Performance evaluation of laser-induced breakdown spectrometry as a multimetal continuous emission monitor

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been evaluated as a multimetal continuous emissions monitor (CEM) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rotary kiln incinerator simulator (RKIS) facility in Raleigh, NC. Two detection systems with a bifurcated optical fiber bundle were used for simultaneously monitoring the concentrations of Be, Cd, Cr, and Hg in the test. Two calibration techniques were evaluated in the laboratory for the field measurements. On-line calibration of relative metal concentration was also performed in the simulated incinerator gas stream. Toxic metal concentrations measured with LIBS have been compared with the EPA reference method (RM) results.     

The velocity of DNAPL fingering in water-saturated porous media: laboratory experiments and a mobile-immobile-zone model.

Dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) are immiscible with water and can give rise to highly fingered fluid distributions when infiltrating through water-saturated porous media. In this paper, a conceptual mobile-immobile-zone (MIZ) model is presented to describe the structure of a DNAPL finger in water-saturated porous media and the velocity of finger propagation. A finger is composed of a finger body and a tip. The finger body has a mobile core and an immobile sheath. All the DNAPL within the tip of a finger is mobile. Lab experiments utilizing image analyses of a DNAPL (PCE) penetrating into water-saturated homogeneous glass beads were carried out in a two-dimensional transparent chamber. The results show that the fingers elongated almost linearly with time. The fingers did not grow laterally after the tip of the finger had passed. The average finger diameters were between 3.9 and 5.4 mm for PCE propagation in water-saturated glass bead porous media with mean particle diameters from 0.32 to 1.36 mm. The estimated mobile core diameters were 51-60% of the average finger diameters.     

施粪肥土壤中抗生素的提取条件优化及残留特征

为确立高效的土壤抗生素提取条件,揭示施用粪肥土壤中抗生素的残留水平,分别采集江苏省常州市某养猪场新鲜猪粪样品6份、施用粪肥及无机肥水稻土壤样品各13份,对土壤抗生素提取液配比与超声提取时间进行筛选,利用高效液相色谱-串联质谱（HPLC-MS/MS）对生猪粪便和土壤中的四大类（四环素类、磺胺类、喹诺酮类和大环内脂类）15种抗生素含量进行检测分析。结果表明,最优提取条件选择为：提取液配比为甲醇：EDTA=1：1,超声提取时间为10 min,四环素类抗生素的加标回收率为73.2%~93.4%,磺胺类为81.2%~101.1%,喹诺酮类为106.3%~110.8%。该养猪场猪粪与施粪肥土壤中均未检测到大环内脂类抗生素,其余各类抗生素平均残留量从高到低排序分别为：猪粪中四环素类 > 磺胺类 > 喹诺酮类;施粪肥土壤中四环素类 > 喹诺酮类 > 磺胺类,四环素类是最主要的抗生素污染物,残留量分别为猪粪中1.9~12.5 mg·kg-1、施粪肥土壤中23.9~212.4 μg·kg-1;施无机肥土壤中未检测出抗生素,施粪肥土壤中的抗生素来源于生猪粪便。     

Preparation of La-modified magnetic composite for enhanced adsorptive removal of tetracycline

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Composite adsorbents usually outperform single component adsorbents as they could combine the properties and advantages of each component. In this...     

Multiple copper adsorption and regeneration by zeolite 4A synthesized from bauxite tailings

Copper ions were first adsorbed by zeolite 4A synthesized from bauxite tailings, the desorption of Cu(II) using Na₂EDTA solutions was performed, and the recycling of zeolite 4A in adsorption and desorption was systematically investigated. It was observed that the Cu(II) removal efficiency was directly dependent on the initial pH value. The maximum removal efficiency of Cu(II) was 96.2% with zeolite 4A when the initial pH value was 5.0. Cu(II) was completely absorbed in the first 30 min. It was also observed that the desorption efficiency and zeolite recovery were highly dependent on the initial pH and concentration of Na₂EDTA in the solution. The desorption efficiency and percent of zeolite recovered were 73.6 and 85.9%, respectively, when the Na₂EDTA solution concentration was 0.05 mol L^?1 and the pH value was 8. The recovered zeolites were pure single phase and highly crystalline. After 3 cycles, the removal efficiency of Cu(II) was as high as 78.9%, and the zeolite recovery was 46.9%, indicating that the recovered zeolites have good adsorption capacity and can repeatedly absorb Cu(II).

     

Degradation of streptomycin in aquatic environment: kinetics,pathway, and antibacterial activity analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Streptomycin used in human and veterinary medicine is released into the environment mainly through excretions. As such, its elimination in water...     

Debromination of hexabromobenzene by its co-grinding with CaO

A hexabromobenzene (HBB, C6Br6) powder was subjected to co-grinding with excess CaO powder in air using a planetary ball mill to investigate mechanochemical debromination of the HBB sample. The reaction proceeds smoothly with an increase in both grinding time and molar ratio of CaO addition. The co-grinding enables us to debrominate HBB, forming CaBr2, C and CaCO3 besides excess CaO in the product. CaBr2 in the product tends to absorb moisture from the atmosphere to form CaBr2 x nH2O. The reaction yield is quantitatively evaluated by measuring the amount of water-soluble bromide through water washing and the amount of unreacted HBB through toluene washing. It is found that almost 100% of debromination is achieved by 6 h grinding with the molar ratio kept constant at 2:1. Radicals are detected in the ground products, possibly due to rupture in the covalent bonds of C-C and C-Br in HBB.     

