Cement paste column for simultaneous removal of fluoride, phosphate, and nitrate in acidic wastewater

Cement paste, a cured mixture of cement and water, was reported to have considerable capacity for fluoride removal. In this study, heavily mixed fluoric acid wastewater from a semiconductor fabrication plant was applied to a column packed with cement paste granules to evaluate its capacity for the removal of fluoride and three other contaminants, phosphate, nitrate, and sulfate, as well as to investigate the interactions between these contaminants and cement components. The column reduced fluoride to remarkably low levels since fluorite was formed at highly elevated concentrations of calcium and the residual fluoride was further sorbed into the amorphous calcium phosphate that precipitated the entire amount of phosphate until breakthrough. The simultaneous removal of sulfate in the earlier stage was followed by significant removal of nitrate in exchange with the gradual release of sulfate. This behavior was explained by the co-precipitation of sulfate with calcium phosphate or calcium aluminate solids and the subsequent substitution of nitrate for the interlayer sulfate of monosulfate. However, the overall removal capacity of cement paste was reduced due to the high effluent loss of calcium and competition for calcium between fluoride and phosphate.     

Stressor identification and health assessment of fish exposed to wastewater effluents in Miho Stream, South Korea

This study evaluated the effects of an industrial wastewater treatment plant (IWTP) and a municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWTP) effluents on a variety of bioindicators ranging from biochemical, organism, and population-level responses in pale chub (Zacco platypus) and fish community structure. The Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) indicated that the site upstream of these wastewater treatment plant discharges is in fair–good condition and downstream of the plant is in poor condition. The EROD (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase) activity, condition factor, and liver somatic index were significantly increased at the downstream site compared to those of the upstream site. The most significant change observed in pale chub population in the downstream site of the Miho Stream, relative to the upstream population, was the total absence of an younger age group. Stressors impacting the downstream site were identified as mostly organic or nutrient enrichment and habitat degradation associated with wastewater treatment plants. The results of causal analysis suggest that the primary causes affecting fish population in the downstream site are through both size-selective mortality caused by ammonia toxicity and recruitment failure caused by habitat degradation and reproduction problem due to an IWTP and MWTP effluents.     

Identification of barley genotypes with low grain Cd accumulation and its interaction with four microelements

The variation in grain cadmium (Cd) concentrations was evaluated among 600 barley genotypes grown in the same field condition to select low Cd accumulating genotypes. The results showed that there is considerable genotypic variation in grain Cd concentrations in barley grain samples, with the mean concentration of 0.16 mg kg(-1) DW and the variation of 0 (not detected) to 1.21 mg kg(-1) DW, and 47.2% of the grain samples exceeded the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) for Cd in cereal grains. In addition, differences between genotypes over the two years were fairly consistent, and Beitalys and Shang 98-128 showed the lowest grain Cd concentration, being 97.5% lower than that in the two highest Cd accumulators E-barley 6 and Zhenong 8 in the second harvest year. The great genotypic differences in Cd concentrations indicated that it is possible to lower Cd content of barley through cultivar selection and breeding for use at sites where Cd concentration in grain exceeds the MPC. Significant genotypic difference was also found in microelement concentrations. Correlation analysis showed that only Mn accumulation is synergetic with Cd accumulation, despite slightly positive relationship between Cd and Zn, Cu, or Fe in accumulation in barley grains.     

Excess copper induced physiological and proteomic changes in germinating rice seeds

Copper is an essential micronutrient for plants. Present at a high concentration in soil, copper is also regarded as a major toxicant to plant cells due to its potential inhibitory effects against many physiological and biochemical processes. The interference of germination-related proteins by heavy metals has not been well documented at the proteomic level. In the current study, physiological, biochemical and proteomic changes of germinating rice seeds were investigated under copper stress. Germination rate, shoot elongation, plant biomass, and water content were decreased, whereas accumulation of copper and TBARS content in seeds were increased significantly with increasing copper concentrations from 0.2mM to 1.5mM followed by germination. The SDS-PAGE showed the preliminary changes in the polypeptides patterns under copper stress. Protein profiles analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) revealed that 25 protein spots were differentially expressed in copper-treated samples. Among them, 18 protein spots were up-regulated and 7 protein spots were down-regulated. These differentially displayed proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The up-regulation of some antioxidant and stress-related proteins such as glyoxalase I, peroxiredoxin, aldose reductase, and some regulatory proteins such as DnaK-type molecular chaperone, UlpI protease, and receptor-like kinase clearly indicated that excess copper generates oxidative stress that might be disruptive to other important metabolic processes. Moreover, down-regulation of key metabolic enzymes like alpha-amylase or enolase revealed that the inhibition of seed germinations after exposure to excess copper not only affects starvation in water uptake by seeds but also results in failure in the reserve mobilization processes. These results indicate a good correlation between the physiological and biochemical changes in germinating rice seeds exposed to excess copper.     

