Effects of air pollution on Pinus halepensis (Mill.): pollution levels in Attica,Greece

Air quality in the Athens basin is well known to be poor, damaging building materials and human health, but there is no information available on concentrations or the impact of oxidants on ecosystems in rural areas outside the basin. A short-term monitoring campaign, coupled with a survey using the O₃ bioindicator Bel-W3 tobacco demonstrated that phytotoxic concentrations of O₃ occurred throughout Attica, within a 75 km radius of the city. There was relatively little injury produced in the industrial centre of the city and maximum injury was found about 40 km to the SE. Visible lesions identical to those of O₃ injury were found on Aleppo pine at all sites in the cooler months. In the summer the needles were very chlorotic, possibly due to photo-oxidation of chlorophylls mediated by heat or drought. This chlorosis may mask oxidant symptoms in the summer. NO₂ diffusion tube data and needle analysis suggested that the effects of sulphur and NO₂ are probably confined to the Athens basin.     

Revegetating industrial waste disposal sites

Short-rotation tree plantations were established at seven industrial waste disposal sites in southern Finland. Altogether 31,500 willow cuttings were planted between 1984 and 1989. Neutralized residue from a titanium dioxide pigment process had an unfavourable influence on growth. Biological sludges from a municipal sewage treatment plant, and pulp and paper mills were too compact to be used alone as substrate, but gave a good supply of nutrients. Sand, bark and de-inking waste were sufficiently porous, but were low in nutrients. A mixture of different waste materials is therefore recommended as a substrate for willow stands. Replacement of a natural soil cover with waste material allows disposal of a greater volume of refuse and diminishes the costs of revegetation. The landfill characteristics have to be taken into account. The high temperature of bark also disturbed the growth of willow stands. Ferrous sulphate in the landfill limits the possibility of irrigating the stand. The highest biomass production of the stands exceeded that of normal Finnish forest. Willow stands can be used for landscaping industrial waste disposal sites, for increasing evapotranspiration and minimizing leachate discharge.     

植物及其根系分泌物对污水净化效果的影响

为了弄清不同植物对污水的净化效率以及其根系分泌物对污水净化效果的影响,对植物根系分泌物与脱氮及COD去除之间的关系进行了研究。结果表明,在净化时间相同的情况下,茭白（Zizania cadaciflora）对污水COD的去除效果要好于美人蕉（Canna generalis）,美人蕉对污水TN的去除率要高于茭白,系统中N去除主要依靠硝化反硝化脱氮;美人蕉根系比茭白根系能分泌更多的溶解有机碳（DOC）,这些可溶性的有机碳可以为污水中微生物提供碳源,有利于氮的反硝化去除,但同时也会增加出水COD的浓度。而茭白比美人蕉具有更强的硝化能力,可促进其硝化反硝化作用。     

Co-cropping for phyto-separation of zinc and potassium from sewage sludge

The use of sewage sludge as a fertilizer and soil amendment has resulted in high concentrations of heavy metals in the soil limiting its use. The present study was carried out to find the possibility of phyto-separating toxic and beneficial elements from the sludge using suitable plants. Of the five plants tested the hyperaccumulator Sedum alfredii H achieved the greatest removal of Zn, while shoots of Alocasia marorrhiza accumulated high content of K. Co-cropping these two plants on the sludge verified the previous observations on A. marorrhiza and the shoots of this plant could accumulate more than 120 g K kg(-1) dry matter in the median growth stage. Zn hyperaccumulated in Sedum's shoots to an extent more than 10 g kg(-1) dry matter; K concentrated five to ten times in the Alocasia's shoots which could be used as a good organic-K-fertilizer. Hence, the two elements were simultaneously phytoseparated and could be recycled. Furthermore, cultivation of plants in the sludge resulted in significant decreases in total Zn but kept the favorable agronomic characteristics of the sludge material, such as pH, organic matter content, and NPK concentrations and ameliorated its biological stability. These results suggest that simultaneous phyto-separation of toxic and beneficial elements from sewage sludge are possible by co-cropping using specific plants without the input of any chemicals.     

Watering techniques and zero-valent iron biochar pH effects on As and Cd concentrations in rice rhizosphere soils, tissues and yield

Zero-valent iron amended biochar (ZVIB) has been proposed as a promising material in immobilizing heavy metals in paddy fields. In this study, the impacts of pH of ZVIB (pH 6.3 and pH 9.7) and watering management techniques (watering amount in the order of CON (control, 5/72)>3/72>1–3/72>3/100>1/72, with 5/72, for example, representing irrigation given to 5 cm above soil surface in 72 hr regular interval) on As and Cd bioavailability for rice and its grain yield (Yield_BR) were investigated in a pot experiment. Brown rice As (As_BR) content was irrelative to the watering treatments, while significantly decreased (>50%) with the addition of both ZVIB materials. The diminutions of brown rice Cd (Cd_BR) content as well as the Yield_BR were highly dependent on both the soil amendment materials’ pH and watering amount. Among all the watering treatments, 3/72 treatment (15% less irrigation water than the CON) with ZVIB 6.3 amendment was the optimum fit for simultaneous reduction of As_BR (50%) and Cd_BR contents (19%) as well as for significant increment (12%) of the Yield_BR. Although high pH (9.7) ZVIB application could also efficiently decrease As and Cd contents in brown rice, it might risk grain yield lost if appropriate (e.g. 3/72 in our study) watering management technique was not chosen. Therefore, ZVIB would be an environmentally friendly option as an amendment material with proper selection of watering management technique to utilize As and Cd co-contaminated arable soils safely for paddy cultivation.     

