Characteristics of water-soluble inorganic ions in PM2.5 and PM2.5–10 in the coastal urban agglomeration along the Western Taiwan Strait Region,China

PM_2.5 and PM_2.5–10 aerosol samples were collected in four seasons during November 2010, January, April, and August 2011 at 13 urban/suburban sites and one background site in Western Taiwan Straits Region (WTSR), which is the coastal area with rapid urbanization, high population density, and deteriorating air quality. The 10 days average PM_2.5 concentrations were 92.92, 51.96, 74.48, and 89.69 μg/m³ in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively, exceeding the Chinese ambient air quality standard for annual average value of PM_2.5 (grade II, 35 μg/m³). Temporal distribution of water-soluble inorganic ions (WSIIs) in PM_2.5 was coincident with PM_2.5 mass concentrations, showing highest in spring, lowest in summer, and middle in autumn and winter. WSIIs took considerable proportion (42.2～50.1 %) in PM_2.5 and PM_2.5–10. Generally, urban/suburban sites had obviously suffered severer pollution of fine particles compared with the background site. The WSIIs concentrations and characteristics were closely related to the local anthropogenic activities and natural environment, urban sites in cities with higher urbanization level, or sites with weaker diffuse condition suffered severer WSIIs pollution. Fossil fuel combustion, traffic emissions, crustal/soil dust, municipal constructions, and sea salt and biomass burnings were the major potential sources of WSIIs in PM_2.5 in WTSR according to the result of principal component analysis.     

Health risk assessment of exposure to organic matter from the use of reclaimed water in toilets

To estimate the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks of six volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in reclaimed water used for flushing toilets, a probabilistic health risk assessment based on Monte Carlo simulations was used. Before Monte Carlo simulations, the contaminant volatilization model was applied to estimate the concentration of the pollutants in air. Moreover, a questionnaire was used to acquire daily exposure time and the Batch Fit tool of Crystal Ball software was applied to find the best-fitting distribution of a part of the input parameters. The risk analysis indicated that the health risks from six VOCs were lower than the negligible risk level (1?×?10^?8) in all cases, and the health risk for females was slightly higher than that for males. Overall, exposure to organic pollutants in reclaimed water during toilet flushing does not currently pose a significant carcinogenic risk to humans. In this study, we want to provide some information on the health risk from reclaimed water used for toilet flushing in China and hope that it will be useful to promote the application of reclaimed water in water-deficient areas.     

Physiological and biochemical responses of rice seeds to phosphine exposure during germination

Rice seeds (Tianyou, 3618) were used to examine the physiological and biochemical responses to phosphine exposure during germination. A control (0 mg m⁻³) and four concentrations of phosphine (1.4 mg m⁻³, 4.2 mg m⁻³, 7.0 mg m⁻³ and 13.9 mg m⁻³) were used to treat the rice seeds. Each treatment was applied for 90 min once per day for five days. The germination rate (GR); germination potential (GP); germination index (GI); antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT); and lipid peroxidation measured through via malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined as indicators of the physiological and biochemical responses of the rice seeds to phosphine exposure. These indicators were determined once per day for five days. The results indicated that the GR, GP and GI of the rice seeds markedly decreased after phosphine exposure. The changes in the activities of the antioxidant enzymes due to the phosphine exposure were also significant. The exposure lowered the CAT and SOD activities and increased POD activity in the treated rice seeds compared with controls. The MDA content exhibited a slow increase trend with the increase of phosphine concentration. These results suggest that phosphine has inhibitory effects on seed germination. In addition, phosphine exposure caused oxidative stress in the seeds. The antioxidant enzymes could play a pivotal role against oxidative injury. Overall, the effect of phosphine on rice seeds is different from what has been reported previously for insects and mammals.     

