Iron improving bio-char derived from microalgae on removal of tetracycline from aqueous system

Novel magnetic carbonaceous bio-char was hydrothermal prepared from microalgae under different loadings of iron and its structures and surface chemistry were characterized with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherm (BET). The morphology of bio-char changed from sheet to particle as iron loading increased and its surface area also increased. When 3.0 g of dried microalgae and 6.0 mmol iron salt ((NH₄)₂SO₄·FeSO₄·6H₂O) were mixed and treated, the obtained bio-char possessing the highest amount of oxygen-containing functional groups resulted in the best adsorption performance on tetracycline (TC). This adsorption process was fitted to Langmuir adsorption isotherm and the maximum adsorption capacity was 95.86 mg/g, which is higher than other bio-char reported. The iron loading contributed to the higher adsorption capacity of bio-char, which may be due to three factors, the high surface area, more hydrogen bonding, and bridging effects of the structural Fe for TC. Our data suggest that bio-char may have more important role in stabilization of pollutants in the environment.     

Role of cosubstrate and bioaccessibility played in the enhanced anaerobic biodegradation of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in a paddy soil by nitrate and methyl-β-cyclodextrin amendments

The present study was conducted to investigate the anaerobic biodegradation potential of biostimulation by nitrate (KNO₃) and methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MCD) addition on an aged organochlorine pesticide (OCP)-contaminated paddy soil. After 180 days of incubation, total OCP biodegradation was highest in soil receiving the addition of nitrate and MCD simultaneously and then followed by nitrate addition, MCD addition, and control. The highest biodegradation of chlordanes, hexachlorocyclohexanes, endosulfans, and total OCPs was 74.3, 63.5, 51.2, and 65.1 %, respectively. Meanwhile, MCD addition significantly increased OCP bioaccessibility (p?<?0.05) evaluated by Tenax TA extraction and a three-compartment model method. Moreover, the addition of nitrate and MCD also obtained the highest values of soil microbial activities, including soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, ATP production, denitrifying bacteria count, and nitrate reductase activity. Such similar trend between OCP biodegradation and soil-denitrifying activities suggests a close relationship between OCP biodegradation and N cycling and the indirect/direct involvement of soil microorganisms, especially denitrifying microorganisms in the anaerobic biodegradation of OCPs.     

Effect of organic amendments on the mobility of trace elements in phytoremediated techno-soils: role of the humic substances

The efficiency of aided phytostabilization using organic amendments such as ramial chipped wood (RCW) and composted sewage sludge (CSS) was studied on contaminated techno-soils, on nine experimental plots. The objective was to characterize the role of fulvic (FA) and humic acids (HA) on the mobilization of trace elements, specifically As, Cu, Mo, Pb and Zn. Results showed that the addition of CSS increased the total organic carbon and nitrogen content more than with RCW and as a result, the C/N ratio in the CSS soil was higher than in the RCW and non-amended (NE) soil, reflecting the high decomposition of soil organic matter in the CSS soil compared with the other soils. The RCW and CSS amendments increased the hydrogen index (HI) values and the oxygen index (OI) values compared with the NE soil, especially for the soil treated with CSS which contained more aliphatic than aromatic compounds. The addition of CSS to the techno-soil significantly increased the percentage of C _org associated with the HA fractions compared with the RCW and NE soils. The soil amended with CSS showed the highest E ₄/E ₆ ratio and the lowest E ₂/E ₃ ratio of FA. Zn and As were more abundant in the FA fraction than in the HA fraction, whereas Pb, Cu and Mo were more associated to HA than to FA in the treated and untreated soils, which may explain the difference in their mobility and availability.     

厌氧升流式污泥层反应器内污泥颗粒化对固液分离效果的影响

厌氧升流式污泥层反应器在较高的COD容积负荷和水力负荷下稳定运行的关键是要有良好的固液分离,而固液分离的必要条件是污泥的沉降速度大于混合液在三相分离器的沉降区的最小断面上的向上流速。通过小型装置的试验表明,污泥的沉降速度与污泥的性状和浓度有关,使反应器内的污泥颗粒化能改善污泥沉降性、提高固液分离效果,使反应器能在相当高的COD容积负荷(20—30kgCOD/m~3·d)和水力负荷(0.8m~3/m~2·h)下稳定运行。本文叙述了厌氧升流式污泥层反应器内的污泥颗粒化过程,并简要地讨论了培养颗粒污泥的基本条件。     

对修改《征收排污费暂行办法》的一些建议

分析了《征收排污费暂行办法》在新形势下存在的问题，并从排污费的征收，管理和使用等方面提出了修改建议。     

Exposure to toxic waste containing high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide illegally dumped in Abidjan, C?te d’Ivoire

Introduction

On August 2006, a cargo ship illegally dumped 500?t of toxic waste containing high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide in numerous sites across Abidjan. Thousands of people became ill. Seventeen deaths were associated with toxic waste exposure.

