Simultaneous determination of 4-tert-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol and bisphenol A in Guanting Reservoir using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring

The wide occurrence of estrogenic compounds 4-tert-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol, bisphenol A in surface water of Guanting Reservoir was successfully determined. The target compounds in water samples were preconcentrated by liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane, derivatized by trifluoroacetic anhydride, and quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS) with selected ion monitoring(SIM). In the selected seven sampling sites(S1\_S7), the concentration of NP in sample S7 was significantly higher than the other in reservoir. The status of pollution in S3 and S7 were much more serious. The concentrations of OP, NP and BPA were in the range of 44.5—48.8, 221.6—349.6 and 30.2—82.7 ng/L, respectively. The pollutants were mainly inputted from the upper river and released from sediments in Guanting Reservoir.

Chemical and Microbiological Parameters of Paddy Soil Quality as Affected by Different Nutrient and Water Regimes

A field experiment was conducted from 1999 to 2002 to compare and evaluate the effects of nutrient and water regimes on paddy soil quality by investigating soil chemical and microbiological parameters. Four nutrient regimes, a control, chemical fertilizers only (CF), chemical fertilizers with swine manure (SM), and chemical fertilizers with wheat straw (WS), and two soil moisture regimes, continuous waterlogging (CWL) and alternate wetting and drying (AWD), were investigated. With SM and WS total organic carbon and total nitrogen in the paddy soil were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those with CF. A similar effect for organic amendments was observed in the soil light fraction organic C (LFOC), water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC), and water-soluble organic C (WSOC). CWL, in particular when swine manure was incorporated into the paddy soil, markedly decreased soil redox potential (Eh) and increased total active reducing substances (ARS). Meanwhile, as compared to CF, SM and WS significantly (P < 0.05) increased soil microbial biomass C (MBC) and mineralizable carbon, with differences in AWD being higher than CWL. In addition, SM and WS treatments significantly (P < 0.05) improved rice above-ground biomass and grain yield, with AWD being greater than CWL. Thus, for ecologically sustainable agricultural management of paddy soils, long-term waterlogging should be avoided when organic manure was incorporated into paddy soil.

Extraction of Organochlorine Pesticides in Sediments Using Soxhlet,Ultrasonic and Accelerated Solvent Extraction Techniques

The application of soxhlet, ultrasonic and accelerated solvent extractiontechniques to the analysis of six organochlorine pesticides (α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH, o, p'-DDT,p,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE) in Taihu Lake sediment samples is described. It was found that the limits ofquantification ranged from 0.002 μg g^(-1) to 0.004 μg g^(-1), and the recoveries oforganochlorine pesticides with the three extraction techniques were acceptable ( 】80.7%). With amass selective detector, better results were obtained by accelerated solvent extraction usinghexane-acetone (1:1) as compared with soxhlet and ultrasonic extraction. It was shown that theaccelerated solvent extraction was the optimum technique for the analysis of organochlorinepesticides in sediments. The general features of the three extraction techniques are also presented.

Analysis of α, β, γ-hexachlorocyclohexanes in water by novel activated carbon fiber-solid phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography—mass spectrometry

A fast and simple method for determination of α, β, γ-hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) in water using activated carbon fiber-solid phase microextraction(ACF-SPME) were studied. Results showed the performance of adsorption and desorption of three HCHs on ACF were excellent. A wide linear range from 10 to 100 μg/L and detection limits of the ng/L level were obtained using ACF-SPME with GC-MS in selected ion monitoring(SIM) acquisition mode. The proposed method was also successfully applied for determination of three HCHs in tap water. Compared to commercial fibers, ACF showed some advantages such as better resistance to solvents, higher thermal stability, longer lifetime and lower cost. The data demonstrated that GC-MS with ACF-SPME is well suitable for the analysis of HCHs in water.

