Prediction of the environmental fate and aquatic ecological impact of nitrobenzene in the Songhua River using the modified AQUATOX model

An accidental discharge of nitrobenzene happened in November 2005 in the Songhua River,China.The AQUATOX model was modified and adapted to simulate the time-dependent nitrobenzene distribution in this multimedia aquatic system and its potential ecological impacts.Nitrobenzene concentrations in flowing water,sediment,and biota were predicted.Based on the initial concentrations of nitrobenzene observed in the field during the accidental discharge,that is,0.167-1.47 mg/L at different river segments, the predic...

Laboratory culture of the freshwater benthic gastropod Bellamya aeruginosa (Reeve) and its utility as a test species for sediment toxicity

This study aimed to develop original laboratory culture and sediment toxicity testing protocols for the freshwater gastropod Bellamya aeruginosa （Reeve）, a new potential species for sediment toxicity testing. B. aeruginosa was successfully cultured with an effective culture system under proposed laboratory conditions. Optimal ad libitum feeding levels for larvae, juveniles, and adults were 2.0, 6.0, and 16.0 mg fish food/（snall.day）, respectively. Mean survival rates of juveniles were higher than 90%, The snails could be sexed at 9 weeks of age, and their generation time is approximately 4 months. Reproduction continued all year around; the mean fecundity was 0.55 newborn/（female.day）. The utility of this species for bioassays was evaluated in both 10-day and 28-day case studies with artificial sediments. The 10-day LC50 of Cu for larvae was 480 μg/g dry weight （dw）, and the lowest observed effects concentration of Cu for survival and growth of larvae was 195 μg/g dw. Survival and growth are reliable indicators of acute toxicity. Larvae accumulated more Cu than adults. B. aeruginosa exhibited a higher sensitivity to Cu exposure than standard test species （Hyalella azteca and Chironomus tentans）. The 28-day test of sediment toxicity with adults showed that fecundity was a robust endpoint indicator of reproductive toxicity, and the biochemical endpoints of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione could be used as sensitive biomarkers for Cu-induced oxidative damage. B. aeruginosa can be therefore recommended as a candidate for the standardization of the freshwater sediment toxicity test protocol.

Photochemical degradation of environmentally persistent perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in the presence of Fe(Ⅲ)

Environmentally persistent and bioaccumulative perfluorooctanic acid （PFOA） was difficult to be decomposed under the irradiation of 254 nm UV light. However, in the presence of 80μmol/L Fe（Ⅲ）, 80% of PFOA with initial concentration of 48μmol/L （20 mg/L） was effectively degraded and 47.8% of fluorine atoms in PFOA molecule were transformed into inorganic fluoride ion after 4 h reaction. Shorter chain perfluorocarboxylic acids bearing C3-C7 and fluoride ion were detected and identified by LC/MS and IC as the degradation products in the aqueous solution. It was proposed that complexes of PFOA with Fe（Ⅲ） initiated degradation of PFOA irradiated with 254 nm UV light.

Analysis of Environmental Endocrine Disrupting Activities in Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents Using Recombinant Yeast Assays Incorporated with Exogenous Metabolic Activation System

Objective To measure the endocrine disrupting chemicals （EDCs） in wastewater and evaluate the EDCs removal efficiencies in the municipal wastewater treatment plants （WWTP）. Methods A battery of in vitro recombinant yeast bioassays incorporated with exogenous metabolic activation system （rat liver preparation, S9 mix） was conducted to assess the estrogen receptor （ER）, androgen receptor （AR）, progesterone receptor （PR）, and thyroid receptor （TR） ant/agonistic activities of effluents collected from Datansha WWTP. Results The indirect estrogenic, anti‐androgenic, anti‐progesteronic, and anti‐thyroidic activities were observed in the influent. The removal efficiencies of EDCs were above 74%, suggesting that the present wastewater treatment processes were good enough to remove most of these indirect endocrine disrupting chemicals. Conclusion The incorporation of exogenous metabolic capacity into the test system was valid for the study of indirect effects on ER, AR, PR, and TR.

