Combined pollution of arsenic and Polymyxin B enhanced arsenic toxicity and enriched ARG abundance in soil and earthworm gut microbiotas

Polymyxin B (PMB) is considered as the last line of antibiotic defense available to humans. The environmental effects of the combined pollution with PMB and heavy metals and their interaction mechanisms are unclear. We explored the effects of the combined pollution with PMB and arsenic (As) on the microbial composition of the soil and in the earthworm gut, as well as the spread and transmission of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). The results showed that, compared with As alone, the combined addition of PMB and As could significantly increase the bioaccumulation factor and toxicity of As in earthworm tissues by 12.1% and 16.0%, respectively. PMB treatment could significantly increase the abundance of Actinobacteria in the earthworm gut (from 35.6% to 45.2%), and As stress could significantly increase the abundance of Proteobacteria (from 19.8% to 56.9%). PMB and As stress both could significantly increase the abundance of ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs), which were positively correlated, indicating that ARGs might be horizontally transferred. The inactivation of antibiotics was the main resistance mechanism that microbes use to resist PMB and As stress. Network analysis showed that PMB and As might have antagonistic effects through competition with multi-drug resistant ARGs. The combined pollution by PMB and As significantly promoted the relative abundance of microbes carrying multi-drug resistant ARGs and MGEs, thereby increasing the risk of transmission of ARGs. This research advances the understanding of the interaction mechanism between antibiotics and heavy metals and provides new theoretical guidance for the environmental risk assessment and combined pollution management.     

考虑车辆类型变化的中国乘用车排放特征

通过引入Lotka-Volterra模型预测了中国未来30年的乘用车竞争趋势;通过引入CHG、VOC、CO、SO₂、PM_2.5、NO_x6类污染物更新了全生命周期清单;并据此建立了政策影响模型和敏感性模型评估电动化、轻量化和清洁化政策情景减排效果.结果表明,乘用车市场的主要竞争力来源于新能源与传统能源的竞争,且纯电动与混合动力乘用车呈S型曲线发展,汽油乘用车占比由92%减少到1%;全生命周期中,纯电动乘用车对CHG、VOC、CO减排效益最优,为20%~85%;汽油与天然气乘用车对SO₂和PM_2.5的减排效益最优,为50.0%;3类情景下税收补贴类政策敏感性最强,CHG、VOC和CO的最优减排情景为电气化情景,PM_2.5、NO_x的最优减排情景为清洁化情景,而SO₂的最优减排情景则为整车轻量化.     

“三生空间”统筹的科学基础与优化途径探析

党的十八大提出了将优化国土空间开发格局作为生态文明建设的首要举措,以及“促进生产空间集约高效、生活空间宜居适度、生态空间山清水秀”的目标要求。通过文献调研和总结归纳法,系统梳理了“三生空间”统筹优化的研究进展。总结发现,现有工作主要从国土空间利用质量、土地利用适宜性评价、资源环境承载力与比较优势等角度开展了“三生空间”统筹优化研究。但由于对“三生空间”科学内涵的认识不足、定量识别方法与分类体系的构建不完善,目前“三生空间”统筹优化的技术途径存在诸多问题尚待明晰。未来“三生空间”统筹优化的技术途径应以美丽中国建设愿景为目标导向,以人地耦合系统理论为核心,系统构建识别与优化国土空间的理论体系与技术框架。     

Application of a real-ambient fine particulate matter exposure system on different animal models

Simulation of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) exposure is essential for evaluating adverse health effects. In this work, an ambient exposure system that mimicked real atmospheric conditions was installed in Taiyuan, China to study impacts of chronic PM_2.5 exposure on adult and aged mice as well as Sirtuin3 knockout (Sirt3 KO) mice and wild-type (WT) mice. The real-ambient exposure system eliminated the possible artificial effects caused from exposure experiments and maintained the physiochemical characteristics of PM_2.5. The case studies indicated that aged mice exhibited apparent heart dysfunction involving increased heart rate and decreased blood pressure after 17-week of real-ambient PM_2.5 exposure. Meanwhile, 15-week of real-ambient PM_2.5 exposure decreased the heart rate and amounts of associated catecholamines to induce heart failure in Sirt3 KO mice. Additionally, the increased pro-inflammatory cytokines and decreased platelet related indices suggested that inflammation occurred. The changes of biomarkers detected by targeted metabolomics confirmed metabolic disorder in WT and Sirt3 KO mice after exposed to real-ambient PM_2.5. These results indicated that the real-ambient PM_2.5 exposure system could evaluate the risks of certain diseases associated with air pollution and have great potential for supporting the investigations of PM_2.5 effects on other types of rodent models.     

