Reaction mechanism of arsenic capture by a calcium-based sorbent during the combustion of arsenic-contaminated biomass: A pilot-scale experience

Pilot-scale combustion is required to treat arsenic-enriched biomass in China. CaO addition to arsenic-enriched biomass reduces arsenic emission. CaO captures arsenic via chemical adsorption to form Ca₃(AsO₄)₂. Large quantities of contaminated biomass due to phytoremediation were disposed through combustion in low-income rural regions of China. This process provided a solution to reduce waste volume and disposal cost. Pilot-scale combustion trials were conducted for in site disposal at phytoremediation sites. The reaction mechanism of arsenic capture during pilot-scale combustion should be determined to control the arsenic emission in flue gas. This study investigated three Pteris vittata L. biomass with a disposal capacity of 600 kg/d and different arsenic concentrations from three sites in China. The arsenic concentration in flue gas was greater than that of the national standard in the trial with no emission control, and the arsenic concentration in biomass was 486 mg/kg. CaO addition notably reduced arsenic emission in flue gas, and absorption was efficient when CaO was mixed with biomass at 10% of the total weight. For the trial with 10% CaO addition, arsenic recovery from ash reached 76%, which is an ~8-fold increase compared with the control. Synchrotron radiation analysis confirmed that calcium arsenate is the dominant reaction product.     

Carbon nanotubes-incorporated MIL-88B-Fe as highly efficient Fenton-like catalyst for degradation of organic pollutants

CNTs were incorporated into MIL-88B-Fe to get a new Fenton-like catalyst (C@M). Fe(II) was introduced in C@M to get a fast initiation of Fenton-like reaction. Fe(II) content in C@M was related with oxygen-containing functional groups on CNTs. C@M shows efficient catalytic degradation of pollutants over a wide pH range. Iron-based metal organic frameworks have been verified to be efficient heterogeneous Fenton catalysts due to their open pore channels and highly uniform distribution of metallic centers. In these catalysts, however, the iron element is mainly in the form of Fe(III), which results in a process required to reduce Fe(III) to Fe(II) to initiate Fenton reaction. To address this problem, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with electron-rich oxygen-functional groups on the surface were incorporated into the metal organic frameworks (MIL-88B-Fe) to improve Fe(II) content for an enhanced Fenton-like performance. The prepared CNT@MIL-88B-Fe (C@M) showed much stronger catalytic ability toward H₂O₂ than MIL-88B-Fe. The pseudo-first-order kinetic constant for phenol degradation by C@M (0.32 min^–1) was about 7 times that of MIL-88B-Fe, and even higher than or comparable to the values of reported heterogeneous Fenton-like catalysts. Moreover, the Fenton-like system could effectively degrade various kinds of refractory organic pollutants and exhibited excellent catalytic activity over a wide pH range (4–9). XPS analysis confirmed that Fe(II) content of the catalyst gradually increased with CNT loadings. Electron spin resonance analysis showed that the signal intensity (•OH) of C@M was much higher than MIL-88B-Fe, which was consistent with the degradation efficiency of pollutants. Furthermore, the Fe(II) content of the catalyst gradually increased along with the oxygen-functional group content of CNTs. The result demonstrated that oxygen-containing functional groups of CNTs have a significant impact on the enhanced catalytic performance of C@M. This study provides a new insight to enhance Fenton reaction by using nanocarbon materials.     

The relationship between lead and cadmium levels and functional dependence among elderly participants

The adverse impacts of lead and cadmium exposure on health outcomes have been reported in the past. Few studies have been conducted on the relationship between lead and cadmium exposures and disability. We evaluated whether lead and cadmium exposures were associated with functional dependence including the total number of disabilities, activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), leisure and social activities (LSA), lower extremity mobility (LEM), and general physical activities (GPA) in an elderly population. A total of 5513 eligible subjects were enrolled in the study from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001–2006. Serum lead and cadmium exposure assessments were performed using atomic absorption spectrometry. Functional dependence was assessed by 19 structured questions. The relationships between lead and cadmium exposures and functional dependence were investigated using by multivariable linear regression models. Q2, Q3, and Q4 of lead exposure were significantly associated with the total number of disabilities, with β coefficients of ??0.62 (95% CI ??0.99, ??0.24), ??0.64 (95% CI ??1.02, ??0.26), and ??0.81 (95% CI ??1.19, ??0.42), respectively. This relationship remained significant in males. Furthermore, we analyzed the relationships between lead and cadmium exposure quartiles and various functional dependence metrics, and we determined that lead content was significantly associated with decreased ADL, LEM, and GPA (p?<?0.05) and cadmium content was inversely associated with ADL (p?<?0.05). Our study demonstrated a strong relationship between exposure to lead and cadmium and functional dependence in an elderly population.