Roles of pyrolysis on availability,species and distribution of Cu and Zn in the swine manure: Chemical extractions and high-energy synchrotron analyses

Animal manures generally contain high levels of heavy metals that may pose a significant threat to soil and groundwater qualities. Pyrolysis as means of reducing metal availability in such feed stocks is recently encouraged, but systematic studies are currently lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of pyrolysis temperature on the availability of Cu and Zn by chemical extraction, to determine the speciation of Cu and Zn by synchrotron-based X-ray spectroscopy, and finally to investigate the phase distribution of metal species in the carbonaceous materials by combining acid–base extractions and absorption spectroscopy data. The results showed that both Cu and Zn in the swine manure were mainly bound to organic functional groups. Cu (II) reduction and Cu (I)–S complexes were observed during the pyrolysis process. Zn species resembling ZnAc₂ was still dominant, being 60.8–69.2%, and ZnS increased by 6.6–21.8% in the carbonaceous materials. The distribution of Cu and Zn in the mineral, carbonized and non-carbonized organic phases varied greatly with the pyrolysis temperature. The higher the temperature, the more the metals existed in the mineral phase and carbonized organic phase. The decrease of EDTA extractable Cu and Zn with pyrolysis temperature was due to the increase of metals in the carbonized organic phase and mineral phase. It is suggested that pyrolysis at the relatively higher temperature is a better choice for metal-containing manure according to the metal speciation, solubility and availability.     

固硫灰路面基层材料的性能

以固硫灰作为路面基层材料,研究了固硫灰原灰和经预处理固硫灰路面基层材料的最佳含水量、最大干密度、体积安定性、膨胀率和强度等性能。同时,通过重金属浸出实验评估了固硫灰对土壤环境的影响。结果表明,经预处理固硫灰路面基层材料体积安定性好,膨胀率低,性能良好;此外,固硫灰重金属浸出率低,符合环保要求。     

酸碱联合调节剩余污泥过程中氮、磷和有机质的释放

实现城市污泥的减量化和资源化是污水厂面临的难题之一。通过采用(1)先酸性(pH=3)后碱性(pH=10)、(2)先碱性(pH=10)后酸性(pH=3)的两段控制方式(每段反应8 d),同时做pH不调的对比实验,研究剩余污泥水解酸化过程中氨氮、磷酸盐和溶解性COD(SCOD)、碳水化合物、蛋白质和挥发性脂肪酸(VFAs)等有机质组分的释放。结果表明,酸碱联合调节有利于各组分的释放;氮和磷在酸性条件下的释放量大于碱性,有机质在碱性条件下的释放量大于酸性;采用(2)方式,调为酸性后反应1 d,氨氮的释放量即达到最大(17.28 mg/g TS);采用(1)的调节方式反应7 d,磷酸盐能达到最佳释放量(14.16 mg/g TS);总VFAs的产生受反应时间的影响较大,其余有机质组分在(2)的调节方式下,6 d左右即可达到较大释放量。     

Seasonal habitat use of Chinese goral (Naemorhedus griseus) in a subtropical forest

Detailed understanding of habitat associations of endangered species is essential for the development of sound conservation and habitat management plans. We assessed seasonal habitat requirement of a poorly known forest ungulate, Chinese goral Naemorhedus griseus, in Tangjiahe National Reserve, western China from December 2005 to November 2006. Transect surveys were conducted across the elevational range of the mountains to locate the droppings and traces left by the gorals as the indicators of their habitat use. The results showed that the species appeared at the sites with lower slope position and closer to road in winter than those in the two other seasons. At the same time, in summer, Chinese gorals were found at the stands with steep slope degree compared to in spring.     

