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Identifying the sources of formaldehyde (HCHO) is key to reducing the pollution of HCHO and ozone (O 3 ) on the ground level. Using the same datasets applied to the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model by (Hua et al., 2023), the initial concentrations of HCHO were estimated using the photochemical age and the sources of observed and initial HCHO were apportioned based on multiple linear regression (MLR) and photochemical age-based parameterization (PCAP) methods. These results suggest that the source of the initial HCHO can better reflect its contribution. The secondary formation contributed to 49.3-69.1 % of initial HCHO at four sites in Taiyuan based on MLR, which was higher (7.4-36.2 %) than the contributions of secondary formation from observed HCHO. The HCHO was mainly affected by anthropogenic secondary (10.8-34.4 %) and background sources (17.4-78.7 %) based on the PCAP method. We compared the results of the HCHO sources from the MLR, PCAP, and PMF models under photochemical loss. There was good agreement among the emission ratios of acetylene-based HCHO obtained by the different methods at the four sites. The correlation analysis of different source apportionment methods illustrated that primary emissions from the PCAP and the MLR model had the greatest correlation (0.22-0.60). Secondary formations from the PMF and MLR models showed good correlations at all four sites, with R values ranging from 0.42 to 0.83. The HCHO peak of diurnal variation simulated by MLR appeared late compared to the other methods, and the difference in daily variation of HCHO from the PMF model was significantly higher than that of PCAP and MLR. The overlapping conclusions of different source apportionment methods should be considered and used to guide efforts to improve air quality., 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 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

c exposure to geogenic fluoride and arsenic iChronic exposure to geogenic fluoride and arsenic in groundwater has a deleterious influence on the health of billions of people globally. The health status of residents impacted by connected diseases is urgently needed. A twelve-year study was carried out to identify the spatial distribution pattern of high fluoride/arsenic groundwater in an arid/semi-arid area and to estimate the population exposed to related disease. A geostatistical interpolation method and a disease inversion model were used. The results indicated that fluoride/arsenic-rich groundwater primarily accumulated in basins of Shanxi Province. Groundwater fluoride exposure provided a health concern to 3.16 million persons (9.08 % of the population), including 2.50 million children at risk of dental caries. Exposure to groundwater arsenic caused a health risk to 4.38 million inhabitants (12.58 % of total), with 1.92 million at risk of lung cancer, 1.87 million at risk of bladder cancer, and 0.29 million at risk of skin cancer, respectively. The pollution and impact of groundwater fluoride and arsenic vary greatly among residents in different environments, and accurate assessment of the affected population is of great significance for residents' health and water quality management. Our research study complements the critical data on the disease risks associated with geogenic-contaminated groundwater and provides scientific basis of water quality management for policy makers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To highlight how biochar affects the interaction between inorganic nitrogen species (ammonium nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, and nitrite nitrogen: NH 4 + -N, NO 3 ¯-N, and NO 2 ¯-N) and phosphorus species (calcium phosphate, iron phosphate, and aluminum phosphate: CaP, FeP and AlP) in soil and plant uptake of these nutrients, walnut shell (WS)- and corn cob (CC)-derived biochars (0.5 %, 1 %, 2 %, and 4 %, w/w) were added to a weakly alkaline soil, and then Chinese cabbages were planted. The results showed that the changes in soil inorganic nitrogen were related to biochar feedstock, pyrolysis temperature, and application rate. For soil under the active nitrification condition (dominant NO 3 ¯-N), a significant decrease in the NH 4 + -N/NO 3 ¯-N ratio after biochar addition indicates enhanced nitrification (excluding WS-derived biochars at 2 % and 4 %), which can be explained by the most positive response of ammonia-oxidizing archaeal amoA to biochar addition. The CC-derived biochar more effectively enhanced soil nitrification than WS-derived biochar did. The addition of 4 % of biochars significantly increased soil inorganic phosphorus, and the addition of CC-derived biochars more effectively increased Ca 2 P than WS-derived biochars. Biochars significantly decreased plant uptake of phosphorus, while generally had little influence on plant uptake of nitrogen. Interestingly, NO 2 ¯-N in soil significantly positively correlated with total phosphorus in both soil and plant, and significantly negatively correlated with phoC, indicating that a certain degree of NO 2 ¯-N accumulation in soil slightly facilitated plant uptake of phosphorus but inhibited phoC-harboring bacteria. The NO 3 ¯-N in soil significantly positively correlated with Ca 2 P and Ca 8 P, while the NH 4 + -N/NO 3 ¯-N ratio significantly negatively correlated with Ca 10 P and FeP, indicating that the enhanced nitrification seemed to facilitate the change in phosphorus to readly available ones. This study will help determine how to scientifically and rationally use biochar to regulate inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus species in soil and plant uptake of these nutrients., 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 B.V. All rights reserved.)

