Review of the influencing factors of secondary organic aerosol formation and aging mechanism based on photochemical smog chamber simulation methods

The formation and aging mechanism of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and its influencing factors have attracted increasing attention in recent years because of their effects on climate change, atmospheric quality and human health. However, there are still large errors between air quality model simulation results and field observations. The currently undetected components during the formation and aging of SOA due to the limitation of current monitoring techniques and the interactions among multiple SOA formation influencing factors might be the main reasons for the differences. In this paper, we present a detailed review of the complex dynamic physical and chemical processes and the corresponding influencing factors involved in SOA formation and aging. And all these results were mainly based the studies of photochemical smog chamber simulation. Although the properties of precursor volatile organic compounds (VOCs), oxidants (such as OH radicals), and atmospheric environmental factors (such as NO_x, SO₂, NH₃, light intensity, temperature, humidity and seed aerosols) jointly influence the products and yield of SOA, the nucleation and vapor pressure of these products were found to be the most fundamental aspects when interpreting the dynamics of the SOA formation and aging process. The development of techniques for measuring intermediate species in SOA generation processes and the study of SOA generation and aging mechanism in complex systems should be important topics of future SOA research.     

Occurrence, profiles, and ecotoxicity of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances and their alternatives in global apex predators: A critical review

Certain poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) exhibit significant bioaccumulation/biomagnification behaviors in ecosystems. PFASs, such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) and related precursors, have elicited attention from both public and national regulatory agencies, which has resulted in worldwide restrictions on their production and use. Apex predators occupy the top trophic positions in ecosystems and are most affected by the biomagnification behavior of PFASs. Meanwhile, the long lifespans of apex predators also lead to the high body burden of PFASs. The high body burden of PFASs might be linked to adverse health effects and even pose a potential threat to their reproduction. As seen in previous reviews of PFASs, knowledge is lacking between the current stage of the PFAS body burden and related effects in apex predators. This review summarized PFAS occurrence in global apex predators, including information on the geographic distribution, levels, profiles, and tissue distribution, and discussed the trophic transfer and ecotoxicity of PFASs. In the case where legacy PFASs were restricted under international convention, the occurrence of novel PFASs, such as 6:2 chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonate (6:2 Cl-PFESA) and perfluoroethylcyclohexane sulfonate (PFECHS), in apex predators arose as an emerging issue. Future studies should develop an effective analytical method and focus on the toxicity and trophic transfer behavior of novel PFASs.     

石化企业气体泄漏红外成像检测技术研究进展

介绍了气体泄漏红外成像检测技术的工作原理和分类,综述了国内外相关单位的研究进展,重点分析了国外公司对被动式红外成像检测技术的研究情况,并对技术的发展方向进行了展望。     

某地加油站土壤地下水现状调查与分析

通过对某地10个加油站所在场地土壤及地下水现场采样、实验室检测,分析加油站对土壤与地下水污染原因,结合国家政策法规以及加油站土壤地下水调查现状,针对加油站污染状况提出加强加油站土壤及地下水污染隐患排查力度、强化加油站土壤地下水方面日常管理、污染加油站风险管控及修复工作、加快推进防渗池及双层罐等设施改造工作等建议。     

In situ construction of Z-scheme FeS2/Fe2O3 photocatalyst via structural transformation of pyrite for photocatalytic degradation of carbamazepine and the synergistic reduction of Cr(VI)

Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide semiconductor mineral with excellent optical properties. However, few reports have investigated its photocatalytic activity because of the low photogenerated carrier separation efficiency. In this work, a Z-scheme FeS₂/Fe₂O₃ composite photocatalyst was fabricated in situ via structural transformation of pyrite through heat treatment. A remarkably enhanced photocatalytic performance was observed over the FeS₂/Fe₂O₃ composite photocatalyst. Compared with the pristine pyrite, the degradation efficiency of carbamazepine (CBZ) reached 65% at the added hexavalent chromium (Cr(Ⅵ)) concentration of 20 mg/L and the Cr(Ⅵ) was nearly completely reduced in the mixed system using FeS₂/Fe₂O₃ within 30 min under simulated solar light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity can be attributed to the efficient separation and transfer of photogenerated carriers in the FeS₂/Fe₂O₃ composite photocatalyst. This facilitated the generation of ?OH, hole (h⁺) and ?O₂^? species, which participated in the photocatalytic reaction with CBZ. Based on the measurement of the active species and electric properties, a Z-scheme electron transfer pathway was proposed for the FeS₂/Fe₂O₃ composite photocatalyst. This work broadens the application potential of pyrite in environmental remediation.     