Comparison between fractionation and bioavailability of trace elements in rhizosphere and bulk soils

Rhizosphere is a microbiosphere and has quite different chemical, physical and biological properties from bulk soils. A greenhouse experiment was performed to compare the difference of fractionation and bioavailability of trace elements Cr, Ni, Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd between rhizosphere soil and bulk soil. In the meantime, the influence of air-drying on the fractionation and bioavailability was also investigated by using wet soil sample as a control. Soils in a homemade rhizobox were divided into four zones: rhizosphere, near rhizosphere, near bulk soil and bulk soil zones, which was designated as S1, S2, S3 and S4. Elemental speciations were fractionated to water soluble, exchangeable and carbonate bound (B1), Fe-Mn oxide bound (B2), and organic and sulfide bound (B3) by a sequential extraction procedure. Speciation differences were observed for elements Cr, Ni, Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd between the rhizosphere and bulk soils, and between the air-dried and wet soils as well. The concentrations of all six heavy metals in fraction B1 followed the order of S2 > S3 > S1 > S4 and for B2, the order was S2 > S3 S4 > S1. For B3, the order was S1 > S3 S4 > S2, while for Cd the order was S2 > S3 approximately/= S4 > S1. The air-drying increased elemental concentration in fractions B1 and B2 by 20-50% and decreased in fraction B3 by about 20-100%. Correlation analysis also indicated that the bioavailability correlation coefficient of fraction B1 in rhizosphere wet soil to plants was better than that between either air-dried or nonrhizosphere soils. Therefore, application of rhizosphere wet soils should be recommended in the future study on the speciation analysis of trace elements in soils and bioavailability.     

Characteristics of phosphorus components in surface sediments from a Chinese shallow eutrophic lake (Lake Taihu): new insights from chemical extraction and <Superscript>31</Superscript>P NMR spectroscopy

As a primary factor responsible for lake eutrophication, a deeper understanding of the phosphorus (P) composition and its turnover in sediment is urgently needed. In this study, P species in surface sediments from a Chinese large eutrophic lake (Lake Taihu) were characterized by traditional fractionation and ³¹P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and their contributions to the overlying water were also discussed. Fractionation results show that NaOH-P predominated in the algal-dominated zone, accounting for 60.1% to total P in Zhushan Bay. Whereas, refractory fractions including HCl-P and residual-P were the main P burial phases in the macrophyte-dominated zone, the center and lakeshore. Recovery rates of the total P and organic P were greatly improved by using a modified single-step extraction of NaOH-EDTA, ranging from 22.6 to 66.1% and from 15.0 to 54.0%. Ortho-P, monoester-P, and pyro-P are identified as the major P components in the NaOH-EDTA extracts by ³¹P NMR analysis. Trace amount of DNA-P appeared only in sediments from algal- and macrophyte-dominated zones, ascribing to its biological origin. The relative content of ortho-P is the highest in the algal-dominated zone, while the biogenic P including ester-P and pyro-P is the highest in the macrophyte-dominated zone. Moreover, ortho-P and pyro-P correlated positively with TP and chlorophyll a in the overlying water, whereas only significant relationships were found between monoester-P, biogenic P, and chlorophyll a. These discrepancies imply that inorganic P, mainly ortho-P, plays a vital role in sustaining the trophic level of water body and algal bloom, while biogenic P makes a minor contribution to phytoplankton growth. This conclusion was supported by the results of high proportion of biogenic P in algae, aquatic macrophytes, and suspended particulate from the published literature. This study has significant implication for better understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of endogenous P and its role in affecting lake eutrophication.     

Influence of metal oxides on PCDD/Fs formation from pentachlorophenol

Chlorophenols (ClPhs) are considered as important precursors for PCDD/Fs formation. The influences of series of metal oxides including MgO, Al2O3, CaO, BaO, TiO2, V2O5, MnO2, Fe2O3, Co3O4, CuO, Ag2O, ZnO, HgO, SnO, PbO, La2O3, CeO2, and Eu2O3 on PCDD/Fs formation from pentachlorophenol (PCP) were investigated in a laboratory-scale reactor. The results indicated that most of the above metal oxides have obvious suppressing effects on the total amount of PCDD/Fs formation from precursor PCP except for CuO, ZnO, MnO2, TiO2 and Co3O4 with promotion effects at 280 degrees C for 2 h. Although MgO, Al2O3, Fe2O3, PbO, La2O3 and Eu2O3 could reduce the amount of octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD), they promote the formation of more toxic 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD at the same time. The total suppressing efficiencies of several metal oxides including CaO, BaO, PbO, Ag2O, HgO and SnO which have lower Z/r (charge to radius ratio) <2 are all over 90%. The theories of generalized acid-base and atomic parameter (Z/r) were used to speculate the effecting mechanisms. The factors including time and temperature on suppressing efficiencies of CaO, BaO and PbO have also been studied in the present paper. The results showed that the total suppressing efficiencies of CaO, BaO and PbO increase with the increase of heated time and temperature.