A systemic health risk assessment for the chromium cycle in Taiwan

Health risk assessment (HRA) has been recognized as a useful tool for identifying health risks of human activities. In particular, this method has been well applied to spatially defined units, such as a production plant, a treatment facility, and a contaminated site. However, the management strategies based on the risk information will be more efficient if the comprehensive picture of total risks from all kinds of sources is depicted. In principle, the total risks can be obtained when all risk sources are assessed individually. Apparently, this approach demands huge amount of efforts. This study develops a methodology that combines substance flow and risk estimation to facilitate examination of risk in a systemic way and provide comprehensive understanding of risk generation and distribution corresponding to flows of substances in the anthroposphere and the environment. Substance flow analysis (SFA) and HRA method is integrated to produce a systemic risk assessment method, from which substance management schemes can be derived. In this study, the chromium cycle in Taiwan is used as an example to demonstrate the method, by which the associated substance flow in the economy and the risk caused by the substance in the environmental system is determined. The concentrations of pollutants in the environmental media, the resultant risks and hazard quotients are calculated with the widely-used CalTOX multimedia model.     

Competition of bloom-forming marine phytoplankton at low nutrient concentrations

Competition of three bloom-forming marine phytoplankton (diatom Skeletonema costatum, and dinoflagellates Prorocentrum minimum and Alexandrium tamarense) was studied through a series of multispecies cultures with di erent nitrate (NaNO3) and phosphate (NaH2PO4) levels and excess silicate to interpret red tide algae succession. S. costatum outgrew the other two dinoflagellates in nitrate and phosphate replete cultures with 10 mol/L Na2SiO3. Under nitrate limited (8.82 mol/L NaNO3) conditions, the growth of S. costatum was also dominant when phosphate concentrations were from 3.6 to 108 mol/L. Cell density of the two dinoflagellates only increased slightly, to less than 400 and 600 cells/mL, respectively. Cell density of S. costatum decreased with time before day 12, and then increased to 4000 cells/mL (1.5 mg/L dry biomass) at NaNO3 concentrations between 88.2 and 882 mol/L with limited phosphate (0.36 mol/L NaH2PO4) levels. In addition, P. minimum grew well with a maximal cell density of 1690–2100 cells/mL (0.5–0.6 mg/L dry biomass). Although S. costatum initially grew fast, its cell density decreased quickly with time later in the growth phase and the two dinoflagellates were dominant under the nitrate-limited and high nitrate conditions with limited phosphate. These results indicated that the diatom was a poor competitor compared to the two dinoflagellates under limited phosphate; however, it grew well under limited nitrate when growth of the dinoflagellates was near detection limits.     

Potential particulate pollution derived from UV-induced degradation of odorous dimethyl sulfide

UV-induced degradation of odorous dimethyl sulfide (DMS) was carried out in a static White cell chamber with UV irradiation. The combination of in situ Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer, gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS), wide-range particle spectrometer (WPS) technique, filter sampling and ion chromatographic (IC) analysis was used to monitor the gaseous and potential particulate products. During 240 min of UV irradiation, the degradation e ciency of DMS attained 20.9%, and partially oxidized sulfur-containing gaseous products, such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbonyl sulfide (OCS), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), dimethyl sulfone (DMSO2) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) were identified by in situ FT-IR and GC-MS analysis, respectively. Accompanying with the oxidation of DMS, suspended particles were directly detected to be formed by WPS techniques. These particles were measured mainly in the size range of accumulation mode, and increased their count median diameter throughout the whole removal process. IC analysis of the filter samples revealed that methanesulfonic acid (MSA), sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and other unidentified chemicals accounted for the major non-refractory compositions of these particles. Based on products analysis and possible intermediates formed, the degradation pathways of DMS were proposed as the combination of the O(1D)- and the OH- initiated oxidation mechanisms. A plausible formation mechanism of the suspended particles was also analyzed. It is concluded that UV-induced degradation of odorous DMS is potentially a source of particulate pollutants in the atmosphere.     

