Influence of environmental factors on arsenic accumulation and biotransformation using the aquatic plant species Hydrilla verticillata

Hydrilla verticillata(waterthyme) has been successfully used for phytoremediation in arsenic(As) contaminated water.To evaluate the effects of environmental factors on phytoremediation,this study conducted a series of orthogonal design experiments to determine optimal conditions,including phosphorus(P),nitrogen(N),and arsenate(As(Ⅴ))concentrations and initial pH levels,for As accumulation and biotransformation using this aquatic plant species,while also analyzing As species transformation in culture media after 96-hr exposure.Analysis of variance and the signal-to-noise ratio were used to identify both the effects of these environmental factors and their optimal conditions for this purpose.Results indicated that both N and P significantly impacted accumulation,and N was essential in As species transformation.High N and intermediate P levels were critical to As accumulation and biotransformation by H.verticillata,while high N and low P levels were beneficial to As species transformation in culture media.The highest total arsenic accumulation was(197.2±17.4) μg/g dry weight when As(V) was at level 3(375μg/L),N at level 2(4 mg/L),P at level 1(0.02 mg/L),and pH at level 2(7).Although H.verticillata is highly efficient in removing As(Ⅴ) from aquatic environments,its use could be potentially harmful to both humans and the natural environment due to its release of highly toxic arsenite.For cost-effective and ecofriendly phytoremediation of As-contaminated water,both N and P are helpful in regulating As accumulation and transformation in plants.     

Identification of potential electrotrophic microbial community in paddy soils by enrichment of microbial electrolysis cell biocathodes

Electrotrophs are microbes that can receive electrons directly from cathode in a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). They not only participate in organic biosynthesis, but also be crucial in cathode-based bioremediation. However, little is known about the electrotrophic community in paddy soils. Here, the putative electrotrophs were enriched by cathodes of MECs constructed from five paddy soils with various properties using bicarbonate as an electron acceptor, and identified by 16S rRNA-gene based Illumina sequencing. The electrons were gradually consumed on the cathodes, and 25%–45% of which were recovered to reduce bicarbonate to acetic acid during MEC operation. Firmicutes was the dominant bacterial phylum on the cathodes, and Bacillus genus within this phylum was greatly enriched and was the most abundant population among the detected putative electrotrophs for almost all soils. Furthermore, several other members of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria may also participate in electrotrophic process in different soils. Soil pH, amorphous iron and electrical conductivity significantly influenced the putative electrotrophic bacterial community, which explained about 33.5% of the community structural variation. This study provides a basis for understanding the microbial diversity of putative electrotrophs in paddy soils, and highlights the importance of soil properties in shaping the community of putative electrotrophs.     

Morphology-dependent interfacial interactions of Fe2O3 with Ag nanoparticles for determining the catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol

In this work,we fabricated three kinds of Ag/Fe_2O_3 model catalysts with different morphologies to study the interfacial interactions between Ag and Fe_2O_3,and how they affected the catalytic activity in hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol was explored.The hydrothermal method was used to synthesize the metal oxide supported silver catalyst,with various morphologies including nanoplates(NPs),nanospheres(NSs),and nanocubes(NCs).The crystal structure,morphology and surface elements of the composite were investigated by various measurements,such as X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS).The catalytic activity was also evaluated by the reduction of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol.It was found that the activities of the above catalysts varied with the morphology of the support.Among them,Ag/Fe_2O_3 NPs promoted the highest performance,Ag/Fe_2O_3 NSs were slightly inferior,and Ag/Fe_2O_3 NCs were the worst.At last,we ascribed the remarkable activity of Ag/Fe_2O_3 NPs to the strong metal-support interactions between Ag and Fe_2O_3.     

Synergistic effects of Cu species and acidity of Cu-ZSM-5 on catalytic performance for selective catalytic oxidation of n-butylamine

In this work, a series of Cu-ZSM-5 catalysts with different SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratios (25, 50, 100 and 200) were synthesized and investigated in n-butylamine catalytic degradation. The n-butylamine can be completely catalytic degradation at 350°C over all Cu-ZSM-5 catalysts. Moreover, Cu-ZSM-5 (25) exhibited the highest selectivity to N₂, exceeding 90% at 350°C. These samples were investigated in detail by several characterizations to illuminate the dependence of the catalytic performance on redox properties, Cu species, and acidity. The characterization results proved that the redox properties and chemisorption oxygen primarily affect n-butylamine conversion. N₂ selectivity was impacted by the Brønsted acidity and the isolated Cu²⁺ species. Meanwhile, the surface acid sites over Cu-ZSM-5 catalysts could influence the formation of Cu species. Furthermore, in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectra was adopted to explore the reaction mechanism. The Cu-ZSM-5 catalysts are the most prospective catalysts for nitrogen-containing volatile organic compounds removal, and the results in this study could provide new insights into catalysts design for VOC catalytic oxidation.     

