Evolution rates and PCB content of surface films that develop on impervious urban surfaces

Surface films on impervious surfaces mediate the fate of organic contaminants in urban areas. Using sheltered 3-mm diameter glass beads as a surrogate impervious urban surface, studies in downtown Toronto showed that surface films developed at a consistent rate of 1.6–2.6 nm day⁻¹. Linear film growth was observed up to and including the last day of three studies of 89-, 273-, and 84-day duration. Total PCB content (sum of 15 PCB congeners) also increased linearly, at a similar rate as the surface film. A complementary study using unsheltered beads showed that up to 80% of film mass and PCB content were removed by film wash-off during rain events. The film growth rate on beads exposed at a rural site, 200 km northeast of Toronto, was 12–20 times lower with PCB burdens that were 7–22 times lower compared to Toronto. Based on these findings, it is estimated that approximately 56–226 g of PCBs are captured by a 70 nm thick film covering just the horizontal surface area of Toronto. This is a substantial quantity of PCB that is available for rapid surface–air exchange and wash-off.     

Plant uptake of trace elements on a Swiss military shooting range: uptake pathways and land management implications

Over 400tons of Pb enters Swiss soils annually at some 2000 military shooting ranges (MSRs). We measured elements in the leaves of 10 plant species and associated rhizospheric soil on the stop butt of a disused MSR. The geometric mean concentrations of Pb, Sb, Cu, Ni in rhizospheric soils were 10,171mg/kg, 5067mg/kg, 4125mg/kg and 917mg/kg. Some species contained Pb, Cu and Ni, above concentrations (30mg/kg, 25mg/kg and 50mg/kg) shown to be toxic to livestock. Most contaminants in leaves resulted from surface deposition. However, at soil Pb concentrations >60,000mg/kg, Equisetum arvense and Tussilago farfara took up >1000mg/kg Pb into the leaves. These plants are not hyperaccumulators, having <100mg/kg Pb in leaves at lower soil concentrations. Removal of soil with more than 30,000 Pb, from which one could smelt this metal to offset remediation costs, followed by revegetation, would minimise dust and hence leaf-borne contaminants.     

Distribution and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface sediments of rivers and an estuary in Shanghai, China

Concentrations, spatial distribution and sources of 17 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and methylnaphthalene were investigated in surface sediments of rivers and an estuary in Shanghai, China. Total PAH concentrations, excluding perylene, ranged from 107 to 1707 ng/g-dw. Sedimentary PAH concentrations of the Huangpu River were higher than those of the Yangtze Estuary. The concentration of the Suzhou River was close to the average concentration of the Huangpu River. PAHs source analysis suggested that, in the Yangtze Estuary, PAHs at locations far away from cities were mainly from petrogenic sources. At other locations, both petrogenic and pyrogenic inputs were significant. In the Huangpu and Suzhou Rivers, pyrogenic input outweighed other sources. The pyrogenic PAHs in the upper reaches of the Huangpu River were mainly from the incomplete combustion of grass, wood and coal, and those in the middle and lower reaches were from vehicle and vessel exhaust.     

Modeling Urban Growth Effects on Surface Runoff with the Integration of Remote Sensing and GIS

A methodology is developed to relate urban growth studies to distributed hydrological modeling using an integrated approach of remote sensing and GIS. This linkage is possible because both studies share land-use and land-cover data. Landsat Thematic Mapper data are utilized to detect urban land-cover changes. GIS analyses are then conducted to examine the changing spatial patterns of urban growth. The integration of remote sensing and GIS is applied to automate the estimation of surface runoff based on the Soil Conservation Service model. Impacts of urban growth on surface runoff and the rainfall–runoff relationship are examined by linking the two modeling results with spatial analysis techniques. This methodology is applied to the Zhujiang Delta of southern China, where dramatic urban growth has occurred over the past two decades, and the rampant urban growth has created severe problems in water resources management. The results revealed a notably uneven spatial pattern of urban growth and an increase of 8.10 mm in annual runoff depth during the 1989–1997 period. An area that experienced more urban growth had a greater potential for increasing annual surface runoff. Highly urbanized areas were more prone to flooding. Urbanization lowered potential maximum storage, and thus increased runoff coefficient values.     

Distribution patterns of octylphenol and nonylphenol in the aquatic system at Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve, a subtropical estuarine wetland in Hong Kong

Spatial and temporal distribution of octylphenol （OP） and nonylphenol （NP） in Mai Po Marshes, a subtropical estuarine wetland in Hong Kong, were investigated. Surface water samples were collected every month from 11 sites during the period of September- December 2004. Concentrations of OP and NP ranged from 11.3 to 348 ng/L and from 29 to 2591 ng/L, respectively. The high levels of NP and OP were found in November and December than in September and October. The levels of OP and NP have no significant spatial differences except September. Total organic matter in the sediments appeared to be an important factor in controlling the fate of these compounds in the aquatic environment.     

