Variations in the concentration, inventory, source, and ecological risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediments of the Lake Chaohu.

In this study, the ecological risk assessment of PAHs pollution, the existing S-T model was improved and applied to this PAHs pollution assessment in surface sediment in Lake Chaohu. The potential sources and contributions of PAHs in the surface sediment were estimated by molecular diagnostic ratio (MDR) and positive matrix factorization (PMF). The results showed that the average concentration of 16 priority PAHs in the surface sediment was 718.16 ng/g in 2009 and 334.67 ng/g in 2020. In 2020, PAHs concentration has decreased compared to 2009 and the dominant composition has changed from high- to low-molecular-weight PAHs. The estimated PAHs mass inventory of the top 2 cm surface sediment was 2712 tons in 2009 and 1263 tons in 2020. Ecosystem risk assessment by improved S-T models suggested that the overall ecosystem risk of the studied regions was acceptable.

Identification and determination of the contribution of iron-steel manufacturing industry to sediment-associated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a large shallow lake of eastern China.

Seventeen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds were determined in surface sediments collected from the Chaohu Lake (a large shallow lake in eastern China) and its tributaries. Both diagnostic ratios and a receptor model (positive matrix factorization, PMF) were applied to identify and determine the contribution of a local iron-steel manufacturing plant located in the Nanfei River (NFR) to the Chaohu Lake basin. The results show that sites located in the downstream of the steel plant contained concentrations of 17 PAH (Σ17PAH) approximately two orders of magnitudes higher than those from other sites. Five factors were identified by the PMF model, including industrial waste, wood/biomass burning, diagenetic origin, domestic coal combustion, and industrial combustion. Our findings suggest that sediments in the downstream of the plant and in the western part of the Chaohu Lake were predominantly affected by industrial coal combustion. A mixture of pyrolytic origins impacted urban sediments in the upstream of the plant, whereas diagenetic origins along with coal and biomass burning were suggested to influence the eastern part and rural tributaries of the lake. To assess the potential ecological risk and toxicity caused by the iron-steel plant, sediment toxicity was evaluated by the PMF model, sediment quality guideline, and toxic equivalent factors. All of the three approaches suggested PAH accumulation in the NFR sediments could produce significant adverse ecological effects and half of the sediment toxicity in the NFR may be attributed to the emissions from the iron-steel plant. Some rural locations also exhibited PAH concentrations above probable effects, most likely contributed by wood/biomass burning.

Influence of Different Electron Acceptors on the Anaerobic Degradation of Curly-Leaf Pondweed.

Curly-leaf pondweed (Potamogeton crispus) was utilized as the representative to investigate the biodecomposition process of aquatic plants under different reducible conditions. Results showed that the methane production was inhibited when different electron acceptors (Fe(III), and ) were available. The methane production was decreased by 57% when Fe(III) and or were both available compared to the control. The degradation efficiency of hemicellulose and lignin with Fe(III) and were increased significantly. This provided a theoretical basis for slowing down the emissions of methane.

Occurrence, compositional distribution, and toxicity assessment of pyrethroid insecticides in sediments from the fluvial systems of Chaohu Lake, Eastern China.

Surface sediment-associated synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (SPs) are known to pose high risks to the benthic organisms in Chaohu Lake, a shallow lake of Eastern China. However, the pollution status of the lake's tributaries and estuaries is still unknown. The present study was conducted to investigate the occurrence, compositional distribution, and toxicity of 12 currently used SPs in the surface sediments from four important tributaries, as well as in the sediment cores at their estuaries, using GC-MS for quantification. All SPs selected were detectable, with cypermethrin, es/fenvalerate, and permethrin dominant in both surface and core sediments, suggesting that these compounds were extensively applied. Urban samples contained the highest summed concentrations of the 12 SPs analyzed (Σ12SP) in both surface and core sediments compared with rural samples, suggesting that urban areas near aquatic environments posed high risks for SPs. The mean concentration of Σ12SP in surface sediments of each river was generally higher than that found in core sediments from its corresponding estuary, perhaps implying recent increases in SP usage. Surface sediments were significantly dominated by cypermethrin and permethrin, whereas core sediments were dominated by permethrin and es/fenvalerate. The compositional distributions demonstrated a spatial variation for surface sediments because urban sediments generally contained greater percentages of permethrin and cypermethrin, but rural sediments had significant levels of es/fenvalerate and cypermethrin. In all sediment cores, the percentage of permethrin gradually increased, whereas es/fenvalerate tended to decrease, from the bottom sediments to the top, indicating that the former represented fresh input, whereas the latter represented historical residue. Most urban samples would be expected to be highly toxic to benthic organisms due to the residue of SPs based on a calculation of toxic units (TUs) using toxicity data of the amphipod Hyalella azteca. However, low TU values were found for the samples from rural areas. These results indicate that the bottom sediments were exposed to high risk largely by the residual SPs from urban areas. The summed TUs were mostly attributable to cypermethrin, followed by λ-cyhalothrin and es/fenvalerate. Despite permethrin contributing ∼28.7 % of the Σ12SP concentration, it only represented 6.34 % of the summed TUs. Therefore, our results suggest that high levels of urbanization can increase the accumulation of SPs in aquatic environments.

