Effect of sulfate on the methanogenic activity of a bacterial culture from a brewery wastewater during glucose degradation

The maximum specific methanogenic activity （SMA） of a sludge originating from a brewery wastewater treatment plant on the degradation of glucose was investigated at various levels of sulfate on a specific loading basis. Batch experiments were conducted in serum bottles at pH 7 and 35℃. A comparison of the values indicates that the SMA of this mixed culture was increased and reached its highest level of 0.128 g CH4 gas COD/（g VSS.d） when biomass was in contact with sulfate at a ratio of 1：0.114 by weight.     

Imazaquin degradation and metabolism in a sandy loam soil amended with farm litters

Irnazaquin applied in legume crops has a long residual time in soil, which often impacts safety of the susceptible crops. To increase safety of imazaquin application, two composted litters, bovine manure （BM） and chicken manure （CM）, were used to determine their effects on imazaquin environmental behavior by incorporating each kind of manure into the tested sandy loam soil at 10% （w/w）. The degradation of imazaquin in BM- and CM-amended soil was about 2.4 and 1.5 times, respectively, faster than that in unamended soil. The half-lives of imazaquin in BM-amended soil varied between 6.7 and 15.4 d over the temperature range of 20 to 40℃, and the degradation rate constant （k） increased by a factor of about 1.5 for every 10℃ change. Higher mix ratio did not significantly increase the degradation, and the optimal active degradation of imazaquin was observed approximately at the mix ratio of 10：1 of soil to BM. The different moisture levels had negligible effect on imazaquin degradation. In both unamended and BM-amended treatments, two metabolites were observed at 5, 10 and 30 d after treatment. One metabolite at retention time （RT） of 8.4 rain was identified as 2-（4- hydroxyl-5-oxo-2-imidazolin-2-yl） quinoline acid, originating from the loss of isopropyl group and hydroxylation at the 4-position of imidazolinone ring. The other at RT of 12.9 rain was identified as quinoline-2,3-dicarboxylic anhydride, resulting from detachment of imidazolinone ring and the forming of dicarboxylic anhydride. This finding suggested that the addition of farm litters into soil might be a good management option since it can not only increase soil fertility but also contribute to increase safety of imazaquin application to the following susceptible crops.     

Effects of nitrate concentration in interstitial water on the bioremediation of simulated oil-polluted shorelines

Nutrient addition has been proved to be an effective strategy to enhance oil biodegradation in marine shorelines.To determine the optimal range of nutrient concentrations in the bioremediation of oil-polluted beaches,nitrate was added to the simulated shoreline models in the initial concentration of 1,5 and 10 mg/L.Whenever the NO3-N concentration declined to 70% of its original value, additional nutrients were supplemented to maintain a certain range.Results showed adding nutrients increased the oil biodegradation level,the counts of petroleum degrading bacteria(PDB)and heterotrophic bacteria (HB),and the promoted efficiency varied depending on the concentration of nitrate.Oil degradation level in 5 mg/L(NO_3-N)group reached as much as 84.3% accompanied with the consistently highest counts of PDB;while in 1 mg/L group oil removal efficiency was only 35.2%,and the numbers of PDB and HB were relatively low compared to the other groups supplemented with nutrients.Although counts of HB in the 10 mg/L group were remarkable,lower counts of PDB resulted in poorer oil removal efficiency (70.5%) compared to 5 mg/L group.Furthermore,it would need more NO_3-N(0.371 mg)to degrade 1 mg diesel oil in the 10 mg/L group than in the 5 mg/L group(0.197 mg).In conclusion, Nitrate concentration in 5 mg/L is superior to 1 and 10 mg/L in the enhancement of diesel oil biodegradation in simulated shorelines.     

