Bioassay: A useful tool for evaluating reclaimed water safety

Wastewater reclamation and reuse has been proved to be an effective way to relieve the fresh water crisis. However, toxic contaminants remaining in reclaimed water could lead to potential risk for reuse, and the conventional water quality standards have difficulty guaranteeing the safety of reclaimed water. Bioassays can vividly reflect the integrated biological effects of multiple toxic substances in water as a whole, and could be a powerful tool for evaluating the safety of reclaimed water. Therefore, in this study, the advantages and disadvantages of using bioassays for evaluating the safety of reclaimed water were compared with those of conventional water quality standards. Although bioassays have been widely used to describe the toxic effects of reclaimed water and treatment efficiency of reclamation techniques, a single bioassay cannot reflect the complex toxicity of reclaimed water, and a battery of bioassays involving multiple biological effects or in vitro tests with specific toxicity mechanisms would be recommended. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the safety of reclaimed water based on bioassay results, various methods including potential toxicology, the toxicity unit classification system, and a potential eco-toxic effects probe are summarized as well. Especially, some integrated ranking methods based on a bioassay battery involving multiple toxicity effects are recommended as useful tools for evaluating the safety of reclaimed water, which will benefit the promotion and guarantee the rapid development of the reclamation and reuse of wastewater.     

Influence of floc dynamic protection layer on alleviating ultrafiltration membrane fouling induced by humic substances

Cake layer formation is inevitable over time for ultrafiltration (UF) membrane-based drinking water treatment. Although the cake layer is always considered to cause membrane fouling, it can also act as a “dynamic protection layer”, as it further adsorbs pollutants and dramatically reduces their chance of getting to the membrane surface. Here, the UF membrane fouling performance was investigated with pre-deposited loose flocs in the presence of humic acid (HA). The results showed that the floc dynamic protection layer played an important role in removing HA. The higher the solution pH, the more negative the floc charge, resulting in lower HA removal efficiency due to the electrostatic repulsion and large pore size of the floc layer. With decreasing solution pH, a positively charged floc dynamic protection layer was formed, and more HA molecules were adsorbed. The potential reasons were ascribed to the smaller floc size, greater positive charge, and higher roughness of the floc layer. However, similar membrane fouling performance was also observed for the negative and positive floc dynamic protection layers due to their strong looseness characteristics. In addition, the molecular weight (MW) distribution of HA also played an important role in UF membrane fouling behavior. For the small MW HA molecules, the chance of forming a loose cake layer was high with a negatively charged floc dynamic protection layer, while for the large MW HA molecules it was high with a positively charged floc dynamic protection layer. As a result, slight UF membrane fouling was induced.     

Plasmonic silver/silver oxide nanoparticles anchored bismuth vanadate as a novel visible-light ternary photocatalyst for degrading pharmaceutical micropollutants

The degradation of pharmaceutical micropollutants is an intensifying environmental problem and synthesis of efficient photocatalysts for this purpose is one of the foremost challenges worldwide. Therefore, this study was conducted to develop novel plasmonic Ag/Ag₂O/BiVO₄ nanocomposite photocatalysts by simple precipitation and thermal decomposition methods, which could exhibit higher photocatalytic activity for mineralized pharmaceutical micropollutants. Among the different treatments, the best performance was observed for the Ag/Ag₂O/BiVO₄ nanocomposites (5 wt.%; 10 min's visible light irradiation) which exhibited 6.57 times higher photodegradation rate than the pure BiVO₄. Further, the effects of different influencing factors on the photodegradation system of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) were investigated and the feasibility for its practical application was explored through the specific light sources, water source and cycle experiments. The mechanistic study demonstrated that the photogenerated holes (h⁺), superoxide radicals (?O₂^?) and hydroxyl radicals (?OH) participated in TC-HCl removal process, which is different from the pure BiVO₄ reaction system. Hence, the present work can provide a new approach for the formation of novel plasmonic photocatalysts with high photoactivity and can act as effective practical application for environmental remediation.     

