Effects of typical algae species (Aphanizomenon flosaquae and Microcystis aeruginosa) on photoreduction of Hg2+ in water body

Photoreduction characteristics of divalent inorganic mercury(Hg~(2+)) in the presence of specific algae species are still not well known. Laboratory experiments were conducted in the present study to identify the effects of different concentrations of living/dead algae species, including Aphanizomenon flosaquae(AF) and Microcystis aeruginosa(MA), on the photoreduction rate of Hg~(2+)under various light conditions. The experimental results showed that percentage reduction of Hg~(2+)was significantly influenced by radiation wavelengths, and dramatically decreased with the presence of algae. The highest percentage reduction of Hg~(2+)was induced by UV-A, followed by UV-B, visible light and dark for both living and dead AF, and the order was dark UV-A UV-B visible light for both living and dead MA. There were two aspects, i.e., energy and attenuation rate of light radiation and excrementitious generated from algae metabolisms, were involved in the processes of Hg~(2+)photoreduction with the presence of algae under different light conditions. The percentage reduction of Hg~(2+)decreased from 15% to 11% when living and dead AF concentrations increased by 10 times(from 106 to 105 cells/mL), and decreased from 11% to ～ 9% in the case of living and dead MA increased. Algae can adsorb Hg~(2+)and decrease the concentration of free Hg~(2+), thus inhibiting Hg~(2+)photoreduction, especially under the conditions with high concentrations of algae. No significant differences were found in percentage reduction of Hg~(2+)between living and dead treatments of algae species.The results are of great importance for understanding the role of algae in Hg~(2+)photoreduction.     

Fine and ultrafine particle-and gas-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons affecting southern Thailand air quality during transboundary haze and potential health effects

Distribution of PM_0.1,PM₁and PM_2.5particle-and gas-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) during the 2019 normal,partial and strong haze periods at a background location in southern Thailand were investigated to understand the behaviors and carcinogenic risks PM₁was the predominant component,during partial and strong haze periods,accounting for 45.1%and 52.9%of total suspended particulate matter,respectively,while during nor mal period the contribution...     

Repeated hydrogen peroxide dosing briefly reduces cyanobacterial blooms and microcystin while increasing fecal bacteria indicators in a eutrophic pond

This study explored the effects of H₂O₂ on Cyanobacteria and non-target microbes using fluorometry, microscopy, flow cytometry, and high throughput DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene during a series of mesocosm and whole-ecosystem experiments in a eutrophic pond in NY, USA. The addition of H₂O₂ (8 mg/L) significantly reduced Cyanobacteria concentrations during a majority of experiments (66%; 6 of 9) and significantly increased eukaryotic green and unicellular brown algae in 78% and 45% of experiments, respectively. While heterotrophic bacteria declined significantly following H₂O₂ addition in all experiments, bacteria indicative of potential fecal contamination (Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, fecal coliform bacteria) consistently and significantly increased in response to H₂O₂, evidencing a form of ‘pollution swapping’. H₂O₂ more effectively reduced Cyanobacteria in enclosed mesocosms compared to whole-ecosystem applications. Ten whole-pond H₂O₂ applications over a two-year period temporarily reduced cyanobacterial levels but never reduced concentrations below bloom thresholds and populations always rebounded in two weeks or less. The bacterial phyla of Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Planctomycetes were the most negatively impacted by H₂O₂. Microcystis was always reduced by H₂O₂, as was the toxin microcystin, but Microcystis remained dominant even after repeated H₂O₂ treatments. Although H₂O₂ favored the growth of eukaryotic algae over potentially harmful Cyanobacteria, the inability of H₂O₂ to end cyanobacterial blooms in this eutrophic waterbody suggests it is a non-ideal mitigation approach in high biomass ecosystems and should be used judiciously due to potential negative impacts on non-target organisms and promotion of bacteria indicative of fecal contamination.     

Detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using a high performance-single particle aerosol mass spectrometer

The real-time detection of the mixing states of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitro-PAHs in ambient particles is of great significance for analyzing the source, aging process, and health effects of PAHs and nitro-PAHs; yet there is still few effective technology to achieve this type of detection. In this study, 11 types of PAH and nitro-PAH standard samples were analyzed using a high performance-single particle aerosol mass spectrometer (HP-SPAMS) in lab studies. The identification principles ‘parent ions’ and ‘mass-to-charge (m/z) = 77’ of each compound were obtained in this study. It was found that different laser energies did not affect the identification of the parent ions. The comparative experiments of ambient atmospheric particles, cooking and biomass burning emitted particles with and without the addition of PAHs were conducted and ruled out the interferences from primary and secondary organics on the identification of PAHs. Besides, the reliability of the characteristic ions extraction method was evaluated through the comparative study of similarity algorithm and deep learning algorithm. In addition, the real PAH-containing particles from vehicle exhaust emissions and ambient particles were also analyzed. This study improves the ability of single particle mass spectrometry technology to detect PAHs and nitro-PAHs, and HP-SPAMS was superior to SPAMS for detecting single particles containing PAHs and nitro-PAHs. This study provides support for subsequent ambient observations to identify the characteristic spectrum of single particles containing PAHs and nitro-PAHs.     