Disinfection byproduct formation from algal organic matters after ozonation or ozone combined with activated carbon treatment with subsequent chlorination

Algal organic matter (AOM), including extracellular organic matter (EOM) and intracellular organic matter (IOM) from algal blooms, is widely accepted as essential precursors of disinfection byproducts (DBPs). This study evaluated the effect of ozonation or ozone combined with activated carbon (O₃-AC) treatment on characteristic alternation and DBP formation with subsequent chlorination of Chlorella sp.. The effects of pH and bromide concentration on DBP formation by ozonation or O₃-AC treatment were also investigated. Results showed that the potential formation of DBPs might be attributed to ozonation, but these DBP precursors could be further removed by activated carbon (AC) treatment. Moreover, the formation of target DBPs was controlled at acidic pH by alleviating the reactions between chlorine and AOM. Besides, the bromide substitution factor (BSF) value of trihalomethanes (THMs) from EOM and IOM remained constant after AC treatment. However, THM precursors could be significantly decreased by AC treatment. The above results indicated that O₃-AC was a feasible treatment method for algal-impacted water.     

Biodegradation of 2-ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate in river sediments and its impact on microbial communities

Numerous studies have evaluated the toxicity and endocrine disrupting properties of organic UV filters for aquatic organisms, but little is known about their biodegradation in river sediments and their impact on microorganisms. We have set up the sterile and microbiological systems in the laboratory, adding 2-ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate (EHMC), one of organic UV filters included in the list of high yield chemicals, at concentrations of 2, 20 and 200 μg/L, and characterized the microbial community composition and diversity in sediments. Monitoring of EHMC degradation within 30 days revealed that the half-life in the microbial system (3.49 days) was much shorter than that in the sterile system (7.55 days). Two potential degradation products, 4-mercaptobenzoic acid and 3-methoxyphenol were identified in the microbial system. Furthermore, high-throughput 16s and 18s rRNA gene sequencing showed that Proteobacteria dominated the sediment bacterial assemblages followed by Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Nitrospirae; Eukaryota_uncultured fungus dominated the sediment fungal assemblages. Correlation analysis demonstrated that two bacterium genera (Anaerolineaceae_uncultured and Burkholderiaceae_uncultured) were significantly correlated with the biodegradation of EHMC. These results illustrate the biodegradability of EHMC in river sediments and its potential impact on microbial communities, which can provide useful information for eliminating the pollution of organic UV filters in natural river systems and assessing their potential ecological risks.     

利用CDOM吸收系数估算博斯腾湖水体表层DOC浓度

基于2021年夏秋两季西部干旱区博斯腾湖表层50个采样点位实测数据,通过对DOC特征的统计学分析、内外源因素影响的时空差异以及电导率相关性验证,将博斯腾湖划分为河口和非河口区域.然后以CDOM特征波长吸收系数a₂₅₀和a₃₆₅为自变量,以DOC浓度（c_DOC）为因变量,分别构建了基于CDOM的河口和非河口水域DOC浓度估算模型.结果表明：河流与湖泊进行水体交换的同时,会将大量陆源DOC输送到博斯腾湖中,使得河口区域DOC浓度明显高于非河口区域（t-tests,P<0.01）,河口区域的DOC浓度（c_DOC）约是非河口区域的2.2~2.3倍,且在河口区域c_DOC与电导率呈现显著相关关系（夏季：R²=0.81,P<0.01;秋季：R²=0.84,P<0.01）.本文构建拟合模型（c_DOC=α+β·α₂₅₀+γ·α₃₆₅）,并通过交叉验证的方法来检验模型精度.将夏季和秋季同区域数据统一建模,河口和非河口区域CDOM与DOC均存在较好的相关关系,且模型精度较高（河口区域：R²=0.60,RMSE=8.56%;非河口区域：R²=0.66,RMSE=8.77%）.本文所建立的模型可以在不增加环境因子变量的前提下提高精度,有利于实现卫星遥感反演.同时,本研究揭示了河流输入对博斯腾湖DOC分布和估算的时空影响,提出可利用CDOM估算DOC浓度,但需根据水文特征和c_DOC等因素区分河口和非河口区域.本研究对实现新疆水资源合理开发、有效保护以及综合治理提供科学依据,对我国西部干旱区湖泊DOC遥感动态监测具有重要意义.     