Water Masses in the South China Sea and Water Exchange between the Pacific and the South China Sea

Water masses in the South China Sea (SCS) were identified and analyzed with the data collected in the summer and winter of 1998. The distributions of temperature and salinity near the Bashi Channel (the Luzon Strait) were analyzed by using the data obtained in July and December of 1997. Based on the results from the data collected in the winter of 1998, waters in the open sea areas of the SCS were divided into six water masses: the Surface Water Mass of the SCS (S), the Subsurface Water Mass of the SCS (U), the Subsurface-Intermediate Water Mass of the SCS (UI),the Intermediate Water Mass of the SCS (I), the Deep Water Mass of the SCS (D) and the Bottom Water Mass of the SCS(B). For the summer of 1998, the Kuroshio Surface Water Mass (KS) and the Kuroshio Subsurface Water Mass (KU) were also identified in the SCS. But no Kuroshio water was found to pass the 119.5°E meridian and enter the SCS in the time of winter observations. The Sulu Sea Water (SSW) intruded into the SCS through the Mindoro Channel between 50-75 m in the summer of 1998. However, the data obtained in the summer and winter of 1997 indicated that water from the Pacific had entered the SCS through the nor-thern part of the Luzon Strait in these seasons, but water from the SCS had entered the Pacific through the southern part of the Strait. These phenomena might correlate with the 1998 El-Nio event.

New Methods of Fitting the Membership Function of Oceanic Water Masses

After reviewing the analytical theories of T S curve, some methods of T S relationship, and fuzzy sets for studying water masses, new methods of fitting the membership function of oceanic water masses are presented based on the characteristics of T S curve family of oceanic water masses. The membership functions of oceanic Subsurface Water Mass with high salinity and Intermediate Water Mass with low salinity are fitted and discussed using the new methods. The proposed methods are useful in analyzing the mixing and modifying processes of these water masses, especially in tracing their sources. The principles and formulae of the new methods and examples are given.

Straw bio-degradation by acidogenic bacteria and composite fungi

A composite microbial system, including a strain of Candida tropicalis(W3), a strain of Lactobacillus plantarm(WY3) and three strains of basidiomycete pL104, pL113 and C33, was chosen to degrade corn straw. The final pH was acid owing to the inoculation of acidogenic bacteria, and under this condition the composite fungi system could produce complex enzyme to destroy the compact structure of corn straw. The experimental results showed that the biomass of composite fungi could reach up to maximum when the pH value was 4.5. Through the bio-degradation by combining acidogenic bacteria with the composite fungi system, the cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin degradation rates of corn straw powder were 26.36%, 43.30% and 26.96%, respectively. And the gross crude protein content increased 60.41%. This study provided the evidence for the feasibility of developing a composite microbial system with high capability of degrading straw lignocelluloses in order to make reasonable use of straw resource and protect rural eco-environment.

Wastewater Treatment in a Hybrid Biological Reactor (HBR): Nitrification Characteristics

Objective To investigate the nitrifying characteristics of both suspended- and attached- biomass in a hybrid bioreactor. Methods The hybrid biological reactor was developed by introducing porous ceramic particles into the reactor to provide the surface for biomass attachment. Microorganisms immobilized on the ceramics were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All chemical analyses were performed in accordance with standard methods. Results The suspended- and attached-biomass had approximately the same nitrification activity. The nitrifying kinetic was independent of the initial biomass concentration, and the attached-biomass had a stronger ability to resist the nitrification inhibitor. Conclusion The attached biomass is superior to suspended-biomass for nitrifying wastewater, especially that containing toxic organic compounds. The hybrid biological reactor consisting of suspended- and attached-biomass is advantageous in such cases.

Slurry-phase Biological Treatment of Nitrophenol Using Bioaugmentation Technique

Objective To investigate the performance of soil-slurry bioreactor used for remediating contaminated soil with 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). Methods The slurry bioreactor was used to degrade different concentrations of 4-nitrophenol with or without inoculating the acclimated activated sludge. HPLC system (Hewlett-Packard model 5050 with a UV detector) was used for the quantification of 4-nitrophenol. Results The indigenous microorganisms exhibited a little activity for simulated soil with 50 mg 4-NP/kg soil. However, at the concentration of 10 mg 4-NPkg soil, a considerable degradation occurred within two weeks. It appeared that high concentrations of 4-nitrophenol apparently produced an inhibitory effect on microbial activity. For system receiving 50 mg 4-NP/kg soil, the maximum rate of 4-NP degradation measured in the reactor inoculated with 25 g sludge/kg soil was approximately 10 times higher than the uninoculated reactor, suggesting that the degradation rate of 4-nitrophenol could be enhanced greatly by means of inoculating acclimated sludge. Conclusion The addition of sludge capable of degrading 4-nitrophenol can result in enhance the degradation rate of 4-nitrophenol.