Rivers are severely polluted by multiple anthropogenic stressors. An unevenly distributed landscape pattern can aggravate the deterioration of water quality in rivers. Identifying the impacts of landscape patterns on the spatial characteristics of water quality is helpful for river management and water sustainability. Herein we quantified the nationwide water quality degradation in China's rivers and analyzed its responses to spatial patterns of anthropogenic landscapes. The results showed that the spatial patterns of river water quality degradation had a strong spatial inequality and worsened severely in eastern and northern China. The spatial aggregation of agricultural/urban landscape and the water quality degradation exhibits high consistency. Our findings suggested that river water quality would further deteriorate from high spatial aggregation of cities and agricultures, which reminded us that the dispersion of anthropogenic landscape patterns might effectively alleviate water quality pressures., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Formaldehyde (HCHO) plays an important role in atmospheric ozone (O 3 ) formation. To accurately identify the sources of HCHO, carbonyls and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured at three urban sites (Taoyuan, TY-U; Jinyuan, JY-U; Xiaodian, XD-U) and a suburban site (Shanglan, SL-B) in Taiyuan during a high O 3 period (from July 20 to August 3, 2020). The average mixing ratio of HCHO at XD-U (8.1 ± 2.8 ppbv) was comparable to those at TY-U (7.4 ± 2.1 ppbv) and JY-U (7.0 ± 2.3 ppbv) but higher (p < 0.01) than that at SL-B (4.9 ± 2.3 ppbv). HCHO contributed to 54.3-59.9 % of the total ozone formation potentials (OFPs) of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) at four sites. The diurnal variation of HCHO concentrations reached a peak value at 12:00-15:00, which may be attributed to the strong photochemical reaction. To obtain more accurate source results of HCHO under the condition of photochemical loss, the initial concentrations of NMHCs were estimated based on photochemical age parameterization and incorporated into the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model (termed IC-PMF). According to the IC-PMF results, secondary formation (SF) contributed the most to HCHO at XD-U (35.6 %) and SL-B (25.1 %), whereas solvent usage (SU) (40.9 %) and coking sources (CS) (36.0 %) were the major sources at TY-U and JY-U, respectively. Compared to the IC-PMF, the conventional PMF analysis based on the observed data underestimated the contributions of SU (100.5-154.2 %) and biogenic sources (BS) (28.5-324.7 %). Further reapportionment of secondary HCHO by multiple linear regression indicated that SU dominated the sources of HCHO at SL-B (28.3 %) and TY-U (41.7 %), while industrial emissions (IE) and CS contributed the most to XD-U (26.6 %) and JY-U (43.0 %) in Taiyuan from north to south, respectively., 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 B.V. All rights reserved.)