新冠肺炎疫情期间我国居民佩戴口罩防护行为研究

口罩作为阻隔病毒传染的物理方式之一,其能阻断病原体经飞沫传播,同时具有双向隔离保护作用.佩戴口罩对于公众防范新型冠状病毒（2019-nCoV）感染的风险和维持人体基本健康具有重要意义.为了解新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19,简称“新冠肺炎”）疫情期间我国居民佩戴口罩的行为模式特征,基于新冠肺炎疫情期间我国人群环境暴露行为模式调查,分析全国31个省（自治区、直辖市）居民在新冠肺炎疫情期间佩戴口罩的行为特征,并探讨不同潜在风险人群佩戴口罩行为模式的差异性.结果表明:①在新冠肺炎疫情期间,我国人群外出佩戴口罩的比例在99%以上,显著高于非疫情期间的口罩佩戴率（16.05%）,其中,医务人员以及与人群广泛接触群体的口罩佩戴率最高（100%）.②居民以仅佩戴医用外科口罩、仅佩戴一次性使用医用口罩以及佩戴医用外科口罩和一次性使用医用口罩3种模式为主,占31种口罩佩戴模式的60%以上.③新冠肺炎疫情期间,不同职业人群、不同所属人群以及不同疫情地区人群佩戴口罩的比例均存在显著差异.④新冠肺炎疫情期间,我国居民佩戴口罩的更换频次多为累计使用时长4 h更换一次和累计使用时长24 h更换一次.⑤人群外出佩戴口罩的比例随新冠肺炎疫情严重程度的升高而增加.尽管新冠肺炎疫情分布特征和管控措施存在差异,但居民佩戴口罩行为均表现良好,其中居住地不存在疑似病例的人群比居住地存在疑似病例的人群的口罩佩戴率更高,说明人群佩戴口罩行为与疫情的发展可能存在一定的相互作用.研究显示,新冠肺炎疫情期间我国人群佩戴口罩这一防护行为总体执行较好.      

新冠肺炎疫情期间我国居民洗手行为研究

直接接触和飞沫传播等方式是新型冠状病毒传播的主要途径,合理的洗手行为是切断暴露途径和降低病毒感染风险的有效防控措施,对于新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19,简称“新冠肺炎”）疫情的防控具有重要的作用.该研究于2020年2月25日—3月14日,采用电子问卷的方式调查了覆盖我国31个省（自治区、直辖市）1 728个县（区）18岁及以上的居民,收集共计8 330名成人的洗手情形及洗手时长等信息,分析不同暴露情景下的洗手行为及其影响因素.结果表明:女性、城市地区居民在洗手比例和洗手时长上均分别高于男性、农村地区居民.人群在一般暴露情景下的洗手比例较高,而对于病毒感染风险较高的暴露情景（如咳嗽或打喷嚏后、接触他人后等）的洗手率（分别为73.6%和83.9%）排名靠后,说明人群对病毒的传播途径和防护措施有待深入理解;在洗手时间上,根据WHO规定的洗手时长标准（20 s）,仅有41.7%的人群洗手时长合格（大于20 s）,城区居民洗手时长的合格率（42.0%）显著高于农村地区（39.7%）;总体上,具有外出经历的人群洗手比例较未曾外出的人群高,新冠肺炎疫情期间居住地是否存在新冠肺炎疑似和确诊病例显著影响居民的洗手行为,但是疫情最严重的地区居民的洗手时长合格率（37.2%）最低,反而疫情最轻的地区居民的洗手时长合格率（43.6%）最高,说明居民的洗手行为可能受疫情等多方面的影响.研究显示,相比于非疫情期间而言,疫情期间我国居民洗手行为发生率提高,洗手时长合格率提高,但是仍然水平偏低.应提高居民洗手行为意识,科学地执行洗手这一防护措施,相关政策制定以及个人防护应当进一步关注和重视洗手行为的防疫作用.      