Nano Fe2O3 embedded in montmorillonite with citric acid enhanced photocatalytic activity of nanoparticles towards diethyl phthalate

Nano-Fe₂O₃ embedded in montmorillonite particles (Fe-Mt) were prepared to degrade diethyl phthalate (DEP) with citric acid (CA) under xenon light irradiation. Compared to pristine montmorillonite (Na-Mt), the embedding process increased 14.5-fold of iron content and 1.8-fold of specific surface area. The synthesized Fe-Mt have more oxygen vacancies than Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles (nFe₂O₃), which could induce more reactive oxygen species (ROSs) generation in the presence of CA under xenon lamp irradiation. Fe-Mt with CA enhanced photo-assisted degradation of DEP 2.5 times as compared to nFe₂O₃ with CA. Quenching experiments, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and identification of products confirmed that surface-bound ?OH was the main radical to degrade DEP. Common anions (i.e., NO₃^?, CO₃^2?, Cl^?) and humic acid could compete ?OH with DEP and cause slower degradation of DEP. The removal efficiency of DEP was more than 56% with Fe-Mt after three recycles, and the dissolved Fe concentration from Fe-Mt was below 75 μmol/L, indicating Fe-Mt had a good stability as a catalyst. Fe-Mt together with CA appeared to be a promising strategy to remove organic pollutants in surface water, or topsoil under solar irradiation.     

Volatile organic compounds concentration profiles and control strategy in container manufacturing industry: Case studies in China

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), important precursors of ozone (O₃) and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), are the key to curb the momentum of O₃ growth and further reducing PM_2.5 in China. Container manufacturing industry is one of the major VOC emitters, and more than 96% containers of the world are produced in China, with the annual usage of coatings of over 200,000 tons in recent years. This is the first research on the emission characteristics of VOCs in Chinese container manufacturing industry, including concentration and ozone formation potential (OFP) of each species. The result shows that the largest amounts of VOCs are emitted during the pretreatment process, followed by the paint mixing process and primer painting process, and finally other sprays process. The average VOC concentrations in the workshops, the exhausts before treatment and the exhausts after treatment are ranging from 82.67–797.46 , 170–1,812.65 , 66.20–349.63 mg/m³, respectively. Benzenes, alcohols and ethers are main species, which contribute more than 90% OFP together. Based on the emission characteristics of VOCs and the technical feasibility, it is recommended to set the emission limit in standard of benzene to 1.0 mg/m³, toluene to 10 mg/m³, xylene to 20 mg/m³, benzenes to 40 mg/m³, alcohols and ethers to 50 mg/m³, and VOCs to 100 mg/m³. The study reports the industry emission characteristics and discusses the standard limits, which is a powerful support to promote VOCs emission reduction, and to promote the coordinated control of PM_2.5 and O₃ pollution.     

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.     

Assessment of health benefit of PM2.5 reduction during COVID-19 lockdown in China and separating contributions from anthropogenic emissions and meteorology

The national lockdown policies have drastically disrupted socioeconomic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic in China, which provides a unique opportunity to investigate the air quality response to such anthropogenic disruptions. And it is meaningful to evaluate the potential health impacts of air quality changes during the lockdown, especially for PM_2.5 with adverse health effects. In this study, by using PM_2.5 observations from 1388 monitoring stations nationwide in China, we examine the PM_2.5 variations between the COVID-19 lockdown (February and March in 2020) and the same period in 2015–2019, and find that the national average of PM_2.5 decreases by 18 μg/m³, and mean PM_2.5 for most sites (about 75%) decrease by 30%–60%. The anthropogenic and meteorological contributions to these PM_2.5 variations are also determined by using a stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR) model combined with the Kolmogorov–Zurbenko filter. Our results show that the change of anthropogenic emissions is a leading contributor to those widespread PM_2.5 reductions, and meteorological conditions have the negative influence on PM_2.5 reductions for some regions, such as Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH). Additionally, the avoided premature death due to PM_2.5 reduction is estimated as a predicted number based on a log-linear concentration-response function. The total avoided premature death is 9952 in China, with dominant contribution (94%) from anthropogenic emission changes. For BTH, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Hubei regions, the reductions of PM_2.5 are 24.1, 24.3, 13.5 and 29.5 μg/m³, with the avoided premature deaths of 1066, 1963, 454 and 583, respectively.     

Remediation of preservative ethylparaben in water using natural sphalerite: Kinetics and mechanisms

As a typical class of emerging organic contaminants(EOCs), the environmental transformation and abatement of preservative parabens have raised certain environmental concerns. However, the remediation of parabens-contaminated water using natural matrixes(such as, naturally abundant minerals) is not reported extensively in literature. In this study, the transformation kinetics and the mechanism of ethylparaben using natural sphalerite(NS) were investigated. The results show that around 63% of ethy...