Removal of Prussian blue from contaminated soil in the rhizosphere of cyanogenic plants

The fate of radiolabeled cyanide in soil was investigated during exposure to cyanogenic plant species, sorghum (Sorghum bicolor var. P721) and flax (Linum usitassimum var. Omega-Gold), in fully-contained growth chambers. Labeled cyanide was subject to microbial transformation, assimilation by plant roots, incorporation and biodegradation in plant tissue. For this study, (14)C-labeled cyanide was added to soil, and distribution of (14)C activity was assessed before plant establishment and after harvest. After 3 months of plant growth, 7% of the (14)C-labeled cyanide was converted to (14)CO(2) with sorghum and 6% with flax, compared with only 2% conversion in unplanted soil. A small amount of unaltered cyanide was shown to be accumulated by the plants (approximately 140 mg cyanide/kg plant or <0.1% of the total). Results from this experiment demonstrate the potential of cyanogenic plants for use in phytoremediation of cyanide-contaminated soil.     

N1923络合萃取丙酸的研究

分别以模拟和实际丙酸发酵废水体系为研究对象,采用络合萃取法回收稀溶液中的丙酸,结果表明,对含2%丙酸的水溶液,以45%(体积比)的N1923为萃取剂,以煤油和正辛醇为稀释剂进行萃取,在油水相比1∶4的情况下,单级萃取率可达97%.对实际发酵废水中丙酸的萃取,在二级错流萃取的情况下,也能达到同样的分离效果.有机溶剂循环使用实验表明,经过10次重复利用后其萃取能力基本不变.     

Enhanced biohydrogen generation from organic wastewater containing NH 4+ by phototrophic bacteria Rhodobacter sphaeroides AR-3

NH₄⁺ is typically an inhibitor to hydrogen production from organic wastewater by photo-bacteria. In this experiment, biohydrogen generation with wild-type anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroideswas found to be sensitive to NH₄⁺ due to the significant inhibition of NH₄⁺ to its nitrogenase. In order to avoid the inhibition of NH₄⁺ to biohydrogen generation by R. sphaeroides, a glutamine auxotrophic mutant R. sphaeroides AR-3 was obtained by mutagenizing with ethyl methane sulfonate. The AR-3 mutant could generate biohydrogen efficiently in the hydrogen production medium with a higher NH₄⁺ concentration, because the inhibition of NH₄⁺ to nitrogenase of AR-3 was released. Under suitable conditions, AR-3 effectively produced biohydrogen from tofu wastewater, which normally contains 50–60 mg/L NH₄⁺, with an average generation rate of 14.2 mL/L·h. This generation rate was increased by more than 100% compared with that from wild-type R. sphaeroides.     

国外"棕地再开发"土地利用策略及对我国的启示

棕地再开发是当代西方国家重要的城市可持续发展策略之一。本文界定了棕地的概念与特征，分析了其成因及棕地再开发的环境、社会、经济效益和广阔前景。并将棕地再开发与其他城市可持续发展战略如紧凑城市和理性增长，及城市用地改造策略如旧城更新和工业区置换进行了比较与区分，指出它在城市土地可持续发展与循环利用方面的优势。接着论述了棕地再开发策略在美国、英国及欧洲其他国家的实践情况，对其再利用模式和机制进行了归纳，这些国家制定与实施了不少环境与经济方面的宏观计划与实施细则，通过政策扶持、资金注入、税收减免、交通引导、保险保障、基建投资等途径大力支持和引导棕地再开发。最后明确了在我国实施棕地再开发策略的优势，认为要遵循“政府宏观调控、企业市场运作”的原则，推进土地循环使用，实现可持续发展和循环经济的战略目标。     

西北干旱半干旱区生态系统影响因子初探

通过分析百年尺度上中国西北降水空间分布规律和沙漠界线、农牧交错带界线的演变规律,认为:①干旱、半干旱是西北地区的主要气候特征;②生态系统非常敏感和脆弱;③在维持温饱和经济利益驱动下建立的农、牧业产业结构,是造成西北环境恶化的最主要的原因。