Solubility of ion and trace metals from stabilized sewage sludge by fly ash and alkaline mine tailing

Stabilized sewage sludge （SS） by fly ash （FA） and alkaline mine tailing as artificial soil, to be applied on the ecological rehabilitation at mining junkyards, offers a potentially viable utilization of the industrial by-product, as well as solves the shortage of soil resource in the mine area. An incubation experiment with different ratios of SS and FA was conducted to evaluate the solubility of ions and trace elements from stabilized sewage sludge. Results showed that fly ash offset a decrease in pH value of sewage sludge. The pH of （C） treatment （FA：SS = 1：1） was stable and tended to neutrality. The SO4^2- and Cl^- concentrations of the solution in the mixture were significantly decreased in the stabilized sewage sludge by alkaline fly ash and mine tailing, compared to the single SS treatment. Stabilized sewage sludge by FA weakened the nitrification of total nitrogen from SS when the proportion of FA in the mixture was more than 50%. The Cr, Ni, and Cu concentrations in the solution were gradually decreased and achieved a stable level after 22 days, for all treatments over the duration of the incubation. Moreover stabilized sewage sludge by fly ash and/or mine tailing notably decreased the trace metal solubility. The final Cr, Cu, and Ni concentrations in the solution for all mixtures of treatments were lower than 2.5, 15, and 50 μg/L, respectively.

Oxidative capacities of size-segregated haze particles in a residential area of Beijing

The frequent haze days around the Chinese capital of Beijing in recent years have aroused great attention owing to the detrimental effects on visibility and public health. To discover the potential health effects of the haze, oxidative capacities of airborne particles collected in Beijing during haze and clear days were comparably assessed by a plasmid scission assay. Eleven water-soluble trace elements （As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, V, Se, T1, and Zn） in the size-segregated airborne particles were quantitatively analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and most of the water- soluble trace elements were found to mainly concentrate in the fine particle size of 0.56-1.0 μm. In comparison with clear days, the mass concentrations of 11 analyzed water-soluble trace elements remarkably increased during haze days, and the oxidative capacities determined by the plasmid scission assay were markedly elevated accordingly during the haze days under the same dosage of particles as for those during clear days. Water-soluble trace elements in airborne particles, such as Cu, V, and particularly Zn, were found to have significantly positive correlations with the plasmid DNA damage rates. Because Cu, V, and Zn have been considered as bioavailable elements, the evident increase of these elements during haze days may be greatly harmful to human health.

Chemical characteristics of PM_(2.5) during haze episodes in the urban of Fuzhou,China

Atmospheric fine particles （PM2.5） were collected in this study with middle volume samplers in Fuzhou, China, during both normal days and haze days in summer （September 2007） and winter （january 2008）. The concentrations, distributions, and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs）, organic carbon （OC）, elemental carbon （EC）, and water soluble inorganic ions （WSIls） were determinated. The results showed that the concentrations of PM2.s, PAHs, OC, EC, and WSIIs were in the orders of haze 〉 normal and winter〉 summer. The dominant PAHs of PM2.s in Fuzhou were Fluo, Pyr, Chr, BbF, BkF, BaP, BghiP, and IcdP, which represented about 80.0% of the total PAHs during different sampling periods. The BaPeq concentrations of ^-~PAHs were 0.78, 0.99, 1.22, and 2.43 ng/m3 in summer normal, summer haze, winter normal, and winter haze, respectively. Secondary pollutants （SO42 , NO3 , NH4＊, and OC） were the major chemical compositions of PM2.5, accounting for 69.0%, 55.1%, 63.4%, and 64.9% of PM2.s mass in summer normal, summer haze, winter normal, and winter haze, respectively. Correspondingly, secondary organic carbon （SOC） in Fuzhou accounted for 20.1%, 48.6%, 24.5%, and 50.5% of OC. The average values of nitrogen oxidation ratio （NOR） and sulfur oxidation ratio （SOR） were higher in haze days （0.08 and 0.27） than in normal days （0.05 and 0.22）. Higher OC/EC ratios were also found in haze days （5.0） than in normal days （3.3）. Correlation analysis demonstrated that visibility had positive correlations with wind speed, and neg- ative correlations with relative humidity and major air pollutants. Overall, the enrichments of PM2.5, OC, EC, SO42 ,andNO3 promoted haze formation. Furthermore, the diagnostic ratios of IcdP/（IcdP ＋ BghiP）, lcdP/BghiP, OC/EC, and NO3 /SO42 indicated that vehicle exhaust and coal consumption were the main sources of pollutants in Fuzhou.