Nitrated and parent PAHs in the surface water of Lake Taihu, China: Occurrence, distribution, source, and human health risk assessment

Nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs) have toxic potentials that are higher than those of their corresponding parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and thus have received increasing attention in recent years. In this study, the occurrence, distribution, source, and human health risk assessment of 15 NPAHs and 16 PAHs were investigated in the surface water from 20 sampling sites of Lake Taihu during the dry, normal, and flood seasons of 2018. The ΣPAH concentrations ranged from 255 to 7298 ng/L and the ΣNPAH concentrations ranged from not-detected (ND) to 212 ng/L. Among the target analytes, 2-nitrofluorene (2-nFlu) was the predominant NPAH, with a detection frequency ranging from 85% to 90% and a maximum concentration of 56.2 ng/L. The three-ringed and four-ringed NPAHs and PAHs comprised the majority of the detected compounds. In terms of seasonal variation, the highest levels of the ΣNPAHs and ΣPAHs were in the dry season and flood season, respectively. Diagnostic ratio analysis indicated that the prime source of NPAHs was direct combustion, whereas in the case of PAHs the contribution was predominantly from a mixed pattern including pollution from unburned petroleum and petroleum combustion. The human health risk of NPAHs and PAHs was evaluated using a lifetime carcinogenic risk assessment model. The carcinogenic risk level of the targets ranged from 2.09 × 10^?7 to 5.75 × 10^?5 and some surface water samples posed a potential health risk.     

新安江流域横向生态补偿的经济效应

以新安江流域横向生态补偿试点作为准自然实验,采用2001~2017年中国安徽和浙江省内县域面板数据,利用双重差分方法（DID）定量研究了试点政策对流域上下游地区经济发展的影响及可能机制.结果显示：试点政策对上游地区的经济发展造成了一定程度的抑制影响,表现为相关地区的人均GDP或地区GDP出现了下降,而对流域下游地区经济发展并无显著作用,这一结论在进行多项稳健性检验后仍然成立;新安江试点政策对上游地区经济发展的负面影响呈现出了“先增强后减弱”的动态变化规律;此外,机制分析显示5个试点县内规模以上工业企业个数显著下降,表明“企业退出”是新安江试点政策对上游地区经济发展造成负面影响的重要原因.本研究可为后续制定和实施跨地区水资源保护的利益调配机制提供依据.     

Influence of drying and calcination temperatures for Ce-Cu-Al trimetallic composite catalyst on simultaneous removal H2S and PH3: Experimental and DFT studies

This work explored the influences of the drying and calcination temperatures on a Ce-Cu-Al trimetallic composite catalyst for the simultaneous removal of H₂S and PH₃. The effects of both temperatures on the structural features and activity were examined. The density functional theory method was used to calculate adsorption energies and further analyze their adsorption behavior on different slabs. Experiments revealed suitable drying and calcination temperatures to be 60 and 500°C, respectively. The capacity reached 323.8 and 288.1 mg/g. Adjusting drying temperature to 60°C is more inclined to form larger and structured grains of CuO. Rising calcinating temperature to 500°C could increase the grain size and redox capacity of CuO to promote performance. Higher temperatures would destroy the surface structure and lead to a crystal phase transformation, which was that the CuO and Al₂O₃ were gradually recombined into CuAl₂O₄ with a spinel structure. The exposed crystal planes of surficial CuO and CuAl₂O₄ were determined according to characterization results. Calculation results showed that, compared with CuO (111), H₂S and PH₃ have weaker adsorption strength on CuAl₂O₄ (100) which is not conducive to their adsorption and removal.     

Urinary analysis reveals high Alternaria mycotoxins exposure in the general population from Beijing, China

Alternaria mycotoxins are of concern due to its adverse health effect, they affect various cereal crops and grain-based food along with modified forms that contribute to overall exposure. This study aimed to determine the frequency and level of exposure to Alternaria mycotoxins (tenuazonic acid, TeA; alternariol, AOH; alternariol monomethyl ether, AME; tentoxin, TEN; and altenuene, ALT) in human urine from Beijing adults. A total of 2212 urine samples were collected and analyzed for five mycotoxins using LC–ESI–MS/MS. More than 98% of the samples had at least one Alternaria mycotoxin detected. Among the mycotoxins, AME had the highest detection rate (96.0%), followed by TeA (70.5%). The calculated average daily intake values of AME (12.5 ng/kg b.w.) was 5 times the TTC value (2.5 ng/kg b.w.) set by the EFSA, indicating the potential health risks associated with mycotoxins. Immediate attention and subsequent actions should be taken to identify the sources of mycotoxins and the corresponding exposure pathways to humans in the investigated regions.     

