Biotreatment of chromite ore processing residue by Pannonibacter phragmitetus BB

Chromite ore processing residues (COPR) is the source of the Cr(VI) contamination in the environment. Pannonibacter phragmitetus BB was used to treat two different types of COPRs in this research. The water-soluble Cr(VI) of COPR A and B is 3,982.9 and 1,181.4 mg/kg, respectively. In the column biotreatment process, P. phragmitetus BB can reduce Cr(VI) in the leachate to an undetectable level at the flow rate of 1 and 2 ml/min. In the direct biotreatment process, Cr(VI) in the liquid supernatant of COPR A and B decreased from 265 and 200 mg/l to 145 and 40 mg/kg after 240 h of incubation. In one-step and two-step biotreatment processes, Cr(VI) in the liquid supernatant of both COPRs can be reduced to an undetectable level. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure results indicate that the Cr(VI) concentration of treated COPR A (3.48 mg/l) is lower than the identification standards for hazardous wastes of China (5 mg/l) (GB 5085.6-2007). The information obtained in this study has significance for the application of P. phragmitetus BB to remediate COPR contamination.     

淀粉-g-丙烯酸/凹凸棒土复合物制备及其吸附废水中NH_4~＋-N性能

采用反相乳液聚合法以凹凸棒土为原料,合成了新型NH4＋-N吸附剂淀粉-g-丙烯酸/凹凸棒土,并进行了氨氮吸附对比实验。结果表明：凹凸棒土氨氮单位吸附量为4.243 mg/g;淀粉-g-丙烯酸/凹凸棒土氨氮单位吸附量为5.301 mg/g,吸附能力比未改性的凹凸棒土提高了25%。淀粉-g-丙烯酸/凹凸棒土的氨氮吸附过程比凹凸棒土更符合Freundlich等温吸附模型。随着pH、温度的升高,凹凸棒土和淀粉-g-丙烯酸/凹凸棒土对NH4＋-N吸附量逐渐增大。     

Effect of alginate on the aggregation kinetics of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs): bridging interaction and hetero-aggregation induced by Ca<Superscript>2+</Superscript>

The stability of CuO nanoparticles (NPs) is expected to play a key role in the environmental risk assessment of nanotoxicity in aquatic systems. In this study, the effect of alginate (model polysaccharides) on the stability of CuO NPs in various environmentally relevant ionic strength conditions was investigated by using time-resolved dynamic light scattering. Significant aggregation of CuO NPs was observed in the presence of both monovalent and divalent cations. The critical coagulation concentrations (CCC) were 54.5 and 2.9 mM for NaNO₃ and Ca(NO₃)₂, respectively. The presence of alginate slowed nano-CuO aggregation rates over the entire NaNO₃ concentration range due to the combined electrostatic and steric effect. High concentrations of Ca²⁺ (>6 mM) resulted in stronger adsorption of alginate onto CuO NPs; however, enhanced aggregation of CuO NPs occurred simultaneously under the same conditions. Spectroscopic analysis revealed that the bridging interaction of alginate with Ca²⁺ might be an important mechanism for the enhanced aggregation. Furthermore, significant coagulation of the alginate molecules was observed in solutions of high Ca²⁺ concentrations, indicating a hetero-aggregation mechanism between the alginate-covered CuO NPs and the unabsorbed alginate. These results suggested a different aggregation mechanism of NPs might co-exist in aqueous systems enriched with natural organic matter, which should be taken into consideration in future studies.

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Graphical abstract Hetero-aggregation mechanism of CuO nanoparticles and alginate under high concentration of Ca²⁺

     

南水北调中线陕西水源区污染源排放时空变化特征

基于2008—2012年污染源环境统计数据,采用Spearman秩相关系数法等分析南水北调中线陕西水源区污废水及污染物年排放总量变化趋势,借助ArcGIS空间分析功能表征水源区污染源排放的空间分布特征。结果表明:2008—2012年水源区污废水和NH_3-N年排放总量呈显著上升趋势,COD、As、Pb、Cd、Cr和Hg年排放总量呈抛物线型变化,总体上COD、Pb、Cd年排放总量增加,As、Cr和Hg年排放总量降低。水源区污废水及污染物排放量空间差异明显,污废水、COD和NH_3-N排放涉及流域所有区县,其排放量从干流到流域边缘呈现较明显的梯度变化,即位于流域中心或地级市行政中心的区县排放量明显高于位于流域边缘的区县;As、Pb、Cd、Cr和Hg排放量呈现明显的区域分布,主要分布在勉县等8个区县。     

Vehicle emissions of primary air pollutants from 2009 to 2019 and projection for the 14th Five-Year Plan period in Beijing, China

Over the past decade, the emission standards and fuel standards in Beijing have been upgraded twice, and the vehicle structure has been improved by accelerating the elimination of 2.95 million old vehicles. Through the formulation and implementation of these policies, the emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) in 2019 were 147.9, 25.3, 43.4, and 0.91 kton in Beijing, respectively. The emission factor method was adopted to better understand the emissions characteristics of primary air pollutants from combustion engine vehicles and to improve pollution control. In combination with the air quality improvement goals and the status of social and economic development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period in Beijing, different vehicle pollution control scenarios were established, and emissions reductions were projected. The results show that the emissions of four air pollutants (CO, VOCs, NO_x, and PM_2.5) from vehicles in Beijing decreased by an average of 68% in 2019, compared to their levels in 2009. The contribution of NO_x emissions from diesel vehicles increased from 35% in 2009 to 56% in 2019, which indicated that clean and energy-saving diesel vehicle fleets should be further improved. Electric vehicle adoption could be an important measure to reduce pollutant emissions. With the further upgrading of vehicle structure and the adoption of electric vehicles, it is expected that the total emissions of the four vehicle pollutants can be reduced by 20%-41% by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period.     

