生活垃圾填埋场填埋气中汞的分布特征

利用Tekran 2537A和Lumex RA-915汞分析仪分别对生活垃圾填埋场排气筒、填埋场内部的气态总汞变化规律进行了分析,结果表明,填埋场排气筒中气态总汞含量呈现明显的昼夜变化规律,白天高于夜间,并于午间达到峰值。气象条件对汞的释放过程有重要影响,光照强度与排气筒中气态总汞含量的相关性明显。受填埋场内部物理、化学、生物作用的影响,填埋场内部填埋气的汞浓度明显高于排气筒中填埋气的汞浓度。填埋场内部气态总汞变化规律为:植被覆盖区域明显低于无植被覆盖区域,表明有效的绿化措施对于控制填埋场汞污染具有重要意义。     

根表铁膜的形成和添加硒对水稻吸收转运无机汞和甲基汞的影响

为了研究根表铁膜和硒对水稻吸收、转运不同形态的汞的影响,用Fe2+溶液诱导根表形成铁膜后,将水稻植株分别暴露于无机汞(Hg Cl2)、甲基汞(Me Hg Cl)、无机汞和亚硒酸钠(Hg Cl2+Na2Se O3)混合溶液、甲基汞和亚硒酸钠(Me Hg Cl+Na2Se O3)混合溶液的培养液中继续培养72 h。用DCB(dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate)提取根表铁膜,并用电感耦合等离子体质谱(ICP-MS)测定DCB溶液中Fe、Hg含量及水稻根、茎叶中Hg含量。结果表明:水稻根表铁膜对Me Hg Cl和Hg Cl2均有吸附,对Me Hg Cl的吸附作用高于Hg Cl2。根表铁膜的形成显著降低了汞暴露水稻根、茎叶中汞的含量;铁膜的形成也显著降低了Hg Cl2和Me Hg Cl从水稻根部到茎叶部分的转运效率。硒的存在可增加铁膜对Hg Cl2和Me Hg Cl的吸附,降低水稻对Hg Cl2和Me Hg Cl的吸收和转运。研究结果表明:根表铁膜和硒单独或联合作用能显著抑制水稻对无机汞和甲基汞的吸收和转运,进而可以减少汞在稻米中的蓄积。研究的开展对于提高汞污染区稻米的质量和保证粮食安全具有一定的现实意义。     

Leaching of elements from flue dust produced in copper scrap smelting process

To understand the features and leaching characteristics of copper (Cu) scrap smelting dust and its potential risk to environment and humans, three types of smelting dust were sampled and investigated. The dust samples were collected from the dust captured by cyclone collector, panel cooler, and bag house in a typical Cu scrap smelting process of a factory in Guangxi of China. Zinc (Zn), Cu and lead (Pb) were the main elements of the samples of cyclone collector dust (CCD), panel cooler dust (PCD), and bag house dust (BHD). There were less arsenic (As), Pb and Cu in CCD than PCD and BHD, and PCD contained more manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), and iron (Fe) than BHD. The particle shapes of BHD appeared more regular than CCD and PCD, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis illustrated the compositions of selected surface areas of three samples. The size of particles ranged from 0.011 to 33.11 μm in CCD, from less than 1 μm to several mm in PCD, and from 0.832 to 363.078 μm in BHD. The main elements in leachate were Zn and Mn from CCD, Zn, cadmium (Cd) and Pb from PCD, Zn, Mn and Cd from BHD. The leaching toxicity risk of Cd, Mn, and Zn of PCD and BHD was higher than CCD.     

Chronic exposure effects of copper on growth,metamorphosis and thyroid gland,liver health in Chinese toad,Bufo gargarizans tadpoles

The impact of copper exposure on Chinese toad (Bufo gargarizans) tadpoles was investigated in this study. First, the 96h LC50 value of copper was 8.697 μM, by means of a 4 d acute toxicity test. Second, we studied the chronic effects of copper on B. gargarizans tadpoles at control, 0.025, 0.1 and 1.0 μM concentration. Survival, body length, body weight, developmental stage, incidence of metamorphic climax, and size at metamorphic climax were determined. In tadpoles developed to metamorphic climax (stage G42), liver and thyroid gland were assessed histologically. Copper at 0.1 and 1.0 μM could inhibit tadpole growth and prolong tadpole metamorphic progress relative to controls. Tadpole size (total length and weight) at stage G42 is also affected in the 0.1 and 1.0 μM treatments. In addition, histological examinations have revealed that 1.0 μM copper could cause significant pathological changes and hepatocytes degeneration in liver. Furthermore, histomorphological measurements indicated that copper at 0.1 and 1.0 μM reduced thyroid gland size, diameter and number of follicle. In conclusion, our study suggests that Cu could damage the liver and thyroid gland, so growth and metamorphosis of B. gargarizans tadpoles were inhibited resulted of disrupting liver metabolism and THs homeostasis.     

Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix combined with regional integration analysis to characterize the composition and transformation of humic and fulvic acids from landfill at different stabilization stages

Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy (EEMs) combined with fluorescence regional integration (FRI) analysis was used to investigate the composition and transformation of humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA) from landfill. The EEMs of HAs at different landfill ages were characterized by two typical fluorescence chromophores with Ex/Em pairs at Ex = 420-470 nm/Em = 490-530 nm and Ex = 345-375 nm/Em = 450-465 nm. EEMs of FA were featured by other two distinctly different fluorophores with Ex/Em pairs at Ex = 315-335 nm/Em = 420-440 nm and Ex = 255-275 nm/Em = 425-455 nm. The results show that HA extracted from the refuse disposed in the year of 1989 was formed by connecting small-condensed aromatic structures with protein-like chains. Compared with HA extracted from the refuse disposed in the year of 1992, HA extracted from the refuse of 1996 had a higher fluorescence intensity and lower r_(B,A) (the ratio of the fluorescence intensities of peak B and peak A) value. It contained low molar mass components, low aromatic condensation degree, and more easily oxidized substituents. This indicates that the landfill time strongly affects the EEMs characteristics of HA, and that the humification degree of HA increases with the landfill time. A red shift to a longer wavelength region and an increase of fluorescence intensity were observed when the concentration of HA was increased, suggesting that concentration had a great influence on the fluorescence characteristics of HAs. pH (2-12) also had significant effects on the fluorescence intensity, although it exerted no effect on the peak position of fluorescence of HA and FA. The results of FRI show that increasing concentration lead to more interactions among various structure components and that small molecular weight units tend to aggregate or be masked into more complicated and larger structures. The pH influence on the fluorescence intensity of HA seems mainly through molecular configuration, while the fluorescence intensity change with pH may be due to various substituents of FA.     

Field study of nitrous oxide production with in situ aeration in a closed landfill site

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) has gained considerable attention as a contributor to global warming and depilation of stratospheric ozone layer. Landfill is one of the high emitters of greenhouse gas such as methane and N₂O during the biodegradation of solid waste. Landfill aeration has been attracted increasing attention worldwide for fast, controlled and sustainable conversion of landfills into a biological stabilized condition, however landfill aeration impel N₂O emission with ammonia removal. N₂O originates from the biodegradation, or the combustion of nitrogen-containing solid waste during the microbial process of nitrification and denitrification. During these two processes, formation of N₂O as a by-product from nitrification, or as an intermediate product of denitrification. In this study, air was injected into a closed landfill site and investigated the major N₂O production factors and correlations established between them. The in-situ aeration experiment was carried out by three sets of gas collection pipes along with temperature probes were installed at three different distances of one, two and three meter away from the aeration point; named points A-C, respectively. Each set of pipes consisted of three different pipes at three different depths of 0.0, 0.75 and 1.5 m from the bottom of the cover soil. Landfill gases composition was monitored weekly and gas samples were collected for analysis of nitrous oxide concentrations. It was evaluated that temperatures within the range of 30–40°C with high oxygen content led to higher generation of nitrous oxide with high aeration rate. Lower O₂ content can infuse N₂O production during nitrification and high O₂ inhibit denitrification which would affect N₂O production. The findings provide insights concerning the production potentials of N₂O in an aerated landfill that may help to minimize with appropriate control of the operational parameters and biological reactions of N turnover.

Implications: Investigation of nitrous oxide production potential during in situ aeration in an old landfill site revealed that increased temperatures and oxygen content inside the landfill site are potential factors for nitrous oxide production. Temperatures within the range of optimum nitrification process (30–40°C) induce nitrous oxide formation with high oxygen concentration as a by-product of nitrogen turnover. Decrease of oxygen content during nitrification leads increase of nitrous oxide production, while temperatures above 40°C with moderate and/or low oxygen content inhibit nitrous oxide generation.     

Removal of nitrogen from wastewaters by anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) using granules in upflow reactors

Nitrogen pollution of waters has sometimes caused severe eutrophication, leading to the death of fishes and most aquatic life. There is therefore a need for efficient and cost-effective methods to remove nitrogen from ammonium-rich wastewaters. Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) is a promising process to remove nitrogen because this process directly oxidizes ammonium (NH₄ ⁺) to dinitrogen gas (N₂) under anoxic condition. Nonetheless, a challenge of this process is that chemolithoautotrophic Anammox bacteria grow slowly at the beginning, thus resulting in low Anammox biomass and instability of reactors. Such issues can be overcome by granulation of the Anammox sludge. Here, we review the characteristics of the Anammox bacteria, and the formation, structure and flotation of Anammox granules under high hydraulic loadings. We also evaluate the performances of full-scale granular Anammox processes. The major points are: 1) Anammox bacteria secrete a large amount of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), up to 415 mg g^?1 of volatile suspended solids (VSS), containing many hydrophobic functional groups that facilitate biomass granulation. 2) Granulation enhances the sludge settling property and retention time, which contributes to the extremely high nitrogen removal rate of 77 kg m^?3 d^?1 of Anammox upflow reactors. 3) Flotation of Anammox granules frequently occurs under nitrogen removal rate higher than 10 kg m^?3 d^?1, which is mainly due to the overproduction of EPS under high hydraulic conditions.     

Air pollution and hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections among children in Ningbo,China: A time-series analysis

Acute upper and lower respiratory infections are main causes of mortality and morbidity in children. Air pollution has been recognized as an important contributor to development and exacerbation of respiratory infections. However, few studies are available in China. In this study, we investigated the short-term effect of air pollution on hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections among children under 15 years in Ningbo, China. Poisson generalized models were used to estimate the associations between air pollution and hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections adjusted for temporal, seasonal, and meteorological effects. We found that four pollutants (PM_2.5, PM₁₀, NO₂, and SO₂) were significantly associated with hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections. The effect estimates for acute upper respiratory infections tended to be higher (PM_2.5 ER = 3.46, 95% CI 2.18, 4.76; PM₁₀ ER = 2.81, 95% CI 1.93, 3.69; NO₂ ER = 11.27, 95% CI 8.70, 13.89; SO₂ ER = 15.17, 95% CI 11.29, 19.19). Significant associations for gaseous pollutants (NO₂ and SO₂) were observed after adjustment for particular matter. Stronger associations were observed among older children and in the cold period. Our study suggested that short-term exposure to outdoor air pollution was associated with hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections in Ningbo.