Selectivity in the complexation of actinides by humic substances

The interactions of a range of actinide elements (Th, U, Np, Pu, Am) with humic substances from the Needle's Eye natural analogue site were studied by gel permeation chromatography. Bulk humic substances were isolated by ammonia extraction, followed by dialysis against distilled water and freeze-drying. The gel permeation results suggest that Needle's Eye humic substances can be fractionated into three incompletely resolved fractions with average molecular weights determined by analytical ultracentrifugation around 49 000 for Fraction 1, around 14 700 for Fraction 2 and around 8000 for Fraction 3. Although there are significant differences between the organic matter elution patterns in individual gel permeation experiments, presumably due to differences in column packing, these are much smaller than the differences between metal ions. The uranium that is naturally present in these humic substances is largely bound in the late-eluting fraction. Spikes of the early actinides, including Np and Pu in controlled valency states, have been added to the humic substances, and gel permeation of the spiked humic substances shows that the three humic fractions vary greatly in their effectiveness and selectivity as ligands for early actinides.     

生物炭和碳纳米管固定化漆酶去除水体雌二醇

漆酶是一类具有高效的催化氧化能力的含铜多酚的氧化酶,而固定化漆酶技术在有机废水处理领域受到了越来越多的关注。通过比较吸附法和包埋法利用木炭(WB)、竹炭(BB)和碳纳米管(CNT)固定游离漆酶去除水体雌二醇(E2)。在25 °C 、pH=5条件下,固定化漆酶经120 h 贮存仍保留80%的活性。经过5次循环研究,固载的漆酶仍保留了27%~58%的剩余活性。结合扫描电子显微镜和傅里叶变换红外光谱,证实了漆酶成功地负载在碳基材料上。仅在 8 h内,50 mg·L⁻¹ E2通过吸附法制备的WB、BB、CNT固定化漆酶去除了42.92%、47.66%、43.92%,而包埋法制备的WB、BB、CNT固定化漆酶分别去除84.08%、87.20%、87.86%。结果表明,包埋法固定化漆酶对E2的去除效率更优,这是由于包埋固载在生物炭和CNT的漆酶更为稳定。此外,K⁺和Mn²⁺离子可能通过干扰漆酶的电子传递过程影响漆酶的活性,从而抑制E2的去除。本研究旨在为固定化漆酶在有机废水处理的实际应用提供指导。     

Imposex in the commercial snail Bolinus brandaris in the northwestern Mediterranean

A survey of the degree of imposex in populations of the commercial muricid Bolinus brandaris (L.) was carried out at six locations along the Catalan Coast (NW Mediterranean). Imposex was found to be a widespread phenomenon; the occurrence of a penis was observed in all females studied with the exception of those from St. Carles (South of Catalunya) where only 37% were affected. Other indices such as Relative Penis Length (RPL) and Vas Deferens Sequence (VDS) were applied; RPL varied from 4.5% in St. Carles--the least affected area--to 29.8% in the vicinity of Barcelona; similar results were obtained for VDS. Tissue organotin residues ranged from 6 to 140 ng g(-1) w.w. as Sn. Despite legislation restricting the use of tributyltin (TBT) in antifouling paints, this paper evidences the occurrence of organotin pollution far from the source, with levels of both TBT and triphenyltin (TPhT) high enough to cause environmental concern.     

Fractionation of fulvic acids: characteristics and complexation with copper

Two fulvic acid samples isolated from Suwannee river (International Humic Substance Society) and Feeitsuey reservoir were subjected to gel filtration chromatography (GFC) for molecular size fractionation. The GFC-eluted samples were separated into three groups corresponding to the molecular weight ranges: < 220, 220-1000, and 1000-4000. Fluorescence quenching techniques were employed for determining the conditional stability coefficient and kinetic parameters of copper complexation with the three fractions of fulvic acids. Experimental conditions were pH 6, 5 x 10(-5)m total copper and 5 mg C litre(-1) of fulvic acids. The conditional stability coefficients of the fulvic acid fractions were in the order of 0.9-3.3 x 10(5)m(-1), and the forward and reverse rate constants were in the order of 6.9-12.4 x 10(3)m(-1) s(-1) and 3.5-8.0 x 10(-2) s(-1). Information could be useful in modelling copper transport in the hydrosphere.     

Studies on water hyacinth as a biological filtre for treating contaminants from agricultural wastes and industrial effluents

The aquatic weed--water hyacinth [Eichhornia crassipes (Mart) Solms] showed a remarkable capacity to withstand the effects of pH changes ranging from 5 to 8 in the aquatic environment. Growth continued to be normal except when placed for longer periods in medium containing iron ions at pH 3.3. The ability of this plant to neutralize some very acid solutions of heavy metals such as salts of copper, cadmium and zinc individually and in combinations, is being reported. Plants placed in pure acid and alkali solutions were also able to neutralize the medium. Calcium appears to play an important role in the mechanism involved in the adaptability of these plants to such environments.     