生物表面活性剂改性对纳米铁/炭去除地下水中NO3--N的影响

纳米铁由于其反应活性强、来源广泛等优点被广泛应用在去除地下水NO-3-N污染中.利用生物表面活性剂对纳米铁进行改性可以避免采用化学表面活性剂改性对环境造成的二次污染.本研究采用鼠李糖脂、茶皂素、无患子3种生物表面活性剂对纳米铁进行改性后附着在活性炭上构成改性纳米铁/炭复合材料,通过批试验、沉降试验、迁移试验等研究生物表面活性剂对纳米铁/炭复合材料的改性作用.结果表明:鼠李糖脂、茶皂素、无患子对纳米铁/炭改性后去除NO-3-N效果最佳时的投加量分别为0.7%、1.0%、0.7%,此时对比三者改性作用,鼠李糖脂改性纳米铁/炭去除NO-3-N效果最佳,无患子改性纳米铁/炭迁移效果最佳;鼠李糖脂投加量在0.1%到1.3%范围内时,改性纳米铁/炭迁移能力随投加量的增加而增大.     

环境保护市场化推进实践与思考

在分析环境保护市场化推进经验与制约瓶颈的基础上,从公共物品、准公共物品和私人物品特征明显的环境保护领域3个方面提出了环境保护市场化推进的重点领域与推进机制,并从加大监察执法力度、优化专项资金使用、强化政策引导和加强环保市场监管等方面提出了环境保护市场化的推进措施与建议。     

Antimony(V) removal from water by hydrated ferric oxides supported by calcite sand and polymeric anion exchanger

We fabricated and characterized two hybrid adsorbents originated from hydrated ferric oxides(HFOs) using a polymeric anion exchanger D201 and calcite as host. The resultant adsorbents(denoted as HFO-201 and IOCCS) were employed for Sb(V) removal from water. Increasing solution pH from 3 to 9 apparently weakened Sb(V) removal by both composites, while increasing temperature from 293 to 313 K only improved Sb(V) uptake by IOCCS. HFO-201 exhibited much higher capacity for Sb(V) than for IOCCS in the absence of other anions in solution. Increasing ionic strength from 0.01 to 0.1 mol/L NaNO3would result in a significant drop of the capacity of HFO-201 in the studied pH ranges; however, negligible effect was observed for IOCCS under similar conditions. Similarly, the competing chloride and sulfate pose more negative effect on Sb(V) adsorption by HFO-201 than by IOCCS, and the presence of silicate greatly decreased their adsorption simultaneously, while calcium ions were found to promote the adsorption of both adsorbents. XPS analysis further demonstrated that preferable Sb(V) adsorption by both hybrids was attributed to the inner sphere complexation of Sb(V) and HFO, and Ca(II) induced adsorption enhancement possibly resulted from the formation of HFO-Ca-Sb complexes. Column adsorption runs proved that Sb(V) in the synthetic water could be effectively removed from 30 μg/L to below 5 μg/L(the drinking water standard regulated by China), and the effective treatable volume of IOCCS was around 6 times as that of HFO-201, implying that HFO coatings onto calcite might be a more effective approach than immobilization inside D201.     

Abundance and diversity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea in response to various habitats in Pearl River Delta of China, a subtropical maritime zone

Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are widely considered key to ammonia oxidation in various environments. However, little work has been conducted to simultaneously investigate the abundance and diversity of AOA as well as correlations between archaeal amoA genotypes and environmental parameters of different ecosystems at one district. To understand the abundance, diversity, and distribution of AOA in Pearl River Delta of China in response to various habitats, the archaeal amoA genes in soil, marine, river, lake, hot spring and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) samples were investigated using real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR and clone libraries. Our analyses indicated that the diversity of AOA in various habitats was different and could be clustered into five major clades, i.e., estuary sediment, marine water/sediment, soil, hot spring and Cluster 1. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the structure of AOA communities in similar ecological habitats exhibited strong relation. The canonical correspondence method indicated that the AOA community structure was strongly correlated to temperature, pH, total organic carbon, total nitrogen and dissolved oxygen variables. Assessing AOA amoA gene copy numbers, ranging from 6.84×10⁶ to 9.45×10⁷ copies/g in dry soil/sediment, and 6.06×10⁶ to 2.41×10⁷ copies/L in water samples, were higher than ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) by 1-2 orders of magnitude. However, AOA amoA copy numbers were much lower than AOB in WWTP activated sludge samples. Overall, these studies suggested that AOA may be a major contributor to ammonia oxidation in natural habitats but play a minor role in highly aerated activated sludge. The result also showed the ratio of AOA to AOB amoA gene abundance was positively correlated with temperature and less correlated with other environmental parameters. New data from our study provide increasing evidence for the relative abundance and diversity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea in the global nitrogen cycle.