Assessment of bioaccessibility and exposure risk of arsenic and lead in urban soils of Guangzhou City,China

Soil ingestion is an important human exposure pathway of heavy metals in urban environments with heavy metal contaminated soils. This study aims to assess potential health risks of heavy metals in soils sampled from an urban environment where high frequency of human exposure may be present. A bioaccessibility test is used, which is an in vitro gastrointestinal (IVG) test of soluble metals under simulated physiological conditions of the human digestion system. Soil samples for assessing the oral bioaccessibility of arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) were collected from a diverse range of different land uses, including urban parks, roadsides, industrial sites and residential areas in Guangzhou City, China. The soil samples contained a wide range of total As (10.2 to 61.0 mg kg⁻¹) and Pb (38.4 to 348 mg kg⁻¹) concentrations. The bioaccessibility of As and Pb in the soil samples were 11.3 and 39.1% in the stomach phase, and 1.9 and 6.9% in the intestinal phase, respectively. The As and Pb bioaccessibility in the small intestinal phase was significantly lower than those in the gastric phase. Arsenic bioaccessibility was closely influenced by soil pH and organic matter content (r ² = 0.451, p < 0.01) in the stomach phase, and by organic matter, silt and total As contents (r ² = 0.604, p < 0.001) in the intestinal phase. The general risk of As and Pb intake for children from incidental ingestion of soils is low, compared to their maximum doses, without causing negative human health effects. The exposure risk of Pb in the soils ranked in the order of: industrial area/urban parks > residential area/road side. Although the risk of heavy metal exposure from direct ingestion of urban soils is relatively low, the risk of inhalation of fine soil particulates in the air remains to be evaluated.     

Monoclonal antibody-based broad-specificity immunoassay for monitoring organophosphorus pesticides in environmental water samples

The development of easy-to-use and rapid-monitoring immunoassay methods for organic environmental pollutants in a class-selective manner is a topic of considerable environmental interest. In this work, a heterologous competitive indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ciELISA) based on a monoclonal antibody (MAb) with broad-specificity for organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) was applied to the detection of O,O-diethyl and O,O-dimethyl OPs in water samples. The ciELISA conditions were carefully optimized to obtain a three to five-fold improvement of sensitivity for most OPs, and thirteen OPs were determined at concentrations ranging from 0.017 to 30 ng mL(-1). The determination of spiked environmental water samples showed average recoveries from 81.5% to 115.1%, with the coefficient of variation (CV) ranging from 6.1% to 20.9%, which showed satisfactory reproducibility of the developed ciELISA. To overcome the negative aspect of broad-specificity immunoassays not providing qualitative and quantitative analysis of individual OPs in blind samples, we used "percent inhibition rate" to make the developed ciELISA a semi-quantitative method, which allows the monitoring of positive samples from hundreds of negative samples. The determination of OPs in blind water samples by the developed ELISA with confirmation by HPLC-MS/MS analysis demonstrated that the assay is ideally suited as a screening method for OP residues prior to chromatographic analysis.     

泥石流滩地农业资源化开发与利用——以蒋家沟为例

泥石流滩地是山区宝贵的土地资源,其农业资源化开发与利用对促进当地社会经济发展和生态环境改善具有重要意义。以蒋家沟流域为例,在野外调查、遥感解译和实验分析的基础上,阐述了泥石流滩地农业资源化的原则和依据,建立了人畜 土地载荷平衡模型,分析了滩地开发利用的依据、效益和途径,并探讨了泥石流滩地未来农业资源化的思路和对策。研究结果表明：（1） 建立的人畜 土地载荷平衡模型反映了流域生态环境特征,能有效评价滩地开发利用的生态效益;（2）流域滩地农业资源化每年可产生500多万元的经济效益,除满足全流域6 418人的粮食需求外,还可提供338 t商品粮,是促进当地脱贫致富和社会经济发展的重要途径;（3）泥石流滩地既是宝贵的土地资源又是灾害的场所,其开发与利用可有效缓解山区人地矛盾,具有良好的生态效益,但需要在加强灾害防治和防灾减灾意识的基础上,进行深度农业资源化开发.     

广州市城中村污水治理的探讨

本文主要针对广州市城中村进行了全面梳理,按照其功能类型进行分类,并在此基础上对典型城中村污水治理现状进行了实证调研。从现实来看,广州市大量的城中村污水治理不可能在短时间内完成,如果缺乏系统的规划治理,新的城中村依然还会出现污水治理问题,因此,解决城中村污水治理问题必须以现实情况为着眼点,找到破解当前治理的路径,才能完成国家和广东省对广州黑臭河涌治理部署要求,从而实现广州水环境根本好转的目标。     

固定化微生物吸附剂的制备及其对六价铬和磺胺类抗生素的吸附性能

以银叶金合欢木屑为载体包埋伯克氏菌属(Burkholderia sp.,简称Y12菌)制备固定化微生物吸附剂——木屑-Y12吸附剂(SY12),考察了其对不同磺胺类抗生素和重金属Cr(Ⅵ)的吸附性能。结果表明,SY12能有效吸附水体中的磺胺甲嘧啶 (sulfamerazine, SMZ)、磺胺嘧啶(sulfadiazine, SZ)和磺胺甲噁唑(sulfamethoxazole, SMX),且对5 mg·L⁻¹ SZ的去除率最高,为47.9%。SY12对Cr(Ⅵ)也有高效吸附效果,其中对1 mg·L⁻¹ Cr(Ⅵ)吸附效果最佳,去除率达96.7%,吸附机制以化学吸附为主。SY12还能同时去除Cr(Ⅵ)–磺胺类药物((sulfonamide antibiotics, SAs)复合污染,但复合污染体系中,SY12对SAs的吸附能力略微下降,对Cr(Ⅵ)的去除能力却增强。此外,SY12能有效去除酸性电镀废水中的Cr;热干燥处理的木屑更有利于吸附Cr(Ⅵ)。