南京市经济发展与环境污染关系的实证研究

根据南京市1991～2003年经济与环境数据,分析经济发展与环境污染的相互关系,建立了南京市经济增长与环境污染水平的计量模型,进而评价了南京市的环境保护政策。研究表明：作为一个重化工业城市,南京市自20世纪90年代以来,在经济高速发展的情况下,其环境恶化程度逐步得到遏制,部分环境指标与人均GDP演替轨迹呈现显著的环境库兹涅茨曲线特征。这主要归功于南京市政府近年来有效的环境政策和巨额的环境投资。     

A study on oxidative degradation of polyacrylamide in wastewater with UV/FENTON/C4H4O62−

The degradation of polyacrylamide (PAM) in simulate wastewater was studied in UV/Fenton/C₄H₄O₆^2? system. The factors such as molecular ratio of H₂O₂/Fe²⁺/C₄H₄O₆^2?, pH, and the dosage of Fenton reagent that could affect the PAM degradation in the UV/Fenton/C₄H₄O₆^2? system were investigated. The experimental results showed that adding C₄H₄O₆^2? to UV/Fenton system could form photosensitive ferrous complexes, which led to higher degradation efficiency of PAM. The degradation rate of PAM could be up to 95.2% under the following conditions: the concentration of H₂O₂, Fe²⁺, and C₄H₄O₆^2? were 22.5, 2.25, and 2.25 mmol/L, respectively (i.e., molecular ratio of H₂O₂/Fe²⁺/C₄H₄O₆^2? was 10:1:1), the pH value was 3.0.     

Isolation and characterization of mesotrione-degrading Bacillus sp. from soil

Dissipation kinetics of mesotrione, a new triketone herbicide, sprayed on soil from Limagne (Puy-de-Dôme, France) showed that the soil microflora were able to biotransform it.Bacteria from this soil were cultured in mineral salt solution supplemented with mesotrione as sole source of carbon for the isolation of mesotrione-degrading bacteria. The bacterial community structure of the enrichment cultures was analyzed by temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE). The TTGE fingerprints revealed that mesotrione had an impact on bacterial community structure only at its highest concentrations and showed mesotrione-sensitive and mesotrione-adapted strains. Two adapted strains, identified as Bacillus sp. and Arthrobacter sp., were isolated by colony hybridization methods.Biodegradation assays showed that only the Bacillus sp. strain was able to completely and rapidly biotransform mesotrione. Among several metabolites formed, 2-amino-4-methylsulfonylbenzoic acid (AMBA) accumulated in the medium. Although sulcotrione has a chemical structure closely resembling that of mesotrione, the isolates were unable to degrade it.     

How good is GLASOD?

The Global Assessment of Soil Degradation (GLASOD) has been the most influential global appraisal of land quality in terms of environmental policy. However, its expert judgments were never tested for their consistency and could not be reproduced at unvisited sites, while the relationship between the GLASOD assessments of land degradation and the social and economic impact of that degradation remains unclear. Yet, other methodologies that could respond to urgent calls for an updated assessment of the global environmental quality are not operational or, at best, in progress. Therefore, we evaluate the reliability and social relevance of the GLASOD approach and assess its candidacy for new global environmental assessments. The study concentrates on the African continent, capitalizing on new GIS data to delineate and define the characteristics of GLASOD map units. Consistency is tested by comparing expert judgments on soil degradation hazard for similar combinations of biophysical conditions and land use. Reproducibility is evaluated by estimating an ordered logit model that relates the qualitative land degradation classes to easily available information on explanatory variables, the results of which can be used to assess the land degradation at unvisited sites. Finally, a cross-sectional analysis investigates the relation between GLASOD assessments and crop production data at sub-national scale and its association with the prevalence of malnutrition. The GLASOD assessments prove to be only moderately consistent and hardly reproducible, while the counter-intuitive trend with crop production reveals the complexity of the production-degradation relationship. It appears that increasing prevalence of malnutrition coincides with poor agro-productive conditions and highly degraded land. The GLASOD approach can be improved by resolving the differences in conceptualization among experts and by defining the boundaries of the ordered classes in the same units as independent, quantitative land degradation data.     

