Biofilter treatment of volatile organic compound emissions from reformulated paint: complex mixtures, intermittent operation, and startup

Two biofilters were operated to treat a waste gas stream intended to simulate off-gases generated during the manufacture of reformulated paint. The model waste gas stream consisted of a five-component solvent mixture containing acetone (450 ppm(v)), methyl ethyl ketone (12 ppm(v)), toluene (29 ppm(v)), ethylbenzene (10 ppm(v)), and p-xylene (10 ppm(v)). The two biofilters, identical in construction and packed with a polyurethane foam support medium, were inoculated with an enrichment culture derived from compost and then subjected to different loading conditions during the startup phase of operation. One biofilter was subjected to intermittent loading conditions with contaminants supplied only 8 hr/day to simulate loading conditions expected at facilities where manufacturing operations are discontinuous. The other biofilter was subjected to continuous contaminant loading during the initial start period, and then was switched to intermittent loading conditions. Experimental results demonstrate that both startup strategies can ultimately achieve high contaminant removal efficiency (>99%) at a target contaminant mass loading rate of 80.3 g m(-3) hr(-1) and an empty bed residence time of 59 sec. The biofilter subjected to intermittent loading conditions at startup, however, took considerably longer to reach high performance. In both biofilters, ketone components (acetone and methyl ethyl ketone) were, more rapidly degraded than aromatic hydrocarbons (toluene, ethylbenzene, and p-xylene). Scanning electron microscopy and plate count data revealed that fungi, as well as bacteria, populated the biofilters.     

Pollution sources of atmospheric fine particles and secondary aerosol characteristics in Beijing

To investigate the secondary formation and pollution sources of atmospheric particles in urban Beijing, PM_2.5 and its chemical components were collected and determined by URG-9000D ambient ion monitor (AIM) from March 2016 to January 2017. Among water-soluble ions (WSIs), NO₃^?, SO₄^2- and NH₄⁺ (SNA) had the largest proportion (77.8%) with the total concentration of 23.8 μg/m³. Moreover, as fine particle pollution worsened, the NO₃^?, SO₄^2- and NH₄⁺ concentrations increased basically, which revealed that secondary aerosols were the main cause of particle pollution in Beijing. Furthermore, the particle neutralization ratio (1.1), the ammonia to sulfate molar ratio (3.4) and the nitrate to sulfate molar ratio (2.2) showed that secondary aerosols are under ammonium-rich conditions with the main chemical forms of NH₄NO₃ and (NH₄)₂SO₄, and vehicle emission could be the main anthropogenic source of secondary aerosols in Beijing. Source analysis further indicated that secondary aerosols, solid fuel combustion, dust and marine aerosol were the principal pollution sources of PM_2.5, accounting for about 46.1%, 22.4% and 13.0%, respectively, and Inner Mongolia and Hebei Provinces could be considered as the main potential sources of PM_2.5 in urban Beijing. In addition, secondary formation process was closely related with gaseous precursor emission amounts (SO₂, NO₂, NH₃ and HONO), atmospheric ozone concentration (O₃), meteorological conditions (temperature and relative humidity) and particle components. Sensitive analysis of the thermodynamic equilibrium model (ISORROPIA II) revealed that controlling total nitrate (TN) is the effective measure to mitigate fine particle pollution in Beijing.     

大气PM2.5及高脂饮食对哮喘发病影响的研究进展

大气PM_2.5暴露与呼吸系统疾病密切相关,高脂饮食是哮喘的诱因之一.近年来,哮喘发病率在我国呈上升趋势.对大气PM_2.5、高脂饮食及二者协同作用对哮喘发病的影响进行探讨,为哮喘的干预和治疗提供新思路.总结了PM_2.5暴露与高脂饮食对哮喘的影响以及哮喘的发病机制:①颗粒物暴露可引发机体炎症反应,增加哮喘发病风险;②高脂饮食可通过代谢活化机体内免疫相关信号通路,导致炎症发生;③二者均会通过MyD88/TLRs信号通路和Th1/Th2机制对哮喘炎症产生影响.研究显示,PM_2.5与高脂饮食对哮喘的作用机制具有一致性,二者对人群的健康影响可能具有协同作用.      

