Estimating sampling frequency in pollen exposure assessment over time

A time series model was fitted to the pollen concentration data collected in the Greater Cincinnati area for the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS). A traditional time series analysis and temporal variogram approach were applied to the regularly spaced databases (collected in 2003) and irregularly spaced ones (collected in 2002), respectively. The aim was to evaluate the effect of the sampling frequency on the sampling precision in terms of inverse of standard error of the overall level of mean value across time. The presence of high autocorrelation in the data was confirmed and indicated some degree of temporal redundancy in the pollen concentration data. Therefore, it was suggested that sampling frequency could be reduced from once a day to once every several days without a major loss of sampling precision of the overall mean over time. Considering the trade-offs between sampling frequency and the possibility of sampling bias increasing with larger sampling interval, we recommend that the sampling interval should take values from 3 to 5 days for the pollen monitoring program, if the goal is to track the long-term average.     

Little Egrets (Egretta Garzetta) and Trace-Metal Contamination in Wetlands of China

The rapidly developing Asian countries may face threatening environmental contamination, that however remains largely unassessed. We studied persistent trace elements in three wetlands, Poyang Lake, relatively unpolluted, and Tai Lake, and Pearl River Delta, selected as hotspots of pollution in Central China. We adopted as indicator the Little Egret, a widespread colonial waterbird, and during 1999 and 2000 we collected and analysed the same samples as for a parallel study we conducted in Pakistan, e.g. eggs, body feathers of chicks, prey spontaneously regurgitated by the chicks, and sediments at the areas most used by foraging egrets. The levels of trace-metals at our three study areas were similar, or within the range, of those found in the few other studies for East Asia, with few exceptions. The concentrations of the various elements were below the threshold that may affect the survival or reproduction of the birds, and even the highest concentrations relative to background, i.e. Se in eggs, and Hg in feathers at Pearl Delta, do not pose toxic hazards. In sediments, the levels of trace elements were lower than the critical levels assumed for contaminated soil, except for alarming high levels of As at Poyang. These results do not confirm our expectation, that Poyang was relatively uncontaminated, while Tai and Pearl were polluted. Although trace metal concentration differed significantly among the three study areas, these differences were minor and were not consistent among elements and samples. The bioaccumulation ratios from sediments through prey, feather and egg, were consistent with our previous findings for Pakistan. Only Hg exhibited high bioaccumulation, while Se and Zn had low accumulation, and the other elements no accumulation. This reasserts that feathers of predators such as egrets, may be more sensitive indicators of environmental contamination for the elements subject to bioaccumulation, whereas the sediments or the organisms low in the food chain are better indicators for the other elements.     

脱除SO2活性炭的再生方法

分别用溶剂和气体对脱除SO2后失活的活性炭进行了再生。在固定床反应器上考察了再生后活性炭的脱硫性能。实验结果表明：用溶剂再生时,质量分数为60％的HNO3溶液的再生效果最好,活性炭的再生率达到80％以上。用气体再生时,400℃左右时的再生效果最好,活性炭的再生率达到70％以上。再生后活性炭的比表面积和pH是衡量活性炭再生效果的重要参数。在实际脱硫生产中,用H2O对失活活性炭进行反复洗涤再生,是一种经济、实用的方法,活性炭的再生率达60％以上。     

原料含水率及成型直径对秸秆成型燃料耐久性的影响

原料含水率及成型直径对秸秆成型燃料耐久性具有重要影响,通过试验发现含水率对秸秆固化成型(SDBF)技术的抗渗水性影响很显著,原料含水率10%～15%(质量分数,下同)范围内得到的SDBF渗水分解超过4 h;原料含水率也显著影响SDBF的抗跌碎性,含水率不大于15%的SDBF失重率一般不超过5%,能满足规模化技术的应用.对于HPB-成型机生产的SDBF,成型直径大的SDBF抗渗水性时间较长,随着成型直径减小抗渗水性时间减少,抗渗水性能降低.     

Temporal and spatial distributions of sediment total organic carbon in an estuary river

Understanding temporal and spatial distributions of naturally occurring total organic carbon (TOC) in sediments is critical because TOC is an important feature of surface water quality. This study investigated temporal and spatial distributions of sediment TOC and its relationships to sediment contaminants in the Cedar and Ortega Rivers, Florida, USA, using three-dimensional kriging analysis and field measurement. Analysis of field data showed that large temporal changes in sediment TOC concentrations occurred in the rivers, which reflected changes in the characteristics and magnitude of inputs into the rivers during approximately the last 100 yr. The average concentration of TOC in sediments from the Cedar and Ortega Rivers was 12.7% with a maximum of 22.6% and a minimum of 2.3%. In general, more TOC accumulated at the upper 1.0 m of the sediment in the southern part of the Ortega River although the TOC sedimentation varied with locations and depths. In contrast, high concentrations of sediment contaminants, that is, total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), were found in sediments from the Cedar River. There was no correlation between TOC and PAHs or PCBs in these river sediments. This finding is in contradiction to some other studies which reported that the sorption of hydrocarbons is highly related to the organic matter content of sediments. This discrepancy occurred because of the differences in TOC and hydrocarbon source input locations. It was found that more TOC loaded into the southern part of the Ortega River, while almost all of the hydrocarbons entered into the Cedar River. This study suggested that the locations of their input sources as well as the land use patterns should also be considered when relating hydrocarbons to sediment TOC.     