Fraction distribution and risk assessment of heavy metals in sediments of Moshui Lake

To examine the status and risk of heavy metal pollution in urban lakes, in China, the distribution of several heavy metals （e.g., Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn） in the sediment of Moshui Lake, Hangyang District, Wuhan City, was characterized. The process of rapid urbanization and industrialization of the district was also studied to find out its relationship with the metal accumulation profile in the sediment. It was found that the total concentration of heavy metals in the sediment was higher than the severe effect level （SEL）, at all sampling sites, except those in the riparian zone. The Cr and Cu maximum concentrations were 1,780 and 1,250 mg/kg, approximately 16 and 11 times as much as the SEL values, and they appeared as deep as 32 cm in one sample. The carbonate and exchangeable fractions of Zn were more than 50% of the total Zn content, resulting in very high risk according to the Risk Assessment Code （RAC）. For Cu and Ni, a medium RAC value was found for carbonate and exchangeable fractions of 11%-20%. As sensitive indicators of contaminants in aquatic systems, heavy metals in the sediment reflect the outcome of regional urbanization, industrialization, and environmental management. With rapid urbanization, sedimentary Pb and Zn concentrations increased. The experimental results showed that high sedimentary heavy metal concentrations had resulted from rapid urbanization and industrialization, which would absolutely lead to substantial aquatic environmental decline in urban lakes.

First flush of storm runoff pollution from an urban catchment in China

Storm runoff pollution process was investigated in an urban catchment with an area of 1.3 km^2 in Wuhan City of China. The results indicate that the pollutant concentration peaks preceded the flow peaks in all of 8 monitored storm events. The intervals between pollution peak and flow peak were shorter in the rain events with higher intensity in the initial period than those with lower intensity. The fractions of pollution load transported by the first 30% of runoff volume （FF30） were 52.2%-72.1% for total suspended solids （TSS）, 53.0%-65.3% for chemical oxygen demand （COD）, 40.4%-50.6% for total nitrogen （TN）, and 45.8%-63.2% for total phosphorus （TP）, respectively. Runoff pollution was positively related to non-raining days before the rainfall. Intercepting the first 30% of runoff volume can remove 62.4% of TSS load, 59.4% of COD load, 46.8% of TN load, and 54.1% of TP load, respectively, according to all the storm events. It is suggested that controlling the first flush is a critical measure in reduction of urban stormwater pollution.

Analysis of bacterial community structures in two sewage treatment plants with different sludge properties and treatment performance by nested PCR-DGGE method

The bacterial community structures in two sewage treatment plants with different processes and performance were investigated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （DGGE） of nested polymerase chain reaction （nested PCR） amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments with group-specific primers. Samples of raw sewage and treated effluents were amplified using the whole-cell PCR method, and the activated sludge samples were amplified using the extracted genomic DNA before the PCR products were loaded on the same DGGE gel for bacterial community analysis. Ammonia-oxidizing bacterial and actinomycetic community analysis were also carried out to investigate the relationship between specific population structures and system or sludge performance. The two plants demonstrated a similarity in bacterial community structures of raw sewage and activated sludge, but they had different effluent populations. Many dominant bacterial populations of raw sewage did not appear in the activated sludge samples, suggesting that the dominant bacterial populations in raw sewage might not play an important role during wastewater treatment. Although the two plants had different sludge properties in terms of settleability and foam forming ability, they demonstrated similar actinomycetic community structures. For activated sludge with bad settling performance, the treated water presented a similar DGGE pattern with that of activated sludge, indicating the nonselective washout of bacteria from the system. The plant with better ammonium removal efficiency showed higher ammonia-oxidizing bacteria species richness. Analysis of sequencing results showed that the major populations in raw sewage were uncultured bacterium, while in activated sludge the predominant populations were beta proteobacteria.

