Concentration and health risk evaluation of heavy metals in market-sold vegetables and fishes based on questionnaires in Beijing,China

Concentrations of heavy metals (As, Cd, Pb, Cu, Ni, Fe, Mn, and Zn) in market vegetables and fishes in Beijing, China, are investigated, and their health risk to local consumers is evaluated by calculating the target hazard quotient (THQ). The heavy metal concentrations in vegetables and fishes ranged from not detectable (ND) to 0.21 mg/kg fresh weight (f.w.) (As), ND to 0.10 mg/kg f.w. (Cd), and n.d to 0.57 mg/kg f.w. (Pb), with average concentrations of 0.17, 0.04, and 0.24 mg/kg f.w., respectively. The measured concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, Cu, Ni, Fe, Mn, and Zn are generally lower than the safety limits given by the Chinese regulation safety and quality standards of agriculture products (GB2762-2012). As, Cd, and Pb contaminations are found in vegetables and fishes. The exceeding standard rates are 19 % for As, 3 % for Cd, and 25 % for Pb. Pb contaminations are found quite focused on the fish samples from traditional agri-product markets. The paper further analyzed the health risk of heavy metals in vegetables and fishes respectively from supermarkets and traditional agri-product markets; the results showed that the fishes of traditional agri-product markets have higher health risk, while the supermarkets have vegetables of higher heavy metal risk, and the supervision should be strengthened in the fish supply channels in traditional agri-product markets.     

Potential toxicity of amphenicol antibiotic: binding of chloramphenicol to human serum albumin

Antibiotics are widely used in daily life but their abuse has posed a potential threat to human health. To evaluate the toxicity of chloramphenicol (CAP) at the protein level, the interaction between CAP and human serum albumin (HSA) was investigated by fluorescence, Ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) absorption, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and molecular docking methods. Fluorescence data revealed that the fluorescence quenching of HSA by CAP was the result of the formation of CAP–HSA complex, and the binding constant was determined to be 3.196?×?10⁴ L mol^?1 at 310 K. The thermodynamic determination indicated that the interaction was driven by enthalpy change and entropy change together, where the multiple hydrogen bonds (CAP and the residues Arg 222 and His 242 of HSA) and van der Waals forces were the dominant binding force. The site marker competition revealed that CAP bound into sub-domain IIA of HSA. The binding of CAP induced the drastic reduction in α-helix conformation and the significant enhancement in β-sheet conformation of HSA. Molecular docking study further confirmed the binding mode obtained by experimental study. This work provides a new quantitative evaluation method for antibiotics to cause the protein damage.     

Enhanced science–stakeholder communication to improve ecosystem model performances for climate change impact assessments

In recent years, climate impact assessments of relevance to the agricultural and forestry sectors have received considerable attention. Current ecosystem models commonly capture the effect of a warmer climate on biomass production, but they rarely sufficiently capture potential losses caused by pests, pathogens and extreme weather events. In addition, alternative management regimes may not be integrated in the models. A way to improve the quality of climate impact assessments is to increase the science–stakeholder collaboration, and in a two-way dialog link empirical experience and impact modelling with policy and strategies for sustainable management. In this paper we give a brief overview of different ecosystem modelling methods, discuss how to include ecological and management aspects, and highlight the importance of science–stakeholder communication. By this, we hope to stimulate a discussion among the science–stakeholder communities on how to quantify the potential for climate change adaptation by improving the realism in the models.     

A method to estimate the impact of clear-cutting on nutrient concentrations in boreal headwater streams

Large-scale forestry operations, like clear-cutting, may impair surface water quality if not done with environmental considerations in mind. Catchment and country level estimates of nutrient loads from forestry are generally based on specific export values, i.e., changes in annual exports due to the implemented forestry operations expressed in kg ha⁻¹. We introduce here a specific concentration approach as a method to estimate the impact of clear-cutting on nutrient concentrations and export in headwater streams. This new method is potentially a more dynamic and flexible tool to estimate nutrient loads caused by forestry, because variation in annual runoff can be taken into account in load assessments. We combined water quality data from eight boreal headwater catchment pairs located in Finland and Sweden, where the effect of clear-cutting on stream water quality has been studied experimentally. Statistically significant specific concentration values could be produced for total nitrogen, nitrate, ammonium, and phosphate. The significant increases in the concentrations of these nutrients occurred between 2 and 6 years after clear-cutting. Significant specific concentration values could not be produced for total phosphorus and total organic carbon with the whole dataset, although in some single studies significant increases in their concentrations after clear-cutting were observed. The presented method enables taking into account variation in runoff, temporal dynamics of effects, and the proportional size of the treated area in load calculations. The number of existing studies considering large site-specific variation in responses to clear-cutting is small, and therefore further empirical studies are needed to improve predictive capabilities of the specific concentration values.     

Screening risk areas for sediment and phosphorus losses to improve placement of mitigation measures

Identification of vulnerable arable areas to phosphorus (P) losses is needed to effectively implement mitigation measures. Indicators for source (soil test P, STP), potential mobilization by erosion (soil dispersion), and transport (unit-stream power length-slope, LS) risks were used to screen the vulnerability to suspended solids (SS) and P losses in two contrasting catchments regarding topography, soil textural distribution, and STP. Soils in the first catchment ranged from loamy sand to clay loam, while clay soils were dominant in the second catchment. Long-term SS and total P losses were higher in the second catchment in spite of significantly lower topsoil STP. A higher proportion of areas in the second catchment were identified with higher risk due to the significantly higher risk of overland flow generation (LS) and a significantly higher mobilization risk in the soil dispersion laboratory tests. A simple screening method was presented to improve the placement of mitigation measures.     