Occurrence, source identification and ecological risk evaluation of metal elements in surface sediment: toward a comprehensive understanding of heavy metal pollution in Chaohu Lake, Eastern China.

In the present study, surface sediment samples from 48 sites covering the whole water area and three main estuaries of Chaohu Lake were collected to determine the concentrations of 25 metal elements using microwave-assisted digestion combined with ICP-MS. Spatial variation, source appointments, and contamination evaluation were examined using multivariate statistical techniques and pollution indices. The results show that for the elements Cd, Pb, Zr, Hf, U, Sr, Zn, Th, Rb, Sn, Cs, Tl, Bi, and Ba, which had higher coefficients of variation (CV), the concentrations were significantly higher in the eastern lake than in the western lake, but other elements with low CV values did not show spatial differences. The accumulation of Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Zr, Cd, Sn, Cs, Ba, Hf, Ta, Tl, Pb, Bi, U, and Th in the surface sediments was inferred as long-term agricultural cultivation impact, but that of Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, and Ni may have been a natural occurrence. The contribution from industrial and municipal impact was negligible, despite the rapid urbanization around the studied area. Principal component analysis-multiple linear regression (PCA-MLR) predicted the contribution from agricultural activities to range from 0.45 ± 1.31% for Co to 92.7 ± 17.7% for Cd. The results of the pollution indices indicate that Chaohu Lake was weakly to moderately affected by Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, and Ni but was severely contaminated by Hf and Cd. The overall pollution level in the eastern lake was higher than that in the western lake with respect to the pollution level index (PLI). Therefore, our results can help comprehensively understand the sediment contamination by metals in Chaohu Lake.

[Modeling the Environmental Behaviors and Ecological Risks of Permethrin in Chaohu Lake].

Environmental pollution caused by synthetic pyrethroid insecticides has received a great deal of attention with the increase in usage recently.To understand the occurrence, environmental processes, fate and ecological impact of permethrin in Chaohu Lake, fugacity based multimedia fate model combining species sensitivities model (SSD) were employed.The concentration distribution, and transfer fluxes were predicted under nonequilibrium steady-state condition, and the effect of input parameter on the outputs was evaluated by sensitive and uncertainty analysis.Furthermore, SSD model of aquatic organisms was constructed for permethrin to assess the potential ecological risk and to determine the maximum annual input amount of permethrin for the purpose of protecting 95% of species.The results showed that the predicted concentrations of permethrin in air, water and sediment were 3.99×10-16, 5.63×10-11, 1.95×10-5mol·m-3, and sediment was the largest sink.Most permethrin was transported from water to air via volatilization, but elimination from air was mostly by particle dry deposition.Permethrin in water was predominately from advection, and was removed by deposition of suspended particulate matter.Sediment associated permethrin was generally derived from suspended particulate matter deposition, and was eliminated by resuspension and sediment burial.The results of SSD model suggested HC5 value was at 0.97 ng·L-1, which was much higher than the predicted environmental concentration of permethrin in water.Only 0.77% of species was possibly impacted by exposure to permethrin.In order to protect 95% of species in Chaohu Lake, the maximum annual input amount of permethrin should be controlled below 78.2 t·a-1.

[Screening of epoxy-degrading halophiles and their application in high-salt wastewater treatment].

In this study, two halophilic bacteria were isolated from activated sludge in the epoxy wastewater treatment system. The strains were identified, and the growth and degradation characteristics were investigated. Strain J1 and J2 was identified respectively by morphological observation and 16S rDNA sequence alignment analysis. It was found that both strains belong to the Bacillus genus (Bacillus sp.) and branch Bacillus (Virgibacillus sp.). The optimized growth condition of strain J1 and J2 in the high salt CM culture medium was as follows: solution temperature 30 degrees C, pH 7.0 and 5-50 g x L(-1) of NaCl. Furthermore, the best degradation condition of the organic epoxy wastewater was: temperature 30 degrees C, pH 7.0 and NaCl concentration 30 g x L(-1). When the volume ratio of bacterial suspension mixture of J1 and J2 was 2:1 and the inoculum size of the composite strains was 10%, the highest COD removal efficiency was achieved in the epoxy wastewater treatment.