Adsorption removal of phosphate from aqueous solution by active red mud

Red mud is the waste of alumina industry and has high TiO2 and Fe2O3 content which are active components for the adsorption of anion pollutants. In this study, the uptake of phosphate by red mud activated by heat treatment and acid-heat treatment was investigated. The factors influencing the adsorption were also investigated. The result showed that the red mud sample treated using acid-heat method at 80℃ with 0.25 mol/L HCl for 2 h achieved the highest phosphate removal. For the heat-activated red mud, the sample heated at 700℃ for 2 h preformed better than the other heat treatment. Phosphate removal by the activated red mud was significantly pH dependent, and pH 7 was the optimal pH for phosphate removal. The adsorption fits Langmuir isotherm model well and the maximum adsorption capacities of the acid-heat activated red mud and the heat activated samples were 202.9 mgP/g and 155.2 mgP/g, respectively.

Research progress of novel adsorption processes in water purification: A review

As an effective, efficient, and economic approach for water purification, adsorbents and adsorption processes have been widely studied and applied in different aspects for a long time. In the recent years, a lot of novel adsorption processes have been developed for enhancing the efficiency of removing the organic and inorganic contaminants from water. This article reviews some new adsorbents and advanced adsorption methods that specialize in their compositions, structures, functions, and characteristics used in water treatment. The review emphasizes adsorption/catalytic oxidation process, adsorption/catalytic reduction process, adsorption coupled with redox process, biomimetic sorbent and its sorption behaviors of POPs, and modified adsorbents and their water purification efficiency.

Pollutant loads of surface runoff in Wuhan City Zoo, an urban tourist area

The pollutant loads of surface runoff in an urban tourist area have been investigated for two years in the Wuhan City Zoo, China. Eight sampling sites, including two woodlands, three animal yards, two roofs and one road, were selected for sampling and study. The results indicate that pollutants ranked in a predictable order of decreasing load （e.g. animal yard〉roof〉woodland〉road）, with animal yards acting as the key pollution source in the zoo. Pollutants were transported mainly by particulate form in runoff. Particulate nitrogen and particulate phosphorous accounted on average for 61%, 78% of total pollutant, respectively, over 13 monitored rainfall events. These results indicate the treatment practices should be implemented to improve particulate nutrient removal. Analysis of the M（V） curve indicate that no first flush effect existed in the surface runoff from pervious areas （e.g. woodland, animal ground yard）, whereas a first flush effect was evident in runoff from impervious surfaces （e.g. animal cement yard, roof, road）.

Rainwater utilization and storm pollution control based on urban runoff characterization

The characteristics of urban runoffs and their impact on rainwater utilization and storm pollution control were investigated in three different functional areas of Zhengzhou City, China. The results showed that in the same rain event the pollutant loads （chemical oxygen demand （COD） and total suspended solids （TSS）） in the sampling areas were in the order of industrial area 〉 commercial area 〉 residential area, and within the same area the COD and TSS concentrations of road runoffs were higher than those of roof runoffs. The first flush effects in roof and road runoffs were observed, hence the initial rainwater should be treated separately to reduce rainwater utilization cost and control storm pollution. The initial roof rainfall of 2 mm in residential area, 5 mm in commercial area and 10 mm in industrial area, and the initial road rainfall of 4 mm in residential area and all the road rainfall in commercial and industrial areas should be collected and treated accordingly before direct discharge or utilization. Based on the strong correlation between COD and TSS （R2, 0.87-0.95） and the low biodegradation capacity （biochemical oxygen demand BOD5/COD 〈 0.3）, a sedimentation process and an effective filtration system composed of soil and slag were designed to treat the initial rainwater, which could remove over 90% of the pollutant loads. The above results may help to develop better rainwater utilization and pollution control strategies for cities with water shortages.

