The combined use of organic amendment-assisted phytoextraction and electrokinetic remediation to decontaminate Cd-polluted soil was demonstrated in a laboratory-scale experiment. The plant species selected was the hyperaccumulator Sedum alfredii. Prior to the pot experiment, the loamy soil was treated with 15 g kg⁻¹ of pig manure compost, 10 g kg⁻¹ of humic acid, or 5 mmol kg⁻¹ of EDTA, and untreated soil without application of any amendment was the control. Two conditions were applied to each treatment: no voltage (without an electrical field) and a direct current (DC) electrical field (1 V cm⁻¹ with switching polarity every day). Results indicated that Cd concentrations in S. alfredii were significantly (p < 0.05) increased by application of the electrical field and soil amendments (pig manure compost, humic acid, and EDTA). By switching the polarity of the DC electrical field, significant pH variation from anode to cathode can be avoided, and no significant impact was observed on shoot biomass production. Electrical field application increased DTPA-extractable Cd in soils and the Cd accumulation in shoots by 6.06–15.64 and 24.53–52.31%, respectively. The addition of pig manure compost and humic acid enhanced shoot Cd accumulation by 1.54- to 1.92- and 1.38- to 1.64-fold because of their simultaneous enhancement of Cd concentration in shoots and biomass production. However, no enhancement of Cd accumulation was found in the EDTA treatment, which can be ascribed to the inhibition of plant growth caused by EDTA. In conclusion, pig manure compost or humic acid addition in combination with the application of a switched-polarity DC electrical field could significantly enhance Cd phytoextraction by hyperaccumulator S. alfredii.

In this study, two lab-scale baffled subsurface-flow constructed wetlands (BSFCWs), including gravel-wood chips-slag and gravel-slag-wood chips, were operated at different intermittent aeration to evaluate the effect of artificial aeration and slow-released carbon source on the treatment efficiency of high-strength nitrogen wastewater. Results indicated that gravel-slag-wood chips extended aerobic/anaerobic alternating environment to gravel and slag zones and maintained anaerobic condition in the subsequent wood chip section. The order of gravel-slag-wood chip was more beneficial to pollutant removal. Sufficient carbon source supply resulted from wood-chip-framework substrate simultaneously obtained high removals of COD (97%), NH₄ ⁺-N (95%), and TN (94%) in BSFCWs at 2 h aeration per day. The results suggest that intermittent aeration combined with wood chips could achieve high nitrogen removal in BSFCWs.

ABS resin wastewater is a high-temperature nitrogenous organic wastewater. It can be successfully treated with anoxic/aerobic (A/O) process. In this study, the effect of temperature on nitrogen removal and microbial community after quick temperature rise (QTR) was investigated. It was indicated that QTR from 25 to 30 °C facilitated the microbial growth and achieved a similar effluent quality as that at 25 °C. QTR from 25 to 35 °C or 40 °C resulted in higher effluent concentration of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP). Illumina MiSeq pyrosequencing analysis illustrated that the richness and diversity of the bacterial community was decreased as the temperature was increased. The percentage of many functional groups was changed significantly. QTR from 25 to 40 °C also resulted in the inhibition of ammonia oxidation rate and high concentration of free ammonia, which then inhibited the growth of NOB (Nitrospira), and thus resulted in nitrite accumulation. The high temperature above 35 °C promoted the growth of a denitrifying bacterial genus, Denitratisoma, which might increase N₂O production during the denitrification process.

In order to understand the risk of heavy metals in sediments of the rivers flowing into Nansi Lake, 36 surface sediments were sampled from six rivers and seven heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, As, Pb, and Cd) were determined. Potential ecological risk index (RI) of the six rivers showed significant differences: Xinxue River, Jiehe River, and Guangfu River were at medium potential risk, whereas the risk of Chengguo River was the lowest. Jiehe River, Xuesha River, and Jiangji River were meeting the medium potential risk at river mouths. Geo-accumulation index (I gₑₒ) of the seven heavy metals revealed that the contamination of Cu and Cd was more serious than most other metals in the studied areas, whereas Cr in most sites of our study was not polluted. Moreover, correlation cluster analysis demonstrated that the contamination of Cu, Ni, and Zn in six rivers was mainly caused by local emissions, whereas that of As, Pb, and Cd might come from the external inputs in different forms. Consequently, the contamination of Cu and Cd and the potential risk in Xinxue River, Jiehe River, and Guangfu River as well as the local emissions should be given more attention to safeguard the water quality of Nansi Lake and the East Route Project of South to North Water Transfer.

Measuring the content of hydrogen chloride (HCl) in exhaust gas used to take time and energy. In this paper, we introduce a new online monitoring system which can output real-time data to the monitoring center. The system samples and cools exhaust gas, and after a series of processing, it will be analyzed by a specific instrument. The core part of this system is remote terminal unit (RTU) which is designed on Cortex-A8 embedded architecture. RTU runs a scaled-down version of Linux which is a good choice of OS for embedded applications. It controls the whole processes, does data acquisition and data analysis, and communicates with monitoring center through Ethernet. In addition, through a software developed for windows, the monitoring process can be remotely controlled. The new system is quite beneficial for steel industry to do environment monitoring.