Effect of fipronil on biogas production performance during anaerobic digestion of chicken manure and corn straw

Fipronil is a broad-spectrum insecticide that has a good control effect on pests of commercial poultry. Although many studies have reported the environmental fate of fipronil, the influence of residual fipronil in poultry waste on biogas production has not been further explored yet. In this article, an experimental comparative study on anaerobic digestion (AD) of chicken manure (CM) and corn straw (CS) with different fipronil concentrations (FCs) was carried at 8% of total solid (TS) and mid-temperature (35?±?1)°C. The results showed that fipronil had a significant effect on biogas production during AD of CM and CS. When the FC is at a low level (≤10?mg·kg^?1), the biogas production rate is increased and the digestion period was shortened, while higher FC (≥ 20?mg·kg^?1) showed an inhibitory effect. During the monitoring of enzyme activity, low FC showed no significant effect on cellulase and saccharase, but the urease activity increased in the early stage. High FC showed inhibition of activity of cellulase and urease, but the saccharase activity was significantly inhibited until FC reached 40?mg·kg^?1. This study also confirms that the environment in anaerobic digester is favorable for the degradation of fipronil, and its half-life is about 15.83?days.     

Enhanced arsenate removal from aqueous solution by Mn-doped MgAl-layered double hydroxides

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, Mn-doped MgAl-layered double hydroxides (LDHs) were successfully synthesized for efficient removal arsenate from aqueous solution. The...     

Association of exposure to multiple metals with papillary thyroid cancer risk in China

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) has inflicted huge threats to the health of mankind. Metal pollution could be a potential risk factor of PTC occurrence, but existing relevant epidemiological researches are limited. The current case-control study was designed to evaluate the relationships between exposure to multiple metals and the risk of PTC. A total of 262 histologically confirmed PTC cases were recruited. Age- and gender-matched controls were enrolled at the same time. Urine samples were used as biomarkers to reflect the levels of environmental exposure to 13 metals. Conditional logistic regression models were adopted to assess the potential association. Single-metal and multi-metal models were separately conducted to evaluate the impacts of single and co-exposure to 13 metals. The increased concentration of urinary Cd, Cu, Fe, and Pb quartiles was found significant correlated with PTC risk. We also found the decreased trends of urinary Se, Zn, and Mn quartiles with the ORs for PTC. These dose-response associations between Pb and PTC were observed in the single-metal model and remained significant in the multi-metal model (OR_25-50th=1.39, OR_50-75th=3.32, OR_>75th=7.62, p for trend <0.001). Our study suggested that PTC was positively associated with urinary levels of Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, and inversely associated with Se, Zn, and Mn. Targeted public health policies should be made to improve the environment and the recognition of potential risk factors. These findings need additional studies to confirm in other population.

     

Dissipation,residues, and risk assessment of imidacloprid in Zizania latifolia and purple sweet potato under field conditions using LC-MS/MS

A shortened version of Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe method (QuEChERS) for determining the dissipation and residue of imidacloprid present in Zizania latifolia and purple sweet potato was established by using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The average recoveries of imidacloprid in the two crops ranged from 82.12 to 113.79%, with relative standard deviation (RSD) of <7.32%. The dissipation dynamics of imidacloprid in Z. latifolia plants and purple sweet potato plants followed first-order kinetics, with half-lives of 3.2–5.5?days in each of sampling locations. The terminal imidacloprid residues in Z. latifolia and purple sweet potato at each of location were <0.005–0.120?mg kg^?1. According to the risk assessment results, both the acute dietary risk quotient and chronic dietary risk quotient values were <1, indicating that imidacloprid is unlikely to pose health risks to humans with normal recommended use. The present study may serve as a valuable reference for the safe and reasonable use of imidacloprid in Z. latifolia and purple sweet potato fields.     

膜过滤-气相色谱法测定涂料中的苯系物、环己酮和甲苯二异氰酸酯

采用膜过滤-气相色谱法测定涂料中的苯系物、环己酮和甲苯二异氰酸酯（TD I）。用7种规格的石英毛细管色谱柱对混合标准溶液和涂料试样进行了分析实验,实验结果表明,不同属性的涂料试样添加固定量的正十四烷作内标物,经膜过滤净化后,苯系物、环己酮和TD I可采用DB-1-3或DB-1-2色谱柱同时分离并测定。测试数据经多级校准曲线处理后涂料试样中苯系物、环己酮和TD I的加标回收率为98.6%～101.8%,各组分分析结果的变异系数均小于2.0%,检出限均小于1.50×10^-5g。