Resembling a “natural formation pattern” of chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins by varying the experimental conditions of hydrothermal carbonization

Until several years ago dioxins were considered as just an unwanted by product of anthropogenic activities and stigmatized as the symbol of man-made environmental pollution. Natural processes, such as forest fires, can emit dioxins, but compared to industrial processes, usually very low quantities are emitted. However after a case of food contamination occurred in the United States of America in 1996 caused by kaolinitic clay a discussion on the provenience started. Besides the relatively high concentration also an unusual PCDD/F distribution pattern was found in these ball clay samples. This specific pattern related to none of the known anthropogenic sources for these contaminants and, in relation to a supposed natural formation, later it was named “natural formation pattern”. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) can transform biomass within hours into a brown coal-like product which resembles naturally occurring coal formation. HTC can also transform an already present PCDD/F contamination in a way to obtain a “natural formation pattern” characterized by an unusual high ratio between 1,2,3,7,8,9-HxCDD and 1,2,3,6,7,8-HxCDD and the absence of almost all chlorinated dibenzofurans. By varying the experimental conditions of the HTC process applied to sewage sludge samples contaminated with PCDD/Fs from anthropogenic sources, beside the “natural formation pattern” at a temperatures of 255 °C, a remarkable increase of the toxicity based on WHO–TEQ was observed.     

Evaluation of potential genotoxicity of five food dyes using the somatic mutation and recombination test

In this study, different concentrations of five food dyes (amaranth, patent blue, carminic acid, indigotine and erythrosine) have been evaluated for genotoxicity in the Somatic Mutation and Recombination Test (SMART) of Drosophila melanogaster. Standard cross was used in the experiment. Larvae including two linked recessive wing hair mutations were chronically fed at different concentrations of the test compounds in standard Drosophila Instant Medium. Feeding ended with pupation of the surviving larvae. Wings of the emerging adult flies were scored for the presence of spots of mutant cells which can result from either somatic mutation or somatic recombination. For the evaluation of genotoxic effects, the frequencies of spots per wing in the treated series were compared to the control group, which was distilled water. The present study shows that carminic acid and indigotine demonstrated negative results while erythrosine demonstrated inconclusive results. In addition 25 mg mL⁻¹ concentration of patent blue and 12.5, 25 and 50 mg mL⁻¹ concentrations of amaranth demonstrated positive results in the SMART.     

A protocol for the evaluation of genotoxicity in bile of carp (Cyprinus carpio) exposed to lake water treated with different disinfectants

A sensitive and rapid method to evaluate toxic and genotoxic properties of drinking water supplied from Lake Trasimeno (Umbria, Central Italy) was worked out analysing bile in Cyprinus carpio exposed for 20 d to lake water treated with 3 different disinfectants, sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) and peracetic acid (PAA). Fish were sacrificed at 0, 10 and 20 d in order to investigate the time course of these endpoints. An aliquot of bile samples was fractionated by adsorption on C₁₈ silica cartridges and the genotoxic potential of whole bile and of bile fractions was evaluated by the single-cell microgel-electrophoresis (comet) assay on human colonic adenocarcinoma cells (Caco-2). Bile (both whole and fractionated) from specimens exposed to the three disinfectants always showed a genotoxic activity as compared to the control group. The results of this study provide evidence that all three disinfectants cause an increase in bile genotoxicity of chronically exposed fish.     

Effects of soil organic matter on the development of the microbial polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) degradation potentials

The microbial activity in soils was a critical factor governing the degradation of organic micro-pollutants. The present study was conducted to analyze the effects of soil organic matter on the development of degradation potentials for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Most of the degradation kinetics for PAHs by the indigenous microorganisms developed in soils can be fitted with the Logistic growth models. The microbial activities were relatively lower in the soils with the lowest and highest organic matter content, which were likely due to the nutrition limit and PAH sequestration. The microbial activities developed in humic acid (HA) were much higher than those developed in humin, which was demonstrated to be able to sequester organic pollutants stronger. The results suggested that the nutrition support and sequestration were the two major mechanisms, that soil organic matter influenced the development of microbial PAHs degradation potentials.     

Sources of ambient volatile organic compounds and their contributions to photochemical ozone formation at a site in the Pearl River Delta, southern China

The Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) receptor model and the Observation Based Model (OBM) were combined to analyze volatile organic compound (VOC) data collected at a suburban site (WQS) in the PRD region. The purposes are to estimate the VOC source apportionment and investigate the contributions of these sources and species of these sources to the O₃ formation in PRD. Ten VOC sources were identified. We further applied the PMF-extracted concentrations of these 10 sources into the OBM and found "solvent usage 1", "diesel vehicular emissions" and "biomass/biofuel burning" contributed most to the O₃ formation at WQS. Among these three sources, higher Relative Incremental Reactivity (RIR)-weighted values of ethene, toluene and m/p-xylene indicated that they were mainly responsible for local O₃ formation in the region. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the sources of "diesel vehicular emissions", "biomass/biofuel burning" and "solvent usage 1" had low uncertainties whereas "gasoline evaporation" showed the highest uncertainty.     

饮用水臭氧氧化处理过程中溴酸根的产生及控制

论述了给水处理中溴酸根（BrO3-）的健康危害、产生机理、影响因素及其控制和去除方法。采用臭氧氧化处理含溴离子（Br-）水时,会产生以BrO3-为主的臭氧化副产物。BrO3-的生成与Br-初始浓度、臭氧投加量、水温、无机碳浓度、水中天然有机物（NOM）的种类和浓度、以及水的pH值等因素有关。目前研究较多的削减BrO3-...     

基于电阻率的硫酸污染水泥土检测方法的探讨

电阻率法作为一种简单有效的测试方法,已在岩土工程检测中得到了一定程度的应用.通过室内试验模拟了水泥土试块受不同浓度硫酸溶液污染的反应,采用电阻率法研究了孔隙水电阻率、水泥土电阻率、结构因子与溶液浓度和龄期之间的关系.结果表明,孔隙水和水泥土电阻率随溶液浓度增大而减小、随龄期的增大而增大,结构因子随着溶液浓度和龄期的增加而增加,它们之间具有较高的相关性.这充分说明,电阻率法可应用于硫酸污染水泥土的检测和评价.     

配水管网中生物稳定性和消毒副产物的变化及相关性

研究了上海市2条不同水源水厂配水管网中可同化有机碳（AOC）、三卤甲烷（THMs）和卤乙酸（HAAs）的变化情况,并对饮用水生物稳定性和消毒副产物间的相关性进行了分析.结果表明,管网中AOC和HAAs含量受余氯和微生物活动双重作用的影响,在距水厂较近、余氯较高的管网中,可能因氯与有机物继续反应出现上升,在余氯较低的管网末梢则因为微生物降解作用使含量下降;THMs含量则只受余氯的影响,随管网延伸持续增长.HAAs与AOC含量间存在较好的线形关系,前体物间具有相似性,THMs与AOC含量间呈正相关性;作为饮用水安全性的2个重要方面,生物稳定性和消毒副产物间具有内在的关联性.