Micropollutant removal and disinfection byproduct control by sequential peroxymonosulfate-UV treatment in water: A case study with sulfamethoxazole

UV/peroxymonosulfate (UV/PMS) advanced oxidation process has attracted significant attention for removal of micropollutants in water. However, during practical water treatment applications, the PMS treatment must be performed before the UV treatment to achieve full contact. In this study, sulfamethoxazole (SMX) was selected as the target micropollutant. Four different operational approaches, including UV alone, PMS alone, simultaneous UV/PMS and sequential PMS-UV, were compared for their differences in SMX removal and disinfection by-product (DBP) formation potentials during chlorine-driven disinfection. Among the four approaches, UV/PMS and PMS-UV achieved over 90% removal efficiencies for SMX without substantial differences. For raw water, the trichloronitromethane (TCNM) formation potential after treatment with PMS-UV was lower than that after UV/PMS treatment. The time interval over which the PMS-UV process was conducted had little effect on the final removal efficiency for SMX. However, a brief (5 min) pre-PMS treatment significantly reduced the TCNM formation potential and the genotoxicity from DBPs. The formation risk for TCNM during chlorination increased markedly with increasing PMS dosages, and the appropriate dosage under these experimental conditions was suggested to be 0.5–1.0 mmol/L. Under alkaline conditions, PMS-UV treatment can enhance SMX degradation as well as dramatically reduced the formation potentials for haloketones, haloacetonitriles and halonitromethanes. This study suggests that proper optimization of UV/PMS processes can remove SMX and reduce its DBP formation.     

New mechanism of FA in composted sludge inducing Cu fixation on Albite in open-pit mine soil

Fulvic acid (FA), typical organic matter derived from humification process in composted sludge, possesses the potential to remediate mine soils contaminated by heavy metals. To understand the cooper (Cu) immobilizing process in open-pit mine soil induced by FA, changes of Cu speciation in mixture of open-pit mine soil and composted sludge was tracked over 180 days. It was observed that the organic-bound and residual fraction of Cu increased dramatically with the corresponding decrease of Fe/Mn oxide-bound Cu in the first 60 days, then the organic-bound fraction decreased to about its initial proportion during 60-120 days, while residual fraction still increased, and the proportion of residual Cu accounted for over 85% and became stable after 120 days. To reveal the mechanism of FA inducing Cu fixation on Albite which is the main phase of soil primary ore, two groups of Cu adsorption experiments with and without FA were designed. With the addition of FA, the adsorption capacity of Cu by Albite increased by 1.55 times and the content of residual Cu in Albite increased by 7.7 times. It was found that the Cu absorbed in smaller Albite particle induced by FA formed a secondary mineral——Chrysocolla, causing increase of residual fraction of Cu. These results revealed the mechanism: FA was absorbed on the surface of Albite after complexing with Cu ions in the solution, and then it induced Cu into the interlayer and pore channels of Albite. The Cu in the Albite was immobilized by forming Chrysocolla finally.     

Effects of co-exposure to lead and manganese on learning and memory deficits

Lead (Pb) and manganese (Mn) are common neurotoxins. However, individuals are subject to co-exposures in real life, and it is therefore important to study these metals in combination. Weaning Sprague-Dawley rats were given ad libitum access to drinking water solutions containing Pb (100 mg/L), Mn (2.5 mg/mL) or a mixture, and each treatment had its own minocycline (50 mg/(kg•day)) supplement group. The results showed a significant difference in spatial memory and induction levels of hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) in all exposure groups when compared with controls. The combined-exposure group exhibited the most pronounced effect when compared with each of the single-metal exposure groups. Microglia displayed activation at day 3 after exposure alone or in combination, while astrocytes showed activation at day 5, accompanied by decreased expression levels of GLAST, GLT-1, and GS. Furthermore, the levels of glutamate in the synaptic cleft increased significantly. When microglial activation was inhibited by minocycline, the activation of astrocytes and the expression of GLAST, GLT-1, and GS were both reversed. In addition, upon minocycline treatment, hippocampal LTP impairment and cognitive injury were significantly alleviated in each of the exposure groups. These results suggest that combined exposure to Pb and Mn can cause greater effects on cognition and synaptic plasticity when compared to single-metal exposure groups. The reason may involve abnormal activation of microglia leading to excessive regulation of astrocytes, resulting in glutamate reuptake dysfunction in astrocytes and leading to perturbed cognition and synaptic plasticity.