Anaerobic inhibition and biodegradation of antibiotics in ISO test schemes

Municipal sewage is the main exposure route for antibiotics that are used in human medical care. Antibiotics that adsorb to the primary sludge and/or sur-plus activated sludge will enter the anaerobic digesters of municipal sewage treatment plants. Here anaerobic biodegradation or inhibition of anaerobic bacteria resulting in a disturbance of the process might occur. ISO standards 13641 (2003) and 11734 (1999) were used for assessing the anaerobic inhibition of 16 and the anaerobic biodegradability of 9 antibiotics respectively. Digestion sludge from a municipal sewage treatment plant (1g/l d.s.) was used as inoculum in both tests. In ISO 13641 (2003) most antibiotics showed only moderate inhibition effects after a 7 day incubation period, with EC50 values between 24 mg/l and more than 1000 mg/l (equal to mg/g d.s.). In contrast, metronidazol was decisively toxic to anaerobic bacteria with an EC50 of 0.7 mg/l. In the anaerobic degradation tests according to ISO standard 11734 (1995), only benzylpenicillin showed certain ultimate biodegradation after 60 days and most antibiotics inhibited the digesting sludge in the respective parallel tested inhibition controls. Thus the inhibition of anaerobic bacteria by antibiotics observed in the degradation tests was higher than expected from the results of the inhibition tests. The possible explanations are that distinct substrates are used (yeast extract versus sodium benzoate), that the digestion sludge loses activity during the washing steps performed for the degradation tests and that the exposure time in the degradation tests was 8 times longer than in the inhibition test.     

Degradation of PVC Containing Mixtures in the Presence of HCl Fixators

Degradation of a model polymer mixture (PVC/PS/PE) and a waste polymer mixture in the presence of HCl fixators (Red Mud, precipitated CaCO₃ and dolamite) was studied using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and a cycled-spheres-reactor. The experiments in cycled-spheres reactor model were performed by stepwise pyrolysis. Liquid products and HCl from each step were collected separately. For the model polymer mixture, the precipitated CaCO₃ showed the best effect on the fixation of evolved HCl and the reduction of chlorine content in the liquid products whereas RM yielded the best result for the waste polymer mixture. In addition, using HCl fixator also affected the degradation of both types of polymer mixture, leading to the formation of more gaseous and less residue.     

海滩旅游资源质量评比体系

论文回顾了当前国内外海滩旅游资源质量评价体系的发展现状 ,并依据我国具体状况 ,提出了适合我国国情的新的评价体系。新体系选择80个评价因子 ,分为旅游资源条件和可利用条件两个大类 ,前者包括地貌、水体、气候气象、生物、人文等5个亚类 ;后者包括基础设施及管理、安全、卫生等3个亚类。论文建立的新的海滩质量评比展示模式将有利于国内外海滩的质量对比 ,可促使我国海滩旅游业与国际接轨、能够向人们提供较多的海滩质量信息并利于海滩的经营管理     

1982-2006年新疆山地-绿洲-荒漠系统植被覆盖变化时空特征

植被覆盖变化在新疆山地-绿洲-荒漠系统(MODS)共存、平衡演变机制中扮演着重要角色。基于1982-2006年GIMMS/NDVI数据,提取新疆地区年最大植被覆盖指数(fvc),针对新疆MODS的基本格局,通过先地理分区再因海拔而异讨论,划分出山地、绿洲、荒漠子系统,对比分析不同分区不同子系统下fvc变化趋势、变率、变幅、变异性等时空动态特征。结果表明:新疆植被覆盖总体呈显著上升趋势,可分为1982-1995年的剧烈波动期和1996-2006年的相对平稳期,不同分区和子系统差异显著;在变幅和变异性上,东、南疆地区>北疆、伊犁地区,荒漠>山地>绿洲,植被覆盖度低的地区>植被覆盖度高的地区;显著改善的地区位于绿洲内部、绿洲的周边地区及部分山地,显著退化的地区大多位于东、南疆的荒漠区;不同植被覆盖度下植被覆盖变化具有不同特征,植被覆盖度低的地区,植被退化趋势明显,植被覆盖度高的地区,植被改善趋势明显。     

Correction to: Geochemical contamination in the Densu Estuary,Gulf of Guinea,Ghana

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The correct equations are presented below.     

Testing the performance of European diatom indices for evaluating the ecological status in the Kızılırmak basin,Turkey: flowing waters

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The K?z?l?rmak River is the longest river (1.355 km) in Turkey and flows into the Black Sea. Main pressures in the basin are waste...     

Radiological hazard assessment of natural gross radioactivity in some cosmetic products

Many kinds of cosmetic products were analyzed to determine gross radioactivity. In this study, gross alpha/beta radioactivity concentrations in 51 cosmetic samples were determined. The examined cosmetic products consist of blusher, eye shadow, lipstick, nail polish, shampoo, hand cream, cellulite cream, baby powder, soap, and toothpaste. The gross alpha–beta activity concentrations were measured with a nuclear spectroscopic system which contains gas-flow proportional counters. The highest gross alpha/beta activity concentrations were found in eye shadow samples of 1.621Bq g^?1 for alpha and 6.471Bq g^?1 for beta. The total effective doses due to gross radioactivity for skin were calculated. Although the effective dose of eye shadow samples had the highest value, the effective doses due to gross radioactivity concentrations in this study were found to be lower than the radiological limits given by the authorities.     

A novel multi-model data-driven ensemble approach for the prediction of particulate matter concentration

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Accuracy in the prediction of the particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) concentration in the atmosphere is essential for both its monitoring and...     

Inhibition effects of some pesticides and heavy metals on carbonic anhydrase enzyme activity purified from horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) gill tissues

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The gill tissue is the main site of metabolic enzymes or compensation, with the kidney tissue playing a supporting role. At the gill tissue, carbonic...