颗粒物微界面吸附模型的分形修正--朗格缪尔(Langmuir)、弗伦德利希(Freundlich)和表面络合模型

运用分形理论修正了颗粒物微界面吸附模型,建立了朗格缪尔(Langmuir)、弗伦德利希(Freundlich)和表面络合模型的分形吸附等温线方程式．其中,朗格缪尔(Langmuir)吸附等温线的分形表达式为：Γ=ΓmCc^1/m／(b^m Cc^1/m),指数m与颗粒物表面分维Ds的关系如下：m∝ac^D/2-1∝ro^Do-2;表面络合模型的分形表达式为：Γ=ΓmCs^(n/x)/(b^(n/x) Cs^(n/x)),而且lgb=lg(ks／kb) pH,指数x／n与颗粒物表面分维Ds的关系如下：x／n∝0^D/2-1∝r0^D-2;相应的弗伦德利希(Freundlich)吸附等温线的分形形式分别为：Γ=(Γm／bm)Cs^1/n,Γ=(Γm／b^(x/n))Cr^(n/x),通过对献中的数据的模拟初步讨论了分形模型的适用性,结果表明,它们具有更接近于实际的描述微界面吸附过程的能力,通过lg(x／n)=lgk’ (Dn-2)lgro计算出土壤颗粒和尾矿砂颗粒的表面分形维数分别为2．42和2．72。     

Decolorization of synthetic Methyl Orange wastewater by electrocoagulation with periodic reversal of electrodes and optimization by RSM

Treatment of Methyl Orange (MO), an azo dye, synthetic wastewater by electrocoagulation with periodic reversal of the electrodes (PREC) was examined. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the influence of experimental conditions for color removal (CR), energy consumption (ENC), electrode consumption (ELC) and sludge production (SP) per kg MO removed (kg(MO_r)) with optimal conditions being found to be pH 7.4, solution conductivity (к) 9.4 mS cm⁻¹, cell voltage (U) 4.4 V, current density (j) 185 mA cm⁻², electrocoagulation time (T) 14 min, cycle of periodic reversal of electrodes (t) 15 s, inter-electrode distance (d) 3.5 cm and initial MO concentration of 125 mg L⁻¹. Under these conditions, 97 ± 2% color was removed and ENC, ELC and SP were 44 ± 3 kWh kg(MO_r)⁻¹, 4.1 ± 0.2 kg(Al) kg(MO_r)⁻¹ and 17.2 ± 0.9 kg(sludge) kg(MO_r)⁻¹, respectively. With the enhanced electrochemical efficiency resulting from the periodic electrode reversal, the coefficients of increased resistance and decreased current density between the two electrodes in the PREC setup were 2.48 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm⁻² min⁻¹ and 0.29 mA cm⁻² min⁻¹, respectively, as compared to 7.72 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm⁻² min⁻¹ and 0.79 mA cm⁻² min⁻¹ as measured for the traditional electrocoagulation process. The rate constant of decolorization was also enhanced by 20.4% from 0.152 min⁻¹ in the traditional electrocoagulation process to 0.183 min⁻¹ in the PREC process. These performance characteristics indicate that the PREC approach may be more promising in terms of practical application, as a cost-effective treatment, than conventional electrocoagulation for textile dye removals.     

上海市郊4种地表径流污染负荷调查与评价

地表径流属于非点源污染，地表径流的产生取决于复杂的降雨过程，径流中污染物浓度，径流深度，产流面积是地表径流污染负荷的３大要素，该文对上海郊的４种地表径流进行了调查，并在污染源评价的基础上与市郊非点源污染总量进行了比较。结果表明，上海市郊进入水全的污染负荷，ＣＯＤｃｒ约为６２６３４．７ｔ／ａ，总氮为６２８８．２ｔ／ａ，总磷为１２４４．６ｔ／ａ，此结果说明地表径流是上海市郊仅次于畜禽类尿的重要非点污染     

Mechanism of Cu(Ⅱ) adsorption inhibition on biochar by its aging process

Biochar exposed in the environment may experience a series of surface changes, which is called biochar aging. In order to study the effects of biochar aging on Cu（Ⅱ） adsorption, we analyzed the surface properties before and after biochar aging with scanning electron microscopy（SEM） coupled to an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer（EDX） and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy（DRIFTS）, and then explored the influence of the aging process on Cu（Ⅱ） adsorption by batch experiments. After the aging process, the oxygen concentration, phenolic hydroxyl groups, aromatic ethers and other oxygen-containing functional groups on the biochar surface increased, while carboxyl groups slightly decreased. Thus, over a range of pH, the cation exchange capacity（CEC） and adsorption capacity of Cu（Ⅱ） on the aged biochar were smaller than those of new biochar,indicating that when biochar is incubated at constant temperature and water holding capacity in the dark, the aging process may inhibit Cu（Ⅱ） adsorption. Meanwhile, the dissociation characteristics of oxygen-containing functional groups changed through the aging process, which may be the mechanism by which the biochar aging process inhibits the Cu（Ⅱ） adsorption. Carboxyl groups became more easily dissociated at low pH（3.3–5.0）,and the variation of maximum adsorption capability（qm） of Cu（Ⅱ） on the old biochar was enlarged. Phenolic hydroxyl groups increased after the aging, making them and carboxyl groups more difficult to dissociate at high pH（5.0–6.8）, and the variation of qmof Cu（Ⅱ） on the aged biochar was reduced.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air, surface soil and wheat grain near a large steel-smelting manufacturer in northern China

The total concentrations and component profiles of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in ambient air, surface soil and wheat grain collected from wheat fields near a large steel-smelting manufacturer in Northern China were determined. Based on the specific isomeric ratios of paired species in ambient air, principle component analysis and multivariate linear regression, the main emission source of local PAHs was identified as a mixture of industrial and domestic coal combustion, biomass burning and traffic exhaust. The total organic carbon (TOC) fraction was considerably correlated with the total and individual PAH concentrations in surface soil. The total concentrations of PAHs in wheat grain were relatively low, with dominant low molecular weight constituents, and the compositional profile was more similar to that in ambient air than in topsoil. Combined with more significant results from partial correlation and linear regression models, the contribution from air PAHs to grain PAHs may be greater than that from soil PAHs.