Feasibility of anaerobic digested corn stover as biosorbent for heavy metal.

Anaerobic digested (AD) corn stover collected from a lab-scale reactor was used as bioadsorbent to remove the heavy metal in aqueous solution. Effects of contact time and initial heavy metal concentrations on the removal process of Cu(2+) and Cd(2+) were investigated. The maximum adsorption capacities of AD corn stover obtained from Langmuir isotherm models were 83.3 and 50.0mg/g for Cu(2+) and Cd(2+), respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was also used to investigate the surface characteristic of raw and heavy metal loaded AD corn stover.

[Rice straw and sewage sludge as carbon sources for sulfate-reducing bacteria treating acid mine drainage].

The performance of three organic carbon sources was assessed in terms of sulfate reduction and main metal removal, by using sewage sludge as the source of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and adding rice straw and ethanol with equal quantity. Results indicated that sewage sludge which contained certain amount of alkaline material could neutralize acidity of acid mine drainage(AMD) on the first day of experiment, elevating pH value from the initial 2.5 to around 5.4-6.3 and achieving suitable pH condition for SRB growth. Sewage sludge contained fewer biodegradable organic substance, reactive mixture with single sewage sludge showed the lowest sulfate reduction (65.9%). When the single sewage sludge was supplemented with rice straw, SRB reducing sulfate was enhanced (79.2%), because the degradation rate of rice straw was accelerated by the specific bacteria in sewage sludge, providing relatively abundant carbon source for SRB. Control experiment with ethanol was most effective in promoting sulfate reduction (97.9%). Metal removal efficiency in all three reactors was as high as 99% for copper, early copper removal was mainly attributed to the adsorption capacity of sewage sludge prior to SRB acclimation. It is feasible for using rice straw and sewage sludge as carbon sources for SRB treating acid mine drainage at a low cost, this may have significant implication for in situ bioremediation of mine environment.

Anaerobic digestibility and fiber composition of bulrush in response to steam explosion.

Steam explosion, one potential commercial pretreatment method for lignocellulosic wastes, was used to improve methane production of bulrush. Steam exploded bulrush showed a higher methane yield than the raw sample. The effects of steam pressure, moisture content and residence time on the concentration of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and methane yield were described using a second order polynomial equation. A minimum NDF content of 30.6% was achieved under pretreatment condition with moisture content of 16.55%, steam pressure of 1.52 MPa and residence time of 5.17 min. A maximum methane yield of 205.3 ml per degradable volatile solid was obtained at 11.0% moisture, 1.72 MPa steam pressure, and 8.14 min residence time. The breakage and disruption of rigid lignin structure by steam explosion was confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis.

[Partial least-squares regression analysis for simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of Fe3+ and Al3+].

Adding hexodecyltrimethylammonium bromide(CTMAB) to improve solubility and delicacy, and using chromazurol S as a chromogenic reagent, and acetone as a stabilizing reagent, partial least-squares regression(PLS) was used to determine simultaneously trace amounts of Fe(III) and Al(III) in sythetic samples. Considering the stability of the rays, and the absorption properties of the two ingredients, seven wavelengths between 610 and 670 nm were selected for data collection. As a comparison, the methods of CPA and PLS were used respectively for analysing the data obtained from the experiment, and the results suggested that the latter was much better.

[Treatment of wastewater containing Cr(VI) by LDH synthesizing in situ].

The objective of this work was to investigate the efficiency and factors impacting of removal Cr(VI) from wastewater by layer double hydroxide synthesizing in situ. Principle of the method may be described as follow: Mg2+ and Al3+ hydrolysis and forms Mg/Al-LDH by adding Mg2+, Al3+ and NaOH into wastewater containing Cr(VI), Cr(VI) anions are selectively intercalated into interlayer of LDH to balance positive structural charge. While Mg2+ and Al3+ co-precipitates and forms LDH, the Cr(VI) in wastewater is removal by settle of LDH synthesizing in situ, which are confirmed by analysis of X-ray diffraction on settle and chemical analysis on aqueous. The results indicate that factors of impacting on efficiency of removal Cr(VI) include in amount of adding Mg2+ and Al3+, Mg/Al ratio, pH and concentration of Cr(VI) in wastewater. The maximal removal efficiency of Cr(VI) can be reached when pH values are between 8.5 and 9, and Mg/Al ratios are between 1:1 and 2:1, meanwhile, Mg and Al added can be taken good use of. This technology has present extraordinary efficiency of wastewater treatment.