Removal of dye using peroxidase-immobilized Buckypaper/polyvinyl alcohol membrane in a multi-stage filtration column via RSM and ANFIS

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The feasibility and performance of Jicama peroxidase (JP) immobilized Buckypaper/polyvinyl alcohol (BP/PVA) membrane for methylene blue (MB) dye...     

A review on bisphenol A occurrences,health effects and treatment process via membrane technology for drinking water

Massive utilization of bisphenol A (BPA) in the industrial production of polycarbonate plastics has led to the occurrence of this compound (at μg/L to ng/L level) in the water treatment plant. Nowadays, the presence of BPA in drinking water sources is a major concern among society because BPA is one of the endocrine disruption compounds (EDCs) that can cause hazard to human health even at extremely low concentration level. Parallel to these issues, membrane technology has emerged as the most feasible treatment process to eliminate this recalcitrant contaminant via physical separation mechanism. This paper reviews the occurrences and effects of BPA toward living organisms as well as the application of membrane technology for their removal in water treatment plant. The potential applications of using polymeric membranes for BPA removal are also discussed. Literature revealed that modifying membrane surface using blending approach is the simple yet effective method to improve membrane properties with respect to BPA removal without compromising water permeability. The regeneration process helps in maintaining the performances of membrane at desired level. The application of large-scale membrane process in treatment plant shows the feasibility of the technology for removing BPA and possible future prospect in water treatment process.     

Extreme Values in TSP Distribution Functions

The highest values in annual TSP distributions fall below the best-fit, log-normal straight line more than one would expect from ordinary sampling statistics but not dramatically so. The lowest values in annual TSP distributions overwhelmingly fall below the best-fit, log-normal straight line. The most highly improbable high values above the best-fit line in such distributions are very questionable and probably do not represent true air quality values. The most improbable cases of highest values falling below the best-fit, log-normal line are the result of data artifacts at the opposite end of the data distribution. They do not represent low probabilities and probably do represent true air quality values. The most improbable low values are all of highly doubtful validity.     

Is an assessment factor of 10 appropriate to account for the variation in chemical toxicity to freshwater ectotherms under different thermal conditions?

Ecotoxicity tests are often conducted following standard methods, and thus carried out at a fixed water temperature under controlled laboratory conditions. Yet, toxicity of a chemical contaminant may vary in a temperature-dependent manner, depending on the physiology of the test organism and physicochemical properties of the chemical. Although an assessment factor of 10 (AF10) is commonly adopted to account for variability in toxicity data related to temperature in the development of water quality guidelines and/or ecological risk assessment, no one has ever rigorously assessed the appropriateness of AF10 to account for potential variation in temperature-dependent chemical toxicity to aquatic organisms. This study, therefore, aims to address this issue through a meta-analysis by comparing median lethal concentration data for nine chemicals (cadmium, copper, nickel, lead, silver, zinc, arsenic, selenium and DDT) on a range of freshwater ectothermic animal species at different temperatures, and to assess whether AF10 is under- or over-protective for tropical and temperate freshwater ecosystems. Our results reveal varying extents of interaction between temperature and different chemicals on organisms and the complexity of these interactions. Applying AF10 sufficiently protects 90 % of the animal species tested over a range of temperatures for cadmium, copper, nickel, silver, zinc and DDT in the tropics, but it is insufficient to adequately encompass a larger temperature variation for most studied chemicals in temperate regions. It is therefore important to set specific AFs for different climatic zones in order to achieve the desired level of ecosystem protection.     

A New All Season Passive Sampling System for Monitoring Ozone in Air

A new all season passive sampling system for monitoring O₃ in the atmosphere has been developed in the laboratory and validated in the field. The unique features for this system include a newly designed passive sampler and a rain shelter, which allow the passive sampler to be installed in the field facing downwards. An equation associated with meteorological parameters is used to calculate the passive sampling rates. This system has been extensively tested in the lab (temperature from –18 to 20°C, relative humidity from 13 to 81%, and wind speed from 0.5 to 150 cm/s) and validated in the field in climates of all seasons. The accuracy of the ozone concentrations in the atmosphere obtained with the use of the new passive sampling system was higher than 85% compared to those obtained with continuous ozone analyzers. The new ozone passive sampling system can be used to measure ambient O₃ concentrations ranging from 3 ppb to 1000 ppb based on one-day exposure and 0.1 ppb to 140 ppb for a monthly exposure period. It is also reasonable to conclude that the new passive sampling system can be used for eight-hour exposure study because of the low field blanks and high sampling rates.     