基于田块尺度的农田土壤和小麦籽粒镉砷铅污染特征及健康风险评价

以典型镉(Cd)、砷(As)和铅(Pb)复合污染农田为主要研究对象,在田块尺度上(纵向上受周边冶炼厂和污灌河流影响,横向上受道路交通影响)重点调查分析了农田土壤和小麦籽粒中Cd、As和Pb污染特征,并采用化学致癌物和化学非致癌物模型对小麦籽粒Cd、As和Pb含量进行了人体健康风险评价.结果表明,该农田土壤为中度污染水平,土壤Cd、As和Pb含量均有不同程度超标(GB 15618-2018),点位超标率分别为100%、 100%和36.7%;小麦籽粒中Cd和Pb含量超标率分别为76.7%和13.3%,As含量未超过食品安全国家标准(GB 2762-2017).在纵向上距冶炼厂和污灌河流不同距离土壤Cd、As和Pb含量无显著差异,但小麦籽粒中Cd和As含量差异显著,近组Cd和As含量比远组分别高14.9%和41.8%(P0.05).在横向上土壤和小麦籽粒Pb含量主要受道路交通影响,最近组土壤和籽粒Pb含量分别比最远组高78.9%和471%(P0.05).该典型污染农田中小麦籽粒Cd和As对成人和儿童均存在致癌风险(致癌风险值R_i1×10~(-4)),风险值CdAs,儿童成人,小麦籽粒Pb尚未产生健康风险.     

岩溶流域不同水体硝酸盐的来源解析

为解析岩溶流域不同水体中硝酸盐的来源和转化过程,运用δ~(15)N-NO~-_3、δ~(18)O-NO~-_3和δ~(18)O-H_2O多同位素示踪技术和水化学分析方法,对地表水和地下水的硝酸盐时空分布特征、来源及转化过程进行分析,并利用SIAR模型,计算不同端元对水体硝酸盐的贡献比例.结果表明,研究区水体溶解性无机氮以NO~-_3-N和NH~+_4-N两种形态为主,地下水样品中的NO~-_3-N浓度在平水期和枯水期的超标率分别为7.89%和16.67%.时间上,枯水期水体硝酸盐平均浓度高于平水期.空间上,旱地集中区(凯伦河至松柏山水库坝前区域)地下水硝酸盐浓度明显高于水田集中区(干河区域),旱地和建设用地集中区(凯伦河区域)地表水硝酸盐浓度普遍较高.水体硝酸盐转化过程以硝化作用为主,土壤有机氮、粪便污水和化肥为水体硝酸盐的主要来源,对地表水硝酸盐的贡献比例分别为36.7%、 34.7%和28.6%,对地下水硝酸盐的贡献比例分别为39.9%、 34.9%和25.2%.     

西藏尼洋河沉积物中微生物群落结构特征分析

尼洋河是雅鲁藏布江的重要支流,是西藏工布和林芝地区的重要水源地.本研究分析了尼洋河水体理化指标、 12种金属含量和沉积物微生物群落结构特征.结果表明, 2017年和2018年沉积物微生物群落在门水平的结构基本相同,属水平结构相似.变形菌门是尼洋河沉积物的第一优势菌门,其他优势菌门有拟杆菌门、酸杆菌门和放线菌门等;属水平上黄杆菌属丰度较高,气单胞菌属等条件致病菌菌属可被检出;聚类分析发现尼洋河沉积物微生物群落在空间上存在一定的差异性,上游、中游和下游不同河段微生物群落之间差异显著,电站库区沉积物微生物群落具有特异性.相关性分析表明,温度、溶解氧、电导率和铬、锌、锶和钡等金属含量与尼洋河沉积物门水平特定微生物丰度存在显著相关关系.冗余分析表明,总氮、总磷、溶解氧、铬、锶、钡和锰等是尼洋河沉积物中微生物群落结构的主要影响因子.本研究结果可为认识尼洋河沉积物中微生物群落的时空变化特征,识别环境影响因子提供了数据支撑.     

