PCBs污染土壤的CaO诱导低温热处理脱氯研究

研究了低温热处理脱氯技术对废弃电容器封存点附近污染土壤中多氯联苯脱氯的效果,考察反应温度、反应时间及CaO添加比例对PCBs去除率、脱氯率的影响以及反应前后土壤中污染物的组分变化。实验土样中PCBs浓度为107.7 mg/g,属于罕见高浓度PCBs污染土壤。当反应温度为400℃、停留时间4h、CaO添加比例为10%,PCBs的去除率为87.7%,脱氯率为85.3%。土壤样品中五氯联苯和四氯联苯反应后含量降低或未检出,部分反应后样品检出一氯联苯和联苯,说明在CaO诱导PCBs低温热处理脱氯反应中存在逐步脱氯/加氢反应途径。     

原铝生产流程温室气体排放主要影响因素的关联度分析

铝是国民经济建设和发展的关键基础材料,然而由其生产过程所产生的大量温室气体排放也逐渐成为政府关注的焦点。本研究计算了我国原铝生产不同年度的生命周期能耗和温室气体排放量,并分析了资源消耗和生产工序能耗等影响因素与温室气体排放的关联性。结果表明,在各年原铝生产的温室气体排放总量中,电力和阳极效应导致的排放所占比重分别为68.5%和7.9%,其他影响因素所占比重均低于6%;与温室气体排放关联度最高的3个影响因素依次是电耗、煤气燃烧和石灰石煅烧,其值分别为0.937、0.899和0.893;在目前铝电耗和阳极效应控制水平提升空间有限的情况下,降低煤气的消耗,提高石灰石的使用效率,是实现原铝生产温室气体减排的有效途径。     

丙烯酸酯类高吸油树脂的合成及其吸附性能

采用悬浮聚合法,以甲基丙烯酸甲酯(MMA)和丙烯酸丁酯(BA)为单体、二乙烯苯(DVB)为交联剂、过氧化苯甲酰(BPO)为引发剂,合成了一种丙烯酸酯类高吸油树脂。实验结果表明,在m(MMA)∶m(BA)=0.5、DVB加入量为0.8%、BPO加入量为1.2%的最佳条件下,树脂对氯仿的吸油率可达30.6 g/g,对氯仿、柴油、甲苯、废机油、花生油、丙酮等有机溶剂和油品的保油率可达90.0%以上。     

Evaluating anthropogenic N inputs to diverse lake basins: A case study of three Chinese lakes

The environmental degradation of lakes in China has become increasingly serious over the last 30 years and eutrophication resulting from enhanced nutrient inputs is considered a top threat. In this study, a quasi-mass balance method, net anthropogenic N inputs (NANI), was introduced to assess the human influence on N input into three typical Chinese lake basins. The resultant NANI exceeded 10 000 kg N km⁻² year⁻¹ for all three basins, and mineral fertilizers were generally the largest sources. However, rapid urbanization and shrinking agricultural production capability may significantly increase N inputs from food and feed imports. Higher percentages of NANI were observed to be exported at urban river outlets, suggesting the acceleration of NANI transfer to rivers by urbanization. Over the last decade, the N inputs have declined in the basins dominated by the fertilizer use but have increased in the basins dominated by the food and feed import. In the foreseeable future, urban areas may arise as new hotspots for nitrogen in China while fertilizer use may decline in importance in areas of high population density.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0638-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Toxicity of sediment cores from Yangtze River estuary to zebrafish (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Danio rerio</Emphasis>) embryos

Toxicity evaluation is an important segment in sediment quality monitoring in order to protect aquatic organisms and human health. The purpose of this study is to assess the toxicity of sediments from three sediment cores in Yangtze River Estuary, China, using the zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo tests. Fertilized zebrafish eggs were exposed to both whole sediments and sediment organic extracts prepared from collected sediments, in order to provide a comprehensive and realistic insight into the bioavailable toxicity potential of the sediments. As end points, development parameters (mortality, hatching rate, and abnormality) in the developing embryos were recorded during the 96-h exposure. The results showed that some samples increased mortality, inhibited the hatching of embryos, and induced morphological abnormalities. The embryonic toxicities presented serrated changes and irregular distribution with depth, which may be related to hydrodynamic effect and unstable environmental input. However, lethal and sub-lethal effects were more significant at the sub-surface sediments (10～40 cm), which indicated that the pollution is more serious in recent decades.     

Recycling and pollution control of the End of Life Vehicles in China

The quantity of vehicles has increased rapidly in recent years in China; however, the recycling of End of Life Vehicles (ELV) faces several problems and barriers including the collection difficulty and the environmental pollution caused by improper dismantling. In this paper, based on analysis of the basic situation regarding management and recycling of ELV in China, the ELV flow was introduced, and the potential ELV quantity was estimated. The current management regulations and policies were summarized, and dismantling and pollution control technologies for ELV recycling were introduced, too. It was suggested that with the rapid growth of ELV quantities, more regulations will be enacted, and the recycling network will be more effective; the dismantling technology and pollution control measures will be upgraded, and the recycling and remanufacturing industries will be more combined. The government should pay more attention to improve the management and supervision of, and encourage the development of, high level enterprises.     

