Removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from aqueous solution by raw and modified plant residue materials as biosorbents

Removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs）, e.g., naphthalene, acenaphthene, phenanthrene and pyrene, from aqueous solution by raw and modified plant residues was investigated to develop low cost biosorbents for organic pollutant abatement. Bamboo wood, pine wood, pine needles and pine bark were selected as plant residues, and acid hydrolysis was used as an easily modification method. The raw and modified biosorbents were characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The sorption isotherms of PAHs to raw biosorbents were apparently linear, and were dominated by a partitioning process. In comparison, the isotherms of the hydrolyzed biosorbents displayed nonlinearity, which was controlled by partitioning and the specific interaction mechanism. The sorpfion kinetic curves of PAHs to the raw and modified plant residues fit well with the pseudo second-order kinetics model. The sorption rates were faster for the raw biosorbents than the corresponding hydrolyzed biosorbents, which was attributed to the latter having more condensed domains （i.e., exposed aromatic core）. By the consumption of the amorphous cellulose component under acid hydrolysis, the sorption capability of the hydrolyzed biosorbents was notably enhanced, i.e., 6-18 fold for phenanthrene, 6-8 fold for naphthalene and pyrene and 5-8 fold for acenaphthene. The sorpfion coefficients （Kd） were negatively correlated with the polarity index [（O＋N）/C], and positively correlated with the aromaticity of the biosorbents. For a given biosorbent, a positive linear correlation between logKoc and logKow for different PAHs was observed. Interestingly, the linear plots of logKoc-logKow were parallel for different biosorbents. These observations suggest that the raw and modified plant residues have great potential as biosorbents to remove PAHs from wastewater.     

Reduction and characterization of bioaerosols in a wastewater treatment station via ventilation

Bioaerosols from wastewater treatment processes are a significant subgroup of atmospheric aerosols. In the present study,airborne microorganisms generated from a wastewater treatment station(WWTS) that uses an oxidation ditch process were diminished by ventilation.Conventional sampling and detection methods combined with cloning/sequencing techniques were applied to determine the groups,concentrations,size distributions,and species diversity of airborne microorganisms before and after ventilation. There were 3021 ± 537 CFU/m3 of airborne bacteria and 926 ± 132 CFU/m3 of airborne fungi present in the WWTS bioaerosol.Results showed that the ventilation reduced airborne microorganisms significantly compared to the air in the WWTS. Over 60% of airborne bacteria and airborne fungi could be reduced after4 hr of air exchange. The highest removal(92.1% for airborne bacteria and 89.1% for fungi) was achieved for 0.65–1.1 μm sized particles. The bioaerosol particles over 4.7 μm were also reduced effectively. Large particles tended to be lost by gravitational settling and small particles were generally carried away,which led to the relatively easy reduction of bioaerosol particles0.65–1.1 μm and over 4.7 μm in size. An obvious variation occurred in the structure of the bacterial communities when ventilation was applied to control the airborne microorganisms in enclosed spaces.     

Biosorption mechanisms involved in immobilization of soil Pb by Bacillus subtilis DBM in a multimetal-contaminated soil

Mechanisms of soil Pb immobilization by Bacillus subtilis DBM, a bacterial strain isolated from a heavy-metal-contaminated soil, were investigated. Adsorption and desorption experiments with living bacterial cells as well as dead cells revealed that both extracellular adsorption and intracellular accumulation were involved in the Pb2＋removal from the liquid phase. Of the sequestered Pb（II）, 8.5% was held by physical entrapment within the cell wall, 43.3% was held by ion-exchange, 9.7% was complexed with cell surface functional groups or precipitated on the cell surface, and 38.5% was intracellularly accumulated.Complexation of Pb2＋with carboxyl, hydroxyl, carbonyl, amido, and phosphate groups was demonstrated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis. Precipitates of Pb5（PO4）3OH, Pb5（PO4）3Cl and Pb10（PO4）6（OH）2that formed on the cell surface during the biosorption process were identified by X-ray diffraction analysis. Transmission electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectroscopic analysis confirmed the presence of the Pb（II）precipitates and that Pb（II） could be sequestered both extracellularly and intracellularly.Incubation with B. subtilis DBM significantly decreased the amount of the weak-acid-soluble Pb fraction in a heavy-metal-contaminated soil, resulting in a reduction in Pb bioavailability, but increased the amount of its organic-matter-bound fraction by 71%. The ability of B.subtilis DBM to reduce the bioavailability of soil Pb makes it potentially useful for bacteria-assisted phytostabilization of multi-heavy-metal-contaminated soil.     

