Search

Antibiotics are a widely distributed and effective antibacterial agents. Human medical treatment and livestock aquaculture are major sources of antibiotics in aquatic ecosystems, potentially damaging the biofilms that are the foundation of stream food webs. In this study, we conducted antibiotic biotransformation experiments using biofilms cultured in streams upstream and downstream of a wastewater treatment plant outlet to distinguish different fate processes of antibiotics in biofilms. It was found that stream biofilms have biotransformation potential mainly for specific sulfonamide antibiotics. Flavobacterium and Dyadobacter were identified to be associated with biofilm biotransformation of antibiotics by 16S rDNA sequencing. Besides, microorganisms released from treated wastewater integrated into downstream biofilm communities, thereby enhancing the biotransformation potential of downstream biofilm communities compared to upstream biofilm. These findings enriched the understanding of the biotransformation of micropollutants by stream biofilms, and to thus promote the development of biofilm-based monitoring technologies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

H 2 O 2 is widely used in the treatment of refractory organic pollutants.However, due to its explosive and corrosive chemical characteristics, H 2 O 2 will bring great safety risks and troubles in transportation.So we chose sodium percarbonate(SPC) to be used in catalytic wet peroxide oxidation enhanced by swirl flow(SF-CWPO) and we designed carbon nanotubes with Ni single atom sites(Ni-NCNTs/AC) to activate SPC to treat an m-cresol wastewater containing Si.Meanwhile, artificial intelligence which used Artificial neural network (ANN) was used to optimize the conditions.Under the conditions of pH = 9.27, reaction time of 8.91 min, m-cresol concentration is 59.09 mg L -1 , SPC dosage is 2.80 g L -1 and Na 2 SiO 3 ·9H 2 O dosage is 77.27 mg L -1 , the degradation rate of total organic carbon(TOC) and m-cresol reaches 94.37% and 100%, respectively.Finally, the applicability of Ni-NCNTs/AC-SPC-SF-CWPO technology was evaluated in a wastewater system of a sewage treatment enterprise and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrum(FT-ICR MS) analysis and chemical oxygen demand(COD) analysis showed the great ability of Ni-NCNTs/AC-SPC-SF-CWPO technology to treat wastewater.It is believed that this paper is of great significance to the design and construction of the in-depth research and industrial application of SF-CWPO., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Growing evidence indicates that short-term ozone (O 3 ) exposure has substantial health consequences, but the relationship between short-term ambient O 3 and insomnia, a common sleep disorder, is not clear. This study aimed to investigate the short-term effects of ambient O 3 exposure on outpatient visits for adult insomnia and to explore the potential modifiers. A large-scale multihospital-based study was carried out in Chongqing, the largest city in Southwest China. Daily data on outpatient visits for adult insomnia, average concentrations of ambient air pollutants and meteorological factors were collected. We conducted quasi-Poisson regression with generalized additive model to assess the association between ambient O 3 and outpatient visits for adult insomnia in varied windows of exposure. Subgroup analyses were applied to identify its modifiers. Totally, 140,159 adult insomnia outpatient visits were identified. The daily maximum 8-h average concentration of O 3 was 69 μg/m 3 during the study period, which greatly below the updated Chinese and WHO recommended limits (daily maximum 8-h average, O 3 : 100 μg/m 3 ). Short-term O 3 exposure was significantly negatively associated with outpatient visits for adult insomnia in different lag periods and the greatest decrease of outpatient visits for adult insomnia was found at lag 02 [0.93% (95% CI: 0.48%, 1.38%)]. Additionally, stronger links between O 3 and adult insomnia outpatient visits were presented in cool seasons, and we did not observe any significant modified effects of gender and age. Moreover, the negative O 3 -insomnia association remained robust after controlling for other common air pollutants and comorbidities. In summary, short-term exposure to lower level of ambient O 3 , was associated with reduced daily outpatient visits for adult insomnia and such association showed to be more obvious in cool seasons., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Membrane fouling and wetting limit the applications of membrane distillation (MD) for wastewater treatment, especially when treating the wastewater with a high concentration of low surface tension substances such as oil and surfactants. In this paper, virgin polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane was modified by polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to enhance anti-wetting ability. Then a thin polydopamine (PDA) layer was coated as a reaction platform for further modification. Polyethyleneimine (PEI) was cross-linked with PDA to form a uniform and stable layer, through hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interaction to immobilize hydrophilic MXene, which formed a Janus MXene-PVDF membrane. The MXene layer was the key for superoleophobicity and high liquid entry pressure (LEP) of membrane, capable of mitigating membrane fouling and wetting when dealing with low surface tension wastewater (LSTW). From the experiments results, pristine PVDF membrane showed severe fouling and wetting with flux decline and salt leakage during treatment of LSTW (surfactants containing water, oil-in-water emulsion and sodium dodecyl sulfate stabilized oil-in-water emulsion). However, under the same conditions, the Janus MXene-PVDF membrane exhibited remarkably stable flux (9.3 kg m -2 h -1 , 9.1 kg m -2 h -1 , 10.2 kg m -2 h -1 ) and salt rejection (almost 99.9%) after 15 h operation. Excellent fouling and wetting resistance of MXene-PVDF membrane was mainly attributed to its superhydrophilic and superoleophobic top surface (in-air water contact angle: 30.2°, under-water oil contact angle: 169.9°) and hydrophobic substrate (in-air water contact angle: 130.8°), together with high LEP value (91.1 Kpa). This study provides a viable route to fabricated a Janus membrane with outstanding fouling and wetting resistance for LSTW, oily wastewater and it has great potential for sewage treatment in the future., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) enhanced by swirl flow (SF-CWPO) was developed for the first time to explore the degradation of m-cresol in 3%iron/activated carbon catalysed Fenton reaction. Under the conditions of catalyst dosage of 0.6 g/L, H 2 O 2 dosage of 1.5 mL/L, pH = 6 and reaction time of 20 min, the degradation rate of m-cresol and total organic carbon in 100 mg/L m-cresol solution reaches 81.5% and 82%, respectively. The reaction speed in the SF-CWPO system with an independently designed cyclone reactor was two times faster than the traditional CWPO systems. In addition, via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the degradation product, the possible degradation pathway for m-cresol was proposed. The proposed SF-CWPO can potentially be an efficient and economical method to treat organic pollutants in wastewaters., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Photocatalytic ammonia synthesis from waste nitrate has emerged as a promising strategy in water treatment; however, the conversion and selectivity still remain a great challenge. Herein, recyclable magnetic perovskite (LaFeO 3 )/biochar nanocomposites were successfully synthesized by the co-pyrolysis of the lotus biomass and Fe/La salts without extra organic complexants. Results showed that the lotus interacted with the iron ions (Fe 3+ ) and the lanthanum ions (La 3+ ) changing the surface and structural characteristics of catalysts. Oxygen defects of LaFeO 3 were enhanced due to biomass introduction, which accelerated the separation of electron-hole pairs. On the other hand, Fe/La salts participated in the modification process of the biochar surface during the carbonization, which promoted the exposure of oxygen-containing functional groups and aromatic structures facilitating the nitrate adsorption. Notably, the redox-active quinone/phenol groups on the biochar surface contributed to the photogenerated electrons exchange favoring the ammonium ion (NH 4 + ) selectivity as direct electron donor. Nitrate conversion reached 98% and ammonia selectivity reached 97% over the LaFeO 3 /biochar photocatalyst under visible light irradiation, when the mass ratio of lotus and Fe/La salts was optimized. Our findings may potentially provide a green and cost-effective way for ammonia recovery from nitrate contaminants., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The development of low-temperature selective catalytic reduction of NO x with NH 3 (NH 3 -SCR) catalysts is desirable but still challenging. Herein, a low-cost Mn-Fe/SAPO-34 catalyst was successfully synthesized using natural ferromanganese ore (FO) and industrial waste lithium-silicon-powder (LSP) by solid-state ion exchange (SSIE) method, and showed high NH 3 -SCR activity at low temperature range (150-200 °C) with high N 2 selectivity. After loading FO, Mn-O and Fe-O bonds on Mn-Fe/SAPO-34 were weakened, which were beneficial to electron transfer and the oxidation-reduction cycle of SCR. The coexisting of Mn and Fe promoted the dispersion of Fe, resulted in high amounts of O a , Mn 4+ and Fe 3+ which facilitated the adsorption and activization of NH 3 over Mn-Fe/SAPO-34 catalyst. The Brønsted and Lewis acid sites participate in NH 3 -SCR, and the adsorbed nitrate species