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread in the environment and pose a serious threat to the soil ecosystem. In order to better understand the health risks for residents exposed to PAH-contaminated soil, 173 surface soil samples were collected in Shanxi Province, China, to detect the levels of 16 priority PAHs. The spatial distribution patterns of PAHs were explored using interpolation and spatial clustering analysis, and the probable sources of soil PAHs were identified for different land-use covers. The results indicate that the soil Σ16 PAH concentration ranged from 22.12 to 1337.82 ng g - 1 , with a mean of 224.21 ng g - 1 . The soils were weakly to moderately contaminated by high molecular weight PAHs (3-5 ring) and the Taiyuan-Linfen Basin was the most polluted areas. In addition, the concentration of soil PAHs on construction land was higher than that on other land-use covers. Key sources of soil PAHs were related to industrial activities dominated by coal burning, coking, and heavy traffic. Based on the exposure risk assessment of PAHs, more than 10% of the area was revealed to be likely to suffer from high carcinogenic risks for children. The study maps the high-risk distribution of soil PAHs in Shanxi Province and provides PAH pollution reduction strategies for policy makers to prevent adverse health risks to residents.

The continued development of the automotive industry has led to a rapid increase in the amount of waste rubber tires, the problem of "black pollution" has become more serious but is often ignored. In this study, the emission characteristics, health risks, and environmental effects of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from a typical, recycled rubber plant were studied. A total of 15 samples were collected by summa canisters, and 100 VOC species were detected by the GC/MS-FID system. In this study, the total VOCs (TVOCs) concentration ranged from 1000 ± 99 to 19,700 ± 19,000 µg/m 3 , aromatics and alkanes were the predominant components, and m/p-xylene (14.63 ± 4.07%-48.87 ± 3.20%) could be possibly regarded as a VOCs emission marker. We also found that specific similarities and differences in VOCs emission characteristics in each process were affected by raw materials, production conditions, and process equipment. The assessment of health risks showed that devulcanizing and cooling had both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks, yarding had carcinogenic risks, and open training and refining had potential carcinogenic risks. Moreover, m/p-xylene and benzene were the main non-carcinogenic species, while benzene, ethylbenzene, and carbon tetrachloride were the dominant risk compounds. In the evaluation results of L OH , m/p-xylene (25.26-67.87%) was identified as the most key individual species and should be prioritized for control. In conclusion, the research results will provide the necessary reference to standardize the measurement method of the VOCs source component spectrum and build a localized source component spectrum.

To better understand the effects of COVID-19 on air quality in Taiyuan, hourly in situ measurements of PM 2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 mm) and chemical components (water-soluble ions, organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and trace elements) were conducted before (P1: 1 January-23 January 2020) and during (P2: 24 January-15 February 2020) the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. The average concentrations of PM 2.5 dropped from 122.0 μg/m 3 during P1 to 83.3 μg/m 3 during P2. Compared with P1, except for fireworks burning-related chemical components (K + , Mg 2+ , K, Cu, Ba), the concentrations of other chemical components of PM 2.5 decreased by14.9-69.8%. Although the large decrease of some emission sources, fireworks burning still resulted in the occurrence of pollution events during P2. The analysis results of positive matrix factorization model suggested that six PM 2.5 sources changed significantly before and during the outbreak of the epidemic. The contributions of vehicle emission, industrial process, and dust to PM 2.5 decreased from 23.1%, 3.5%, and 4.0% during P1 to 7.7%, 3.4%, and 2.3% during P2, respectively, whereas the contributions of secondary inorganic aerosol, fireworks burning, and coal combustion to PM 2.5 increased from 62.0%, 1.8%, and 5.5% to 71.5%, 9.0%, and 6.2%, respectively. The source apportionment results were also affected by air mass transport. The largest reductions of vehicle emission, industrial process, and dust source were distinctly seen for the air masses from northwest., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11869-021-01082-y., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2021.)

