The fluorine content of coal has been well documented, while such data of coal spoil are limited. In the present paper, fluorine in coal spoils and its releasing behavior were studied via leaching and combustion tests, as well as field investigation. Fluoride pollution in groundwater and soil occurred in the air depositing areas of coal spoils. The average content of fluorine in coal spoils was 525mg/kg with the highest value of 1885mg/kg. The only XRD detectable inorganic fluorine phase was fluorphlogopite. The absence of major fluorine bearing minerals in coal spoils suggested that bulk fluorine, rather than trace phases, resided in the mineral matrix. The major extracted species were water soluble fluorine and exchangeable fluorine in the coal spoils. Batch leaching tests illustrated that the leachable fluoride in coal spoils was widely distributed, ranging from 2.0 to 108.4mg/kg. Column leaching tests showed a clear pH-dependent leaching behavior of fluorine: lower pH situation led to fluorine release from the mineral matrix; the loosely bound or easily exchangeable fluorine was also flushed out of the column. The higher ion strength or alkaline bicarbonate/carbonate rich leaching solution tended to free more fluorine into the acidic aqueous solution. The leachable fluorine in coal spoils was estimated as ca. 6%, based on the results of leaching tests. Also, our research found that over 90% of fluorine in coal spoils could be released into the atmosphere as a result of spontaneous combustion, accounting for over 40% of the total atmospheric fluorine emissions in northern China. Our investigation suggests that it is urgent to conduct comprehensive studies to assist the management and control of fluorine pollution at coal spoil banks.
Understanding the evolution of aerosols in the atmosphere is of great importance for improving air quality and reducing aerosol-related uncertainties in global climate simulations. Here, a unique haze episode at a regional receptor site near the East China Sea was examined as a case study of the aging process of atmospheric aerosols during transport. An increase in photochemical age from 5 h. to more than 25 h and a progressive increase in the fitted mean particle diameter from 70 nm to approximately 300 nm were observed. According to the pollution features and meteorology conditions involved, pollution accumulation (PA), sea breeze (SB), and land breeze (LB) periods were identified. Concentrations of black carbon (BC), hydrocarbon-like organic aerosols (HOA), semi-volatile oxidized organic aerosols (SV-OOA), and nitrate increased by 7-fold up to 39-fold when the air masses passed through Taizhou, a nearby city. In addition, nitrate and SV-OOA dominated the aerosol composition in the urban outflow plumes (52% and 18%, respectively), yet they gradually decreased in concentration during transport. In contrast, sulfate and the low-volatile oxidized organic aerosols (LV-OOA) exhibited more regional footprints and potentially have similar formation mechanisms. The atomic oxygen-to-carbon (O/C) ratio also increased from 0.45 to 0.9, thereby suggesting that rapid formation of highly oxidized secondary organic aerosols (SOA) occurred during transport. Overall, these results provide valuable insight into the evolution of the chemical and physical features of aerosol pollution during transport and also highlight the need for regulatory controls of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and VOCs to improve air quality on different scales. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Understanding the evolution of aerosols in the atmosphere is of great importance for improving air quality and reducing aerosol-related uncertainties in global climate simulations. Here, a unique haze episode at a regional receptor site near the East China Sea was examined as a case study of the aging process of atmospheric aerosols during transport. An increase in photochemical age from 5 h. to more than 25 h and a progressive increase in the fitted mean particle diameter from 70 nm to approximately 300 nm were observed. According to the pollution features and meteorology conditions involved, pollution accumulation (PA), sea breeze (SB), and land breeze (LB) periods were identified. Concentrations of black carbon (BC), hydrocarbon-like organic aerosols (HOA), semi-volatile oxidized organic aerosols (SV-OOA), and nitrate increased by 7-fold up to 39-fold when the air masses passed through Taizhou, a nearby city. In addition, nitrate and SV-OOA dominated the aerosol composition in the urban outflow plumes (52% and 18%, respectively), yet they gradually decreased in concentration during transport. In contrast, sulfate and the low-volatile oxidized organic aerosols (LV-OOA) exhibited more regional footprints and potentially have similar formation mechanisms. The atomic oxygen-to-carbon (O/C) ratio also increased from 0.45 to 0.9, thereby suggesting that rapid formation of highly oxidized secondary organic aerosols (SOA) occurred during transport. Overall, these results provide valuable insight into the evolution of the chemical and physical features of aerosol pollution during transport and also highlight the need for regulatory controls of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and VOCs to improve air quality on different scales. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
