Performance evaluation of microbial fuel cell for landfill leachate treatment: Research updates and synergistic effects of hybrid systems

Over half of century, sanitary landfill was and is still the most economical treatment strategy for solid waste disposal, but the environmental risks associated with the leachate have brought attention of scientists for its proper treatment to avoid surface and ground water deterioration. Most of the treatment technologies are energy-negative and cost intensive processes, which are unable to meet current environmental regulations. There are continuous demands of alternatives concomitant with positive energy and high effluent quality. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were launched in the last two decades as a potential treatment technology with bioelectricity generation accompanied with simultaneous carbon and nutrient removal. This study reviews capability and mechanisms of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous removal from landfill leachate through MFC technology, as well as summarizes and discusses the recent advances of standalone and hybrid MFCs performances in landfill leachate (LFL) treatment. Recent improvements and synergetic effect of hybrid MFC technology upon the increasing of power densities, organic and nutrient removal, and future challenges were discussed in details.     

Arsenic in Drinking Water and Bladder Cancer: Comparison between Studies Based on Cancer Registry and Death Certificates

Associations between arsenic in drinking water and bladder cancer in an area along the southwest coast of Taiwan have been documented for decades. Several ecologic studies were conducted to assess the dose-response relationships. Some of them used the National Cancer Registry Program to identify cancer cases, and some used death certificates. Whereas the cancer registry collects information on all patients no matter if they died of bladder cancer or not, the case ascertainment might be incomplete due to the fact that reporting of cases is not mandatory. Reporting of death, on the other hand, is strictly enforced by law, but patients who did not die of bladder cancer might not be identified. In order to assess the problems with both approaches, we conducted a study using both case identification mechanisms. A total of 243 townships with measurements of arsenic in drinking water were included in the analysis of cancer registry data, and death certificates were collected from 10 of those townships. In both analyses, the same measurements of arsenic made by the mercuric bromide stain method were adopted. Due to limitation of the method, all levels below 0.04mg L^–1 were combined as a single exposure category. The results were very much alike; both approaches detected statistically significant associations between high arsenic levels in drinking water (above 0.64mg L^–1) and occurrence of bladder cancer but did not find such associations for arsenic exposures at lower levels.     

Prenatal diagnosis of rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata

Plasmalogen biosynthesis and phytanic acid oxidation activity were measured in cultured chorionic villus samples or amniocytes from four pregnancies at risk for the rhizomelic form of chondrodysplasia punctata (RCDP). Normal results were obtained in three of the samples and post-natal examination or fetal ultrasound studies confirmed that the fetuses were unaffected. Chorionic villus culture in one case demonstrated defective plasmalogen biosynthesis and lack of phytanic acid oxidation. Pregnancy was interrupted at 10 weeks. Immunoblot studies of post-mortem fetal tissues showed thatperoxisomal 3-oxoacyl-coenzyme A thiolase was present in the unprocessed form, a finding we had previously demonstrated in RCDP. These results establish that RCDP can be identified prenatally.     

乘用车内空气质量健康风险评估

为研究我国乘用车内空气的污染现状,采用二次热解析-毛细管气相色谱/质谱联用及高效液相色谱法,测定了16个品牌的市售新车车内空气中BTEX(苯、甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯)、苯乙烯、甲醛、乙醛和丙烯醛等8种污染物质量浓度,并对其健康风险进行了评估. 结果表明:8种污染物的质量浓度除乙醛外均低于GB/T 27630—2011《乘用车内空气质量评价指南》中的标准限值,ρ(苯)、ρ(甲苯)、ρ(乙苯)、ρ(二甲苯)、ρ(苯乙烯)、ρ(甲醛)、ρ(乙醛)和ρ(丙烯醛)范围分别为3.00～73.00、69.00～798.00、18.00～469.75、46.00～1 296.42、12.00～46.00、19.00～72.00、43.29～323.00和5.20～7.60 μg/m3. 致癌物质苯、甲醛和甲苯的质量浓度最高值分别为GB/T 27630—2011各自标准限值的66.36%、72.00%和72.55%;二甲苯质量浓度点离散程度较小,分布集中,其平均值为GB/T 27630—2011标准限值(1 500 μg/m3)的11.86%;ρ(乙苯)最大值为其标准限值的1/3左右;而ρ(苯乙烯)和ρ(丙烯醛)远低于各自标准限值. ρ(苯)和ρ(甲醛)对驾乘人员的健康均可能造成致癌风险. 对于男性职业司机,苯和甲醛平均浓度的致癌风险分别为US EPA(美国国家环境保护局)规定的致癌风险基准值(1×10-6)的18.86和60.67倍,而二者对女性职业司机的致癌风险仅比男性降低了12.53%;对于男性普通驾乘人员,苯和甲醛平均浓度的致癌风险分别为基准值的2.83和9.10倍,女性略低于男性. 二甲苯平均浓度的非致癌风险是US EPA规定的基准HI(非致癌风险指数,取1)的1.78倍. 研究表明,为降低车内空气中有害物质对车内乘员的健康危害,需要采用环保的内饰材料,改善车内空气质量.      

