Impacts of advanced treatment processes on elimination of antibiotic resistance genes in a municipal wastewater treatment plant

The distributions of ARGs were monitored in a WWTP in Harbin during six months. CASS had the best removal efficacy of ARGs compared to other processes in the WWTP. UV disinfection could effectively control the HGT. AGAC significantly remove ARGs and organics due to its high absorption capacity. Combination of ozone and AGAC significantly improve removal of ARGs and organics. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) pose a serious threat to public health. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are essential for controlling the release of ARGs into the environment. This study investigated ARG distribution at every step in the treatment process of a municipal WWTP located in Harbin for six consecutive months. Changes in ARG distribution involved in two advanced secondary effluent treatment processes, ozonation and granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption, were analyzed. Biological treatment resulted in the highest ARG removal (0.76–1.94 log reduction), followed by ultraviolet (UV) disinfection (less than 0.5-log reduction). Primary treatment could not significantly remove ARGs. ARG removal efficiency increased with an increase in the ozone dose below 40 mg/L. However, amorphous GAC (AGAC) adsorption with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1 h showed better removal of ARGs, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) than ozonation at a 60 mg/L dose. UV treatment could efficiently reduce the relative ARG abundance, despite presenting the lowest efficiency for the reduction of absolute ARG abundance compared with GAC and ozone treatments. The combination of ozone and AGAC can significantly improve the removal of ARGs, TOC, TN and TP. These results indicate that a treatment including biological processing, ozonation, and AGAC adsorption is a promising strategy for removing ARGs and refractory organic substances from sewage.     

Linking Fine-Scale Sub-Arctic Vegetation Distribution in Complex Topography with Surface-Air-Temperature Modelled at 50-m Resolution

This article presents the impact of the ecological investment in ironworks (dust filter installation) and construction works at a highly contaminated brownfield site on the chemical composition of household dust (HD) and street sediment (SS) in Celje, Slovenia. The evaluation is based on two sampling campaigns: the first was undertaken 1 month before the ecological investment became operational and the second 3 years later. The results show that dust filter installations reduced the content of Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Mo, W and Zn on average by 58% in HD and by 51% in SS. No reduction was observed at sampling points in the upwind direction from the ironworks. By contrast, the impact of the construction works on the highly contaminated brownfield site was detected by a significant increase (on average by 37%) of elements connected to the brownfield contamination in SS. Such increase was not detected in HD.     

Diagnosis of dissolved organic matter removal by GAC treatment in biologically treated papermill effluents using advanced organic characterisation techniques

Granular activated carbon (GAC) exhaustion rates on pulp and paper effluent from South East Australia were found to be a factor of three higher (3.62 cf. 1.47 kg m⁻³) on Kraft mills compared to mills using Thermomechanical pulping supplemented by Recycled Fibre (TMP/RCF). Biological waste treatment at both mills resulted in a final effluent COD of 240 mg L⁻¹. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was only 1.2 times higher in the Kraft effluent (70 vs. 58 mg L⁻¹), however, GAC treatment of Kraft and TMP/RCF effluent was largely different on the DOC persisted after biological treatment. The molecular mass (636 vs. 534 g mol⁻¹) and aromaticity (5.35 vs. 4.67 L mg⁻¹ m⁻¹) of humic substances (HS) were slightly higher in the Kraft effluent. The HS aromaticity was decreased by a factor of 1.0 L mg⁻¹ m⁻¹ in both Kraft and TMP/RCF effluent. The molecular mass of the Kraft effluent increased by 50 g mol⁻¹ while the molecular mass of the TMP/RCF effluent was essentially unchanged after GAC treatment; the DOC removal efficiency of the GAC on Kraft effluent was biased towards the low molecular weight humic compounds. The rapid adsorption of this fraction, coupled with the slightly higher aromaticity of the humic components resulted in early breakthrough on the Kraft effluent. Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix analysis of the each GAC treated effluent indicated that the refractory components were higher molecular weight humics on the Kraft effluent and protein-like compounds on the TMP/RCF effluent. Although the GAC exhaustion rates are too high for an effective DOC removal option for biologically treated pulp and paper mill effluents, the study indicates that advanced organic characterisation techniques can be used to diagnose GAC performance on complex effluents with comparable bulk DOC and COD loads.     

Endocrine modulation and toxic effects of two commonly used UV screens on the aquatic invertebrates Potamopyrgus antipodarum and Lumbriculus variegatus

The two UV screens 3-benzylidene-camphor (3-BC) and 3-(4'-methylbenzylidene)-camphor (4-MBC) were tested regarding their toxicity and estrogenic activity. The Yeast Estrogen Screen (YES) and two sediment assays with the freshwater invertebrates Lumbriculus variegatus and Potamopyrgus antipodarum were performed. In the YES, both substances activated the human estrogen receptor alpha with EC50 values of 44.2 microM for 3-BC and 44.3 microM for 4-MBC, whereby 4-MBC attained only 8% of the maximal response of 17beta-estradiol. For P. antipodarum embryo production increased after exposure to both substances (EC50 of 4.60 microM 4-MBC=1.17 mg kg(-1)dw) while mortality increased at high concentrations. The reproduction of L. variegatus was decreased by 3-BC with an EC50 of 5.95 microM (=1.43 mg kg(-1)dw) and also by 4-MBC, where no EC50 could be calculated. While reproduction decreased, the worms' weight increased after exposure to 3-BC with an EC50 of 26.9 microM (=6.46 mg kg(-1) dw), hence the total biomass remained unaffected.     