中国西北地区一次典型沙尘过程分析

基于卫星遥感资料、再分析数据、数值模式和中国环境监测数据,分析了2018年4月1～4日中国西北地区一次典型的沙尘爆发、输送过程,并探讨了该次沙尘事件对空气质量的影响。结果表明,该次沙尘事件主要是由冷锋和大风引起的,分为两个阶段:4月1～3日,翻越天山和绕流而至的冷空气与该地暖空气交汇形成冷锋,引起塔克拉玛干沙漠起沙,这些沙尘随西风向东输送,使得哈密、嘉峪关、张掖、武威和兰州等城市PM10、PM2.5质量浓度自西向东依次升高,空气污染加重;4月4日,西北风在地形的作用下风力加大,强风掠过植被稀疏地表产生较强的起沙,西北地区多个城市的PM10、PM2.5质量浓度几乎同时剧增,引发了严重的空气污染。其中,PM10是该次沙尘过程中的主要的大气污染物,是导致空气质量下降的主要原因。     

贵州南明河水环境综合整治与水质模拟

以贵州南明河为例,对城市河道水环境综合治理全流程进行了系统的定量综合分析.污染识别结果表明,外源污染是造成南明河污染的关键原因,其对南明河COD、氨氮和TP等污染物的贡献分别达68%、95%和77%;COD和氨氮是南明河的主要入河污染物(80%和60%的入河外源来水中COD和氨氮水平劣于地表V类水).采取截污纳管、污水处理及河底清淤等针对性的治理措施,可共削减南明河COD、氨氮和TP污染负荷41414.6、874.2和218.0 t·a~(-1);通过生态建设恢复河道自净能力并运行半年后,南明河整治段劣V类河道长度占比从整治前的51.0%下降至17.4%,达到地表水V类的水质段由原来的10.1%提高至24.3%.建立MIKE模型预测综合整治措施3期工程全部完工时南明河水质运营情况发现,南明河下游水质断面能稳定达到IV类水体,但在枯水期仍可能存在部分河段TP和氨氮超标的情况.通过从上游水库(红枫湖,II类水)进行生态补水以保障南明河干流城区段稳定达标IV类水体,在考虑模拟误差且保证率高于90%的情况下,枯水期最高补水量应达到3.47m~3·s~(-1).     

Occurrence of perfluoroalkyl substances in matched human serum, urine, hair and nail

The purpose of this study was to determine perfluoroalkyl substances(PFASs) in human serum, urine, hair and nail from general populations, and to investigate the possibility for human urine, hair and nail used as the biomonitoring sample for PFASs exposure. We detected the concentrations of PFHx A, PFOA, PFNA, PFDA, PFUn DA, PFDo A, PFHx S and PFOS in 39 matched human serum, urine, hair and nail samples from Shenzhen in China. The detection frequency and the median level of PFOS were all higher than that of the other PFASs in four matrices. The median concentration of PFOS in serum, urine, hair, and nail were 9.24 ng/mL, 13.96 ng/L, 0.58 ng/g and 0.63 ng/g, respectively. The results of spearman correlation test indicated that nail was an ideal matrix for biomonitoring PFOS rather than human urine and hair in general populations for the non-invasive sampling.     

Characterization of coal burning-derived individual particles emitted from an experimental domestic stove

Coal combustion in the domestic stoves, which is common in most parts of the Chinese countryside, can release harmful substances into the air and cause health issues. In this study, particles emitted from laboratory stove combustion of the raw powder coals were analyzed for morphologies and chemical compositions by using transmission electron microscopy(TEM) coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry(EDX). The coal burning-derived individual particles were classified into two groups: carbonaceous particles(including soot aggregates and organic particles) and non-carbonaceous particles(including sulfate, mineral and metal particles). The non-carbonaceous particles, which constituted a majority of the coal burning-derived emissions, were subdivided into Si-rich, S-rich, K-rich,Ca-rich, and Fe-rich particles according to the elemental compositions. The Si-rich, S-rich and K-rich particles are commonly observed in the coal burning emission. The proportions for particles of different types exhibit obvious coal-issue dependence. Burning of coal with high ash yield could emit more non-carbonaceous particles, and burning of coal with high sulfur content can emit more S-rich particles. By comparing the S-rich particles from this coal burning experiment with those in the atmosphere, we draw a conclusion that some S-rich particles in the atmosphere in China could be mainly sourced from coal combustion.