Difference in calcium ion precipitation between free and immobilized Halovibrio mesolongii HMY2

Biomineralization has become a research focus in wastewater treatment due to its much lower costs compared to traditional methods. However, the low sodium chloride (NaCl)-tolerance of bacteria limits applications to only water with low NaCl concentrations. Here, calcium ions in hypersaline wastewater (10% NaCl) were precipitated by free and immobilized Halovibrio mesolongii HMY2 bacteria and the differences between them were determined. The results show that calcium ions can be transformed into several types of calcium carbonate with a range of morphologies, abundant organic functional groups (C-H, C-O-C, C=O, etc), protein secondary structures (β-sheet, α-helix, 3₁₀ helix, and β-turn), P=O and S-H indicated by P2p and S2p, and more negative δ¹³C_PDB (‰) values (-16.8‰ to -18.4‰). The optimal conditions for the immobilized bacteria were determined by doing experiments with six factors and five levels and using response surface method. Under the action of two groups of immobilized bacteria prepared under the optimal conditions, by the 10^th day, Ca²⁺ ion precipitation ratios had increased to 79%-89% and 80%-88% with changes in magnesium ion cencentrations. Magnesium ions can significantly inhibit the calcium ion precipitation, and this inhibitory effect can be decreased under the action of immobilized bacteria. Minerals induced by immobilized bacteria always aggregated together, had higher contents of Mg, P, and S, lower stable carbon isotope values and less well-developed protein secondary structures. This study demonstrates an economic and eco-friendly method for recycling calcium ions in hypersaline wastewater, providing an easy step in the process of desalination.     

10种典型重金属在八大流域的生态风险及水质标准评价

收集了10种典型重金属在我国八大流域水体中的暴露浓度和对水生生物的急性和慢性毒性数据,分别应用概率密度重叠面积法和联合概率分布法对重金属在各流域水体中的生态风险进行评估,并与现行水质标准的评估结果进行对比.结果显示,Cu和Zn在各流域水体中生态风险均较高,现行水质标准对水生生物Cu、Zn的暴露不能实施有效的保护;Hg和Ni现行标准对水生生物存在过保护的现象;Se、As和Sb在各流域水体中生态风险均较低,现行标准对水生生物保护程度适中.建议对现行水质标准适度修改,同时增强高风险重金属监测水平,以合理有效的保护我国水生态系统安全.     

海洋古pH重建的技术方法

重建海洋古pH对于海洋酸化进程研究具有重要意义。本文对海洋古pH反演的硅藻组合、硼同位素组成及B/Ca、brGDGTs及3-羟基脂肪酸等技术方法进行了归纳和总结。硅藻组合法系根据沉积物中保存的硅藻的种类和丰度重建水体的古pH,在湖泊研究中有较多成功的应用;硼同位素组成及B/Ca法基于海洋钙质生物中δ11B或B/Ca的变化重建海水pH,brGDGTs法是基于沉积物中brGDGTs的环化指数或异构化程度重建过去海水pH,3-羟基脂肪酸法是基于沉积物中3-羟基脂肪酸的支链比反演海洋古pH。这些海洋古pH的反演技术方法各有特点,就目前而言,仅硼同位素组成及B/Ca法是追溯海洋古pH变化较为成熟的方法。研发海洋古pH反演新技术方法至关重要,完善现有方法构建更加准确精密的海洋古pH重建指标体系任重而道远。     

Occurrence and distribution of antibiotic resistance genes in the sediments of the East China Sea bays