循环流化床烟气脱硫装置对袋式除尘器影响的实验研究

在1台与袋式除尘器配套的循环流化床烟气脱硫系统上,通过对运行脱硫系统前后袋式除尘器的脱硫效果机理性分析。研究了循环流化床烟气脱硫装置对袋式除尘器工作稳定性、除尘效率和阻力的影响,并提出了改进措施。     

利用气体-气溶胶在线测量技术研究乌鲁木齐颗粒物水溶性组分与气体污染

将气体-气溶胶收集装置与离子色谱联用技术（GAC）应用于冬季重污染地区乌鲁木齐,对当地大气中痕量气体与气溶胶中的水溶性组分进行了为期2周的在线测量,并结合膜采样结果、PM10质量浓度及气溶胶消光系数等数据初步分析了污染物的变化规律与重污染成因.结果表明,GAC测得的氯盐、硝酸盐、硫酸盐与膜采样方法测得的相应组分数值显著正相关,相关系数分别为0.92(p<0.0001)、0.89(p<0.0001)、090 (p<0.0001).乌鲁木齐大气污染极其严重,氯盐、硫酸盐和二氧化硫浓度都非常高,这在其他地区较为罕见;二氧化硫、氯盐、硝酸盐与硫酸盐分别呈现不同的日变化规律;整个采样期间出现了1次极端污染天气,API值达到500,该日硫转化率（SOR）和氮转化率（NOR）的小时平均值最高达到0.69与0.36,说明二次转化也可能是形成重污染天气的主要原因.高浓度的PM10对能见度影响极大,PM2.5中的氯盐与气溶胶消光系数的相关系数最大,硫酸盐与硝酸盐次之,而硫酸盐、硝酸盐、氯盐这3种盐类对PM10的贡献依次递减.     

改性活性炭除亚砷酸盐的性能研究

制备了2种负载铁锰氧化物的改性活性炭（FM-GAC-1、FM-GAC-2）并研究其对水中的亚砷酸盐的去除性能.考察了2种改性活性炭除三价砷的吸附等温线、反应动力学及pH、温度、水中共存离子对其去除三价砷的影响,发现FM-GAC-1和FM-GAC-2对三价砷均有较好的去除效果,吸附容量分别为32.37、 26.67 mg·g^-1.吸附速率符合拟二级反应动力学,化学反应控制过程是改性活性炭除砷的限速步骤.pH值偏酸性有利于吸附的进行,温度升高,吸附容量有所下降,该吸附过程是自发的放热过程.同时,水体中的共存阴离子在其浓度值为三价砷的200倍时,SiO^2-₃、 PO^2-₃、NO^-₃对FM-GAC-1吸附三价砷有明显影响; SiO^2-₃、CO^2-₃对FM-GAC-2吸附三价砷有显著影响.总体上讲,FM-GAC-1较FM-GAC-2有更为优异的去除三价砷性能.     

饮用水处理中活性炭吸附卤乙酸的特性

采用静态和动态试验研究了活性炭对卤乙酸的物理吸附特性。静态试验表明：在单吸附质条件下,二氯乙酸和三氯乙酸的吸附等温线在低浓度区（Ｃｅ〈５０μｇ／Ｌ）表现为单层吸附,在高浓度区表现为多层吸附。活性炭对三氯乙酸的吸附能力高于二氯乙酸。在饮用水处理常见的浓度范围内,活性炭对三氯乙酸的吸附容量约为二氯乙酸的２倍。在多吸附质条件下,对三氯乙酸的吸附容量只略的降低,对二氯乙酸的吸附容量则显著下降,这与有机物的     

中、英、美污染场地风险评估导则异同与启示

近年来,随着国家"退二进三"旧城改造政策的实施,全国几乎所有的大中城市正面临着大批多种污染行业企业的关闭和搬迁,这些搬迁企业遗留场地都存在着不同程度的环境与健康风险.开展定量评估人体健康与生态环境风险是建立我国工业污染场地管理体系不可缺少的技术手段,也是适合我国国情并走向可持续性(绿色)土壤与地下水修复及综合环境管理的...     

Acute toxicity formation potential of benzophenone-type UV filters in chlorination disinfection process

Benzophenones （BPs） are a class of widely used UV filters, which have been frequently detected within multiple environmental matrices. Disinfection is a necessary process in water treatment processes. The transformation behaviors and toxicity changes of 14 BP-type UV filters during chlorination disinfection treatment were investigated in this study. A new index, the acute toxicity formation potential, was proposed to evaluate the toxicity changes and potential risks of BP-type UV filters during chlorination treatment. It was found that 13 of 14 BP-type UV filters exhibited toxicity decreases in the chlorination disinfection process, more or less, while one showed a toxicity increase. The toxicity changes were dependent on substitution effects, such that 2,4-di-hydroxylated or 3-hydroxylated BPs exhibited significant toxicity decreases after chlorination treatment due to the ready cleavage of the aromatic ring. Importantly, the acute toxicity changes could be duplicated in an ambient water matrix.