Effect of activated sludge treatment on the formation of Nnitrosamines under different chloramination conditions

Municipal wastewater discharge is considered as one of the main sources of N-nitrosamine precursors which can impact the qualities of downstream source waters and reclaimed wastewaters for potable reuse. NNitrosamine precursors can be removed to various degrees during biological wastewater treatment (e.g., the activated sludge (AS) process). So far, little is known about the impact of the AS process on N-nitrosamine formation under practical disinfection condition (e.g., uniform formation condition (UFC)). In this study, N-nitrosamine UFC from selected model compounds, sewage components (i.e., blackwaters and greywaters) and sewage samples were comprehensively investigated during batch AS treatment tests. NNitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) formation from the tested precursor compounds (i.e., trimethylamine (TMA) and sumatriptan (SMTR)) under UFC chloramination decreased mostly after 6 or 24 hr treatment with different types of AS (i.e., domestic rural AS, domestic urban AS, and textile AS), and the reductions in NDMA UFC were comparable to their NDMA formation potential (FP) reductions. In urine and feces blackwaters, NDMA UFC increased after 6 or 24 hr treatment with the domestic (i.e., rural and urban) AS, while NDMA FP decreased substantially. The increases in NDMA UFC after AS treatment was presumably attributed to the removal of bulk organic matters (e.g., dissolved organic carbon (DOC)) which favored NDMA formation under UFC. On the other hand, in laundry greywaters having relatively abundant DOC, N-nitrosamine UFC was less affected by DOC removal before or after AS treatment, but decreased to similar degrees with N-nitrosamine FP. In sewage samples collected from wastewater treatment plants, N-nitrosamines UFC tended to increase or remain constant during AS treatment, despite the decreases in their FPs. These results suggest that biological wastewater treatment (e.g., the AS process) may not effectively reduce N-nitrosamine formation (e.g., measured under UFC) partially because the concurrent removal of bulk organic matters (e.g., DOC) favored N-nitrosamine formation in s econdary effluents.     

淮河流域淮安段着生藻类群落结构特征分析

于2021年5月对淮安境内淮河主要干支流8个点位的水质状况和着生藻类群落结构采样调查,应用3种多样性指数模型评价区域水生态健康状况,并探究影响着生藻类多样性的因素。结果表明：采样期间淮河流域淮安市域共检出着生藻类3门23科32属（种）,由硅藻门、蓝藻门和绿藻门组成,硅藻门占绝对优势;多样性指数计算结果显示,流域水生态状况良好,整体表现为清洁-轻污型水体,淮河上游水质稍差于其他水域;结合水质监测数据与卫星遥感影像分析,认为生境状况是影响着生藻类群落分布的主要因素。     

Wilderness forms and their implications for global environmental policy and conservation

With the intention of securing industry-free land and seascapes, protecting wilderness entered international policy as a formal target for the first time in the zero draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Given this increased prominence in international policy, it is timely to consider the extent to which the construct of wilderness supports global conservation objectives. We evaluated the construct by overlaying recently updated cumulative human pressure maps that offer a global-scale delineation of industry-free land as wilderness with maps of carbon stock, species richness, and ground travel time from urban centers. Wilderness areas took variable forms in relation to carbon stock, species richness, and proximity to urban centers, where 10% of wilderness areas represented high carbon and species richness, 20% low carbon and species richness, and 3% high levels of remoteness (>48 h), carbon, and species richness. Approximately 35% of all remaining wilderness in 2013 was accessible in <24 h of travel time from urban centers. Although the construct of wilderness can be used to secure benefits in specific contexts, its application in conservation must account for contextual and social implications. The diverse characterization of wilderness under a global environmental conservation lens shows that a nuanced framing and application of the construct is needed to improve understanding, communication, and retention of its variable forms as industry-free places.     

土壤环境中锑的生物毒性评价方法比较

锑的生物毒性测试可以间接反映锑及其化合物对生物与生态系统的影响.在简要介绍锑在土壤环境中赋存特征的基础上,综述了不同类型生物对土壤及其浸提液中锑的毒性响应,比较了不同的生物毒性测试方法在土壤环境中锑污染识别的可行性及适应性,并提出了考虑土壤性质及老化时间对锑生物毒性评价的影响,以及使用不同营养等级指示生物(微生物、动物...     

Packaging glass contained in the heavy residual fraction refused by Portuguese Mechanical and Biological Treatment plants

Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) is an important strategy to manage Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in Europe. The presence of recyclable materials on MSW depends on different factors such as inefficiencies in the Municipal Solid Waste collecting schemes and to the low level of citizenship environmental education. Among other products, MBT plants produce a residual fraction, named here as heavy residual fraction, that contains a significant amount of packaging glass which in Portugal is currently landfilled. This material is not recycled because it is heavily contaminated with other materials, preventing its processing in Material Recovery Facilities (MRF).In this paper the characterization, including particle size and composition, of the residual fraction of six Portuguese MBT plants is presented. The relevant variables that determine the heavy residual fraction characteristics were identified. It was observed that the MBTr particle size distribution is different and depends mainly on the place on the flowsheet where the MBTr exits the process, which is determined by the type of biological process and by the aperture of the last screen where the product passes through. The content in glass varies from 33 to 83%. These values are mainly related with the upstream glass sorting and with the efficiency of the recovery of the organic fraction which is the glass main contaminant. The second main contaminant is “stones”.The quantity of glass contained in this product in all the plants that will be in operation in Portugal in 2014 was estimated. The work shows that if all the 48,000 of glass could be recovered the Portuguese recycling rate would increase by 4.4%.