A sensitive and robust method for the determination of alkylphenol polyethoxylates and their carboxylic acids and their transformation in a trickling filter wastewater treatment plant

This paper presents a method for the determination of alkylphenols, alkylphenol polyethoxylates (APEO) and alkylphenol ethoxycarboxylates (APEC) in the aqueous and particulate phase of wastewater samples. Quantification was achieved by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The sensitivity of the method is demonstrated by low detection limits, in the dissolved phase 1.2-9.6ngl(-1) for alkylphenol, AP(1-3)EO and APEC and 0.1-4.1ngl(-1) for longer chain alkylphenol polyethoxylates. The method detection limit for particulate phase samples ranged from 6 to 60ngg(-1) for AP, AP(1-3)EO and APEC; with the longer chain APEO being from 0.5 to 20ngg(-1). Matrix effects were noted in complex matrix rich samples. There was a distinct change in the distribution of alkylphenol ethoxylates during biological treatment of the wastewater, with the major biotransformation products observed being carboxylated derivatives at concentrations of up to 1768ngl(-1). Shorter chain APEO were present in higher proportions in the suspended solids, due to their higher affinity to particulate matter compared to the long-chain oligomers.     

Radon as a naturally occurring tracer for the assessment of residual NAPL contamination of aquifers

The noble gas radon has a strong affinity to non-aqueous phase-liquids (NAPLs). That property makes it applicable as naturally occurring partitioning tracer for assessing residual NAPL contamination of aquifers. In a NAPL contaminated aquifer, radon dissolved in the groundwater partitions preferably into the NAPL. The magnitude of the resulting radon deficit in the groundwater depends on the NAPL-specific radon partition coefficient and on the NAPL saturation of the pore space. Hence, if the partition coefficient is known, the NAPL saturation is attainable by determination of the radon deficit. After a concise discussion of theoretical aspects regarding radon partitioning into NAPL, related experimental data and results of a field investigation are presented. Aim of the laboratory experiments was the determination of radon partition coefficients of multi-component NAPLs of environmental concern. The on-site activities were carried out in order to confirm the applicability of the "radon method" under field conditions.     

Acute and chronic toxicities of tributyltin to various life stages of the marine polychaete Hydroides elegans

Experiments were performed to determine the acute and chronic toxicities of tributyltin (TBT) (nominal concentrations) to polychaete Hydroides elegans. Firstly, static tests were performed to examine the lethal effect of TBT on five life stages of H. elegans. The 48-h LC(50) (95% CI) for the eggs, 2-cells, trochophores, juveniles and adults was 0.18 (0.15-0.20), 0.97 (0.77-1.23), 2.36 (2.11-2.65), 2.86 (2.63-3.12) and 4.36 (4.04-4.71) microg TBT l(-1), respectively. Secondly, a 17-d static renewal chronic test was conducted to study sensitivity of the early development (egg to juvenile) to TBT. The survivorship, percent settlement and time to reach settlement were significantly reduced at 0.01 microg TBT l(-1). Effects of TBT on the juvenile growth and maturation were also studied through a 44-d chronic test. Lower survivorship and reduced tube growth were observed only at >or= 1 microg TBT l(-1), however, only H. elegans exposed to or= 0.1 microg TBT l(-1). Our results indicate that the early development of H. elegans is highly sensitive to TBT and this polychaete can be routinely employed as a test organism for both acute and chronic ecotoxicity bioassays in tropical and subtropical regions such as southern China.     

Removal of phosphate from water by a highly selective La(III)-chelex resin

A new polymer ligand exchanger (PLE) has been developed for the removal of phosphate in wastewater. This PLE, consisting of lanthanum(III) bound to chelex-100 resin, was prepared by passing LaCl3 solution through a column of chelex-100. Uptake of phosphate from water by this La-chelex resin was investigated in the column mode. The La-chelex resin was able to remove phosphate efficiently from water, and the uptake of phosphate was not affected by the presence of large amounts of anions (0.1M) such as chloride and sulfate. The La-chelex resin was also able to efficiently remove phosphate from seawater to <0.1mg-Pl(-1), and regenerated for reuse by removing the sorbed phosphate by eluting with 6M HCl.