Repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic on solid waste generation and management strategies

• Implication of COVID-19 on medical waste and MSW generation is studied. • Challenges and effective strategy of solid waste generation is reviewed. • 2.9 million tons of COVID-19 related medical waste has been generated until Sep. 22. • The pandemic has postponed policies related to the reduction of plastic use. • Blockade resulted in a significant drop in waste generation in some regions. It has been over ten months since the beginning of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-2019), and its impact on solid waste management, especially medical waste, is becoming clearer. This study systematically reviews the potential influences of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical waste, personal protection equipment waste and municipal solid waste (MSW), and discusses the corresponding measures and policies of solid waste management in typical countries. The results show that the generation of medical waste from the pandemic increased significantly, with 18%‒425% growth. It is estimated that the daily output of COVID-19 medical waste increased from 200 t/d on Feb. 22 to over 29000 t/d at the end of September 2020 throughout the world. The use of personal protective equipment will continue to grow in the long-term, while the blockade and isolation measures greatly reduced the volume of commercial waste, especially for tourist cities, and part of this waste was transferred to household waste. Residents’ attitudes and behavior toward food waste have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the pandemic, international organizations and several countries have issued new policies and guidelines and adjusted their management strategies for medical waste and MSW treatment. The pandemic has brought specific challenges to the disposal capacity of medical waste worldwide. It has also brought about the stagnation of policies related to the reduction of plastic products and waste recycling. This study will provide some useful information for managers and governmental officials on effective solid waste management during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Identification of sources,characteristics and photochemical transformations of dissolved organic matter with EEM-PARAFAC in the Wei River of China

• The source of DOM in surface water and sediment is inconsistent. • The DOC content changes differently in surface water and sediment. • The content of DOC in the surface water is lower than that in the sediment. • The DOM in the surface water had higher photodegradation potentials than sediment. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in rivers is a critical regulator of the cycling and toxicity of pollutants and the behavior of DOM is a key indicator for the health of the environment. We investigated the sources and characteristics of DOM in surface water and sediment samples of the Wei River, China. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration and ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (UV₂₅₄) increased in the surface water and were decreased in the sediment downstream, indicating that the source of DOM in the water differed from the sediment. Parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis of the excitation-emission matrices (EEM) revealed the presence of terrestrial humus-like, microbial humus-like and tryptophan-like proteins in the surface water, whereas the sediment contained UVA humic-like, UVC humic-like and fulvic-like in the sediment. The DOM in the surface water and sediment were mainly derived from microbial metabolic activity and the surrounding soil. Surface water DOM displayed greater photodegradation potential than sediment DOM. PARAFAC analysis indicated that the terrestrial humic-like substance in the water and the fulvic-like component in the sediment decomposed more rapidly. These data describe the characteristics of DOM in the Wei River and are crucial to understanding the fluctuations in environmental patterns.     

镨对镉胁迫下水稻幼苗根系生长和根系形态的影响

为了解稀土镨对镉胁迫下水稻(Oryza sativa L.)根系毒害的缓解效应,以水稻幼苗为实验材料,采用溶液培养方法,研究了50μmol·L-1镉胁迫下不同浓度镨对水稻幼苗根系鲜质量、形态和根系活力的影响。结果表明,50μmol·L-1镉胁迫下,水稻根系生长受到明显的抑制,根系鲜质量、根长、根表面积、根体积和根系活力明显降低,且随镉处理时间的延长,抑制程度加重。但镉对根系平均直径无明显影响。23～184μmol·L-1的镨对水稻镉毒害有一定的缓解效果,可不同程度的减轻镉对幼苗的伤害,促进了镉胁迫下根系鲜质量、根系长度、根系表面积和根系体积的增加,提高了根系活力,且随着处理时间的延长,缓解效应愈加明显,与单镉毒害相比,镨处理5天后根系鲜质量、根长、根表面积、根体积和根系活力分别提高了0.92%～14.8%、1.61%～16.3%、2.57%～20.3%、1.52%～17.2%和3.71%～32.8%,处理10d后根系鲜质量、根长、根表面积、根体积和根系活力分别提高了2.55%～31.2%、1.44%～21.4%、1.78%～27.2%、2.16%～23.4%和8.14%～52.9%;此外,23～184μmol·L-1的镨处理对直径≤1.0mm的根长和根表面积、直径0.5mmD≤1.0mm的根体积影响较大,其分别提高了0.9%～24.3%、1.9%～32.6%、0.4%～33.2%,其中以92μmol·L-1镨缓解效果最好。但随着镨浓度的进一步加大,当镨浓度达到230μmol·L-1时,反而会使水稻根系受到更严重的毒害。     

