Long-term efficiency and stability of wetlands for treating wastewater of a lead/zinc mine and the concurrent ecosystem development

A constructed wetland system in Guangdong Province, South of China has been used for treating Pb/Zn mine discharge since 1985. The performance in the purification of the mine discharge and the concurrent ecosystem development within the system during the period of 1985-2000 has been studied. The untreated wastewater contained rather high concentrations of cadmium (Cd) (0.05 mg L(-1)), lead (Pb) (11.5 mg L(-1)), and zinc (Zn) (14.5 mg L(-1)), which greatly exceed the upper limits for industrial wastewater discharge in China. The constructed wetland system effectively removed Cd by 94.00%, Pb by 99.04%, Zn by 97.30%, and total suspended solids (TSS) by 98.95% from the mine discharge over a long period (over 16 years) leading to significant improvement in water quality; it was also found that there were no significantly annual or monthly variations in pH values, As, Cd, Hg, Pb, and Zn concentrations in water collected from the outlet of the wetland. Moreover, diversity and abundance of living organisms, including protozoan, higher plants, terrestrial animals, and birds, increased gradually. The 16-year monitoring results showed a reciprocal relationship, at a certain extent, between restoration of the wetland ecosystem, in other words, the maturity of the wetland, and the long-term efficiency and stability on purifying heavy metal-contaminated wastewater.     

Body burden of dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls in pregnant women residing in a contaminated area

A large pentachlorophenol (PCP)-manufacturing plant located in southwestern Taiwan operated between 1965 and 1982. The present study was conducted to ascertain whether an increased body burden of dioxins existed in pregnant women living in an area of Tainan city contaminated by chemicals from this plant. Twenty-eight pregnant subjects, 21-39 years of age and residing in the study area between March and December of 2004 with a mean dwelling time of 6.07+/-6.11 years, were recruited. Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in serum of recruited residents were determined. Pregnant women residing in the study area >3 years had significantly higher PCDD (7.48 versus 5.13 pg-toxic equivalents [TEQ]/g-lipid) and dioxin-like PCB (6.70 versus 3.74 pg-TEQ/g-lipid) values as compared to those residing < or = 3 years. Furthermore, dioxin concentrations increased with increasing dwelling time. Statistical analyses performed according to demographic characteristics and socioeconomic and dietary habits revealed that total TEQ values were significantly associated with fish consumption and smoking status. Dioxin congeners with greater degrees of chlorine substitution (e.g., HpCDD/F and OCDD/F) partitioned to greater degrees in the subjects of this study as compared to subjects in the general Taiwanese population. The findings of this study strongly implicate the activity of the PCP manufacturing plant in the observed increase in dioxin body burden. Investigation of the health consequences of this increased body burden is recommended.     

Assessment of heavy metal bioavailability in contaminated sediments and soils using green fluorescent protein-based bacterial biosensors

A green fluorescent protein (GFP)-based bacterial biosensor Escherichia coli DH5alpha (pVLCD1) was developed based on the expression of gfp under the control of the cad promoter and the cadC gene of Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pI258. DH5alpha (pVLCD1) mainly responded to Cd(II), Pb(II), and Sb(III), the lowest detectable concentrations being 0.1 nmol L(-1), 10 nmol L(-1), and 0.1 nmol L(-1), respectively, with 2h exposure. The biosensor was field-tested to measure the relative bioavailability of the heavy metals in contaminated sediments and soil samples. The results showed that the majority of heavy metals remained adsorbed to soil particles: Cd(II)/Pb(II) was only partially available to the biosensor in soil-water extracts. Our results demonstrate that the GFP-based bacterial biosensor is useful and applicable in determining the bioavailability of heavy metals with high sensitivity in contaminated sediment and soil samples and suggests a potential for its inexpensive application in environmentally relevant sample tests.     

Temporal dynamics of microcystins in two reservoirs with different trophic status during the early growth stage of cyanobacteria

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are increasing in frequency and severity, which makes their toxic secondary metabolites of microcystins (MCs) have been...     

Heavy metal characteristics in porewater profiles,their benthic fluxes,and toxicity in cascade reservoirs of the Lancang River,China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The construction of cascade reservoirs on the Lancang River (the upper Mekong) has an important influence on the distribution and accumulation of...     

页岩气油基钻屑脱油灰渣资源化利用进展

针对页岩气开发过程中产生的油基钻屑在堆放、运输和处理过程中均有可能对环境造成危害的问题,研究油基钻屑脱油灰渣的处置和资源化利用现状。在实际应用中,各种资源化利用技术由于政策、环保标准、经济性等原因,除水泥窑协同处置技术外,很多技术还不能大量推广应用。文章通过系统调研,阐述了各项技术的原理、优缺点及资源化利用所面临的政策障碍、实际应用及二次污染等问题,指出了资源化利用技术在开发过程中需要加强过程污染控制、开展相关政策和标准制定、提高产品高附加值等方面研究。     

Novel Layered Double Hydroxides@carboxymethyl Cellulose Composite Aerogel Towards Co(II) Absorption

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Cobalt (Co) ion is a common heavy metal ion and the main metal ion in nuclear wastewater. However, the study on the absorption for Co(II) is not...     

Effectiveness of cascading time series models based on meteorological factors in improving health risk prediction

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Meteorological factors, which are periodic and regular in a long run, have an unignorable impact on human health. Accurate health risk prediction...