活性污泥反应器流态研究中示踪剂的选择

针对活性污泥反应器中的流态研究需要,通过备选示踪剂氯化锂、亚甲蓝和氯化钠的污泥吸附试验以及曝气静沉试验,研究了活性污泥对这3种示踪剂的吸附作用,以及示踪剂浓度对污泥处理效果的影响情况。结果表明,亚甲蓝易被污泥吸附,对试验数据干扰较大,且吸附亚甲蓝后,水样中污泥对COD_Cr的处理效率下降幅度达50%以上;氯化锂和氯化钠是离子型示踪剂,本身不易被吸附,投加后的活性污泥对COD_Cr的处理效率基本不变,保持在70%以上。从示踪剂投加量以及出水水质控制方面考虑,确定氯化锂为3种示踪剂中的最佳示踪剂。     

活性赤泥颗粒吸附除磷的效能与机制研究

以赤泥为主要原料,进行活化处理后,以粉煤灰为激发剂,膨润土（皂土）为黏结剂,碳酸氢钠为发泡剂制成不同配比的9种活化赤泥颗粒。将9种新型的活化赤泥颗粒吸附材料通过L₉（3⁴）正交试验进行对比,比较其对水体中磷的去除效果。结果表明,以吸附8 h后磷的吸附量为评价标准,在磷初始浓度为6.0 mg/L,pH为8.0时,配方8的赤泥颗粒对磷的吸附量为1.0 mg/g,对磷的去除率约为83.7％;而配方3的赤泥颗粒对磷的吸附量仅为0.1 mg/g,对磷的去除率约为7.2％。通过红外光谱法和XRD（X-衍射）对2种焙烧赤泥颗粒吸附材料的理化特性进行了表征和比较,发现焙烧后赤泥颗粒表面产生带有-OH官能团,可与磷酸根在溶液中发生配体交换反应而实现吸附。赤泥比例是影响吸附效果的关键因素。     

人类活动干扰下土地利用异质性特征分析—以中山市为例

以中山市为例,在土地利用类型遥感解译数据的基础上,以系统网格采样法计算研究区内土地利用强度,并探索了土地利用强度的空间分布特征,以及受人类活动的驱动作用。研究结果表明：1 200 m能够很好地反映土地利用强度异质性在空间上的特征。研究区内的土地利用强度空间分布表现出较强的正相关性,2000—2010年,中山市土地利用强度分布模式由多点式向极化转变,而且还表现出核心区域的扩散效应。在整体的范围上看,土地利用强度的空间变异受尺度影响,随着尺度的增加各向同性的减弱,转变成明显的各向异性。研究区内自然条件以及区域发展政策的差异,导致研究区内行政单元间的土地利用强度空间分异明显。在人类活动影响的驱动下,研究区内土地利用强度异质性呈现增强的趋势。     

Bioproduction strategies for rare hexose sugars

A new strategy for the bioproduction of all ketohexoses was developed using hexitols as intermediates. Biocatalysts used to employ the strategy were D-tagatose 3-epimerase, which epimerizes ketohexoses at the C-3 position, and oxidoreductases, which catalyze oxidation-reduction reactions between ketohexoses and the corresponding hexitols. Arranging all the ketohexoses and hexitols in a symmetric ring and connecting them with 20 biochemical reactions, I was able to construct a design for the bioproduction of all the rare ketohexoses. Various aldose isomerases transform ketohexoses into the corresponding aldohexoses, so the strategy is useful for the bioproduction of all the rare hexose sugars. Furthermore, the design revealed that there are four routes to the L-hexose world from the D-hexose one.     

The search for an alternative to piped water and sewer systems in the Alaskan Arctic

Forty-two communities in rural Alaska are considered unserved or underserved with water and sewer infrastructure. Many challenges exist to provide centralized piped water and sewer infrastructure to the homes, and they are exacerbated by decreasing capital funding. Unserved communities in rural Alaska experience higher rates of disease, supporting the recommendation that sanitation infrastructure should be provided. Organizations are pursuing alternative solutions to conventional piped water and sewer in order to maximize water use and reuse for public health. This paper reviews initiatives led by the State of Alaska, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation to identify and develop potential long-term solutions appropriate and acceptable to rural communities. Future developments will likely evolve based on the lessons learned from the initiatives. Recommendations include Alaska-specific research needs, increased end-user participation in the design process, and integrated monitoring, evaluation, and information dissemination in future efforts.     

Contamination of marine fauna by chlordecone in Guadeloupe: evidence of a seaward decreasing gradient

Chlordecone is an organochlorine pesticide, used in the Lesser Antilles from 1972 to 1993 to fight against a banana weevil. That molecule is very persistent in the natural environment and ends up in the sea with runoff waters. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the level of contamination in several trophic groups of marine animals according to their distance from the source of pollution. Samples of suspended matter, macroalgae, herbivorous fishes, detrivorous crustaceans, zooplanktivorous fishes, first- and second-order of carnivorous fishes, and piscivorous fishes have been collected in two sites, located downstream the contaminated sites (Goyave and Petit-Bourg), in three marine habitats (coastal mangroves, seagrass beds located 1.5 km from the shoreline, and coral reefs at 3 km offshore). Animals collected in mangroves were the most contaminated (mean concentrations 193 μg kg^?1 in Goyave and 213 μg kg^?1 in Petit-Bourg). Samples from seagrass beds presented intermediate concentrations of chlordecone (85 μg kg^?1 in Goyave and 107 μg kg^?1 in Petit-Bourg). Finally, samples from coral reefs were the less contaminated (71 μg kg^?1 in Goyave and 74 μg kg^?1 in Petit-Bourg). Reef samples, collected 3 km offshore, were two to three times less contaminated than those collected in mangroves.     