Carbon Sequestration Function of Check-Dams: A Case Study of the Loess Plateau in China

Check-dams are the most common structures for controlling soil erosion in the Loess Plateau. However, the effect of check-dams on carbon sequestration, along with sediment transport and deposition, has not been assessed over large areas. In this study, we evaluated the carbon sequestration function of check-dams in the Loess Plateau. The results indicate that there were approximately 11 000 check-dams distributed in the Loess Plateau, with an estimate of the amount of sediment of 21 × 10⁹ m³ and a soil organic carbon storage amount of 0.945 Pg. Our study reveals that check-dams in the Loess Plateau not only conserve soil and water but also sequester carbon.     

Comparison of lignin peroxidase and horseradish peroxidase for catalyzing the removal of nonylphenol from water

Concentrations of aqueous-phase nonylphenol (NP), a well-known endocrine-disrupting chemical, are shown to be reduced effectively via reaction with lignin peroxidase (LiP) or horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and hydrogen peroxide. We systematically assessed their reaction efficiencies at varying conditions, and the results have confirmed that the catalytic performance of LiP toward NP was more efficient than that of HRP under experimental conditions. Mass spectrum analysis demonstrated that polymerization through radical–radical coupling mechanism was the pathway leading to NP transformation. Our molecular modeling with the assistance of ab initio suggested the coupling of NP likely proceeded via covalent bonding between two NP radicals at their unsubstituted carbons in phenolic rings. Data from acute immobilization tests with Daphnia confirm that NP toxicity is effectively eliminated by LiP/HRP-catalyzed NP removal. The findings in this study provide useful information for understanding LiP/HRP-mediated NP reactions, and comparison of enzymatic performance can present their advantages for up-scale applications in water/wastewater treatment.     

Effects of cadmium on the photosynthetic activity in mature and young leaves of soybean plants

Cadmium (Cd) is a widely spread pollutant and can be easily taken up by crop from soil, resulting in a serious health issue for humans. The objective of this study was to comparatively investigate the photosynthetic activity, chlorophyll a fluorescence, chlorophyll contents, and spectral reflectance in mature and young leaves of soybean plants after being treated with different concentrations of Cd for 10 days. The photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll contents, actual photochemical efficiency of PSII, and photochemical quenching in the young leaves decreased more significantly with increasing concentrations of Cd in the nutrient solution, compared with those in the mature leaves, though the young leaves had less Cd concentrations. Thus, there was more excessive excited energy produced in the young leaves than that in the mature leaves. In the young leaves, due to more excessive excited energy, more reactive oxygen species may be generated, which further damaged the photosynthetic apparatus. It was supported by the fact that the decrease of reflectance in near-infrared wavelengths of the young leaves was more noticeable than that of the mature leaves. In addition, the chlorophyll a fluorescence transients of the young leaves was significantly different from that in the mature leaves, indicating that the electron transport of young leaves were inhibited much more severely than that of the mature leaves. These observations imply that the responses of photosynthetic activity of soybean leaves to Cd stress depend on their growth stage, and the Cd-induced inhibition of photosynthetic activity might be attributed to the decrease in chlorophyll contents and the decrease in mesophyll CO₂ assimilation ability cause by the Cd, which further decreased the consumption of ATP and NADPH, leading to accumulation of NADPH on the acceptor sides of the PSI, and then feedback inhibited electron transport in chloroplasts.     

Manganese concentrations in maternal–infant blood and birth weight

Manganese (Mn) is an essential mineral nutrient in mammals. The physiological role of Mn in animal models is well documented, but little is known about the adverse effects of Mn deficiency or overexposure in humans, including pregnancy outcomes such as birth weight. We examined the relationship of the maternal and cord blood Mn levels with birth weight in a cohort of 172 mother–infant pairs born in Shanghai, China. Non-linear spline and quadratic regression models were used to test the hypothesis of an inverted U-shaped association between the Mn levels and birth weight. The median (range) levels of Mn in the maternal and cord blood were 5.38 (2.34–30.37) μg/dL and 7.66 (2.57–34.23) μg/dL, respectively. An inverted U-shaped relationship was observed between maternal Mn and birth weight after adjusting for potential confounders. The birth weight increased with Mn levels up to 4.18 μg/dL, and a slight reduction in weight was observed at higher levels. The cord blood Mn levels were not found to be associated with birth weight. Both lower and higher Mn exposures are associated with lower birth weight, which may influence important developmental parameters; the association of higher Mn levels with lower weight was weak and imprecise.