between heavy metal ions and the functional groups of APD. To assess it versatility and wide applicability, APD was also used in turbid heavy metal wastewater, and performed well in removing suspended particles and heavy metal ions simultaneously through flocculation and chelation. The rapid, convenient and effective adsorption of Cu~2+and Pb~2+give APD great potential for heavy metal decontamination in industrial applications. 相似文献
Molecular weight(Mw) is a fundamental property of humic acids(HAs), which considerably affect the mobility and speciation of heavy metals in the environment. In this study, soil humic acid(HA) extracted from Jinyun Mountain, Chongqing was ultra-filtered into four fractions according to the molecular weight, and their properties were characterized.Complexation of cadmium was investigated by titration experiments. For the first time,Langmuir and non-ideal competitive adsorption-Donna(NICA-Donnan) models combined with fluorescence excitation-emission matrix(EEM) quenching were employed to elucidate the binding characteristics of individual Mw fractions of HA. The results showed that the concentration of acidic functional groups decreased with increasing Mw, especially the phenolic groups. The humification degree and aliphaticity increased with increasing Mw as indicated by elemental composition analysis and FT-IR spectra. The binding capacity of Cd~(2+) to Mw fractions of HA followed the order UF1( 5 kDa) UF2(5–10 kDa) UF4( 30 kDa) UF3(10–30 kDa). Moreover, the distribution of cadmium speciation indicated that the phenolic groups were responsible for the variations in binding of Cd~(2+) among different Mw fractions. The results of fluorescence quenching illustrated that the binding capacity of Cd~(2+) to Mw fractions was controlled by the content of functional groups, while the binding affinity was largely influenced by structural factors. The results provide a better understanding of the roles that different HA Mw fractions play in heavy metal binding,which has important implications in the control of heavy metal migration and bio-toxicity. 相似文献
Tomato plant waste(TPW) was used as the feedstock of a batch anaerobic reactor to evaluate the effect of anaerobic digestion on Ralstonia solanacearum and Phytophthora capsici survival. Batch experiments were carried out for TS(total solid) concentrations of 2%, 4% and 6% respectively, at mesophilic(37 ± 1°C) and room(20–25°C) temperatures. Results showed that higher digestion performance was achieved under mesophilic digestion temperature and lower TS concentration conditions. The biogas production ranged from 71 to 416 L/kg VS(volatile solids). The inactivation of anaerobic digestion tended to increase as digestion performance improved. The maximum log copies reduction of R. solanacearum and P. capsici detected by quantitative PCR(polymerase chain reaction) were 3.80 and 4.08 respectively in reactors with 4% TS concentration at mesophilic temperatures. However, both in mesophilic and room temperature conditions, the lowest reduction of R. solanacearum was found in the reactors with 6% TS concentration, which possessed the highest VFA(volatile fatty acid) concentration. These findings indicated that simple accumulation of VFAs failed to restrain R. solanacearum effectively, although the VFAs were considered poisonous. P. capsici was nearly completely dead under all conditions. Based on the digestion performance and the pathogen survival rate, a model was established to evaluate the digestate biosafety. 相似文献
The concentrations of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) were measured in 23 farmland soil samples and 10 riverine sediment samples from Guiyu, China, and the carcinogenic risks associated with PAHs in the samples were evaluated. Guiyu is the largest electronic waste(EW) dismantling area globally, and has been well known for the primitive and crude manner in which EWs are disposed, such as by open burning and roasting. The total PAH concentrations were 56–567 ng/g in the soils and 181–3034 ng/g in the sediments.The Shanglian and Huamei districts were found to be more contaminated with PAHs than the north of Guiyu. The soils were relatively weakly contaminated but the sediments were more contaminated, and sediments in some river sections might cause carcinogenic risks to the groundwater system. The PAHs in the soils were derived from combustion sources,but the PAHs in the sediments were derived from both combustion and petroleum sources. 相似文献