could quickly react with the adsorbed NH 3 species via the Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) mechanism. The Mn-Fe/SAPO-34 integrated the advantages of low-cost, resource saving and environment friendly, giving a low-carbon and sustainable choice for the industrial application of NO x abatement., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Recently, there has been an urgent need to develop new materials and technologies for extracting lithium ions. Herein, the membrane-type adsorbent of manganese dioxide (MnO 2 ) is prepared by a vacuum filtration method using graphene oxide (GO) as a binder and amino-β-cyclodextrin (amino-β-CD) as an adjuvant. The results of thermogravimetric analysis show that MnO 2 is successfully immobilized on GO layers with a content of about 24 wt%, which enabled rapid adsorb lithium ions from the ionic solution. In addition, the permeation experiment shows the membrane has specific selectivity for lithium ion transport and adsorption, which is manifested in the selectivity ratios of K + /Li + , Na + /Li + and K + /Na + to 2.5, 3.2 and 0.8, respectively. Adsorption experiments show that GO-β-CD/MnO 2 membrane has a high adsorption capacity for lithium ions (37.5 mg g -1 ). The adsorption kinetic curve indicates that the lithium adsorption process is controlled by the chemical adsorption mechanism. In the enrichment experiment, the concentration of lithium ions from seawater can be enriched to 1.2 mg L -1 after 100 cycles. The results suggest that the developed GO-β-CD/MnO 2 membrane could effectively extract lithium ions from seawater., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Antimony is a priority environmental contaminant. Increasing attention is being paid to the behaviors and mobilities of the various Sb species in the environment. Sb speciation in the environment and the mobilities of Sb species at mining sites have been studied well, but Sb speciation and mobility in shallow lakes requires further study. Here, we studied Sb behavior in sediment of a shallow lake in the plain rivers network in Taihu Basin that suffers continual Sb inputs from textile plants. The diffusive gradients in thin films techniques (DGT) made of zirconium oxide based binding resin gel (ZrO-Chelex), agarose diffusive gel and polyvinylidene fluoride filter were deployed in water and sediment to obtain a high-resolution record in situ. The results indicated that (1) pollutants released by textile plants caused relatively high Sb(Ⅲ), Sb(Ⅴ) and organoantimony concentrations in the eutrophic shallow lake, (2) Sb was seldomly mobile in the oxic layer where Sb(Ⅲ) was sorbed on Fe(Ⅲ) oxides and gradually formed Fe-Sb complexes in the sediment, but in the anoxic environment (oxidation-reduction potential: 366 - -344 mv) Sb(V), Fe(Ⅱ) and P (V) were simultaneously released to resupply the porewater, (3) the release of Sb from solid phase is decided by the redox condition, and the rate of release is dependent on the labile Sb content of the sediment. The mobility of Sb should be given sufficient attention when the potential ecological risk of metal(loid)s in shallow lakes and wetlands sediment are evaluated., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Hexavalent chromium [Cr (Ⅵ)] has extensive applications in industries, and long-term occupational exposure to Cr (Ⅵ) may lead to lung carcinoma and other cancers. While microRNA (miRNA) can take part in carcinogenesis, little is known about its expression profile in the population with Cr (Ⅵ) exposure. Thus, this study aimed to explore miRNA expression profiles in Cr (Ⅵ) exposed workers and to identify the potential biological function of differentially expressed miRNAs. A total of 45 significant differentially expressed miRNAs were identified by the miRNA array. The results of validation showed that miR-19a-3p, miR-19b-3p, and miR-142-3p were downregulated and miR-590-3p and miR-941 were upregulated in the exposure group. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that age, exposure duration and urinary chromium level were associated with one or more miRNAs expression. Target gene analysis indicated that these miRNAs might participate in the regulation of DNA damage-related signaling pathways. Taken together, Cr (Ⅵ) exposure can result in differential expression of miRNAs in occupational workers, and the expression of these miRNAs is correlated with the level and duration of Cr (Ⅵ) exposure, and the differentially expressed miRNAs may participate in DNA damage response., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) are one of the most widely used types of nanoparticles across many industrial sectors, and are known to be present in the air year-round. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the potential adverse effects of SiNP exposure on pulmonary epithelial tight junctions, which serve as a critical barrier between the respiratory system and the circulatory system. In vivo studies confirmed that SiNPs decreased the protein expression levels of zonula occludens 1 (ZO-1), zonula occludens 2 (ZO-2), and occludin in the lungs of C57BL/6 mice. In vitro studies showed that SiNPs not only decreased the mRNA and protein expression of ZO-1 and ZO-2, but also decreased the protein expression of occludin in human bronchial epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells. In addition, SiNP exposure increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and activated extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERKs) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). The inhibition of ROS and ERKs effectively protected the SiNP-induced downregulation of ZO-1 mRNA and protein expression, but had no effect on ZO-2 or occludin expression. SiNP-induced matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) protein expression appeared to be involved in occludin proteolytic degradation, in addition to SiNP-induced direct occludin protein degradation. The present study suggests that SiNPs disturb pulmonary epithelial tight junction structure and function via the ROS/ERK pathway and protein degradation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Nitroimidazoles are found in pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and, when discharged into the environment, have adverse effects on human health and survival. Advanced oxidation technologies (AOTs) based on persulfate (PS) can rapidly and efficiently degrade organic pollutants via strong oxidizing radicals under activation conditions. This study investigated the degradation of ronidazole (RNZ) by indirect electrolytic generation of PS and its activator, ferrous ion (Fe 2+ ). An electrochemical system was developed, with a high concentration of PS generated at the anode while the activator Fe 2+ was produced at the cathode. It showed that ammonium polyphosphate (APP) could effectively promote the electrolysis of PS. A high current efficiency (88%) at the anode could be obtained after 180 min at a high current density (300 mA cm -2 ). However, Fe 2+ was inhibited at the cathode due to material control. The degradation of RNZ in the Fe 2+ /PS system generated from the electrochemical system was also explored. Increasing PS concentration and Fe 2+ /PS ratio were beneficial to the RNZ degradation. In homogeneous reactions, the degradation efficiency of RNZ could be improved by decreasing the Fe 2+ addition rate through a peristaltic pump. Five intermediates were also detected and the degradation pathways were proposed. These findings provide a new method and mechanism for rapid and efficient degradation of RNZ., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Coccinella septempunctata is a common insect predator that provides biological control of many destructive arthropod pests. An assessment of the toxicity of pesticides to predators is a necessary component of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies. In order to evaluate the risks of field insecticide application, we studied the influence of chlorantraniliprole on C. septempunctata larvae using different exposure doses. Chlorantraniliprole exhibited low contact toxicity against 2nd instar larvae of C. septempunctata with the LR 50 was 482.7063 g a.i. ha -1 by after a 72-h exposure. In a long-term test, the LR 50 of chlorantraniliprole for C. septempunctata decreased from 88.97 to 58.22 g a.i. ha -1 , while the hazard quotient (HQ) values were below the threshold value of 2 during the entire observation period. This indicated a low toxicity risk from insecticide exposure. The total effect (E) suggested that chlorantraniliprole could be classified as harmless/slightly harmful to C. septempunctata below/at 200% of the MRFR (the manufacturer maximum recommended field rate) of 120 g a.i. ha -1 . We also determined no observed effect application rates (NOERs) of chlorantraniliprole on survival (7.5 g a.i. ha -1 ), developmental time (15 g a.i. ha -1 ) and fecundity (30 g a.i. ha -1 ). Chlorantraniliprole significantly reduced the pupation rate, adult emergence, egg hatchability, and predation success. Population parameters, including R 0 , r, λ, and T were significantly affected when C. septempunctata were treated with chlorantraniliprole at higher label rates. These results demonstrated that the use of chlorantraniliprole may reduce C. septempunctata population levels and the level of biological control provided by this species., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Increasing attention is being paid to Sb as a primary hazardous substance, and further systematic studies of Sb behavior in freshwater wetlands are required. The plain wetlands in Lake Taihu basin located in lower Yangtze River valley, are heavily populated and economically developed area in China. The