Roxarsone (ROX), a widely used feed organoarsenic additive, occurs as itself and its metabolites in animal manure that is commonly land used as fertilizer. Soil property impacts arsenic (As) speciation and bioavailability. Fourteen soils across China were used to conduct culture experiments to investigate As uptake by garland chrysanthemum (ChrysanthemumL coronarium), with the soils fertilized with chicken manure bearing ROX and its metabolites. The results show As(III) was the sole As form in garland chrysanthemum shoots, and As(III) and As(V) occurred in roots. Only inorganic As was detected in all soils when the plants were harvested. Stepwise regression analysis shows soil-exchangeable Ca predominated shoot As(III) concentration (shoot As(III) = 1.60030 soil Ca, R ² = 0.8832***). Therefore, ROX is transferred into the human food chain finally as inorganic As in plants. Application of animal manure bearing ROX and its metabolites is not recommended in Ca-rich soils to avoid excess inorganic As dietary exposure.

Despite its extraordinary price, ceramic membrane can still be able to surpass polymeric membrane in the applications that require high temperature and pressure conditions, as well as harsh chemical environment. In order to alleviate the high cost of ceramic material that still becomes one of the major factors that contributes to the high production cost of ceramic membrane, various attempts have been made to use low cost ceramic materials as alternatives to well-known expensive ceramic materials such as alumina, silica, and zirconia in the fabrication of ceramic membrane. Thus, local Malaysian kaolin has been chosen as the ceramic material in this study for the preparation of kaolin hollow fibre membrane since it is inexpensive and naturally abundant in Malaysia. Due to the fact that the sintering process plays a prominent role in obtaining the desired morphology, properties, and performances of prepared ceramic membrane, the aim of this work was to study the effect of different sintering temperatures applied (ranging from 1200 to 1500 °C) in the preparation of kaolin hollow fibre membrane via dry/wet phase inversion-based spinning technique and sintering process. The morphology and properties of membrane were then characterised by SEM, AFM, FTIR, XRD, and three-point bending test, while the performances of membrane were investigated by conducting water permeation and Reactive Black 5 (RB5) dye rejection tests. From the experimental results obtained, the sintering temperature of 1400 °C could be selected as the optimum sintering temperature in preparing the kaolin hollow fibre membrane with the dense sponge-like structure of separation layer that resulted in the good mechanical strength of 70 MPa with the appreciable water permeation of 75 L/h m² bar and RB5 rejection of 68%.

Focusing on simultaneous arsenic and chromium pollution, we used batch-type experiments to study As(V)/Cr (VI) competitive sorption on soil samples, pyritic material, mussel shell, oak ash, pine bark and hemp waste, as well as on binary mixtures (50 % mussel shell and 50 % another material—oak ash, pine bark, or hemp waste), and on forest and vineyard soil samples and pyritic material amended with 48 t ha⁻¹ of mussel shell, oak ash, pine bark, or hemp waste. Equal As(V) and Cr(VI) concentrations (0 to 6 mmol L⁻¹) were added to the individual materials, binary mixtures, and 48 t ha⁻¹ amended materials. The individual forest soil sample, pyritic material, and oak ash showed clearly higher As(V) sorption, whereas Cr(VI) sorption was higher on pine bark. Sorption was up to 50 % higher for As(V) than for Cr(VI) on the forest soil sample, oak ash, and pyritic material, while pine bark sorbed 95 % more Cr(VI). Regarding binary mixtures, the presence of mussel shell increased As(V) sorption on pine bark and Cr(VI) sorption on hemp waste. As regards the amendments, in the case of the forest soil sample, the amendments with oak ash and mussel shell increased As(V) sorption, while pine bark amendment increased Cr(VI) sorption; in the vineyard soil sample, the mussel shell amendment increased As(V) sorption; in the pyritic material, pine bark amendment increased Cr(VI) sorption. These results could be useful to appropriately manage the soils and individual or mixed by-products assayed when As(V) and Cr(VI) pollution occurs.

Particle size-number distributions of aerosol from e-cigarettes (0 and 14 mg mL⁻¹ nicotine) were compared with conventional cigarettes. Results were used to provide age-specific (9–21 years) dosimetry estimates applying the MMPD model. After a 2-s puff, total number doses (D Tₒₜ) were highest for 9 years of age (6.01 × 10¹⁰–1.31 × 10¹¹ particles) and lowest for 18 years of age (4.69 × 10¹⁰–1.06 × 10¹¹ particles). Such doses represented about 19–45 and 25–100% of the relevant daily doses of not smoking individuals, respectively, in tracheobronchial (TB) and alveolar (A) regions. D Tₒₜ for the e-cigarettes were about double that for conventional cigarette. Deposition densities and daily volume of e-cigarette liquid deposited per unit surface area were maximum at lobar bronchi, highest for 9 years and lowest for 21 years age.