Characteristic, composition, and sources of TSP investigated by HRTEM/EDS and ESEM/EDS

Total suspended particle (TSP) collected at the fifth floor of House Dust in Hunan University, China, was analyzed in terms of microscopic morphology and chemical composition. The fine particles (50?nm-2?μm) in the TSP were analyzed by a high-resolution transmission electron microscope equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer (HRTEM/EDS). Results showed that the particles were in shapes of plate, irregular and agglomerate. Based on EDS results, these fine particulate matter was primarily composed of Fe-rich (35.82-61.29%), Ca-rich (30.18-36.77%) and Si-rich (18.95-32.28%) particles. Other elements mainly including Mg (0.47-4.97%), Al (0.45-14.57%), S (0.45-4.73%), K (1.13-2.13%) and Zn (0.67-3.85%) were also observed. The sources analysis indicated that the HRTEM particles mainly originated from coal combustion, traffic emission, vehicles exhaust emission and fugitive soil or cement particulate matter. The coarse particles (4-50?μm) were detected by environmental scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray detector (ESEM/EDS). Based on a simple algorithm, ESEM particles were categorized into five groups: C-bearing (46.15%, 67% and 86.98%), Si + Ca-bearing (21.48?+?11.80%, 16.51?+?10.81% and 16.32?+?10.62%), Si + Al-bearing (20.06?+?12.40%, 20.16?+?11.22% and 15.31?+?11.25%), Si-bearing (34.40%, 26.92% and 27.15%) particles and aggregates, most of which exhibit obvious crystalline structure, and these ESEM particles mainly derived from vehicles exhaust emission, coal combustion, soil, and biomass burning, while the aggregates are indicative of atmospheric reaction progress. HRTEM/EDS and ESEM/EDS are mutual complementary in analyzing the characteristic and determining the sources of TSP.     

Sensitivity of isolated eggs of pond snails: a new method for toxicity assays and risk assessment

The concentration of heavy metals in the environment is normally low. We here address whether using the development of isolated pond snail Radix auricularia eggs would provide a more sensitive endpoint and whether the gelatinous matrix of the egg mass surrounding the eggs indeed protects the snail embryos. In the present study, artificial removal of the gelatinous matrix of egg masses greatly increased the sensitivity of developing eggs to a heavy metal (cadmium). The sensitivity of isolated eggs to cadmium was determined using several convenient endpoints, including mortality, hatching rate, and heart rate, with an acute toxicity test and a subchronic test. In the acute toxicity test, a 96-h LC₅₀ value of 58.26 μg/L cadmium was determined. In the subchronic toxicity test, sublethal effects in terms of a significant reduction in hatching rate could be found in the 25-μg/L treatment, and a significant decrease of heart rate was observed in both treatments (5 and 25 μg/L). The high sensitivity of isolated eggs indicates that such tests can be efficient for toxicity assays and risk assessment, although one needs to keep in mind that the ecologically relevant measure of toxicity will be how eggs are affected when they are still inside the egg mass.     

水质自动监测在苏州市饮用水源地的应用与思考

以苏州市集中式饮用水源地自动监测系统为例,对该水质自动监测系统的特点、主要功能及在环境管理、蓝藻实时监控等方面的应用作了介绍,并就系统验收、运行管理及系统拓展方面提出了一些对策建议。     

上海市饮用水源地优先控制有机污染物筛选

综合考虑国外优先控制污染物筛选的方法,根据上海市集中式生活饮用水源地特定80项和地表水控制的109项以外项目、全市挥发性和半挥发性有机项目、水源地突发性应急事故有机污染物等实际监测数据和历年来微量有机污染物研究成果,制定饮用水源地优先控制有机污染物筛选的原则、程序和过程,对出现频率高、超标几率高、浓度高,可能对人体健康产生影响的有机污染物进行筛选,提出包括多环芳烃、酞酸酯、卤代烃和其他共4类7种上海市饮用水源地优先控制有机污染物名单.     