Chemical characteristics of road dust PM2.5 fraction in oasis cities at the margin of Tarim Basin

In order to understand the compositions characteristics of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM_2.5) fraction in road dust (RD_2.5) of oasis cities on the edge of Tarim Basin, 30 road dust (RD) samples were collected in Kashi, Cele, and Yutian in the spring, 2018, and RD_2.5 was collected using the resuspension approach. Eight water-soluble ions, 39 trace elements and 8 fractions of carbon-containing species in PM_2.5 were analyzed. Ca²⁺ and Ca were the most abundant ions and elements in RD_2.5 (7.1% and 9.5%). Cl^- in RD_2.5 was affected not only by attributed to saline-alkali soils in oasis cities of the Tarim Basin and dust from Taklimakan Desert but also by human activities. Moreover, the organic carbon/elemental carbon (OC/EC) ratio indicated that carbon components in RD_2.5 in Cele town mainly come from fossil fuel combustion, while those in Yutian and Kashi mainly come from biomass combustion. It is noteworthy that high Ca in RD_2.5 was seriously affected by anthropogenic emissions, and high Na and K contents in RD_2.5 could be derived from soil and desert dust. It was estimated that Cd, Tl, Sn and Cr were emitted from anthropogenic emissions using the enrichment factor. The coefficients of divergence (COD) result indicated that the influence of local emission on road dust emission is greater than that of long-distance transmission. This study is the first time to comprehensively analyze the chemical characteristics of road dust in oasis cities, and the results provides the sources of road dust at the margin of Tarim Basin.     

武当山夏季颗粒物数浓度谱分布特征及气团来源影响研究

为研究大气边界层中上层大气颗粒物的数浓度谱分布特征及气团来源的影响,于2018年6月利用3080型SMPS粒径谱仪对武当山14.6~660 nm颗粒物数浓度谱进行观测,分析和探讨了其数浓度谱分布及日变化特征,并结合后向轨迹、潜在源贡献因子法（PSCF）与浓度权重轨迹分析法（CWT）探讨对武当山颗粒物数浓度影响较大的外源输送路径和贡献源区.结果表明:①武当山大气颗粒物主要以爱根模态为主,平均数浓度为2 500个/cm3,积聚模态、核膜态平均数浓度分别为2 265、359个/cm3,3种模态数浓度分别占总数浓度的48.79%、44.21%、7.01%.②在新粒子生成日,核膜态数浓度于10:00开始上升,11:00—17:00的核膜态数浓度相对较高,约2 000个/cm3.新粒子生成日ρ（SO₂）与ρ（O₃）的日变化趋势均与核模态数浓度较为相似,表明SO₂和O₃参与光化学反应后的产物（硫酸及有机物）有利于新粒子的生成与增长.新粒子生成日风速、温度均大于非新粒子生成日,但相对湿度较低.③在东部及局地气团影响下大气颗粒物主要以积聚模态为主,数浓度分别为2 311和2 596个/cm3;核模态、爱根模态数浓度在受西北气团影响时最大,数浓度分别为806和3 078个/cm3.④潜在源区分析表明,影响武当山积聚模态数浓度的主要源区为十堰市本地及襄阳市,二者贡献值在840个/cm3以上.研究显示,武当山颗粒物主要以爱根模态为主,颗粒物数浓度日变化主要受大气边界层发展及山谷风的影响,较高的ρ（SO₂）与ρ（O₃）以及高温、低湿及较大的风速均有利于新粒子的生成,周边城市的区域性传输对武当山颗粒物的影响较大.      