The mixed chelators (MC) of N, N-bis(carboxymethyl) glutamic acid (GLDA) and citric acid (CA), which were biodegradable chelating ligand, were employed to remove heavy metals from sewage sludge. The extraction of Cd, Cu, Zn, Mn, and Cr from sludge was studied under different experimental conditions. Results showed that the removal efficiencies of heavy metals from both sludges were the highest with MC of GLDA and CA at the molar ratio of 1:5. For the sludge of plant A, the extraction efficiencies increased with increasing contact time, but only slowly increase was observed after 24 h. However, for the sludge of plant B, the removal efficiencies were significantly decreased after 16 h, and sharply decreased after 24 h. The removal efficiencies of heavy metals decreased with the increase of the solution pH, while they increased with the increase of the solution concentration. For the sludge of plant A, single washing with 200 mmol·L -1 MC might be favourable to remove heavy metals. However, for the sludge of plant B, duplicate washing with 100 mmol·L -1 MC could remove much more heavy metals. The concentration of Cu in sludge of plant B decreased from 695.79-139.16 mg·kg -1 , which was conformed to the standard (GB 4284-2018). These results suggested that MC may be useful and environmentally friendly chelators in the removal of heavy metals from sewage sludge.

A palm-sized laser spectrometer has been developed for detecting trace gases based on tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy in combination with a novel double-layer toroidal cell. With the benefit of a homemade electronic system and compact optical design, the physical dimensions of the sensor are minimized to 24 × 15× 16 cm 3 . A toroidal absorption cell, with 84 reflections in 2 layers for an effective optical path length of 8.35 m, was used to enhance the absorption signals of gaseous species. A homemade electronic system was designed for implementing a distributed feedback (DFB) diode laser controller, an analog lock-in amplifier, data acquisition, and communication. Calibration-free scanned wavelength modulation spectroscopy was employed to determine the concentration of the gas and reduce the random fluctuations from electronical noise and mechanical vibration. The measurement of CH 4 in ambient air was demonstrated using a DFB laser at 1.653 μm. The rise time and fall time for renewing the gas mixture are approximately 16 and 14 s, respectively. Vibration and temperature tests have been carried out for verifying the performance of the spectrometer, and standard deviations of 0.38 ppm and 0.11 ppm for 20 ppm CH 4 at different vibration frequencies and temperatures, respectively, have been determined. According to the Allan deviation analysis, the minimum detection limit for CH 4 can reach 22 ppb at an integration time of 57.8 s. The continuous measurement of atmospheric CH 4 for 2 days validated the feasibility and robustness of our laser spectrometer, providing a promising laser spectral sensor for deploying in unmanned aerial vehicles or mobile robots.

We developed a type of toroidal multi-pass cell with multi-layer patterns based on the off-axis model. The effective path length of the original toroidal multi-pass cell is extended several roundtrips in comparison with the single-layer pattern, since the inner surface of the toroidal multi-pass cell is more efficiently utilized. The light pattern has been achieved by using the simple ring surface, which is easy to fabricate. The exact analytical equations for the design of the toroidal multi-pass cell were derived based on analytical vector calculations. A series of numerical ray tracing simulations is presented, and the maximum theoretical optical path length that can be reached is 30 m with a setup of 5 cm column radius. Furthermore, two practical spot patterns are demonstrated with a path length of 8.3 m for a two-layer pattern and 10 m for a three-layer pattern, with respective effective volumes of 63 mL and 94 mL. Furthermore, the fringe effect is substantially reduced to less than 0.5% by the usage of our designed mask.

The quality of urban soil is closely related to the safety of public places and the guarantee of food quality. This study investigated the level, distribution, source, and carcinogenic risk of 16 U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urban, agricultural, and montane soil in Taiyuan. The ∑16PAHs level varied from 104.78 to 6594.63 ng g -1 with a mean of 922.93 ng g -1 , and 47.73% of the soil samples were severely contaminated, with a concentration higher than 600 ng g -1 . PAHs with higher molecular weight (≥4 rings) were dominant in PAHs profiles accounting for 80.92%. In the spatial distribution of PAHs, hotspots of ∑16 PAHs were observed near the industries, indicating pollutants emitted by the industries directly affect the surrounding soil quality. The sources identified by positive matrix factorization (PMF) indicated: coal combustion (40.77%), vehicle exhausts (32.94%), biomass combustion (14.89%), and coking source (11.40%). Coal-related sources (coal and coking sources) were the major contributors (52.17%) to PAHs and carcinogenic risk (46.48%) assessed by BaP toxic equivalent concentration in total soils. Therefore, the extensive usage of coal was the leading factor for PAH pollution and health risk in Taiyuan soil.