稳定化技术在铅砷复合污染土壤修复中的应用

以铅砷复合污染土壤为研究对象,采用硫酸亚铁和氧化钙作为稳定剂,通过正交实验得出各因素对土壤中铅的稳定率影响程度的大小顺序为:氧化钙添加量>硫酸亚铁添加量=养护周期>两种稳定剂的交互作用.最佳实验条件为硫酸亚铁添加量2 g/kg,氧化钙添加量10 g/kg,养护时间2 d.添加硫酸亚铁后,土壤pH对砷的稳定化效果影响不大...     

危化品泄漏围堵材料理化性能及燃烧行为研究

针对易燃液体泄漏围堵问题,开发了1种可快速发泡的酚醛泡沫材料,对其表观密度、耐水性、耐酸性、耐碱性、氧指数、燃烧行为及产烟成分进行系统研究。研究结果表明:发泡材料在中性和酸性液体环境中表现出良好的耐受性;在碱性环境中稳定性降低,由于共轭效应,导致分子中的H+遇碱性环境发生中和反应;发泡材料的氧指数和锥形量热测试参数（热释放速率、总热释放量及总生烟量等）表明该材料具有良好的耐火性;发泡原料中的含硫交联剂是其燃烧产烟生成较高浓度SO2的主要原因。     

Enhancing sensitivity of microbial fuel cell sensors for low concentration biodegradable organic matter detection: Regulation of substrate concentration, anode area and external resistance

The relatively low sensitivity is an important reason for restricting the microbial fuel cell (MFC) sensors’ application in low concentration biodegradable organic matter (BOM) detection. The startup parameters, including substrate concentration, anode area and external resistance, were regulated to enhance the sensitivity of MFC sensors. The results demonstrated that both the substrate concentration and anode area were positively correlated with the sensitivity of MFC sensors, and an external resistance of 210 Ω was found to be optimal in terms of sensitivity of MFC sensors. Optimized MFC sensors had lower detection limit (1 mg/L) and higher sensitivity (Slope value of the linear regression curve was 1.02), which effectively overcome the limitation of low concentration BOM detection. The essential reason is that optimized MFC sensors had higher coulombic efficiency, which was beneficial to improve the sensitivity of MFC sensors. The main impact of the substrate concentration and anode area was to regulate the proportion between electrogens and nonelectrogens, biomass and living cells of the anode biofilm. The external resistance mainly affected the morphology structure and the proportion of living cells of the anode. This study demonstrated an effective way to improve the sensitivity of MFC sensors for low concentration BOM detection.     

黄土地区石油钻井废弃泥浆处置对策研究

石油勘探开发过程中大量的废弃钻井泥浆会引起土壤、地表水和地下水的污染。选择长庆油田陕北采区区内5个井场的钻井泥浆进行研究,探索了石油钻井泥浆的处置对策。结果发现,物理方法很难直接从泥浆中分离出水。因此必须先破坏泥浆的胶体结构,使其失去稳定性,才能实现固液分离。为此提出了铁盐破胶,以粉煤灰、石灰为主凝固剂,外加黄土为辅料的泥浆固化处置技术。该技术处理泥浆的优化条件是：三氯化铁用量为0.6%,粉煤灰用量为25%,石灰用量为6%,黄土用量为40%。结果表明,采用该工艺处理废弃泥浆是行之有效的,使处理后水质各项指标均符合《综合污水排放标准》（GB 8978-1996）二级标准。     

臭氧接触反应器气液两相流数字图像处理方法与实验分析

在单相数字粒子图像测速度(PIV)技术的基础上,研究气液两相流动的PIV图像处理方法,采用数字掩模技术对不同相的流动信息进行标记、识别、提取与计算,编辑了相应的软件.运用改进后的PIV方法对臭氧接触反应器中气-液体两相流动进行了测试与分析.结果表明,臭氧接触反应器中液相轴向流速分布是决定反应器内水力特性的主导因素;进气流量直接影响反应器内液气两相的流速分布;随进气流量的提高,液气两相的轴向速度和横向速度均增大,同时反应器流动结构与流程分布会发生较大变化.