The coastal area of the East China Sea has experienced rapid urbanization and industrialization in China since 1980 s, resulting in severe pollution of its environments.Antibiotic resistance genes(ARGs) are regarded as a kind of emerging pollutant with potential high risk. The sediment samples were collected from Hangzhou Bay(HB),Xiangshan Bay(XB), and Taizhou Bay(TB) to investigate the spatial occurrence and distribution of 27 ARGs and class I integron–integrase gene(intI1) in the coastal area of the East China Sea. The PCR results showed the frequent presence of 11 ARGs and intI1 in the sediments of the three bays. The qPCR results further showed that sulfonamide resistance was the most prevalent ARG type and antibiotic target replacement and protection were the most important resistance mechanisms in the sediments. Regarding the subtype of ARGs, sulI, tetW, and dfrA13 were the most abundant ARGs, in which sulI was higher in TB(based on both the absolute and relative abundances) and dfrA13 was higher in HB(based on the relative abundances). The network analysis revealed that intI1 had significant correlations with tetC, sulI, sulII, and blaPSE-1. Oil was the key connected factor, which had positive connections with sulI, sulII, and blaPSE-1. In addition, the joint effect of heavy metals and nutrients organic pollutants might be crucial for the fate of ARGs in the coastal sediments.     

Highly selective catalytic reduction of NOxby MnOx–CeO2–Al2O3 catalysts prepared by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis

We first present preparation of MnOx–CeO_2–Al_2O_3 catalysts with varying Mn contents through a self-propagating high-temperature synthesis(SHS) method, and studied the application of these catalysts to the selective catalytic reduction of NOxwith NH3(NH_3-SCR).Using the catalyst with 18 wt.% Mn(18 MnCe1Al2), 100% NO conversion was achieved at 200°C and a gas hourly space velocity of 15384 hr-1, and the high-efficiency SCR temperature window, where NO conversion is greater than 90%, was widened to a temperature range of 150–300°C. 18 MnCe1Al2 showed great resistance to SO_2(100 ppm)and H_2O(5%) at 200°C. The catalysts were characterized using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller(BET) analysis, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and H_2 temperature programmed reduction. The characterization results showed that the surface atomic concentration of Mn increased with increasing Mn content, which led to synergism between Mn and Ce and improved the activity in the SCR reaction. 18 MnCe1Al2 has an extensive pore structure,with a BET surface area of approximately 135.4 m~2/g, a pore volume of approximately 0.16 cm~3/g, and an average pore diameter of approximately 4.6 nm. The SCR reaction on 18 MnCe1Al2 mainly followed the Eley-Rideal mechanism. The performances of the MnOx–CeO_2–Al_2O_3 catalysts were good, and because of the simplicity of the preparation process,the SHS method is applicable to their industrial-scale manufacture.     

Molten hydroxide for detoxification of chlorine-containing waste: Unraveling chlorine retention efficiency and chlorine salt enrichment

Hazardous waste dechlorination reduces the potential of creating dioxins during the incineration process. To investigate the salt effect on waste dechlorination, molten hydroxides with a low melting temperature were utilized for the pre-dechlorination and decomposition of chlorine-containing organic wastes(COWs) including trichlorobenzene(TCB),perchloroethylene, hexachlorobenzene and chlordane. The results showed that a eutectic mixture of caustic sodium and potassium hydroxides(41 wt.% NaOH and 59 wt.% KOH) led to a low melting point below 300°C and a relatively high chlorine retention efficiency(CRE) with TCB as a representative COWs. The amounts of hydroxides, reaction time, and temperature all had notable influence on CRE. When the mass ratio of hydroxides to TCB reached 30:1,approximately 98.1% of the TCB was destroyed within 2.5 hr at 300°C with CRE of 71.6%.According to the residue analysis, the shapes of reaction residues were irregular with particles becoming swollen and porous. The benzene ring and C–Cl bonds disappeared, while carboxyl groups formed in the residues. The stripped chlorine was retained and condensed to form chloride salts, and the relative abundance of the chloride ions associated with the mass of TCB in residues increased from 0 to 75.0% within the 2.5 hr reaction time. The observed concentration of dioxins in residues was 5.6 ngTEQ/kg. A reaction pathway and possible additional reactions that occur in this dechlorination system were proposed. Oxidizing agents may attack TCB and facilitate hydrogenation/dechlorination reactions, making this process a promising and environmentally friendly approach for chlorine-containing organic waste treatment.