南昌市大气污染与居民肺癌发病率的灰色关联分析

研究结果表明:对比SO2 、NO2、PM10,霾日数与肺癌发病率的灰色综合关联系数最高,南昌市近15年来霾日数与肺癌发病率的灰色综合关联系数为0.783 8,滞后期为5年.研究旨在为保护公众健康提供科学依据,本地气象部门可以利用长期的历史数据优势,不断深化历史资料分析,结合环保、医疗等各部门的数据开展霾污染与人群健康相关研究,为政府科学开展污染治理提供决策参考.     

Effect of Nonylphenol on Steroidogenesis of Rat Leydig Cells

Nonylphenol is the primary final biodegradation product of nonylphenol polyethoxylate (NPE), a non-ionic surfactant that is frequently incorporated into pesticide and detergent formulation. Recent researchers have hypothesized that environmental/ occupational exposure to nonylphenol poses adverse effects on reproductive system of humans and wildlife species. During our study, in vivo and in vitro experiments were performed to examine the effect of nonylphenol on testosterone biosynthesis of rat Leydig cells. In experiment in vivo, serum testosterone (T) as well as luteinizing hormone (LH) levels were detected after animals had been treated with different doses (0 mg/kg/day, 125 mg/kg/day, and 250 mg/kg/day) of nonylphenol for 50 days by gavage, and the final result revealed that testosterone level dramatically declined at the dose of 250 mg/kg/day, while LH level ascended at the dose of 125 mg/kg/day and 250 mg/kg/day. In experiment in vitro, primary cultured Leydig cells were exposed to nonylphenol for 48 h, including low concentrations (0 mg/L, 0.0011 mg/L, 0.0033 mg/L, 0.0055 mg/L, 0.011 mg/L, 0.022 mg/L) and higher concentrations (0.11 mg/L, 0.55 mg/L, 1.1 mg/L, 1.65 mg/L, 2.2 mg/L, 2.75 mg/L, 3.3 mg/L, 5.5 mg/L). Increase of testosterone levels was observed at low concentrations of nonylphenol while reduction was detected at higher concentrations.     

Effect of acute exposure of acephate on hemocyte abundance in a non-target victim Drosophila melanogaster

Organophosphate insecticide acephate was tested to investigate effects on hemocyte abundance in a non-target dipteran insect Drosophila melanogaster. For this purpose, third-instar larvae were fed on four graded concentrations (2, 4, 6, or 8 μg/ml) acephate for a period of 12 and 24 hr (acute treatment). Control groups were simultaneously maintained for comparison. Relative proportions of plasmatocytes in hemolymph smear were found to fall with increasing concentrations of the test chemical. Similar decreasing trend in population of lamellocytes was also noted after 12 and 24 hr chemical exposure. In contrast to plasmatocytes and lamellocytes, crystal cell number was found to rise with increasing pesticide concentration. Several factors like oxidative stress, apoptosis induction, and mitotic failure might be the cause of reduced plasmatocyte and lamellocyte count. The elevated number of crystal cells in hemolymph smears is directly indicative of high melanin synthesis that assists larvae to combat chemical stress, since melanin is well known for its potential to minimize physical, chemical, and pathogenic stress.