108 ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured continuously at a time resolution of an hour using an online gas chromatography–frame ionization detector/mass spectrometry (GC–FID/MS) in October 2014 in Beijing, and positive matrix factorization (PMF) was performed with online data. The evolution process and causes for high levels of VOCs during a haze event were investigated through comprehensive analysis. Results show that mixing ratios of VOCs during the haze event (89.29 ppbv) were 2 to 5 times as that in non-haze days, There was a distinct accumulation process of VOCs at the beginning of the haze event, and the mixing ratios of VOCs maintained at the high levels until to the end of pollution when the mixing ratios of ambient VOCs recovered to the normal concentration levels in a few hours. Some reactive and toxic species increased remarkably as well, which indicates a potential health risk to the public in terms of VOCs. Eight sources were resolved by PMF, and results revealed gasoline exhaust was the largest contributor (32–46%) to the ambient VOCs in Beijing. Emissions of gasoline exhaust surged from 13.46 to 40.36 ppbv, with a similar variation pattern to total VOCs, indicating that high levels of VOCs were largely driven to by expanded vehicular emissions. Emissions of biomass burning also increased noticeably (from 2.32 to 11.12 ppbv), and backward trajectories analysis indicated regional transport of biomass burning emissions. Our findings suggested that extremely high levels of VOCs during the haze event was primarily attributed to vehicular emissions, biomass burning and regional transport, as well as stationary synoptic conditions.
China has become one of the major recycling sites for the electronic waste (e-waste) from worldwide. Pollutants emerged from the e-waste dismantling and the subsequent health effects to populations are of great concern. Typically, exposure to organic pollutants, such as bisphenol A (BPA) especially generated from primitive dismantling, is an important scientific issue for their adverse health effects to local residents. In this study, 29 e-waste dismantling workers and 24 local residents from a dismantling area in North China were recruited as the exposure group. Residents (N = 53) living 40 km away from this e-waste area were selected as the reference. The median concentration of urinary BPA of the exposure group was 10.7 mu g.g(-1) creatinine, which was significantly higher than that of the references (0.66 mu g.g(-1) creatinine; P < 0.01), indicating that working and/or living in the e-waste area caused the elevated body burden of BPA. Urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) of the exposure group (median: 236 mu g.g(-1) creatinine) was higher than that of the references (median: 142 mu g.g(-1) creatinine) with a marginal significance (P = 0.055). Meanwhile, serum levels of glutathione S-transferase (GSH-ST) and Cu/Zn-Superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD) were significantly lower in the exposure group, while glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) was higher when compared to the references (P < 0.01). Significantly positive association between urinary BPA and 8-OHdG was found (P < 0.05); however, significantly negative association was found between BPA and serum GSH-ST (P < 0.01). After controlling for confounders, 34.9% (95% CI: 19.4%-52.3%) increment of urinary 8-OHdG and 5.46% (95% CI: 1.17%-9.56%) decrement of serum GSH-ST per one-fold increase of BPA were estimated. Those results provided evidence on high exposure level of BPA among the populations from the e-waste dismantling area and a high risk of oxidative damage to DNA.
Electrons can be transferred from microorganisms to multivalent metal ions that are associated with minerals and vice versa. As the microbial cell envelope is neither physically permeable to minerals nor electrically conductive, microorganisms have evolved strategies to exchange electrons with extracellular minerals. In this Review, we discuss the molecular mechanisms that underlie the ability of microorganisms to exchange electrons, such as c-type cytochromes and microbial nanowires, with extracellular minerals and with microorganisms of the same or different species. Microorganisms that have extracellular electron transfer capability can be used for biotechnological applications, including bioremediation, biomining and the production of biofuels and nanomaterials.