A natural analogue of high-pH cement pore waters from the Maqarin area of northern Jordan: Comparison of predicted and observed trace-element chemistry of uranium and selenium

Current design concepts for low-/intermediate-level radioactive waste disposal in many countries involve emplacement underground in a cementitious repository. The highly alkaline groundwaters at Maqarin, Jordan, are a good analogue for the cementitious pore waters that will be present within such a repository. A geochemical modelling study of these groundwaters has been carried out in order to test the applicability of equilibrium models in geochemical programs and their associated thermodynamic databases in such hyperalkaline conditions. This was achieved by comparison of elemental solubilities and speciations predicted by the programs with observations in the natural system. Five organisations took part in the study: AEA Technology, U.K.; Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden; MBT Tecnología Ambiental, Spain; Nagra, Switzerland; and SKB, Sweden. The modelling study was coordinated by the University of Berne.The results of the study showed good agreement between the predictions of the programs employed. Comparison of the observed solids with those predicted by the models has allowed limited validation of the databases. The results for U and Se are presented here.     

Toxicological evaluation of sulfur-containing metabolites of 2,5,2′,5′-tetrachlorobiphenyl in rats

Sulfur-containing metabolites of 2,5,2′,5′-tetrachlorobiphenyl (TCB), 4-methylthio-TCB (MT-TCB), 4-methylsulfoxyl TCB (MSX-TCB) and 4-methylsulfonyl TCB (MS-TCB) were examined for their acute toxicities, hepatic enzyme inducing activities, accumulation in the liver and lung, and excretion to the feces in rats. TCB and MT-TCB suppressed body weight and recovery of body weight gain was delayed in the MT-TCB-treated rats. MT-TCB and MS-TCB caused an increase in total liver lipid and only MT-TCB brought about an atrophy of the thymus. Treatment with MT-TCB increased cytochrome P-450 content and benzphetamine N-demethylase activity. The same enzymes were also induced by treatment with MSX-TCB. Although TCB administered was excreted mostly as hydroxylated TCB, a part was excreted as unchanged and a very small portion as the sulfur-containing metabolites. MT-TCB, MSX-TCB and MS-TCB were excreted from the MT-TCB- and MSX-TCB-treated rats. The MS-TCB-treated rats excreted only MS-TCB. The same compounds as found in the feces were identified in the liver and lung of the rats treated with those compounds except in the liver of TCB-treated rats. These results indicate that sulfur-containing metabolites, especially MT-TCB, were more important than their parent compound, TCB, from a toxicological point of view.     

催化湿式氧化处理机械加工工业废水的研究

利用担载的双金属活性组分催化剂，考察了反应温度、压力、进料空速和污水pH等条件对催化湿式氧化处理某厂机械加工废水效果的影响。对于该厂的混合废水，在反应温度260℃，反应压力6．6MPa，空速为2．0h^-1，pH为3条件下处理后的废水CODCr去除率为90．2％。考察了助剂H2O2、絮凝剂对处理废水效果的影响和各种联用技术对废水的处理效果。     

PM10冲击采样器切割头设计参数对切割粒径的影响

本文从颗粒在气流中的受力情况分析入手 ,得到冲击采样器中喷嘴喷出后颗粒的运动轨迹方程以及运动轨迹与采样器切割头设计参数的关系式。分析了PM10空气采样器的切割原理 ,并利用数值计算研究颗粒在不同的流量、喷嘴尺寸及喷嘴与冲击板的距离下的运动轨迹 ,从而得到切割头设计参数对切割粒径的影响     

Single particle mass spectrometry of oxalic acid in ambient aerosols in Shanghai: Mixing state and formation mechanism

Oxalic acid in individual aerosol particles was measured using single particle aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ATOFMS) in the summer of 2007 in Shanghai, China. Oxalate was found in 3.4% of total particles with diameters in the range of 0.2 – 2.0 μm. Size, chemical composition and hourly temporal counts of single particles that contained oxalic acid were measured. The predominant types of oxalate-containing particles were characterized to distinguish the primary and secondary sources of oxalic acid. Biomass burning was revealed as a major primary source of oxalic acid which contributed more than 20% of the oxalate-containing particles. Evidences for two different formation pathways of oxalic acid were observed in our experiment. The number fraction of oxalate-containing particles correlated with that of sulfate particles and the changes of air parcel backward trajectories, suggesting that in-cloud processing played important roles in oxalic acid formation. The diurnal patterns of dust and sea salt particle counts fitted well with the ambient relative humidity variation, suggesting that heterogeneous reactions occurring in hydrated/deliquesced aerosols also contributed to the production of oxalic acid.