Genotoxicity removal of reclaimed water during ozonation

Genotoxicity in wastewater and reclaimed water now is gaining increased attention because of genotoxins' potential damage to the ecosystem and human health. The effect of ozonation on genotoxicity in reclaimed water was investigated. It was found that ozonation decreased the genotoxicy dramatically in three tertiary treatment plants. In the further batch ozonation experiment in laboratory,secondary effluent sample used exhibited the genotoxicity of(41.1 ± 4.1) μg 4NQO/L. Ozonation with a dose of 10 mg O3/L completely removed the genotoxicity in secondary effluent. However,after ozonation, the dissolved organic carbonvalue of the sample didn't change much but the specific ultraviolet absorbance(SUVA) value dropped sharply. With the help of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ozonation was found to change chemical aliphatic carbon and C–O of the dissolved arganic matter, which might be the reason of the significant decreases of SUVA and genotoxicity.     

Compositions and sources of organic acids in fine particles (PM2.5) over the Pearl River Delta region, south China

Organic acids as important constituents of organic aerosols not only influence the aerosols' hygroscopic property, but also enhance the formation of new particles and secondary organic aerosols. This study reported organic acids including C14–C32fatty acids, C4–C9dicarboxylic acids and aromatic acids in PM2.5collected during winter 2009 at six typical urban, suburban and rural sites in the Pearl River Delta region. Averaged concentrations of C14–C32fatty acids, aromatic acids and C4– C9 dicarboxylic acids were 157, 72.5 and 50.7 ng/m3, respectively. They totally accounted for 1.7% of measured organic carbon. C20–C32fatty acids mainly deriving from higher plant wax showed the highest concentration at the upwind rural site with more vegetation around, while C14–C18fatty acids were more abundant at urban and suburban sites, and dicarboxylic acids and aromatic acids except 1,4-phthalic acid peaked at the downwind rural site. Succinic and azelaic acid were the most abundant among C4–C9dicarboxylic acids, and 1,2-phthalic and 1,4-phthalic acid were dominant aromatic acids. Dicarboxylic acids and aromatic acids exhibited significant mutual correlations except for 1,4-phthalic acid, which was probably primarily emitted from combustion of solid wastes containing polyethylene terephthalate plastics. Spatial patterns and correlations with typical source tracers suggested that C14–C32fatty acids were mainly primary while dicarboxylic and aromatic acids were largely secondary. Principal component analysis resolved six sources including biomass burning, natural higher plant wax, two mixed anthropogenic and two secondary sources; further multiple linear regression revealed their contributions to individual organic acids. It turned out that more than 70% of C14–C18fatty acids were attributed to anthropogenic sources, about 50%–85% of the C20–C32fatty acids were attributed to natural sources, 80%–95% of dicarboxylic acids and 1,2-phthalic acid were secondary in contrast with that 81% of 1,4-phthalic acid was primary.     