环境空气中汞的直接测定方法研究与应用

研究了环境空气中汞浓度的直接测定方法。利用金汞齐富集－便携式测汞仪对环境空气中的汞进行直接测定,具有简便、快捷、不使用化学试剂的优点。经测试,该方法在0～180 ng／m^3范围内具有良好的线性关系,最低检出浓度为5 ng／m^3。     

石家庄市冬季大气中VOCs污染特征分析

为弄清石家庄市冬季大气中VOCs的污染特征,采用美国环保局TO-15方法对石家庄市冬季大气中VOCs组成进行了定性和定量分析。在此基础上,进行了VOCs的月度变化分析、春节期间的变化分析,并进行了VOCs与空气质量指数AQI、PM2.5等之间的相关性分析;根据VOCs组成及变化情况和相关性,分析了其可能的来源。结果表明,石家庄市冬季大气中VOCs的质量浓度为145.7~1 410.7μg/m3,VOCs组分主要有丙酮、二氯甲烷、苯、乙酸乙酯、甲苯、1,2-二氯丙烷、三氯甲烷。春节期间,大气中VOCs的浓度有大幅的下降,比日常均值下降了40.9%。AQI较高时,大气中VOCs浓度有所升高。石家庄市冬季大气中丙酮、二氯甲烷、乙酸乙酯等主要来源于医药化工生产活动,苯、甲苯主要来源于煤燃烧。     

进口与国产COD消解测定仪测定废水COD的比对研究

应用消解分光光度法,比对了一款进口仪器和一款国产仪器应用于实际水样中COD含量测定的差异性。通过精密度、回收率、方法比对等实验分析得出,2款仪器应用电热消解分光光度法测定COD,实验结果与国标回流滴定法的实验结果基本一致,无显著性差异,具有可比性,可广泛用于水质评价和环境监测。与国产仪器相比,进口测定仪具有较小的偏差,较高的回收率。国产测定仪偏差较大的原因主要在于其比色装置,而不是用于前处理的消解装置。比较分析了2款仪器的购买和使用经济成本,为广大企事业及科研单位选用COD消解测定仪提供了有价值的基础数据和参考建议。     

Even sampling designs generation by charges repulsion simulation

Evenly distributed sampling design is generally considered as an efficient sampling design. It is widely used in sampling for the environmental survey. In this paper, we present a novel method for generating N evenly distributed samples within a given irregular polygon via simulating the movements of some ideal homogeneous point charges. Initially, charges are randomly put into the sampling region; then, they are freed and held orderly; and after enough runs, the charges will finally reach a stable state with all of them having a zero resultant force and velocity; and so they distribute evenly within the region. Their layout can thus be considered as an evenly distributed sampling design. The main advantages of this method are: (1) it is easy to understand and implement; (2) it is efficient in both running and generating better designs. Analysis and experimental results indicate that this method is an efficient and robust method for generating even sampling designs for 2D polygonal sampling region.     

北京市地下水污染源荷载影响评价

在阐述地下水污染源荷载影响基本概念的基础上,介绍了污染源荷载影响评价的3大要素:污染荷载等级、含水层敏感性及地下水价值,说明了评价体系、指标和方法及过程。根据主要污染源荷载分析,结合地下水环境现状,对北京市进行了分区,提出污染源管理措施。     

The fungicide difenoconazole alters mRNA expression levels of human CYP3A4 in HepG2 cells

The fungicide difenoconazole has been frequently detected in agricultural products, soils and surface waters, causing increasingly public concern due to toxicological properties. Although systemic triazole fungicides can inhibit the enzymatic activity of many CYP450 isozymes, how difenoconazole affects the human CYP3A4 still remains largely unknown. We thus investigated the effect of difenoconazole on normal mRNA expression and protein expression of human CYP3A4 by real-time quantitative PCR and western blot, respectively. Results show that the exposure to difenoconazole from 0.01 to 0.5 μM for 24 h down-regulates mRNA expression levels of human CYP3A4 in HepG2 cells. We also found that difenoconazole could inhibit the enzymatic activity of human CYP3A4 in a concentration-dependent mode. The IC₅₀ of difenoconazole for inhibition of CYP3A4 activity is 0.41 µM, showing a stronger inhibitor in comparison with ketoconazole. Overall, our findings indicate the potential risk of difenoconazole for the disruption of human CYP3A4.