Materials and methods

This study reports on environmental and health problems associated with the incident. A cross-sectional transect study was conducted in five waste dumping site areas.

Results

Of the households, 62.1% (n?=?502) were exposed to the effects of the pollutants and 51.1% of the interviewed people (n?=?2,368) in these households showed signs of poisoning. Most important symptoms were cough (37.1%), asthenia (33.1%), pruritus (29.9%) and nausea (29.1%).

Discussion

The health effects showed different frequencies in the five waste impact sites. Among the poisoned persons, 21.1% (n?=?532) presented symptoms on the survey day (i.e., 4?months after incident). Transect sampling allowed to determine a radius of vulnerability to exposure of up to 3?km from the point of toxic waste disposal.

Conclusion

The area of higher vulnerability is influenced by various environmental factors, such as size and severity of pollution site, duration of toxic waste pollution on the impact site and locally climatic conditions. The surveillance of effects on environment and human health is warranted to monitor the development.     

An observational study of the HONO–NO2 coupling at an urban site in Guangzhou City,South China

The temporal behavior of HONO and NO₂ was investigated at an urban site in Guangzhou city, China, by means of a DOAS system during the Pearl River Delta 2006 intensive campaign from 10 to 24 July 2006. Within the whole measurement period, unexpected high HONO mixing ratios up to 2 ppb were observed even during the day. A nocturnal maximum concentration of about 8.43 ± 0.4 ppb was detected on the night of 24 July 2006. Combining the data simultaneously observed by different instruments, the coupling of HONO–NO₂ and the possible formation sources of HONO are discussed. During the measurement period, concentration ratios of HONO to NO₂ ranged from (0.03 ± 0.1) to (0.37 ± 0.09), which is significantly higher than previously reported values (0.01–0.1). Surprisingly, in most cases a strong daytime correlation between HONO and NO₂ was found, contrary to previous observations in China. Aerosol was found to have a minor impact on HONO formation during the whole measurement period. Using a pseudo steady state approach for interpreting the nocturnal conversion of NO₂ to HONO suggests a non-negligible role of the relative humidity for the heterogeneous HONO formation from NO₂.     

基于PROMETHEEⅡ法的污染场地土壤修复技术筛选及应用

依据当前污染场地土壤修复技术特点以及场地特征,构建4层12指标21方案的污染土壤修复技术决策分析结构,运用多属性决策分析方法——PROMETHEEⅡ偏好排序法,对当前场地修复技术以及典型场地条件进行了客观分析和综合评价,实现基于具体修复目标的污染场地土壤修复技术择优筛选,并采用该方法对虚拟特定污染场地的土壤修复技术筛选进行了实例应用。这为污染场地的治理和修复提供了方法依据和理论参考。     

QSARs for the toxicity of polychlorinated dibenzofurans through DFT-calculated descriptors of polarizabilities, hyperpolarizabilities and hyper-order electric moments

DFT-B3LYP method with 6-31G(**) basis set was employed to fully optimize the electronic structures of 135 polychlorinated dibenzofurans and parent compound, namely dibenzofuran. It was demonstrated that polarizability anisotropy and mean polarizability could change sensitively and systematically with chlorine number and substitution pattern. And new quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) focused on the binding affinities of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) and 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) induction potencies of PCDFs were developed. It was concluded that polarizability anisotropy in conjunction with hyperpolarizabilties and hyper-order electric moments, e.g. octupole moments could well interpret the variation of toxicity of different congeners and dispersion interaction should be the leading form among various interactions. Although the terms of hyperpolarizabilities and hyper-order electric moments were not the same significant ones as polarizability anisotropy, the long-range interactions characterized by them should not be ignored in explaining the toxicity.     

Ambient air monitoring of PCDD/Fs and co-PCBs in Gyeonggi-do, Korea

We started the monitoring for PCDD/Fs in ambient air and soil in August 2001, and co-PCBs in January 2002. Decreasing of PCDD/Fs and co-PCBs levels in ambient air were observed. The higher PCDD/Fs levels were found in winter and lower in autumn. We found that the industrial incinerators influenced the PCDD/Fs levels in ambient air. In the 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/Fs concentration profiles, the three major congeners occupied 67% of the total mass. In case of co-PCBs, PCB#118, #105 and #77 were observed as the main congeners. Five cluster groups discriminated by ratio of four components, O(8)CDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-H(7)CDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-H(7)CDF and O(8)CDF, were obtained from HCA (hierarchical cluster analysis).