活性污泥法处理高钙废水中污泥特性的变化

通过单级SBR法处理模拟高钙废水,研究了活性污泥法处理高钙废水的过程中钙离子对COD,MLVSS,MLSS,SVI,污泥增长速率,污泥形态结构及生物相的影响,揭示活性污泥法处理高钙废水的过程中污泥量巨大的原因。采用逐步增加钙离子浓度的方法,检测到在污泥培养期([Ca2+]=0 mg/L),COD去除率为98.1%,MLVSS和MLSS稳定在4 900~5 500mg/L,污泥增长速率为67 mg/(L·d),SVI为55~60 mL/g;在驯化处理期([Ca2+]=120~2 400 mg/L),COD去除率降至87.37%,MLVSS降至2 500 mg/L,MLSS增加至19 300 mg/L,污泥增长速率为212.31 mg/(L·d),SVI降至25 mL/g;在冲击期([Ca2+]=4 000 mg/L),COD去除率降至69.23%,MLVSS降至1 600 mg/L,MLSS迅速增加至24 200 mg/L,污泥增长速率为816.67 mg/(L·d),SVI降至14 mL/g。经显微镜观察发现,污泥絮体由松散变得密实,生物相由钟虫等指示性微生物变为不适应环境的胞囊结构。结果表明,随Ca2+浓度的增加,COD去除率下降,MLSS迅速增加,MLVSS和SVI急剧缩小,说明活性污泥中的活性微生物逐渐减少,而无机物组分逐渐增多;钙离子的加入促使系统碳酸平衡向右移动,使离子状态的钙大部分转化为难降解的碳酸盐,并附着于污泥絮体上,污泥绒粒被压缩,使污泥颗粒密实度及MLSS迅速增加,导致污泥排放量巨大。     

Direct N2O emission from agricultural soils in Poland between 1960 and 2009

Nitrogen fertilization (N) is commonly known as a main source of direct nitrous oxide (N₂O) emission from agricultural soils. An area of 38 % of the total land surface of Poland was covered by agricultural soils in 2009. In this paper, we aimed at analyzing data regarding the land exploitation for 13 selected subareas of Poland between 1960 and 2009. Seven out of the 13 subareas studied are located in the West (area A), and six subareas are located in southeast of Poland (area B). The total area covered by large farms (>20 ha) differed largely, between area A (10.6 %) and area B (0.9 %) in 2009. Both areas varied in terms of the amount of fertilizers used annually, average crop yield and crop structure. Average direct emissions of N₂O from agricultural soils were 1.66 ± 0.09 kg N₂O–N ha^?1 a^?1 for area A, 1.39 ± 0.07 kg N₂O–N ha^?1 a^?1 for area B and 1.46 ± 0.07 kg N₂O–N ha^?1 a^?1 for the whole country between 1960 and 2009.     

A novel pretreatment approach for fast determination of organochlorine pesticides in biotic samples

Recent studies have focused on enantiomeric behaviors of chiral organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in biotic matrix because they provide insights into the biotransformation processes of chiral OCPs. In the present paper, a double in-line column chromatographic method was developed to effectively remove the lipid impurity in different biotic samples for clean-up of OCPs. After an initial Soxhlet extraction of OCPs from the biotic samples by a mixture of acetone and dichloromethane (DCM), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was directly added to the extract, and low boiling point solvents (acetone and DCM) were then evaporated. OCPs remained in DMSO were eluted via column 1 filled with silicon gel, and subsequently passed through column 2 packed with 15% deactivated florisil. This novel method was characterized by significant time and solvent savings. The recovery rates of α -HCH (hexachlorocyclohexane), β -HCH, γ -HCH and δ -HCH were 78.5 ± 3.1%, 72.4 ± 7.7%, 72 ± 4.0% and 70.0 ± 8.7%, respectively, and 92.5 ± 3.8%, 79.7 ± 6.7% and 83.4 ± 6.5% for 1,1-dichloro-2-(2-chlorophenyl)-2-(4- chlorophenyl) ethylene (o,p′-DDE), 1,1-dichloro-2-(2-chlorophenyl)-2-(4-chloro phenyl)ethane (o,p′-DDD) and 1,1,1-trichloro-2-(2-chlorophenyl)-2-(4-chlorophenyl) ethane (o,p′-DDT), separately. In addition, the separation efficiencies of the target compounds by both achiral and chiral gas chromatographic columns were satisfactory using the established method. Therefore, the double in-line column chromatography was a useful alternative method for pretreatment of OCPs in different biotic samples.