Size distribution and diffuse pollution impacts of PAHs in street dust in urban streams in the Yangtze River Delta

Particles of dust washed off streets by stormwater are an important pathway of polyaromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs） into urban streams. This article presented a comprehensive assessment of the size distribution of PAHs in street dust particles, the potential risks of the particles in urban streams, and the sources and sinks of PAHs in the stream network. This assessment was based on measurements of 16 PAHs from the USEPA priority list in street dust particles and river sediments in Xincheng, China. The content of total PAHs ranged from 1629 to 8986 Dg/kg in street dust particles, where smaller particles have a higher concentrations. Approximately 55% of the total PAHs were associated with particles less than 250 μm which accounted for 40% of the total mass of street dust. The PAH quantities increased from 2.41 to 46.86 μg/m2 in the sequence of new residential, rising through main roads, old town residential, commercial and industrial areas. The sediments in stream reaches in town were found to be sinks for street dust particle PAHs. The research findings suggested that particle size, land use and the hydrological conditions in the stream network were the factors which most influenced the total loads of PAH in the receiving water bodies.

Control factors of partial nitritation for landfill leachate treatment

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation （ANAMMOX） technology has potential technical superiority and economical efficiency for the nitrogen removal from landfill leachate, which contains high-strength ammonium nitrogen （NH4^＋-N） and refractory organics. To complete the ANAMMOX process, a preceding partial nitritation step to produce the appropriate ratio of nitrite/ammonium is a key stage. The objective of this study was to determine the optimal conditions to acquire constant partial nitritation for landfill leachate treatment, and a bench scale fixed bed bio-film reactor was used in this study to investigate the effects of the running factors on the partial nitritation. The results showed that both the dissolved oxygen （DO） concentration and the ammonium volumetric loading rate （Nv） had effects on the partial nitritation. In the controlling conditions with a temperature of 30±1℃, Nv of 0.2-1.0 kg NH4＋-N/（m^3·d）, and DO concentration of 0.8-2.3 mg/L, the steady partial nitritation was achieved as follows： more than 94% partial nitritation efficiency （nitrite as the main product）, 60%-74% NH4^＋-N removal efficiency, and NO2^--N/NH4^＋-N ratio （concentration ratio） of 1.0-1.4 in the effluent.The impact of temperature was related to Nv at certain DO concentration, and the temperature range of 25-30℃ was suitable for treating high strength ammonium leachate. Ammonium-oxidizing bacteria （AOB） could be acclimated to higher FA （free ammonium） in the range of 122-224 mg/L. According to the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis result of the bio-film in the reactor, there were 25 kinds of 16S rRNA gene fragments, which indicated that abundant microbial communities existed in the bio-film, although high concentrations of ammonium and FA may inhibit the growth of the nitrite-oxidizing bacteria （NOB） and other microorganisms in the reactor.

Practical performance and its efficiency of arsenic removal from groundwater using Fe-Mn binary oxide

A treatment unit packed by granular adsorbent of Fe-Mn binary oxide incorporated into diatomite （FMBO（1：1）-diatomite） was studied to remove arsenic from anaerobic groundwater without any pre-treatment or post-treatment. The raw anaerobic groundwater containing 35-45 μg/L of arsenic was collected from suburb of Beijing. Arsenic（Ⅲ） constituted roughly 60%-80% of the total arsenic content. Approximately 7,000 bed volumes （ratio of effluent volume to adsorbent volume） treated water with arsenic concentration below 10 μg/L were produced in the operation period of four months. The regeneration of FMBO（1：1）-diatomite had been operated for 15 times. In the first stage, the regeneration process significantly improved the adsorption capacity of FMBO（1：1 ）-diatomite. With increased loading amount of Fe-Mn binary oxide, the adsorption capacity for arsenic decreased 20%-40%. Iron and manganese in anaerobic groundwater were oxidized and adsorptive filtrated by FMBO（1 ： 1）-diatomite efficiently. The final concentrations of iron and manganese in effluents were nearly zero. The continued safe performance of the treatment units proved that adsorbent FMBO（1：1）- diatomite had high oxidation ability and exhibited strong adsorptive filtration.

