Identification and characterization of Fe3O4/peroxodisulfate advanced oxidation products from sulfameter

Sulfonamides (SAs) are one of the most widely used antibiotics and their residuals in the environment could cause some negative environmental issues. Advanced oxidation such as Fenton-like reaction has been widely applied in the treatment of SAs polluted water. Degradation rates of 95%-99.7% were achieved in this work for the tested 8 SAs, including sulfisomidine, sulfameter (SME), phthalylsulfathiazole, sulfamethoxypyridazine, sulfamonomethoxine, sulfisoxazole, sulfachloropyridazine, and sulfadimethoxine, in the Fe₃O₄/peroxodisulfate (PDS) oxidation system after the optimization of PDS concentration and pH. Meanwhile, it was found that a lot of unknown oxidation products were formed, which brought up the uncertainty of health risks to the environment, and the identification of these unknown products was critical. Therefore, SME was selected as the model compound, from which the oxidation products were never elucidated, to identify these intermediates/products. With liquid chromatography-high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS), 10 new products were identified, in which 2-amino-5-methoxypyrimidine (AMP) was confirmed by its standard. The investigation of the oxidation process of SME indicated that most of the products were not stable and the degradation pathways were very complicated as multiple reactions, such as oxidation of the amino group, SO₂ extrusion, and potential cross-reaction occurred simultaneously. Though most of the products were not verified due to the lack of standards, our results could be helpful in the evaluation of the treatment performance of SAs containing wastewater.     

Highly efficient P uptake by Fe3O4 loaded amorphous Zr-La (carbonate) oxides: Electrostatic attraction, inner-sphere complexation and oxygen vacancies acceleration effect

Bimetallic oxides composites have received an increasing attention as promising adsorbents for aqueous phosphate (P) removal in recent years. In this study, a novel magnetic composite MZLCO was prepared by hybridizing amorphous Zr-La (carbonate) oxides (ZLCO) with nano-Fe₃O₄ through a one-pot solvothermal method for efficient phosphate adsorption. Our optimum sample of MZLCO-45 exhibited a high Langmuir maximum adsorption capacity of 96.16 mg P/g and performed well even at low phosphate concentration. The phosphate adsorption kinetics by MZLCO-45 fitted well with the pseudo-second-order model, and the adsorption capacity could reach 79% of the ultimate value within the first 60 min. The phosphate adsorption process was highly pH-dependent, and MZLCO-45 performed well over a wide pH range of 2.0-8.0. Moreover, MZLCO-45 showed a strong selectivity to phosphate in the presence of competing ions (Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, HCO₃⁻, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺) and a good reusability using the eluent of NaOH/NaCl mixture, then 64% adsorption capacity remained after ten recycles. The initial 2.0 mg P/L in municipal wastewater and surface water could be efficiently reduced to below 0.1mg P/L by 0.07 g/L MZLCO-45, and the phosphate removal efficiencies were 95.7% and 96.21%, respectively. Phosphate adsorption mechanisms by MZLCO-45 could be attributed to electrostatic attraction and the inner-sphere complexation via ligand exchange forming Zr/La-O-P, -OH and CO₃²⁻ groups on MZLCO-45 surface played important roles in the ligand exchange process. The existence of oxygen vacancies could accelerate the phosphate absorption rate of the MZLCO-45 composites.     

Year-round observation of atmospheric inorganic aerosols in urban Beijing: Size distribution, source analysis, and reduction mechanism

To investigate particle characteristics and find an effective measure to control severe particle pollution, year-round observation of size-segregated inorganic aerosols was conducted in Beijing from January to December, 2016. The sampled atmospheric particles all presented bimodal size distribution at four pollution levels (clear, slight pollution, moderate pollution and severe pollution), and peak values appeared at the size range of 0.7-2.1 μm and >9.0 μm, respectively. As dominant particle compositions, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, and NH₄⁺ in four pollution levels all showed significant peaks in fine mode, especially at the size range of 1.1-2.1 μm. Secondary inorganic aerosols accounted for about 67.6% (36.3% (secondary sulfates) + 31.3% (secondary nitrates)) of the total sources of fine particles in urban Beijing. Severe pollution of fine particles was mainly caused by the air masses transported from nearby western and southern areas, which are industrial and densely populated region, respectively. Sensitivity tests further revealed that the control measures focusing on ammonium emission reduction was the most effective for particle pollution mitigation, and fine particles all showed nonlinear responses after reducing ammonium, nitrate, and sulfate concentrations, with the fitting curves of y = -120.8x - 306.1x² + 290.2x³, y = -43.5x - 67.8x², and y = -25.8x - 110.4x² + 7.6x³, respectively (y and x present fine particle mass variation (μg/m³) and concentration reduction ratio (CRR)/100 (dimensionless)). Overall, our study presents useful information for understanding the characteristics of atmospheric inorganic aerosols in urban Beijing, as well as offers policy makers with effective measure for mitigating particle pollution.     

