An overview of emerging pollutants in air: Method of analysis and potential public health concern from human environmental exposure

Air pollutants are perhaps the largest cause of diseases and death in the world today. Increasing urbanization and industrialization have caused an increase in number of diverse forms and types of new pollutants, which are difficult to detect and characterize due to their stench behaviour and complex sources of production. Such pollutants have been called emerging pollutants (EPs) and their list is ever increasing. Therefore, the understanding of the method of analysis and health implication of (EPs) in air is critical to providing a more robust understanding of exposure routes, regulations and mitigation. EPs in air discussed in this study are not in any way exhaustive but limited to emerging VOCs (including acrylonitrile, 1−3-butadiene, chloroform, dichloromethane, ethylene oxides, formaldehyde, toluene, trichloroethylene, 1,4-Dioxane) and metals (arsenic, manganese, and vanadium), ultrafine particles, micro- and nano- plastics, engineered nanoparticles, diesel/black carbon and bioaerosols. Occurrence, detection and health implications of these EPs in air are still unfolding due to limited monitoring studies, lack of standard methodology and regulations. To address this knowledge gap, authors conducted an in-depth review of available information. Their spatial distribution, analytical methods and health implications are discussed including the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as a potential EP in air. The study concluded with highlights of gaps in knowledge and suggestions to key areas for future research. This information is of general interest to environmental scientists and of specific interest to both health and sanitation workers and policymakers at private, government and international organizations.     

应用多光路主动差分光学吸收光谱仪观测大气污染物的空间分布

研制了一套具有4条测量光路的主动差分光学吸收光谱仪(DOAS)系统,以一盏短孤氙灯为4台集成一体的发射/接收望远镜提供光源,可同时发射4条相互独立的测量光路,4台望远镜的角度可分别独立调整以对准不同位置的角反射镜,光路之间的最大发散角可达28°.为测试仪器性能,使4条光路测量同一区域内的NO₂浓度. 对4条光路的测量结果进行相互对比,任意两条光路的相关系数均在0.97以上,测得NO₂的体积分数平均差异小于10^-9, 表明结果具有良好的一致性 关键词： 差分光学吸收光谱 2')" href="#">NO₂ 2')" href="#">SO₂ 大气污染     

磁性Fe_3O_4@SiO_2@ZrO_2对水中磷酸盐的吸附研究

合成了以Fe3O4为核,以SiO2为壳的磁性纳米微粒(Fe3O4@Si O2),并采用沉淀沉积法将ZrO2包覆到材料表面。通过XRD、TEM、VSM、ζ电位、XPS和N2吸附/脱附等手段对材料进行表征,结果表明材料Fe3O4@SiO2@ZrO2上沉积了氧化锆纳米颗粒,具有超顺磁性,可在外加磁场作用下实现从水中快速分离。同时系统研究了材料对水中磷酸盐的吸附行为,结果表明沉积Zr O2使得材料对磷酸盐表现出良好的吸附性能,并且随着沉积量的增大吸附量增加。吸附等温线符合Freundlich方程。吸附动力学可用拟二级动力学模型描述,吸附速率随磷酸盐初始浓度增加而减小。磷酸盐吸附量随溶液p H值的增大而减小,但几乎不受离子强度影响。     

Solid-phase extraction combined with dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction for the determination for polybrominated diphenyl ethers in different environmental matrices

An analytical method, solid-phase extraction combined with dispersive liquid–liquid microextration (SPE–DLLME), was established to determine polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in water and plant samples. After concentration and purification of the samples in LC-C18 column, 1.0-mL elution sample containing 22.0 μL 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane was injected rapidly into the 5.0-mL pure water. After extraction and centrifuging, the sedimented phase was injected rapidly into gas chromatography with electron-capture detection (GC–ECD). For water samples, enrichment factors (EFs) are in the range of 6838–9405 under the optimum conditions. The calibration curves are linear in the range of 0.1–100 ng L⁻¹ (BDEs 28, 47) and 0.5–500 ng L⁻¹ (BDEs 100, 99, 85, 154, 153). The relative standard deviations (RSDs) and the limits of detection (LODs) are in the range of 4.2–7.9% (n = 5) and 0.03–0.15 ng L⁻¹, respectively. For plant samples, RSDs and LODs are in the range of 5.9–11.3% and 0.04–0.16 μg kg⁻¹, respectively. The relative recoveries of well, river, sea, leachate, and clover samples, spiked with different levels of PBDEs, are 66.8–94.1%, 72.2–100.5%, 74.5–110.4%, 62.1–105.1%, 66.1–91.7%, 62.4–88.9%, and 64.5–83.2%, respectively. The results show that SPE–DLLME is a suitable method for the determination of PBDEs in water and plant samples.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of the detoxification of paraoxon catalyzed by phosphotriesterase

Combined QM(PM3)/MM molecular dynamics simulations together with QM(DFT)/MM optimizations for key configurations have been performed to elucidate the enzymatic catalysis mechanism on the detoxification of paraoxon by phosphotriesterase (PTE). In the simulations, the PM3 parameters for the phosphorous atom were reoptimized. The equilibrated configuration of the enzyme/substrate complex showed that paraoxon can strongly bind to the more solvent‐exposed metal ion Zn_β, but the free energy profile along the binding path demonstrated that the binding is thermodynamically unfavorable. This explains why the crystal structures of PTE with substrate analogues often exhibit long distances between the phosphoral oxygen and Zn_β. The subsequent S_N2 reaction plays the key role in the whole process, but controversies exist over the identity of the nucleophilic species, which could be either a hydroxide ion terminally coordinated to Zn_α or the μ‐hydroxo bridge between the α‐ and β‐metals. Our simulations supported the latter and showed that the rate‐limiting step is the distortion of the bound paraoxon to approach the bridging hydroxide. After this preparation step, the bridging hydroxide ion attacks the phosphorous center and replaces the diethyl phosphate with a low barrier. Thus, a plausible way to engineer PTE with enhanced catalytic activity is to stabilize the deformed paraoxon. Conformational analyses indicate that Trp131 is the closest residue to the phosphoryl oxygen, and mutations to Arg or Gln or even Lys, which can shorten the hydrogen bond distance with the phosphoryl oxygen, could potentially lead to a mutant with enhanced activity for the detoxification of organophosphates. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2009     