Potential bioremediation of mercury-contaminated substrate using filamentous fungi isolated from forest soil

The use of filamentous fungi in bioremediation of heavy metal contamination has been developed recently. This research aims to observe the capability of filamentous fungi isolated from forest soil for bioremediation of mercury contamination in a substrate. Six fungal strains were selected based on their capability to grow in 25 mg/L Hg2+-contaminated potato dextrose agar plates. Fungal strain KRP1 showed the highest ratio of growth diameter, 0.831, thus was chosen for further observation.Identification based on colony and cell morphology carried out by 18S rRNA analysis gave a 98%match to Aspergillus flavus strain KRP1. The fungal characteristics in mercury(Ⅱ) contamination such as range of optimum pH, optimum temperature and tolerance level were 5.5–7 and 25–35℃ and 100 mg/L respectively. The concentration of mercury in the media affected fungal growth during lag phases. The capability of the fungal strain to remove the mercury(Ⅱ) contaminant was evaluated in 100 mL sterile 10 mg/L Hg2+-contaminated potato dextrose broth media in 250 mL Erlenmeyer flasks inoculated with 108spore/mL fungal spore suspension and incubation at 30℃ for 7 days. The mercury(Ⅱ) utilization was observed for flasks shaken in a 130 r/min orbital shaker(shaken) and nonshaken flasks(static) treatments. Flasks containing contaminated media with no fungal spores were also provided as control. All treatments were done in triplicate. The strain was able to remove 97.50%and 98.73% mercury from shaken and static systems respectively. A. flavus strain KRP1 seems to have potential use in bioremediation of aqueous substrates containing mercury(Ⅱ) through a biosorption mechanism.     

镜头

<正>山西黄河湿地天鹅飞翔2014年1月13日发布的第二次全国湿地资源调查结果显示:近10年间,我国湿地保护面积增加了525.94万公顷,湿地保护率由30.49%提高到43.51%。图为三只天鹅在山西省平陆黄河湿地上空飞翔。     

垃圾“零填埋”,路在何方?

<正>垃圾主要指在日常生活中为日常生活提供服务的活动中产生的固体废物。与其他固体废物不同的是,垃圾是我们每个人每一天都要产生和排放的,不可避免地要与我们经常性地发生"亲密接触",处理不当会影响市容、传播疾病和污染环境。正因为     

Aerobic granules cultivated and operated in continuous-flow bioreactor under particle-size selective pressure

A novel method based on the selective pressure of particle size （particle-size cultivation method, PSCM） was developed for the cultivation and operation of aerobic granular sludge in a continuous-flow reactor, and compared with the conventional method based on the selective pressure of settling velocity （settling-velocity cultivation method, SVCM）. Results indicated that aerobic granules could be cultivated in continuous operation mode by this developed method within 14 days. Although in the granulation process, under particle-size selective pressure, mixed liquor suspended solids （MLSS） in the reactor fluctuated greatly and filamentous bacteria dominated the sludge system during the initial operation days, no obvious difference in profile was found between the aerobic granules cultivated by PSCM and SVCM. Moreover, aerobic granules cultivated by PSCM presented larger diameter, lower water content and higher specific rates of nitrification, denitrifieation and phosphorus removal, but lower settling velocity. Under long term operation of more than 30 days, aerobic granules in the continuous-flow reactor could remain stable and obtain good chemical oxygen demand （COD）, NH4^＋-N, total nitrogen （TN） and total phosphorus （TP） removal. The results indicate that PSCM was dependent on the cultivation and maintenance of the stability of aerobic granules in continuous-flow bioreactors.     

餐厨/厨余垃圾“不入土”,变废为宝“再消化”——北京绿色空间生物科技有限公司的循环之道

餐厨及厨余垃圾是有机垃圾的一种,餐厨垃圾是指餐饮服务单位在食品加工、饮食服务、单位供餐活动中产生的食物残渣、残液和废弃油脂等废弃物。厨余垃圾是指,家庭中产生的易腐食物垃圾,主要包括剩菜、剩饭、菜帮菜叶、瓜果皮核废弃食物等。餐厨及厨余垃圾含有大量的有机质,如果将它们能就地处理变成有机肥,既可省下用作填埋场的土地,还能节约运输它们的车辆和能源,防止滋生蚊蝇和细菌。不仅保护了环境,还滋养了土地。