Diffusive gradients in thin films using molecularly imprinted polymer binding gels for in situ measurements of antibiotics in urban wastewaters

• Selective molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) binding gel was prepared. • MIP-DGT showed excellent uptake performance for antibiotics. • In situ measurement of antibiotics in wastewaters via MIP-DGT was developed. • The MIP-DGT method was robust, reliable, and highly sensitive. Urban wastewater is one of main sources for the introduction of antibiotics into the environment. Monitoring the concentrations of antibiotics in wastewater is necessary for estimating the amount of antibiotics discharged into the environment through urban wastewater treatment systems. In this study, we report a novel diffusive gradient in thin films (DGT) method based on molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for in situ measurement of two typical antibiotics, fluoroquinolones (FQs) and sulfonamides (SAs) in urban wastewater. MIPs show specific adsorption toward their templates and their structural analogs, resulting in the selective uptake of the two target antibiotics during MIP-DGT deployment. The uptake performance of the MIP-DGTs was evaluated in the laboratory and was relatively independent of solution pH (4.0–9.0), ionic strength (1–750 mmol/L), and dissolved organic matter (DOM, 0–20 mg/L). MIP-DGT samplers were tested in the effluent of an urban wastewater treatment plant for field trials, where three SA (sulfamethoxazole, sulfapyridine, and trimethoprim) and one FQ (ofloxacin) antibiotics were detected, with concentrations ranging from 25.50 to 117.58 ng/L, which are consistent with the results measured by grab sampling. The total removal efficiency of the antibiotics was 80.1% by the treatment plant. This study demonstrates that MIP-DGT is an effective tool for in situ monitoring of trace antibiotics in complex urban wastewaters.     

Determination of Steroid Estrogens in Wastewater Treatment Plant of A Controceptives Producing Factory

Steroid estrogens such as estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), and 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) have been suspected to be the main contaminants, which can affect the endocrine system of animals. Many authors have investigated these chemicals in the domestic wastewater treatment plants (WTP). However, wastewater from industries producing steroid contraceptives has not got ample attention. From the environmental point of view, the four steroids are very significant because even very low concentrations (ng/L) can cause reproductive disturbances in human, livestock and wildlife. The main purpose of the present investigation was to develop an analytical method for the determination of the four steroid estrogens present in WTP of a pharmacy factory, mainly producing contraceptive medicine in Beijing, China. Analysis was performed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) system and liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The average recoveries from effluent samples ranged from 88% to 103% and the precision of the method ranged from 9% to 4%. Based on 0.5-L wastewater samples, the limit of quantification (LOQ) was determined at 0.7 ng/L for E1, 0.8 for E2, 0.9 ng/L for E3, and 0.5 ng/L for EE2 in influent, and 1.0 ng/L for E2 and EE2, and 2.0 ng/L for E1 and E3 in effluent. In the influent samples, average concentrations of 80, 85, 73 and 155 ng/L were determined for E1, E2, E3 and EE2, respectively, showing that they were removed in this WTP to the extent of 79, 73, 85 and 67%, respectively.     

Assessment of the uncertainty of using an inverse-dispersion technique to measure methane emissions from animals in a barn and in a small pen

Dispersion techniques are useful for assessing the effectiveness of management practices in mitigating methane (CH₄) emissions from animal operations. In this paper, the accuracy of an inverse-dispersion technique was examined for two common situations: 1) emissions from animals in a barn and 2) emissions from animals in a pen. For both situations, the accuracy of emission estimates generally increased with increasing fetch (scaled to barn height, h, or to pen width, X_s) between the source and the concentration measurement. The gas recovery ratio increased from 0.66 at 5 h to 0.93–1.03 at 10 h–25 h for the barn, and decreased from 1.59 at 0 X_s to 0.99 at 5 X_s and from 1.54 at 0 X_s to 1.09 at 5 X_s for the two small pen scenarios, due to the declining sensitivity of the dispersion model to errors in wind complexity and errors in the assumed source configuration. However, the relative uncertainty of the measured concentration increased with fetch due to the decreasing gas concentrations. Hence, improving the accuracy of emission estimates is a compromise between the source configuration sensitivity and the concentration measurement sensitivity. Fetches of about twice the size of the pen and about 10 times the height of the barn are suggested.     

Environmental copper: Behaviour when involved in physical adsorption at several interfaces

From a literature-based assessment of the current knowledge about both the toxic or salutary properties of copper, this study focused on the determination, at 25 °C, of the interfacial properties of CuCl_2, either alone or in mixture with carbofuran used, here, as a model of organics and/or pesticide. The interfaces under study were: i) the air/solution interface and ii) the silica/solution interface. The former is considered as a path for volatilization, whereas the latter permits a modelling of physical adsorption upon solids, which is the first and unavoidable step in any adsorption process. One should note that it can also mimic adsorption on some sandy soils. Coadsorption was clearly identified as implicated in an enhancement of the surface content of both solutes at both interfaces. However, at the two interfaces under study, the way the surface became structured led to opposite adsorption mechanisms for the organic compounds and the salt. A rough theory about ionic adsorption is also proposed.     

