Concentrations and Human Health Risk of Organochlorines in Farmed Freshwater Products: Fish Ponds around Changsha, China.

ABSTRACT: The present study was conducted to reveal the concentrations and patterns of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in seven species of freshwater food products (Procambarus clarkii, Ctenopharyngodon idellus, Parabramis pekinensis, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Cyprinus carpio, Aristichthys nobilis, and Carassius auratus) collected from aquaculture farms around Changsha, People's Republic of China. The OCPs and PCBs in the muscle tissue of these species were analyzed to assess the health risk associated with dietary intake. The mean concentrations of OCPs and PCBs were 6.38 to 15.90 and 3.18 to 5.12 ng g-1 wet weight, respectively. Heptachlor and δ-HCH were the main OCP contaminants in the tested samples, accounting for >74% of the total OCPs. PCB52 was the main PCB, accounting for >88% of the total PCBs. The bioaccumulation of OCPs and PCBs in these aquatic products depends upon the species. C. idellus had the highest concentrations of OCPs, and H. molitrix had the highest concentrations of PCBs. The mean lipid concentration in these freshwater species was 6.08 to 19.8% (dry weight) and was significantly correlated with the concentrations of OCPs and PCBs. The health risk from consumption of these freshwater species was assessed based on the hazard ratios and hazard quotient, and consumption of these products was determined to pose a carcinogenic risk.

Determination of olaquindox, carbadox and cyadox in animal feeds by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

Olaquindox, carbadox, and cyadox are chemically synthesised antibacterial and growth-promoting agents for animals. At high doses they may exert mutagenicity and hepatic and adrenal toxicities in animals. Regrettably, these substances are frequently abused or misused when added into animal feeds. Thus, developing a sensitive and reliable method for simultaneous determination of olaquindox, carbadox, and cyadox in different kinds of animal feeds is crucially important for food safety monitoring. In this paper we optimised instrumental conditions, extraction solvents, solid phase extraction cartridges, and pH of the loading solvents on the Oasis HLB cartridge. Under the optimal conditions, mean recoveries ranged from 74.1 to 111%, and intra-day and inter-day variations were lower than 14.6% and 10.8%, respectively. The limits of quantification for olaquindox, carbadox, and cyadox were 0.05 mg kg-1, 0.10 mg kg-1, and 0.025 mg kg-1, respectively. The proposed method uses ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and is sensitive and reliable for the simultaneous determination of olaquindox, carbadox, and cyadox in three kinds of animal feeds (specifically, mixed feed, concentrated feed, and additive premixed feed). This method has good precision, high sensitivity, and good reproducibility, and thus it can be used for convenient and accurate determination of olaquindox, carbadox, and cyadox in different kinds of animal feeds.

Well-dispersed CoS nanoparticles on a functionalized graphene nanosheet surface: a counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cells.

With a facile electrophoretic deposition and chemical bath process, CoS nanoparticles have been uniformly dispersed on the surface of the functionalized graphene nanosheets (FGNS). The composite was employed as a counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), which yielded a power conversion efficiency of 5.54 %. It is found that this efficiency is higher than those of DSSCs based on the non-uniform CoS nanoparticles on FGNS (4.45 %) and built on the naked CoS nanoparticles (4.79 %). The achieved efficiency of our cost-effective DSSC is also comparable to that of noble metal Pt-based DSSC (5.90 %). Our studies have revealed that both the exceptional electrical conductivity of the FGNS and the excellent catalytic activity of the CoS nanoparticles improve the conversion efficiency of the uniformly FGNS-CoS composite counter electrode. The electrochemical impedance spectra, cyclic voltammetry, and Tafel polarization have evidenced the best catalytic activity and the fastest electron transport. Additionally, the dispersion condition of CoS nanoparticles on FGNS plays an important role for catalytic reduction of I3 (-) .

A new layered photocathode with porous NiO nanosheets: an effective candidate for p-type dye-sensitized solar cells.

Herein, with the purpose of improving the efficiency of p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), a new layered photocathode (LP) is fabricated from irregular overlapping wrinkled porous NiO nanosheets. The LP was sensitized by using a commonly used dye, coumarin 343(C343), and then assembled into p-type DSSCs through coupling with a platinum photoanode. Photoelectochemical characterization showed that the LP cell exhibited a clearly enhanced power-conversion efficiency (by a factor of 4) compared with a cell with a NiO-nanoparticle photocathode (NP). This excellent performance could be attributed to the overlapping layered structure, which favored hole transport, as confirmed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and to the large surface area of the porous NiO nanosheets, which were favorable for dye adsorption.

Facile synthesis of high-crystallinity graphitic carbon/Fe3C nanocomposites as counter electrodes for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells.

Because of the advantages of both rapid electron transport of graphitic carbon and high catalytic performance of Fe3C nanoparticle, highly crystalline graphitic carbon (GC)/Fe3C nanocomposites have been prepared by a facile solid-state pyrolysis approach and used as counter electrode materials for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The content of Fe3C in the composites can be modified by different hydrochloric acid treatment time. In comparison with pure highly crystalline GC, the DSSC based on GC/Fe3C nanocomposite with 13.5 wt % Fe3C content shows higher conversion efficiency (6.04%), which indicates a comparable performance to the Pt-based DSSC (6.4%) as well. Moreover, not only does our DSSCs have comparable performance to that of the Pt-based DSSC (6.4%), but also is more cost-effective as well. To evaluate the chemical catalysis and stability of nanocomposite counter electrodes toward I3(-) reduction and the interfacial charge transfer properties, GC/Fe3C nanocomposites have been quantitatively characterized by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectra, and Tafel polarization curve. All the results have revealed that the GC/Fe3C nanocomposite counter electrodes can exhibit high catalytic performance and fast interfacial electron transfer, which can be acted as a very promising and high cost-effective materital for DSSCs.

Anatase TiO2 pillar-nanoparticle composite fabricated by layer-by-layer assembly for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells.

The anatase TiO(2) pillar (PL)-TiO(2) nanoparticle (NP) composite is fabricated via layer-by-layer assembly. The composition of the nanostructures (i.e. the pillar-to-nanoparticle ratio) can be conveniently tuned by controlling the experimental conditions of the layer-by-layer assembly. It has been used to fabricate photoelectrodes for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), which combine the advantages of the rapid electron transport in PLs with the high surface area of NPs. It was found that, with optimum preparation conditions, DSSCs with the composite photoelectrode show a better photoelectrical conversion efficiency (8.06%) than those with either the naked PL photoelectrode or the mechanically mixed PL-NP photoelectrode. This is explained by the photoelectron injection drive force and the interfacial electron transport of the DSSCs, which are quantitatively characterized using the surface photovoltage spectra and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. It is evident that the DSSC with the optimal PL/NP ratio displays the largest photoelectron injection drive force and the fastest interfacial electron transfer.