Sulfur-oxidizing autotrophic and mixotrophic denitrification processes for drinking water treatment: elimination of excess sulfate production and alkalinity requirement

The activity of copper oxide, titanium carbide and silicon nitride nanoparticles for the oxidative degradation of environmentally relevant concentrations (μg L⁻¹ range) of enrofloxacin - an important veterinary antibiotic drug - in aqueous solutions was investigated. With hydrogen peroxide as an oxidative agent, both copper oxide and titanium carbide decrease the concentration of enrofloxacin by more than 90% over 12 h. Addition of sodium halide salts strongly increases the reaction rate of copper oxide nanoparticles. The mechanism for the formation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) was investigated by Electron Spin Resonance (ESR).     

环境中铅和镉的来源及其对人和动物的危害

几十年来，由于科学技术的发展，环境中有毒或潜在有毒化学物，特别是重金属，种类和数量增加，对人和动物构成了严重威胁。在这些重金属中，铅和镉尤为突出，毒性最大。本文阐述了它们的主要来源，慢性毒性，长期容许量或安全标准，略述了这二种金属与其他元素或养分的相互作用，因为这些作用显著影响了它们的毒性，特别讨论了这些作用对二种金属的容许量或最小长期安全摄入量的影响及其复杂性，最后建议继续研究以找出显示铅和镉对人体亚临床反应的早期敏感性指标。     

Halothiobacillus neapolitanus脱硫性能及限制性因素影响

实验采用气升式反应器考察Halothiobacillus neapolitanus CYJN-1的脱除硫代硫酸盐的效果及其动力学,鉴定不同有机物如醇类、酸类以及重金属离子对其脱硫效果的影响,并比较了反复培养、低温保藏、冷冻干燥、平板保藏和甘油保藏方法的保藏效果。结果表明,通过动力学分析,Halothiobacillus neapolitanus CYJN-1在气升式反应器脱硫过程的最大比生长速率和比消耗速率分别为0.22 h-1和0.23×10-3 g/(cells·h),24 h时转化硫代硫酸钠效率为99%,其中约65%还原态的硫被氧化生成单质硫,产量为0.87 g/L。该菌对甲酸、乙酸等低碳有机物的耐受性较差,对Zn2+、Mn2+和Pb2+离子呈现较强的抗性。中短期保藏过程采用新鲜培养基悬浮4℃保藏效果较佳,保藏1~3个月存活率仍可维持90%左右。     

Pseudomonas S2-3菌株对Cr(VI)的耐受性及去除

针对分离得到的Cr(VI)耐受菌株S2-3进行了基本生长特征、16S rRNA序列分析、Cr(VI)对菌株生长影响、菌株生长代谢与铬的去除的关系等研究。结果表明:该菌株属于假单胞菌,与Pseudomonas chlororaphis(Z76673)相似性最高(99.8%);Cr(VI)对菌株生长有着明显的抑制作用,其耐受上限可达到1500 mg/L左右;Cr(VI)导致菌体细胞大小分布变宽,同时使得细胞表面的-OH和-NH基团减少。当初始Cr(VI)浓度为100 mg/L时,48 h内菌株S2-3对Cr(VI)去除效率可达到85.9%,对总铬去除率为24.1%。在高Cr(VI)浓度(1000 mg/L)下,菌株对Cr(VI)和总铬仍有一定的去除效果,分别为58.7%和3.3%。菌株S2-3主要通过还原Cr(VI)的方式去除Cr(VI)。Cr(VI)的还原与菌液ORP以及细胞表面的-OH和-NH有关;总铬的去除不是因为形成了氢氧化铬沉淀,而是Cr(III)被吸附在了细胞表面的-C=O上。     

改良铅锌矿渣对栾树幼苗铅锌富集与耐性机制

植物修复是尾矿区恢复的一项生态技术,添加基质改良剂可以减轻重金属对植物的胁迫,提高修复效率.以木本植物栾树（Koelreuteria paniculata）作为供试植物,分别在100%尾矿（S）、90%的尾矿+5%蘑菇渣（SMC）+5% CaCO₃（MS）和天然红壤（RS）中进行盆栽试验.探究不同处理下栾树耐受Pb和Zn的生长富集效应、微观特征变化和基质中微生物多样性变化.结果表明,改良剂的添加相比于尾矿可以显著改善尾矿基质的理化结构,显著提升栾树的生物量、株高和叶绿素含量等相关生理指标,增加栾树中积累的重金属含量.处理组MS相较于对照组RS总根长增长达到69.3%,而对照组RS平均根径相较于对照组S下降118.7%.处理组MS与对照组S相比,Pb和Zn残渣态增加266.67%,弱酸可提取态和氧化物结合态显著降低,重金属对于植株迁移活性减弱.同时,多数重金属被栾树截留在根部,其根系构型的变化表明其在面对高浓度的Pb胁迫时具有较强的适应性.透射电镜（TEM）分析表明,对照组S中较高浓度的重金属含量会破坏细胞壁结构,对植物细胞造成毒害.改良剂的添加有效缓解了重金属胁迫对栾树各组织的影响,影响微生物群落的结构,显著提高微生物丰富度和多样性,增强栾树对重金属的适应性和植物修复能力.     