A cleaner two-step synthesis of high purity diallyldimethylammonium chloride monomers for flocculant preparation

In order to improve the flocculation efficiency of polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride（PDADMAC）, high molecular weight PDADMAC should be prepared from high purity diallyldimethylammonium chloride（DADMAC） monomers. In this paper, a cleaner method with microwave irradiation and alkali solidification was proposed for preparing high pure DADMAC by selective heating under low temperature, and the prepared high purity DADMAC is characterized using FTIR and atomic absorption spectrometry. The new method provides a solution to the key technical problem of PDADMAC synthesis. Comparing with the conventional methods, the results showed that the advantages of the novel synthesis include： （a） high purity DADMAC is improved from 57% to 71% ; （b） reaction time of tertiary amine preparation is shortened from 6 h to 7 min; （c） water instead of acetone was used as reaction medium; （d） toxic by-products, wastewater and waste gas are eliminated. Flocculant made from the synthesized high purity DADMAC monomers was proved more efficient in flocculation tests.

Adsorption removal of thiocyanate from aqueous solution by calcined hydrotalcite

A hydrotalcite with Mg/AI molar ratio 2 was prepared by co-precipitation method and was characterized by XRD, TG/DTA, Zeta potential and BET surface area. The hydrotalcite was calcined at 500℃, with the dehydration from interlayer, the dehydroxilation from the brucite-like layer and the decomposition of carbonate successively, transformed into the mixed oxide type. The removal of thiocyanate from aqueous solution by using the original hydrotalcite and calcined hydrotalcite （HTC-500） was investigated. The results showed that the thiocyanate adsorption capacity of calcined hydrotalcite was much higher than that of the original form. Calcined hydrotalcite was particularly effective at removing thiocyanate, and that the effective range of pH for the thiocyanate removal are between 5.5-10.0. The experimental data of thiocyanate removal fit nicely with Langmuir isotherm, and the saturated adsorption uptake was 96.2 mg SCN-/g HTC-500. The adsorption of thiocyanate by calcined hydrotalcite follows first-order kinetics. And the intercalation to the structure recovery for calcined hydrotalcite. But the presence of additional anions could affect the adsorption behavior of thiocyanate.

Fractal analysis of polyferric chloride-humic acid(PFC-HA) flocs in different topological spaces

The fractal dimensions in different topological spaces of polyferric chloride-humic acid （PFC-HA） flocs, formed in flocculating different kinds of humic acids （HA） water at different initial pH （9.0, 7.0, 5.0） and PFC dosages, were calculated by effective densitymaximum diameter, image analysis, and N2 absorption-desorption methods, respectively. The mass fractal dimensions （De） of PFC-HA floes were calculated by bi-logarithm relation of effective density with maximum diameter and Logan empirical equation. The Df value was more than 2.0 at initial pH of 7,0, which was 11% and 13% higher than those at pH 9.0 and 5.0, respecively, indicating the most compact flocs formed in flocculated HA water at initial pH of 7.0. The image analysis for those flocs indicates that after flocculating the HA water at initial pH greater than 7.0 with PFC flocculant, the fractal dimensions of D2 （logA vs. logdL） and D3 （logVsphere vs. logdL） of PFC-HA floes decreased with the increase of PFC dosages, and PFC-HA floes showed a gradually looser structure. At the optimum dosage of PFC, the D2 （logA vs. logdL） values of the flocs show 14%-43% difference with their corresponding Dr, and they even had different tendency with the change of initial pH values. However, the D2 values of the floes formed at three different initial pH in HA solution had a same tendency with the corresponding Df. Based on fractal Frenkel-Halsey-HiU （FHH） adsorption and desorption equations, the pore surface fractal dimensions （Ds） for dried powders of PFC-HA flocs formed in HA water with initial pH 9.0 and 7.0 were all close to 2.9421, and the Ds values of flocs formed at initial pH 5.0 were less than 2.3746. It indicated that the pore surface fractal dimensions of PFC-HA floes dried powder mainly show the irregularity from the mesopore-size distribution and marcopore-size distribution.