     

水稻田的甲烷释放特性及其生物学机理

本文报导采用土柱法和田间原位法研究渍水稻田甲烷释放特性的结果。不同生育期的测定表明,早稻以分蘖盛期时释放量最大,以后逐渐减少,晚稻从分蘖始期起逐渐增加,至分蘖盛期、末期时达到最大,随后在孕穗期急剧减少,至生长后期又有所回升。以原位法测定表明,晚间和上午释放的甲烷量较多,中午几乎无甲烷释放,下午又有少量释放。不同施肥区稻田甲烷释放量明显不同,以施猪粪有机肥区为最高,次为施尿素无机氮区,不施肥区最低。但各施肥区水稻不同生育期的甲烷释放趋势完全一致,以分蘖期释放量最大,稻田释放的甲烷主要是稻植株释放的,可占总释放量的85％以上。行株间土壤释放的量不多。田间水释放极少,就植株而言,甲烷释放部位主要是在与土壤密切结合的未扰动的根基和根系部位,水面下茎秆白色部分和水上绿色部分几乎无释放。根系也主要是靠近根基的上半部分,根尖部位甲烷形成活性明显小得多。且研究表明,产甲烷细菌附存于根表而不进入根内组织。根际土壤中产甲烷细菌、厌氧性纤维素分解细菌和甲烷氧化细菌的数量以及总挥发有机酸含量都明显高于和行间土壤。     

Toxic effects of wastewater from various phases of monosodium glutamate production on seed germination and root elongation of crops

To make a comprehensive assessment on monosodium glutamate (MSG) wastewater pollution, a pollution exposure experiment was carried out on the seed germination and root elongation of wheat, Chinese cabbage and tomato by using the wastewater discharged from different processing phases of MSG production. The results showed that there were significantly positive linear relationships between the inhibitory rates of wheat seed germination and root elongation and the COD_cr of the mother liquor scraps. The toxicity of MSG wastewater to the test crops was in the order of tomato > Chinese cabbage > wheat, indicating that tomato was the most sensitive to the wastewater, and could be considered as an ideal toxic bioindicator. The half-effect concentrations (IC₅₀) based on the seed germination and root elongation of the test crops exposed to the wastewater discharged from various processing phases of MSG production was 22.0–32 432 and 17.3–3320 mg/L, respectively.     

控制稻田甲烷排放的农业技术选择

本文探讨了通过农业技术措施，控制稻田甲烷排放以及减少甲烷排放的潜力。试验结果表明：（１）用沼渣代替农家肥堆肥作基肥时，４种沼渣基肥处理中，有３种处理稻田甲烷排放通量比施农家肥的处理减少２４～６２％，比单纯施化肥处理减少１１～５６％；１种沼渣（马粪）由于腐熟度不够，其处理甲烷减排效果不明显；（２）改换氮肥的施用种类。以硝铵、硫铵代替尿素作追肥，甲烷排放通量分别减少２６％和４６％；（３）稻田的科学灌溉技术，从水用分蘖到抽穗期间，间歇落干，可以明显减少甲烷排放，而对产量无影响；（４）水稻半旱式栽培技术，也可明显抑制稻田甲烷排放。     

孕激素左炔诺孕酮长期低剂量暴露对雄性斑马鱼的生殖毒性

孕激素是广泛使用的高生物活性药物,其残留广泛存在于水环境中,对水生生物造成潜在威胁。本论文研究孕激素左炔诺孕酮(LNG)长期暴露对雄性斑马鱼的生殖毒性。将斑马鱼胚胎暴露于环境相关浓度的LNG(10, 33, 100 ng·L~(-1))至性成熟(受精后142 d),得到100%的雄性斑马鱼。将得到的雄鱼与未暴露的雌鱼配对,结果发现100 ng·L~(-1) LNG处理组雄鱼使得未暴露雌鱼产卵的数量较对照组雄鱼使得未暴露雌鱼产卵的数量显著减少。33和100 ng·L~(-1)处理组雄鱼与未暴露雌鱼配对所得子代在受精后7 d内的存活率较对照组雄鱼与未暴露雌鱼配对所得子代的存活率显著降低。33 ng·L~(-1) LNG显著升高总活力、活跃精子活力、平均路径速度、直线运动速度、曲线运动速度等精子活力参数,但其他浓度的LNG并不影响精子的活力。LNG在33和100 ng·L~(-1)的浓度下显著降低雄鱼血浆中11-酮基睾酮(11-KT)的含量,且在3个浓度下均显著降低雄鱼血浆中雌二醇(E2)的含量,但对睾酮(T)无明显影响。此外,LNG暴露可干扰雄鱼大脑和精巢中孕激素受体(npr, mprα, mprβ)、雌激素受体(erα, erβ)以及雄激素受体(ar)的转录,可能通过这些受体途径参与生殖调控。研究结果表明环境相关浓度的左炔诺孕酮长期暴露可导致雄性斑马鱼的生殖内分泌干扰效应,并提示:仅雄鱼单独受孕激素暴露影响,也可能对鱼类种群的生殖产生深远影响。     

单甲脒在水生生物中的积累和释放

本文朱生环境中对单甲脒在鱼和藻类中的积累释放及鱼体中的ＢＣＦ值进行了研究，结果表明，鱼体在３，５，６ｄ的ＢＣＦ值分别为３．５３，４．７３及５．２９，鱼体中单米积累为内脏〉锶〉肌肉，饲养７ｄ达积累最高量；藻类在６ｈ后达积累最高量；单甲脒在水藻和鱼（内脏）的富集比分别为１：３及１：１２。