plain wetlands receive polluted water from point sources (textile and printing plants). In this study, Sb speciation in plain wetlands was investigated and the potential ecological risk of 8 metal(loid)s (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Sb) were assessed. The mean Sb concentration in the wetlands water is 7.03 μg L -1 , which consist of pentavalent, trivalent, organic Sb dissolved in water and a great part that attached to suspend solids (SS). Statistical analysis indicated that Sb(Ⅲ) is dissolved from SS and then further oxided to Sb(V) accompanied with tailing water discharged into wetlands; presence of organic Sb is related to microorganic in eutrophic environment; precipitation of SS is the dominant factor for distribution of bioavailable Sb in surficial sediment. The toxicity coefficient factor for Sb is proposed as 10 and ambient background of 8 metal(loid)s are set up. The potential ecological risk for plain wetlands was 135, which was low level. As, Cd and Sb were main contributors to the ecological risks. The wetlands are threatened by Sb pollution, which should be restrict by reducing the concentration of SS and Sb in tailing water from local water treatment facilities., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A passive sampling device, a polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS), was used to monitor 13 pharmaceuticals and 8 transformation products in upstream and downstream wastewater treatment plant effluent. A POCIS laboratory calibration study was performed to determine uptake behavior and the effect of water flow on the sampling rate. Most compounds showed a linear accumulation, and the sampling rate values ranged from 0.031 to 0.559 L/day. The developed POCIS samplers were used in field experiments in a wastewater-impacted river. Using the calculated sampling rates, the time-weighted average concentration values were measured by three different approaches: (1) laboratory calibration sampling rates (2) performance reference compound (PRC) correction sampling rates and (3) field calibration sampling rates. Nine deuterated compounds (acetaminophen-d 3 , antipyrine-d 3 , sulfamethoxazole-d 4 , carbamazepine-d 10 , diclofenac acid-d 4 , clofibric acid-d 4 , bezafibrate-d 6 , ibuprofen-d 3 and naproxen-d 3 ) were studied as PRCs. Antipyrine-d 3 was successfully tested as a PRC for sulfamethoxazole, ibuprofen, 2-hydroxy ibuprofen, diclofenac acid, 4-hydroxydiclofenac acid, carbamazepin, carbamazepin 10,11-epoxide, sulfadiazine, 1-naphthol, antipyrine, naproxen and 4-chlorobenzoic acid. Finally, the POCIS was used to monitor target compounds in river water and measure their attenuation. For most compounds, the POCIS attenuation results were not significantly different from those of the spot samples, which demonstrated that a POCIS with a PRC correction can determine the attenuation of organic micropollutants in rivers., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Heavy metals and surfactants have a significant effect on the sorption of organic contaminants. In this study, batch equilibrium experiments were carried out to investigate the influence of Pb(NO(3))(2) on the sorption of p-nitrophenol (PNP) onto sediments in the presence of cationic surfactant cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC). Results indicated that in the complex system containing PNP, Pb(NO(3))(2) and CPC, the sorption of PNP decreased with increasing concentration of Pb(NO(3))(2) due primarily to competing for adsorption sites. Likewise, partitioning of PNP in adsorbed surfactant layers and micelles decreased with increasing level of Pb(NO(3))(2). Moreover, the influence of different metal ions (Pb(2+), Cd(2+), Zn(2+)) was examined and results indicated that the presence of heavy metals inhibited the sorption of PNP in the order: Pb(2+)>Cd(2+)>Zn(2+). The competitive effect of the heavy metals was in agreement with the hydration energy and hydrated radius. The results are believed to provide a useful insight into describing the transport and fate of PNP in natural environments.

Synchrotron radiation offers important advantages with the use of tunable vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) lasers for molecular beam sampling mass spectrometry (MBMS). These advantages include superior signal-to-noise, soft ionization, and access to photon energies outside the limited tuning ranges of current VUV laser sources. Combining MBMS with tunable synchrotron radiation photoionization, two similar types of fuels, gasoline/oxygen and gasoline/MTBE/oxygen in low-pressure premixed laminar flame were investigated. Photoionization efficiency (PIE) measurements were used to identify the intermediates isomers within flame. The two combustion processes are discussed by comparing the intermediates and their spatial profiles within the two kinds of flame mentioned above.