TREATMENT VERSUS PREVENTION OF NITROGEN FERTILIZER POLLUTION: AN INTER‐SECTORAL EXTERNALITY POLICY MODEL

Abstract This article presents an economic, hydrological, dynamic optimization model, which describes the negative external effects of nitrogen fertilizers on groundwater quality. The relative merits of treatment versus prevention of nitrogen pollution were analyzed. A dynamical water and nitrogen flow between land surface, the unsaturated zone, and groundwater was employed. A specific treatment technology, which gives rise to a discontinuous cost function, was also used. Applying the model to the coastal aquifer in Israel, our results showed that in a joint (agricultural and domestic) water source area that supplies a relatively small quantity of drinking water, it is more efficient to combine a policy that imposes restrictions on the use of nitrogen with a drinking‐water treatment process. However, when a relatively large quantity of drinking water is involved, imposing restrictions on the use of nitrogen only is more efficient. The paper, thus, is useful to planners of fast growing urban population centers with regard to regulation and can be used to calculate and evaluate specific policies.     

我国工业污染分布状况研究

环境污染越来越受到我国的重视,而工业污染是造成环境污染的重要原因.为了对我国的环境污染分布状况进行深入了解,从总量出发,利用聚类分析和因子分析法分析了我国工业污染的分布情况,并探讨了各类地区工业污染差异的原因,为我国进行侧重点治理环境污染提出可行性建议.     

Research on Inference of Candidate Database Web Surveys Based on Superpopulation Pseudo Design and the Combined Sample

How to solve the inference problem of candidate database web surveys is an urgent problem to be solved in the development of web survey. In order to solve this problem, the inference method of non-probability sampling based on superpopulation pseudo design and the combined sample is proposed. A superpopulation model is firstly built up to construct pseudo weights for a survey sample of the web candidate database. The estimator of the population mean is then computed according to the combined sample composed of the survey sample of the web candidate database and a probability sample. The variance estimator of the population mean estimator is lastly derived according to the variance estimation theory of the superpopulation model. The Bootstrap and Jackknife methods are also used to compute the variance estimator. And all these variance estimation methods are compared. The research results show that the population mean estimator based on superpopulation pseudo design and the combined sample is better, and has higher efficiency than the estimator only using the probability sample and the weighted estimator only using the survey sample of the web candidate database. The variance estimator computed by using the VM1, VM2 and VM3 method are relatively better.     

Dynamics of a Predator-prey Model with Delay and Fear Effect

Recent manipulations on vertebrates showed that the fear of preda- tors, caused by prey after they perceived predation risk, could reduce the prey''s reproduction greatly. And it''s known that predator-prey systems with fear ef- fect exhibit very rich dynamics. On the other hand, incorporating the time delay into predator-prey models could also induce instability and oscillations via Hopf bifurcation. In this paper, we are interested in studying the com- bined effects of the fear effect and time delay on the dynamics of the classic Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model. It''s shown that the time delay can cause the stable equilibrium to become unstable, while the fear effect has a stabi- lizing effect on the equilibrium. In particular, the model loses stability when the delay varies and then regains its stability when the fear effect is stronger. At last, by using the normal form theory and center manifold argument, we derive explicit formulas which determine the stability and direction of periodic solutions bifurcating from Hopf bifurcation. Numerical simulations are carried to explain the mathematical conclusions.     

外源一氧化氮对镉胁迫下番茄幼苗叶绿体保护作用的光谱学分析

镉（Cd）是重要的重金属污染源，一氧化氮（NO）是近年来发现的一种普遍存在于生物界的信使分子，研究表明其参与了植物对Cd胁迫的应答反应调控。文章用硝普纳（SNP）作为NO供体，向番茄幼苗喷洒100mol·L^-1SNP1d后加入50mol·L^-1Cd处理7d，取完全展开叶片，提取叶绿体进行光谱学研究，分别测定了叶绿体室温吸收光谱、叶绿体低温荧光光谱和DCPIP电子传递效率等指标，研究外源NO缓解Cd对叶绿体毒性的影响。结果发现，CA对叶绿素a、叶绿素b和类胡萝b素含量都有不同程度的降低，NO处理缓解了CA的影响，使叶绿体室温吸收光谱的吸收率提高；CA导致686nm处峰（PSII）偏移4nrn，峰值降低33％，734nm处峰值降低23％，外源NO缓解了Cd对光合系统的影响，使得叶绿体低温荧光光谱在686和734nm的峰值分别仅下降17％和100o；以DCPIP为人工电子受体，Cd处理的叶绿体中DCPIP还原速率较慢，光合电子传递（H2O→DCPIP）速率降低1．5倍，外源NO处理显著缓解了Cd对电子传递链的抑制，使其光合电子传递速率恢复到对照的水平。该研究可为NO处理增强植物对Cd胁迫的抗性提供理论依据。