超声-Fenton高级氧化降解染料工业废水的研究

采用超声与Fenton高级氧化技术联合处理染料废水,取得了满意的效果。同时考察了初始浓度、初始pH值、超声时间、超声频率、超声功率、H2O2和FeSO4初始浓度等因素对其COD去除效果的影响,当超声波频率为45 kHz,功率为200 W,初始pH值为2.63,超声时间为150 min,H2O2浓度为60 mmol/L,FeSO4浓度为12 mmol/L时,染料废水COD去除率达到91.8%。     

基于响应曲面法优化烧结烟气脱硫灰改性工艺

采用BOX-Behnken的中心组合实验设计及响应面分析方法对半干法烧结烟气脱硫灰进行改性研究,得到脱硫灰转化率的预测模型。结果表明:通过该预测模型可以很好地描述脱硫灰的转化率与反应温度、反应时间和气固比等重要操作参数之间的关系,R2=0.9903。因素分析表明,反应温度对脱硫灰的转化率影响最大,同时反应温度和气固比的交互作用与反应温度和时间的交互作用对脱硫灰的转化率的影响作用相同。利用得到的改进预测模型可以计算脱硫灰的转化率。     

3种浮床植物系统对富营养化水体净化效果研究

研究了风车草(Cyperus alternifolius)、菖蒲(Acorus calamus)和富贵竹(Dracaena sanderiana)3种浮床植物系统对富营养化水体净化效果,试验共持续35 d。结果表明,在水温24～30℃条件下,风车草和菖蒲生长良好,生物量大,而富贵竹生长较差,生物量增加少;3种植物对NH_4~+-N的去除率分别为76.8%、85.5%和53.6%,对TN的去除率分别为69.1%、66.2%和54.4%,对TP的去除率分别为76.9%、84.6%和61.5%,对PO_4~(3-)-的去除率分别为91.7%、91.7%和75%,对真实色度有明显的去除效果;3种植物对氮磷和真实色度去除效果与对照之间均达到显著差异(P0.05),自然沉淀是浊度去除的主要原因,植物吸收同化作用是NH_4~+-N去除的主要途径,植物吸收是溶解性磷去除的主要途径。试验表明,风车草和菖蒲对富营养化水体中氮磷和真实色度有较好的去除效果,可作为富营养化水体治理的优良物种而推广使用。     

Integrated emergy,energy and economic evaluation of rice and vegetable production systems in alluvial paddy fields: Implications for agricultural policy in China

China is the largest rice producing and consuming country in the world, but rice production has given way to the production of vegetables during the past twenty years. The government has been trying to stop this land-use conversion and increase the area in rice-vegetable rotation. Important questions that must be answered to determine what strategy is best for society are, “What is the reason behind this conversion?”; “Which system is more productive and which is more sustainable?”; and “How can economic policy be used to adjust the pattern of farmland use to attain sustainable development?” To answer these questions, a combined evaluation of these agricultural production systems was done using emergy, energy and economic methods. An economic analysis clearly showed that the reason for this conversion was simply that the economic output/input ratio and the benefit density of the vegetable production system were greater than that of rice. However, both energy and emergy evaluations showed that long-term rice was the best choice for sustainable development, followed by rotation systems. The current price of rice is lower than the em-value of rice produced from the long-term rice system, but higher than that of rice produced from the rotation system. Scenario analysis showed that if the government increases the price of rice to the em-value of rice produced from the long-term rice system, US$0.4/kg, and takes the value of soil organic matter into account, the economic output/input ratios of both the rice and rotation systems will be higher than that of the vegetable system. The three methods, energy, emergy and economics, are different but complementary, each revealing a different aspect of the same system. Their combined use shows not only the reasons behind a system’s current state or condition, but also the way to adjust these systems to move toward more sustainable states.     

清洁发展机制在石油行业的潜力分析

系统分析了石油行业清洁发展机制项目的潜力,并提出了建议。在统计与石油行业相关的清洁发展机制方法学及其注册项目和温室气体减排量的基础上,给出了各方法学与石油行业的相关性。从勘探与生产、天然气与管道、炼油与化工三大领域,分析了石油行业潜在的清洁发展机制项目领域。最后,提出了对石油行业开展清洁发展机制相关工作的建议。     

Atmospheric deposition of phthalate esters in a subtropical city

In Chinese cities, air pollution has become a serious and aggravating environmental problem undermining the sustainability of urban ecosystems and the quality of urban life. Bulk atmospheric deposition samples were collected two-weekly, from February 2007 to January 2008, at three representative areas, one suburban and two urbanized, in the subtropical city, Guangzhou, China, to assess the deposition fluxes and seasonal variations of phthalate esters (PAEs). Sixteen PAE congeners in bulk deposition samples were measured and the depositional fluxes of ∑₁₆PAEs ranged from 3.41 to 190 μg m^?2 day^?1, and were highly affected by local anthropogenic activities. The significant relationship between PAEs and particulate depositional fluxes (correlation coefficient R² = 0.72, P < 0.001) showed PAEs are associated primarily with particles. Temporal flux variations of PAEs were influenced by seasonal changes in meteorological parameters, and the deposition fluxes of PAEs were obviously higher in wet season than in dry season. Diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP), Di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), and Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) dominated the PAE pattern in bulk depositions, which is consistent with a high consumption of the plasticizer market in China. PAE profiles in bulk deposition showed similarities exhibited in both time and space, and a weak increase of high molecular weight PAE (HMW PAE) contribution in the wet season compared to those in the dry season. Average atmospheric deposition fluxes of PAEs in the present study were significantly higher than those from other studies, reflecting strong anthropogenic inputs as a consequence of rapid industrial and urban development in the region.