Progressively narrow the gap of PM2.5 pollution characteristics at urban and suburban sites in a megacity of Sichuan Basin, China

Nowadays, the fine particle pollution is still severe in some megacities of China, especially in the Sichuan Basin, southwestern China. In order to understand the causes, sources, and impacts of fine particles, we collected PM_2.5 samples and analyzed their chemical composition in typical months from July 2018 to May 2019 at an urban and a suburban (background) site of Chengdu, a megacity in this region. The daily average concentrations of PM_2.5 ranged from 5.6-102.3 µg/m³ and 4.3-110.4 µg/m³ at each site. Secondary inorganics and organic matters were the major components in PM_2.5 at both sites. The proportion of nitrate in PM_2.5 has exceeded sulfate and become the primary inorganic component. SO₂ was easier to transform into sulfate in urban areas because of Mn-catalytic heterogeneous reactions. In contrast, NO₂ was easily converted in suburbs with high aerosol water content. Furthermore, organic carbon in urban was much greater than that in rural, other than elemental carbon. Element Cr and As were the key cancer risk drivers. The main sources of PM_2.5 in urban and suburban areas were all secondary aerosols (42.9%, 32.1%), combustion (16.0%, 25.2%) and vehicle emission (15.2%, 19.2%). From clean period to pollution period, the contributions from combustion and secondary aerosols increased markedly. In addition to tightening vehicle controls, urban areas need to restrict emissions from steel smelters, and suburbs need to minimize coal and biomass combustion in autumn and winter.     

中国环境科学专题文献研究

本文运用文献计量学方法,对我国环境科学10种主要期刊(1989～1991)年间总计刊载的2584篇文献所著录的全部引文及文献著者进行一次统计调查与分析研究,从中寻找出我国环境科学研究文献引文的一般规律和我国环境科学科研作者队伍的构成及分布现状。     

Modular containers for microcosm and process model studies on the fate and effects of aquatic contaminants

Container modules are described for the laboratory simulation of selected processes and ecosystems that are representative of lentic environments. Emphasis is placed on design features permitting mass balance accountability of contaminant residues and procedural cautions required for the proper use of the described systems in environmental simulations. Experiments on the efficiency of container modules for microbial mineralization studies were conducted using ¹⁴CNaHCO₃, and acidification resulted in a ¹⁴CCO₂ recovery of $\text{97.3 ± 4.7\% (}\text{x}\text{?}\text{± SD}\text{)}$. The trapping efficiency of pesticides volatilized from water and glass surfaces was investigated using the same module and the mean recoveries of ¹⁴C-fonofos and ¹⁴C-trifluralin were 114.2 ± 3.2% and 95.2 ± 3.5%, respectively. The mass balance capabilities of the system was also demonstrated for extended microcosm exposures to ¹⁴C-trifluralin.     

Spatiotemporal optical properties of dissolved organic matter in a sluice-controlled coastal plain river with both salinity and trophic gradients

Due to the combined effect of sluices and sea tide, the sluice-controlled coastal plain river would be characterized by both trophic state and salinity gradients, affecting the spatiotemporal optical properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM). In this study, we investigated the spatiotemporal variation of water quality parameters and optical properties of DOM in the Haihe River, a representative sluice-controlled coastal plain river in Tianjin, China. A significant salinity gradient and four trophic states were observed in the water body of the Haihe River. Two humic- and one protein-like substances were identified from the DOM by the three-dimensional fluorescence spectra combined with the parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis. Pearson's correlation analysis and redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that the salinity significantly affected the abundance of chromophoric DOM (CDOM) but did not cause significant changes in the fluorescence optical characteristics. In addition, the effect of Trophic state index (TSI) on the CDOM abundance was greater than that on the fluorescence intensity of fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM). In the water body with both salinity and trophic state gradients, TSI posed a greater influence than salinity on the CDOM abundance. Our results fill the research gap in spatiotemporal DOM characteristics and water quality variation in water bodies with both salinity and trophic state gradients. These results are beneficial for clarifying the joint influence of saline intrusion and sluices on the DOM characteristics and water quality in sluice-controlled coastal plain rivers.     

Effects of Zr substitution on soot combustion over cubic fluorite-structured nanoceria: Soot-ceria contact and interfacial oxygen evolution

Ceria is widely used as a catalyst for soot combustion, but effects of Zr substitution on the reaction mechanism is ambiguous. The present work elucidates effects of Zr substitution on soot combustion over cubic fluorite-structured nanoceria. The nanostructured CeO₂, Ce_0.92Zr_0.08O₂, and Ce_0.84Zr_0.16O₂ composed of 5–6 nm crystallites display T_m-CO2 (the temperature at maximum CO₂ yield) at 383, 355, and 375°C under 10 vol.% O₂/N₂, respectively. The size of agglomerate decreases from 165.5 to 51.9–57.3 nm, which is beneficial for the soot-ceria contact. Moreover, Zr increases the amount of surface oxygen vacancies, generating more active oxygen (O₂^? and O^?) for soot oxidation. Thus, the activities of Ce_0.92Zr_0.08O₂ and Ce_0.84Zr_0.16O₂ in soot combustion are better than that of CeO₂. Although oxygen vacancies promote the migration of lattice O^2?, the enriched surface Zr also inhibits the mobility of lattice O^2?. Therefore, the T_m-CO2 of Ce_0.84Zr_0.16O₂ is higher than that of Ce_0.92Zr_0.08O₂. Based on reaction kinetic study, soot in direct contact with ceria preferentially decomposes with low activation energy, while the oxidation of isolated soot occurs through diffusion with high activation energy. The obtained findings provide new understanding on the soot combustion over nanoceria.