Water quality and health in northern Canada: stored drinking water and acute gastrointestinal illness in Labrador Inuit

One of the highest self-reported incidence rates of acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) in the global peer-reviewed literature occurs in Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic. This high incidence of illness could be due, in part, to the consumption of contaminated water, as many northern communities face challenges related to the quality of municipal drinking water. Furthermore, many Inuit store drinking water in containers in the home, which could increase the risk of contamination between source and point-of-use (i.e., water recontamination during storage). To examine this risk, this research characterized drinking water collection and storage practices, identified potential risk factors for water contamination between source and point-of-use, and examined possible associations between drinking water contamination and self-reported AGI in the Inuit community of Rigolet, Canada. The study included a cross-sectional census survey that captured data on types of drinking water used, household practices related to drinking water (e.g., how it was collected and stored), physical characteristics of water storage containers, and self-reported AGI. Additionally, water samples were collected from all identified drinking water containers in homes and analyzed for presence of Escherichia coli and total coliforms. Despite municipally treated tap water being available in all homes, 77.6% of households had alternative sources of drinking water stored in containers, and of these containers, 25.2% tested positive for total coliforms. The use of transfer devices and water dippers (i.e., smaller bowls or measuring cups) for the collection and retrieval of water from containers were both significantly associated with increased odds of total coliform presence in stored water (OR_{transfer device} = 3.4, 95% CI 1.2–11.7; OR_dipper = 13.4, 95% CI 3.8–47.1). Twenty-eight-day period prevalence of self-reported AGI during the month before the survey was 17.2% (95% CI 13.0–22.5), which yielded an annual incidence rate of 2.4 cases per person per year (95% CI 1.8–3.1); no water-related risk factors were significantly associated with AGI. Considering the high prevalence of, and risk factors associated with, indicator bacteria in drinking water stored in containers, potential exposure to waterborne pathogens may be minimized through interventions at the household level.     

Trace analysis of parabens preservatives in drinking water treatment sludge,treated, and mineral water samples

Parabens have been widely used as antimicrobial agents, mainly in food products, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Although they are known as safe preservatives, they also cause some harm to human health, which has been discussed lately. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of nine parabens (including isomers) in mineral and drinking waters, besides in drinking water treatment sludge (DWTS) samples with determination by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Both methods solid phase extraction (SPE) and QuEChERS were validated. Calibration curves showed a correlation coefficient of 0.99 for all compounds. LOQ values ranged from 0.04 to 4 μg L^?1 in aqueous matrices and from 5 to 500 ng g^?1 in DWTS. Recoveries between 70 and 115% were reached with RSD below 20% for all compounds in SPE whereas recoveries between 62 and 119% were found with RSD below 20% for almost all compounds in QuEChERS. Matrix effect had low values (<?20%); it was only above 20% for methylparaben in the SPE and for pentylparaben in the QuEChERS. Using a quick and simple extraction procedures with SPE, QuEChERS, and LC-MS/MS analyses, these methods proved to be selective and sensitive. They were successfully applied to real samples (treated water, mineral water, and sludge), and methylparaben was detected at concentration levels below 0.242 μg L^?1 in mineral and treated water samples and 10 ng g^?1 in DWTS samples.     

Development and implementation of eco-genomic tools for aquatic ecosystem biomonitoring: the SYNAQUA French-Swiss program

The effectiveness of environmental protection measures is based on the early identification and diagnosis of anthropogenic pressures. Similarly, restoration actions require precise monitoring of changes in the ecological quality of ecosystems, in order to highlight their effectiveness. Monitoring the ecological quality relies on bioindicators, which are organisms revealing the pressures exerted on the environment through the composition of their communities. Their implementation, based on the morphological identification of species, is expensive because it requires time and experts in taxonomy. Recent genomic tools should provide access to reliable and high-throughput environmental monitoring by directly inferring the composition of bioindicators’ communities from their DNA (metabarcoding). The French-Swiss program SYNAQUA (INTERREG France-Switzerland 2017–2019) proposes to use and validate the tools of environmental genomic for biomonitoring and aims ultimately at their implementation in the regulatory bio-surveillance. SYNAQUA will test the metabarcoding approach focusing on two bioindicators, diatoms, and aquatic oligochaetes, which are used in freshwater biomonitoring in France and Switzerland. To go towards the renewal of current biomonitoring practices, SYNAQUA will (1) bring together different actors: scientists, environmental managers, consulting firms, and biotechnological companies, (2) apply this approach on a large scale to demonstrate its relevance, (3) propose robust and reliable tools, and (4) raise public awareness and train the various actors likely to use these new tools. Biomonitoring approaches based on such environmental genomic tools should address the European need for reliable, higher-throughput monitoring to improve the protection of aquatic environments under multiple pressures, guide their restoration, and follow their evolution.