QSBR study of substituted phenols and benzoic acids

The biodegradability of 30 substituted phenols and benzoic acids was determined by BOD technique. The molecular weight ( M W), heat of formation ( H f) and the energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital ( E HOMO ) of the studied compounds were calculated by the quantum chemical method MOPAC6 0 AM1. The quantitative structure biodegradability relationships (QSBRs) were developed by the linear regression method and neural network approach, respectively. It has been shown that the neural network method is able to provide a superior fit to the training set data and test set data and produce a lower prediction error than the linear regression method.

Reversed flow injection spectrophotometric determination of low residuals of chlorine dioxide in water using chlorophenol red

A novel, simple, rapid, sensitive and highly selective flow injection procedure for the spectrophotometric determination of chlorine dioxide in the presence of other chlorine species, viz,free chlorine, chlorite, chlorate and hypochlorite, is developed. The method is based on the discoloration reaction between chlorine dioxide and chlorophenol red and can overcome the shortcomings existed in direct spectrophotometric determination for chlorine dioxide owing to the serious interference of free and combined chlorine. The procedure gave a linear calibration graph over the range 0—0.71 mg/L of chlorine dioxide. With a detection limit of 0.024 mg/L and a sample throughput of 60 samples/h.

Quantitative structure-activity relationships for the Toxicity of Substituted Benzenes to Cyprinus carpio

To measure the 96h-LC50 values of 32 substituted benzenes to the carp and to study the relationship between quantitative structure-activity and structural parameters of chemicals. Methods The acute toxicity values of 32 substituted benzenes to the carp were determined in a semistatic test. The energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, and the highest occupied molecular orbital, the dipole moment and the molecular weight of substituted benzenes were calculated by the quantum chemical method MOPAC6.0. Results The range of the toxicity of studied compounds was broad, and the most toxic compound was pentachlorophenol, while the least toxic compound was 4-methylaniline. By the stepwise regression analyses, a series of Quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) equations were derived from all compounds and subclasses. The equation log1/LC50=0.759logP +2.222 (R2 (adj)=0.818) was found to fit well and the average predicted percentage error was 6.16%. Conclusion The toxicity of anilines and phenols to the carp could be modeled well by logP alone, whereas the toxicity of the halogenated benzenes and nitrobenznes not containing hydroxyl or amino group can be controlled by hydrophobic and electronic factors.

PRESSURE CORRECTION METHOD ON UNSTRUCTURED GRIDS

In this paper, an unstructured, collocated finite volume method for solvingthe Navier-Stokes equations was developed by virtue of auxiliary points. The derivatives weredetermined by the Gauss theorem. The proposed method could provide control volumes with arbitrarygeometry and preserve the second-order accuracy even if highly distorted grids are used. Althougharbitrary number of cell faces can be used, the hybrid quadrilateral/triangular grids are moredesirable for the simplicity of implementation and applications to engineering problems. Thepressure-velocity coupling was treated using a SIMPLE-like algorithm. The Generalized MinimumResidual (GMRES) method with the Incomplete LU (ILU) preconditioner was used to solve linearequations. Four test cases were studied for validating the proposed method. In using this method,grid quality is not important. Thus, engineers can pay mostly attention to physical mechanism ofproblems. Turbulence models can be simply integrated and the method can be straightforwardlyextended to treat three-dimensional problems.

A REVIEW OF HEAVY METAL POLLUTION IN THE PEARL RIVER ESTUARY

Since 70'' s, the economy and society in the Pearl River Delta region havebeen undergoing a great development. Pollution control and environment protection have received muchpublic attention. As heavy metals are an important toxic pollutant source in this area and are notbiodegradable in general, a lot of scientists in China, especially in Southern China, devote theirfocus on studying the pollution caused by heavy metals in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE). This paperpresents a comprehensive review on the heavy metal pollution research and its related research inthis area. It is suggested that the study of heavy metal pollution in PRE should be coupled withwater movement, sediment motion and tidal characteristics in this region. Studying core sediments invarious locations is recommended to reveal the history of heavy metal pollution in PRE and improvethe understanding of the fate and transport of metals.