多环芳烃污染与儿童内暴露负荷的关系

为了更好地了解环境空气PAHs污染与儿童内暴露负荷之间的关系,该研究在儿童尿液中未代谢PAHs以及代谢PAHs研究的基础上,同时获取了连续3 d空气中PAHs污染浓度。对环境空气中PAHs和尿液中未代谢的PAHs的分析表明:除Nap和Phe以外的其它PAHs单体在环境空气和尿液中占比一致,而且环境空气和尿液中PAHs组成特征一致,均表现为2环PAHs>3环PAHs>4环PAHs的规律;3 d中仅有A-Nap和U-Nap之间存在相关性(P<0.05,R~2=0.999 6)。对尿液中代谢的PAHs和尿液中未代谢的PAHs分析表明:儿童尿液中排出的Nap、Flu和Phe主要以羟基代谢物为主,仅Pyr与OHPyr基本一致。尿液中未代谢PAHs与代谢的PAHs组成特征一致,表现为Nap>Phe>Flu>Pyr和OHNap>OHPhe>OHFlu>OHPyr的规律;仅U-Nap和OHNap 3 d中均存在相关性,U-Phe和OHPhe、U-Pyr和OHPyr仅1 d存在相关性。结合PAHs污染与儿童内暴露负荷的共同研究表明,PAHs内暴露标志物可以在一定程度上反映环境PAHs污染的时间变异性。     

Investigating the bacterial community and amoebae population in rural domestic wastewater reclamation for irrigation

Reclamation of domestic wastewater for agricultural irrigation is viewed as a sustainable option to create an alternative water source and address water scarcity. Free-living amoebae(FLA), which are amphizoic protozoa, are widely distributed in various environmental sources. The FLA could cause considerable environmental and health risks. However, little information is available on the risk of these protozoa. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility using rural domestic wastewater for agricultural irrigation, and analyzed dynamic changes of the microbial community structure and FLA populations in raw and treated wastewater, as well as the phyllosphere and rhizosphere of lettuce production sites that were irrigated with different water sources. The bacterial community dynamics were analyzed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism(T-RFLP). The bacterial community structures in the influent were similar to that in the effluent, while in some cases relative abundances varied significantly. The populations of Acanthamoeba spp. and Hartmannella vermiformis in the anaerobically treated wastewater were significantly higher than in the raw wastewater. The vegetables could harbor diverse amoebae, and the abundances of Acanthamoeba spp. and H. vermiformis in the rhizosphere were significantly higher than in the phyllosphere. Accordingly, our studies show insight into the distribution and dissemination of amoebae in wastewater treatment and irrigation practices.     

呼兰河哈尔滨段水环境质量现状及污染源解析

为了解呼兰河哈尔滨段水环境质量现状及污染物来源,在平水期和枯水期,对呼兰河哈尔滨段沿线进行现场勘查及断面水质监测。结果表明,呼兰河哈尔滨段沿岸集中式排污点源、工业点源、农村生活污染、畜禽粪便、农田径流等各类污染源化学需氧量总入河量为7 671.02吨/年,氨氮总入河量为1 195.16吨/年。松北区的主要污染贡献源为肇兰新河支流污染;呼兰区的主要污染贡献源为集中式排污点源和农业面源污染。     

利于户外体育活动的空气环境改善措施研究

针对户外体育活动的空气环境进行详细分析,对造成城市空气质量变差的因素进行剖析,给出影响空气质量的因素:汽车尾气、工业废气、煤尘、建筑尘土、区域环境、大众环保意识十分薄弱等。同时,从影响因素中发现汽车尾气排除的PM10和PM2.5逐渐增加;煤炭燃烧过程生成的煤烟与煤灰,也是产生PM2.5的主来源头之一。例举了某一线城市2012年至2017年SO2、NOx、TSP、PM2.5年均浓度历史变化趋势。措施,能够有效改善空气环境质量,为城市居民的户外体育活动提供一个良好的条件。     

气相色谱／石墨炉（Ⅲ型）原子吸收光谱联用及汽油中铅化学形态分析的研究

本文研究了气相色谱／石墨炉（Ⅲ型）原子吸收光谱联用的工作条件对测定（Ｃ２Ｈ４）４Ｐｂ的影响，选择了分析条件并建立了其分析方法。该方法的最小检测量为８．６×１０－１１ｇ，回收率为１００．８～１１１．４％。已用于汽油中铅化学形态的分析，取得了满意的结果。