Tropical amphibians in shifting thermal landscapes under land‐use and climate change

Land‐cover and climate change are both expected to alter species distributions and contribute to future biodiversity loss. However, the combined effects of land‐cover and climate change on assemblages, especially at the landscape scale, remain understudied. Lowland tropical amphibians may be particularly susceptible to changes in land cover and climate warming because many species have narrow thermal safety margins resulting from air and body temperatures that are close to their critical thermal maxima (CT_max). We examined how changing thermal landscapes may alter the area of thermally suitable habitat (TSH) for tropical amphibians. We measured microclimates in 6 land‐cover types and CT_max of 16 frog species in lowland northeastern Costa Rica. We used a biophysical model to estimate core body temperatures of frogs exposed to habitat‐specific microclimates while accounting for evaporative cooling and behavior. Thermally suitable habitat area was estimated as the portion of the landscape where species CT_max exceeded their habitat‐specific maximum body temperatures. We projected changes in TSH area 80 years into the future as a function of land‐cover change only, climate change only, and combinations of land‐cover and climate‐change scenarios representing low and moderate rates of change. Projected decreases in TSH area ranged from 16% under low emissions and reduced forest loss to 30% under moderate emissions and business‐as‐usual land‐cover change. Under a moderate emissions scenario (A1B), climate change alone contributed to 1.7‐ to 4.5‐fold greater losses in TSH area than land‐cover change only, suggesting that future decreases in TSH from climate change may outpace structural habitat loss. Forest‐restricted species had lower mean CT_max than species that occurred in altered habitats, indicating that thermal tolerances will likely shape assemblages in changing thermal landscapes. In the face of ongoing land‐cover and climate change, it will be critical to consider changing thermal landscapes in strategies to conserve ectotherm species.     

Leaching behavior of copper from waste printed circuit boards with Brønsted acidic ionic liquid

In this work, a Brønsted acidic ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium hydrogen sulfate ([bmim]HSO₄), was used to leach copper from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs, mounted with electronic components) for the first time, and the leaching behavior of copper was discussed in detail. The results showed that after the pre-treatment, the metal distributions were different with the particle size: Cu, Zn and Al increased with the increasing particle size; while Ni, Sn and Pb were in the contrary. And the particle size has significant influence on copper leaching rate. Copper leaching rate was higher than 99%, almost 100%, when 1 g WPCBs powder was leached under the optimum conditions: particle size of 0.1–0.25 mm, 25 mL 80% (v/v) ionic liquid, 10 mL 30% hydrogen peroxide, solid/liquid ratio of 1/25, 70 °C and 2 h. Copper leaching by [bmim]HSO₄ can be modeled with the shrinking core model, controlled by diffusion through a solid product layer, and the kinetic apparent activation energy has been calculated to be 25.36 kJ/mol.     

Community Tolerance Comparison As A New and Sensitive Ecotoxicological Tool

The demonstration of an increased tolerance to a pollutant is direct evidence that this pollutant has presented a selection pressure upon a population or community. Recently, pollution-induced community tolerance (PICT) has been applied to the benthic community in a metal-enriched estuary to establish causal linkage between observed changes in community structure and composition and the presence of copper. This paper describes the rationale and methodology behind applying PICT to the marine benthic environment, and shows it to be a sensitive ecotoxicological tool. It also presents a case study, demonstrating how a PICT investigation has aided the interpretation of changes in a benthic community, establishing a causal linkage between these changes in the community and the presence of a specific pollutant.     

Heavy Metals Contamination of Topsoil in the Vicinities of Auto-Repair Workshops,Gas Stations and Motor-Parks in a Nigerian City

Concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu,Cr, Co and Ni were determined in topsoil obtained from vicinities of auto-repair workshops, gas-stations and motor-parks in Ibadan, Nigeria. The levels were elevated above background concentrations in control sites. Lead and copper were the most significant contaminants, and the degree of contamination was highest in auto-repair workshops. Factors of accumulation for Pb and Cu were: auto-repair workshops: Pb - 95.8, Cu - 117; gas stations: Pb - 46.6, Cu - 33.5; motor-parks: Pb - 31.6, Cu - 16.8. For Zn, Cd, Cr, Co and Ni, the factors of accumulation were much lower and did not vary much among the three study areas. Average values for all locations were: Zn - 5.2, Cd - 4.4, Cr - 3.7, Co - 1.5, Ni - 1.7. Improper disposal of waste lubricants is the likely source of high copper contamination.     

Community Tolerance Comparison As A New and Sensitive Ecotoxicological Tool

The demonstration of an increased tolerance to a pollutant is direct evidence that this pollutant has presented a selection pressure upon a population or community. Recently, pollution-induced community tolerance (PICT) has been applied to the benthic community in a metal-enriched estuary to establish causal linkage between observed changes in community structure and composition and the presence of copper. This paper describes the rationale and methodology behind applying PICT to the marine benthic environment, and shows it to be a sensitive ecotoxicological tool. It also presents a case study, demonstrating how a PICT investigation has aided the interpretation of changes in a benthic community, establishing a causal linkage between these changes in the community and the presence of a specific pollutant.