Application of magnetic particles modified with amino groups to adsorb copper ions in aqueous solution

A magnetic adsorbent can be easily recovered from treated water by magnetic force,without requiring further downstream treatment.In this research,amine-functionalized silica magnetite has been synthesized using N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]-ethylenediamine(TPED) as a surface modification agent.The synthesized magnetic amine adsorbents were used to adsorb copper ions in an aqueous solution in a batch system,and the maximum adsorption was found to occur at pH 5.5 ± 0.1.The adsorption equilibrium data fitted t...     

Chemical cleaning of fouled PVC membrane during ultrafiltration of algal-rich water

Cleaning of hollow-fibre polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membrane with di erent chemical reagents after ultrafiltration of algal-rich water was investigated. Among the tested cleaning reagents (NaOH, HCl, EDTA, and NaClO), 100 mg/L NaClO exhibited the best performance (88.4% 1.1%) in removing the irreversible fouling resistance. This might be attributed to the fact that NaClO could eliminate almost all the major foulants such as carbohydrate-like and protein-like materials on the membrane surface, as confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. However, negligible irreversible resistance (1.5% 1.0%) was obtained when the membrane was cleaning by 500 mg/L NaOH for 1.0 hr, although the NaOH solution could also desorb a portion of the major foulants from the fouled PVC membrane. Scanning electronic microscopy and atomic force microscopy analyses demonstrated that 500 mg/L NaOH could change the structure of the residual foulants on the membrane, making them more tightly attached to the membrane surface. This phenomenon might be responsible for the negligible membrane permeability restoration after NaOH cleaning. On the other hand, the microscopic analyses reflected that NaClO could e ectively remove the foulants accumulated on the membrane surface.     

CTMAB增强调控沉积物(生物膜)吸附BPA的作用

研究了经十二烷基苯磺酸钠(SDBS]、曲拉通(TX-100)和十六烷基三甲基溴化铵(CTMAB)改性前后的沉积物(生物膜)吸附双酚A(BPA)的能力,并分析了CTMAB在沉积物(生物膜)吸附BPA过程中的增强机理及表面吸附和分配作用在总吸附中的贡献.研究结果表明,三种表面活性剂对沉积物(生物膜)吸附BPA的促进作用大小...     

扬水曝气器曝气室提水性能模型应用研究

文章根据扬水曝气器曝气室的流体特性,在曝气室内气-液两相流体所受推动力和曳力平衡条件下,建立了一维两相流提水性能模型,并应用于同温层曝气器流体运动特性的模拟预测。结果表明:模型对同温层曝气器上升段气含率的估计值与实测值之间的误差限为±10%,对流体表观上升速度的误差限为±20%。这说明提水性能模型对同温层曝气器的流体特性模拟具有很强的适用性。     

人工湿地堵塞机理与应对措施研究

综述了现今国内外人工湿地污水处理系统堵塞的成因,分析了目前比较通用的预防手段、恢复措施和研究现状,并提出了今后人工湿地防淤堵技术的研究发展方向.     

环境管理过程中对锅炉型号的识别

通过对锅炉型号的简要介绍,提高对锅炉的认识,增强在污染源动态更新调查表的填报过程中锅炉技术指标的填报能力是十分必要的。     

县级城市人居环境主客观指标体系与评价模型对比研究

本文对人居环境相关研究进行了阐述,并就城市人居环境指标体系与评价模型进行了分析研究。提出了人居环境质量主客观评价结合模型,其中指标体系包括四个一级指标和18个单项指标,并依据我国黄河三角洲高效经济区内14个县级城市2007年的调查统计资料,对人居环境客观建设水平和居民满意度进行了对比评价。运用因子分析法处理指标数据,问卷调查的方法进行满意度评价。评价结果科学可行,并揭示出影响县级城市人居环境的根本因素。