嘉兴地区农村生活污水时空分布及处理设施现状分析

研究选取嘉兴市下辖农村的160座生活污水处理设施进出水为研究对象,分析了区域农村生活污水污染物时空分布特征及其处理设施现状,以期提高处理设施效率。结果表明:嘉兴市农村生活污水中氮、磷污染较有机污染更严重,ρ（COD）、ρ（TP）、ρ（TN）、ρ（NH₄+-N）年均值分别为142.23,4.02,44.19,27.74 mg/L,各污水处理设施处理效果有很大优化空间,COD、TP、TN、NH₄+-N年均去除率分别为50.5%、29.7%、36.8%、51.7%。农村生活污水空间上呈自西向东、由北至南逐渐减小的分布特征,时间上表现为冬季 > 春季 > 秋季 > 夏季。相关性分析表明,COD、TP、TN、NH₄+-N之间呈极显著正相关（P<0.01）,相关系数为0.688±0.946。设施进水C/N、NH₄+-N/TN年均值分别为3.21、68.9%,传统的单一A2/O处理工艺对低碳源污水处理效果不理想,可通过组合工艺设计、规范运营管理、加强后期监测等有效措施来进一步加强污水处理设施处理效果。     

洞庭湖近30年水环境演变态势及影响因素研究

水量、泥沙和污染物交换作为河流与湖泊之间的关键过程,对湖泊生态环境演变具有复杂而深远的影响.以长江中游典型通江湖泊洞庭湖为研究对象,着眼于“江湖”“河湖”“人湖”三重作用关系变化,从水文情势、水质、富营养化3个层面剖析了近30年洞庭湖水环境演变态势及主控因素.结果表明:①“江湖”关系变化影响了洞庭湖水沙交换及其年内分配,是湖泊枯水期提前和延长、水沙关系突变等现象的主控因素;“河湖”“人湖”关系变化协同加剧了该现象.②“河湖”关系的失衡和“河湖”统筹管理措施缺位,造成入湖河流长期输送大量营养物质,是湖体氮磷污染较重的根源;“江湖”“人湖”关系变化协同影响着营养盐分布格局,但影响范围及程度有限.③在“江湖”“河湖”作用关系复合影响下,藻类生长条件更为有利,增加了洞庭湖富营养化及水华风险.为保障洞庭湖水环境安全,建议:针对“江湖”作用主导的低枯水位问题,以水资源调控为核心,推进长江与流域上游水库联合生态调度,保障湖泊生态流量;针对“河湖”作用主导的水质恶化问题,以水污染防治为核心,强化流域污染控制,统筹“河湖”一体化监测管理模式,保障湖泊水环境质量;对于“人湖”作用主导的生态破坏问题,以生态空间管控为核心,划定并坚守生态红线,保障生态空间.      

高原湖泊沉积物中反硝化微生物的群落特征——以包头南海湖为例

为了探明内蒙古高原富营养化城市湖泊中nirS型反硝化细菌群落结构的特异性,利用特异性功能基因nirS对包头市南海湖的表层沉积物进行反硝化细菌多样性测定,在分析各采样点沉积物理化指标的基础上,对各样品中nirS型反硝化细菌群落和多样性进行研究.结果表明,南海湖沉积物Shannon指数变化为3.07~3.41,相比于其他研究,反硝化微生物多样性相对较低.参与反硝化的优势菌属与大多数湖泊保持一致,以假单胞菌属（Pseudomonas）和红杆菌属（Rhodobacter）为主.冗余分析（RDA）指出,城市湖泊中的各种类型的污染物对反硝化优势菌属有明显的促进作用,红杆菌属（Rhodobacter）与硝酸盐氮、亚硝酸盐氮呈正相关,假单胞菌属（Pseudomonas）除受硝酸盐氮、亚硝酸盐氮的影响外,还与总磷呈较强的正相关.南海湖nirS型反硝化细菌中的主要菌属促进了反硝化作用,加速了南海湖氮素的去除.     

地方环境约束目标对经济增长的影响效应

从2003~2017年中国283个地级市的政府工作报告中,收集了各年度各城市的环境保护约束目标,考察了各类环境约束目标对经济增长的影响.研究发现,对于SO₂等工业污染物的直接约束能够在促使政府提升环境治理力度的同时,释放经济增长红利;关于空气质量优良天数和PM_2.5浓度的间接约束不足以刺激污染型企业转型,且导致经济增长速度放缓.无环境约束将产生正向经济增长效应,但会以环境污染为代价.中间机制检验结果显示,产业结构和环境治理是环境约束影响经济增长的主要传导渠道.在环境保护约束的特征方面,约束目标“加码”将抑制经济增长,设定污染物减排区间更有利于发挥经济增长效应.经济与环境协调度方面,对环境污染物设定约束目标有助于促进经济与环境协调发展,无约束则不利于经济增长和环境保护双重目标的实现.地方政府应在明确设定污染物排放目标的基础上,遵循渐进原则对环境保护约束目标进行调整.