Surface reaction of Bacillus cereus biomass and its biosorption for lead and copper ions

In this study, the surface chemical functional groups of Bacillus cereus biomass were identified by Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） analytical technique. It had been shown that the B. cereus cells mainly contained carboxyl, hydroxyl, phosphate, amino and amide functional groups. The potentiometric titration was conducted to explain the surface acid-base properties of aqueous B. cereus biomass. The computer program FITEQL 4.0 was used to perform the model calculations. The optimization results indicated that three sitesthree pKas model, which assumed the cell surface to have three distinct types of surface organic functional groups based on the IR analysis results, simulated the experimental results very well. Moreover, batch adsorption experiments were performed to investigate biosorption behavior of Cu（Ⅱ） and Pb（Ⅱ） ions onto the biomass. Obviously, the adsorption equilibrium data for the two ions were reasonably described by typical Langmuir isotherm.

Removal of a type of endocrine disruptors—di-n-butyl phthalate from water by ozonation

Ozonation of synthetic water containing a type of endocrine disruptor-di-n-butyl phthalate （DBP） was examined. Key impact factors such as pH, temperature, ionic strength, ozone dosage and initial DBP concentration were investigated. In addition, the activities of radicals on uncatalysed and catalysed ozonation were studied. The degradation intermediate products were followed and the kinetic of the ozonation were assessed as well. Results revealed that ozonation of DBP followed two mechanisms. Firstly, the reaction rate of direct ozonation was slower at lower pH, temperature, and ionic strength. Secondly, when these factors were increased for indirect radical reaction, higher percentage of DBP was removed with the increase of the initial ozone dosage and the decrease of the initial DBP concentration. In addition, tea-butanol, humic substances and Fe（Ⅱ） affected DBP ozonation through the radical pathway. It was determined that ozonation was restrained by adding tea-butanol for its radical inhibition effect. Furthermore, humic substances enhanced the reaction to some extent, but a slight negative effect would be encountered if the optimum dosage was exceeded. As a matter of fact, Mn（Ⅱ） affected the ozonation by ＂active sites＂ mechanism. In the experiment, three different kinds of intermediate products were produced during ozonation, but the amount of products for each one of them decreased as pH, temperature, ionic strength and initial ozone dosage increased. A kinetic equation of the reaction between ozone and DBP was obtained.

Biotransformation of nonylphenol ethoxylates during sewage treatment under anaerobic and aerobic conditions

Biotransformation of nonylphenol ethoxylates （NPEOs） during continuous anaerobic sewage treatment was compared with the aerobic treatment of sewage spiked with 23 μmol/L technical NPEOs over a period of 90 d. Immediate degradation of NPEOs was observed under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions, indicating that the enzymes and bacteria required for NPEO degradation existed abundantly in both aerobic and anaerobic sludge. Both treatments achieved high removal （〉 92%） of the spiked NPEO9 mixture. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry （LC-MS） analysis showed that short-chain NPEOs （NPEO1-NPEO3） accumulated in anaerobic （2.01-2.56 μmol/L） and aerobic （1.62-2.03 μmol/L） effluents, with nonylphenol （NP） （0.24-0.31 μmol/L） as another group of metabolites in the anaerobic effluent, and nonylphenoxy carboxylates （NPECs） （2.79-3.30 μmol/L） in the aerobic effluent. Significant accumulation of NP in the anaerobic sludge and NPEO1-3 in the sludge of two reactors was observed. These results indicated that it was difficult to control these harmful metabolites in the conventional treatment processes. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles of sludge samples support the speculation that the NPEO degradation bacteria might be the dominant indigenous species.