罐底含油泥热解动力学参数计算方法的优选

在化学反应设计中反应动力学是较重要的因素。为得到更合理的污泥热解动力学参数计算方法,利用热重分析仪,在氮气气氛下对罐底含油污泥的热解特性进行研究。根据热重实验数据,分别采用Coats-Redfern法、Kissinger法、FWO法和Popescu法计算污泥热解动力学参数,并获取罐底泥热解制油的主要阶段(第2阶段)的反应活化能E、频率因子A并分析各种方法反应机理。通过对比不同计算方法得到动力学参数及拟合曲线与实验曲线的相关性,确定了最佳罐底含油污泥热解动力学参数计算方法。研究表明,Popescu法得到罐底泥的热解过程符合Jander方程,活化能E为101.43 kJ/mol,与FWO法得到的91.20 kJ/mol相近,且预测曲线与实验曲线有较好的相关性(0.9816),说明Popescu法计算罐底泥热解动力学参数更合适。     

基于改性凹凸棒土的强化混凝处理高藻低浊原水工艺

针对水厂低浊高藻水的处理难题,研究了改性凹凸棒土(改性凹土)联合聚合氯化铝(PAC)强化混凝的除藻除浊效果。设计实验原水条件为叶绿素a(chl-a)浓度为98.58~110.35μg/L,浊度(5.6±0.5)NTU。考察了PAC和改性凹土的复配投加量、混凝沉淀时间、pH、投加顺序、搅拌速率等工艺参数对Chl-a和浊度耦合去除效果的影响。结果表明,"PAC+改性凹土"对Chl-a和浊度的去除效果明显优于单投PAC的效果。当PAC投药量12 mg/L,改性凹土投药量10 mg/L,沉淀时间20 min时,对Chl-a和浊度的去除率可分别达到92.5%和89.2%,可至少减少40%的PAC投量,且形成的矾花密实,沉降速度快,去除效率高。最适pH范围为7~8。投加顺序应为先投加改性凹土,混合搅拌转数宜慢速,可控制为50 r/min。     

基于CA-MAS的水域总有机碳扩散模拟研究

当前水环境污染扩散研究一般基于普通数值模型模拟,忽略了水污染扩散微观驱动力的影响。为能更真实地反映其动态扩散过程,针对水域总有机碳(TOC)扩散机理,基于CA和MAS技术,将影响TOC扩散的自然和社会经济因素抽象为微观的水流Agent、风速Agent、径流量Agent、污水排放口Agent、人工管理Agent以及农业生产地Agent,将研究水域抽象为CA元胞空间,建立了CA-MAS水域总有机碳扩散模型,对水域总有机碳的动态演化过程进行模拟,并以武汉理工大学鉴湖水域作为实验区域,借助NetLogo仿真平台完成了模型的实现与验证。模拟结果表明,该模型基本能够反映水体总有机碳的扩散规律,可以为水环境污染控制提供参考。     

镍渣的重金属浸出特性

在分析镍渣的矿物相组成和重金属元素含量的基础上,鉴定了镍渣样品的浸出毒性,并考察了pH、液固比和浸出时间等条件对镍渣样中铬、铅、铜和锌等重金属浸出特性的影响。结果表明,镍渣中的重金属总量约为渣样的0.9%,且铬、铜和锌的含量较高,需进行安全管理。实验所用镍渣样品为第Ⅰ类一般工业固体废物。在强酸条件下镍渣中重金属浸出浓度较大,pH3后浸出浓度显著降低;液固比40 L/kg时,镍渣中重金属不断溶出,液固比40 L/kg后,浸出达到饱和,浸出浓度趋于平衡;随着浸出时间的增加,重金属离子的浸出浓度先增加后减少,但由于各重金属性质不同,各重金属达到最大浸出浓度的时间不同。     

Interaction between BSM-contaminated soils and Italian ryegrass

The interaction among the bensulfuron-methyl, growth of Italian ryegrass, and soil chemical/biochemical/microbiological parameters was investigated in a microcosm experiment. The bensulfuron-methyl added to the soil can be rapidly degraded by certain fungi and actinomycetes present in the original paddy rice soil. The growth of Italian ryegrass significantly accelerated the in-soil degradation of bensulfuron-methyl in its rhizosphere. The uptake of bensulfuron-methyl by ryegrass increased with increasing dosage level of bensulfuron-methyl. However, the phytoextraction of bensulfuron-methyl by ryegrass contributed insignificantly to the total removal of the soil bensulfuron-methyl. Within the dosage range set in this study, the root development of ryegrass was not adversely affected by the presence of the soil bensulfuron-methyl although the fresh biomass of shoot was slightly reduced in the higher dosage treatments. This can be attributed to the adsorption of the added bensulfuron-methyl by soil colloids and consequently the reduction of bensulfuron-methyl level in the soil pore water to a concentration sufficiently lower than the toxic level. The growth of ryegrass significantly increased soil pH and the activities of phosphatase and peroxidase but reduced the EC and the activities of urease in the rhizospheric soil.