Ecological risk assessment of the typical anti-epidemic drugs in the Pearl River Delta by tracing their source and residual characteristics.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the anti-epidemic drugs have been used in extraordinary quantities with high intensity, and concerns have grown about their potential ecological risks due to their continued release and persistence in the receiving environments. A systematic investigation, covering the samples from hospital wastewater, effluent from wastewater treatment plants and receiving water bodies in the Pearl River Delta Region (PRDR), was carried out and aimed at tracing the sources and fate of 30 typical anti-epidemic in different water matrixes and evaluating their ecological risk. The results showed that these typical anti-epidemic drugs residues were detected in most of the sampling sites, with the highest concentration measured in hospital wastewater, whose concentrations were as high as ppb level, while the highest concentration of the surface water samples in tributaries was lower than ppb level. Anti-epidemic drugs contained in hospital wastewater and effluent from WWTPs were the main sources of drug residues in the surface water of this region. In the surface water of PRDR, although the detected concentration anti-epidemic drugs were basically in the range of 0-10 ng/L. The risk quotient of several anti-epidemic drugs, including Ciprofloxacin (CFX), Ofloxacin (OFX), Erythromycin (ETM), Clindamycin (CLI), and Sulfamethoxazole (SMX), was calculated to be a high value, which indicated that they might cause non-negligible ecological risk to the aquatic environment.

Low-Cost Carbazole-Based Hole-Transport Material for Highly Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells.

A low-cost carbazole-based small-molecule material, 1,3,6,8-tetra(N,N-p-dimethoxyphenylamino)-9-ethylcarbazole, was designed and synthesized through a facile three-step synthetic route. The material was characterized and applied as a hole-transport material (HTM) for low-temperature-processed planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Devices based on this new HTM exhibit a high power-conversion efficiency of 17.8 % that is comparable to that of PSCs based on the costly 2,2',7,7'-tetrakis[N,N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]-9,9'-spirobifluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD) (18.6 %) .

Study and health risk assessment of the occurrence of iron and manganese in groundwater at the terminal of the Xiangjiang River.

The pollution of the surface water in the Xiangjiang watershed in China has received much attention, whereas the groundwater conditions in the area have long been ignored. This study investigates the occurrence of Fe and Mn in the groundwater of Chengxi Town located at the terminal of the Xiangjiang River. The study area was monitored for an entire year. Thereafter, the associated health risks were identified. Results showed that approximately 81 and 73 % of the measured samples exceeded the limits for Fe and Mn in Chinese drinking water, respectively. pH level was found to be negatively correlated with the concentrations of Fe and Mn in the groundwater in the study area. The occurrence of Fe in the groundwater showed significant seasonal fluctuations and was possibly affected by the change in environment conditions within the aquifer. By contrast, Mn remained relatively stable in most of the area during the whole year. Overall, no health threats for adults and children in the study area were determined according to the low health index values. Nevertheless, research attention and the implementation of relevant measures are needed for certain villages with exceptionally high Mn concentrations in the groundwater.

[Forest carbon storage and fuel carbon emission in Tanjiang River basin].

The investigation on the forest carbon storage and fuel carbon emission in Tanjiang River basin showed that since 1990, the forests in Tanjiang River basin acted as a carbon sink, and this action was increased with time and with economic development. The net carbon uptake by the forests was 1.0579 x 10 (7) t in 1990 and 1.28061 x 10 (7) t in 2002, with an annual increment of 1.856 x 10(5) t, while the fuel carbon emission was 9. 508 x 10(5) t in 1990 and 1.8562 x 10(6) t in 2002, with an annual increment of 7.0 x 10(4) t. In 2003, the fuel carbon emission was up to 2.1968 x 10(6) t, 3.406 x 105 t more than that in 2002. In 2002, the energy consumption per 10(4) yuan GDP in Tanjiang River basin was 2.21 t standard coal, higher than the average consumption (1.81 t standard coal) in the Pearl River delta. If the fuel consumption decreased to the average level, the carbon emission in Tanjiang River basin would be reduced by 3.360 x 10(5) t, which was higher than the annual increment of forest net carbon uptake in the basin. From the viewpoint of net carbon uptake and emission in a basin, more attention should be paid to the relations between forest carbon sink and human activities.