负载型TiO2薄膜光催化剂降解亚甲基蓝

采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了玻璃负载的TiO2薄膜光催化剂,研究了该催化剂对亚甲基蓝溶液的光催化降解,考察了反应时间、水样的初始浓度、溶液的pH等对光催化降解效果的影响。     

固定化真菌漆酶对分散兰-2BLN的脱色和降解

采用改良壳聚糖固定化的真菌漆酶对染料分散兰-2BLN进行脱色和降解条件的研究,探索了固定化漆酶活力、处理时间、染料浓度、温度和pH对其降解效果的影响。结果表明,固定化漆酶脱色降解分散兰-2BLN的适宜条件为：固定化漆酶活力18.2U／mL,染料浓度100mg／L,温度40℃,pH4.6,在上述条件下降解1.5h,分散兰-2BLN脱色率能达到87.68％。重复分批使用固定化漆酶处理2BLN兰,在使用6批次后,脱色率仍能保持在55％以上,其催化效率得到了较大提高。     

The effect of alkyl chain length on the degradation of alkylimidazolium- and pyridinium-type ionic liquids in a Fenton-like system

Background, aim, and scope  Ionic liquids are regarded as essentially “green” chemicals because of their insignificant vapor pressure and, hence, are a good alternative to the emissions of toxic conventional volatile solvents. Not only because of their attractive industrial applications, but also due to their very high stability, ionic liquids could soon become persistent contaminants of technological wastewaters and, moreover, break through into natural waters following classical treatment systems. The removal of harmful organic pollutants has forced the development of new methodologies known as advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). Among them, the Fenton and Fenton-like reactions are usually modified by the use of a higher hydrogen peroxide concentration and through different catalysts. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of hydrogen peroxide concentration on degradation rates in a Fenton-like system of alkylimidazolium ionic liquids with alkyl chains of varying length and 3-methyl-N-butylpyridinium chloride. Materials and methods  The ionic liquids were oxidized in dilute aqueous solution in the presence of two different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide. All reactions were performed in the dark to prevent photoreduction of Fe(III). The concentrations of ionic liquids during the process were monitored with high-performance liquid chromatography. Preliminary degradation pathways were studied with the aid of ¹H NMR. Results  Degradation of ionic liquids in this system was quite effective. Increasing the H₂O₂ concentration from 100 to 400 mM improved ionic liquid degradation from 57–84% to 87–100% after 60 min reaction time. Resistance to degradation was weaker, the shorter the alkyl chain. Discussion  The compound omimCl was more resistant to oxidation then other compounds, which suggests that the oxidation rates of imidazolium ionic liquids by OH· are structure-dependent and are correlated with the n-alkyl chain length substituted at the N-1-position. The level of degradation was dependent on the type of head group. Replacing the imidazolium head group with pyridinium increased resistance to degradation. Nonetheless, lengthening the alkyl chain from four to eight carbons lowered the rate of ionic liquid degradation to a greater extent than changing the head group from imidazolium to pyridinium. 1H-NMR spectra show, in the first stage of degradation, that it is likely that radical attack is nonspecific, with any one of the carbon atoms in the ring and the n-alkyl chain being susceptible to attack. Conclusions  The proposed method has proven to be an efficient and reliable method for the degradation of imidazolium ionic liquids by a Fenton-like reagent deteriorated with lengthening n-alkyl substituents and by replacing the imidazolium head group with pyridinium. The enhanced resistance of 1-butyl-3-methylpyridinium chloride when the resistance of imidazolium ionic liquids decreases with increasing H₂O₂ concentration is probably indicative of a change in the degradation mechanism in a vigorous Fenton-like system. H-NMR spectra showed, in the first stage of degradation, that radical attack is nonspecific, with any one of the carbon atoms in the ring and the n-alkyl chain being susceptible to attack. Recommendations and perspectives  Since ionic liquids are now one of the most promising alternative chemicals of the future, the degradation and waste management studies should be integrated into a general development research of these chemicals. In the case of imidazolium and pyridinium ionic liquids that are known to be resistant to bio- or thermal degradation, studies in the field of AOPs should assist the future structural design as well as tailor the technological process of these chemicals