肥料调控强化象草对重度Cd污染农田修复效果

象草（Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.）因适应能力强、生长迅速和生物量大,且具有一定的经济效益,在重金属污染土壤植物修复中有很好的应用前景.通过田间试验,研究不同肥料（有机肥、复合肥和追施氮肥）联合施用强化象草修复重度Cd污染农田的效果.结果表明：①不同肥料调控处理降低了土壤pH值,提高了土壤有机质含量,根际土壤总Cd含量较修复前降低了8.3%~23.3%,土壤有效态Cd含量较对照降低了11.7%~34.6%;②不同肥料调控处理显著促进了象草生长和对Cd的吸收累积,象草地上部生物量增加29.2%~368.2%,象草Cd总累积量增加了37.8%~283.9%,其中有机肥+复合肥+追施氮肥处理（F3N）象草Cd总累积量达到了145.48 g·hm^-2;③不同肥料联合对提高象草Cd累积量的效果为：有机肥+复合肥+追施氮肥>有机肥+复合肥>单一复合肥.因此,在重度Cd污染农田植物修复中,肥料调控可以强化象草对土壤中Cd的富集移除效果,进而加快对污染农田的修复.     

利用FOCMEC和CAP方法反演2021年大丰海域M5.0及天宁M4.2地震震源机制解∗

利用 FOCMEC 和 CAP 方法分别对大丰海域 M5.0 地震、天宁 M4.2 地震震源机制解进行反演,分析两种方法所得结果的差异。大丰海域 M5.0 地震 FOCMEC 方法与 CAP 方法计算震源机制解结果存在细微差异,CAP 方法所得结果与其它机构结果较为统一。天宁 M4.2 地震 FOCMEC 方法与 CAP 方法计算震源机制解结果基本一致。 通过研究发现 CAP 方法对台站分布要求不高,但需要地震震级较大,波形信噪比高,震相拟合度较好;FOCMEC 方法对地震震级要求不高,但需要震中位置被台站包围较好,且震中附近台站密度较高,P 波初动清晰。     

长沙市灰霾天气与气象因子相关性研究

根据长沙市2013年PM2.5的逐日质量平均浓度、气象地面和高空观测数据,采用SPSS方法,分析了长沙市灰霾天气发生与气象因子的关系。结果表明:长沙市区的灰霾日以西北风向为主,PM2.5浓度与风速、降水呈显著负相关,与相对湿度、大气压、平均气温相关不明显。风速越小越不利于大气污染物的扩散,在没有降水的情况下,风速达到3.5m/s以上,空气质量才有好转;弱降水对污染物的浓度不会有明显的影响,降水量在5mm以下时,污染物的浓度不会有明显的下降,但强降水对空气有净化作用明显,在不同季节,不同时段,不同天气形势下降水的稀释作用不同;长沙秋冬季边界层稳定性几率高达80%以上,这种稳定层结构是长沙市区各种大气污染源不易扩散的重要因素之一。     

Global Trend of Low-carbon Economy and China's Responses

Based on the analysis on the global economic crisis,climate change crisis and their mutual underlying reasons,the authors believe that low-carbon economy has become an inevitable choice to break through the dual crises,coordinate the economic development,and protect the global climate.The global trend of low-carbon economy finds expression in Green Recovery currently,while,in a long run,it will give rise to a new pattern of world competition in politics,economy,technology,trade and finance.The impact of the...     

Medical waste management in China: A case study of Nanjing

Medical waste management is of great importance due to its infectious and hazardous nature that can cause undesirable effects on humans and the environment. The objective of this study was to analyze and evaluate the present status of medical waste management in the light of medical waste control regulations in Nanjing. A comprehensive inspection survey was conducted for 15 hospitals, 3 disposal companies and 200 patients. Field visits and a questionnaire survey method were implemented to collect information regarding different medical waste management aspects, including medical waste generation, segregation and collection, storage, training and education, transportation, disposal, and public awareness.The results indicated that the medical waste generation rate ranges from 0.5 to 0.8 kg/bed day with a weighted average of 0.68 kg/bed day. The segregated collection of various types of medical waste has been conducted in 73% of the hospitals, but 20% of the hospitals still use unqualified staff for medical waste collection, and 93.3% of the hospitals have temporary storage areas. Additionally, 93.3% of the hospitals have provided training for staff; however, only 20% of the hospitals have ongoing training and education. It was found that the centralized disposal system has been constructed based on incineration technology, and the disposal cost of medical waste is about 580 US$/ton. The results also suggested that there is not sufficient public understanding of medical waste management, and 77% of respondents think medical waste management is an important factor in selecting hospital services.The problematic areas of medical waste management in Nanjing are addressed by proposing some recommendations that will ensure that potential health and environmental risks of medical waste are minimized.