The risk associated with human exposure to short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) via dietary intake are of great concern because of the bioaccumulation potential of SCCPs in biota and adverse effects. Fish are an important food source for human beings. However, there is a paucity of studies on human exposure to SCCPs via fish consumption. In this study, SCCPs were measured in frequently consumed river fish from the Pearl River Delta, and farmed freshwater fish and wild sea fish from the Yangtze River Delta. Lipid-normalized SCCP levels in river fish ranged from 3000 to 41,000 ng/g lipid weight (lw), with an average of 16,000 ± 12,000 ng/g lw. SCCP concentrations in farmed fish were significantly lower than those in river fish (p < 0.05), but significantly higher than those in sea fish (p < 0.05). Homologue patterns of SCCPs in river fish, farmed fish and sea fish were similar, with C 10 - 11 Cl 6-7 SCCPs being the predominant homologues. SCCP concentrations in river fish increased significantly with increasing lipid content (p < 0.01), indicating that lipid content was a controlling factor influencing SCCP concentrations. Body length and weight also played important roles in SCCP concentrations in river fish, as SCCP concentrations decreased with the increase of body length and weight of breams, keeled mullets and tilapias. Although risk assessment implied no significant risk for human exposure to SCCPs via consuming fish collected in this study, the estimated daily intakes indicated that the consumption of sea fish was safer than farmed freshwater fish., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A laser-based spectrometer with a physical size of 60× 30 ×25 cm 3 has been developed to continuously monitor CO and CH 4 in atmosphere based on tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS). Two neighboring lines of CO and CH 4 around 2.3 μm were selected as candidates for simultaneous measurement by a single diode distributed feedback (DFB) laser. A special Herriott-type multipass absorption cell, with a 72 m optical path length, was designed and used to enhance the absorption signals of sample gases. Normalized wavelength modulation spectroscopy was applied to improve the sensitivity and robustness of the spectrometer and it was implemented on a home-made electronic system based on field programmable gate array (FPGA). Meanwhile, the electronic system controlled the temperature and current of DFB laser with the precision of 0.01 °C and 40 ppm. The 2nd-harmonic signals normalized by the corresponding 1st-harmonic signals for both CO and CH 4 are of high linear response to their concentrations in the range of 0.046-4.6 ppm and 0.487-48.7 ppm, respectively. According to the Allan variance, respective minimum detection limits for CO and CH 4 are 0.73 ppb and 36 ppb at 122 s and 137 s. As an application example, the spectrometer has been validated through real-time and in-situ measurement of atmospheric CO and CH 4 for 48 h., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are a series of new persistent organic pollutants, posing a risk of significant adverse effects to biota. Increasing attention has been paid to SCCP pollution in China as large amounts of chlorinated paraffin (CP) products containing SCCPs have been produced and used there. However, knowledge of the bioaccumulation of SCCPs in marine organisms from the Pearl River Estuary (PRE), Southern China, is still scarce. In this study, SCCP concentrations were measured in seawater, sediments, and marine organisms from the PRE. SCCP concentrations ranged from 180 to 460 ng/L in seawater, from 180 to 620 ng/g dry weight (dw) in sediments, and from 870 to 36,000 ng/g lipid weight (lw) in marine biota samples. C 10-11 SCCPs were the predominant homologues in all the samples, with an average abundance of 68% in seawater, 57% in sediments, and 56-77% in marine organisms. However, chlorine patterns of SCCPs in seawater, sediments, and marine organisms were different. Cl 8-10 SCCPs dominated in sediments, whereas Cl 5-7 SCCPs were the predominant SCCP homologues in water and most organism species. The logarithm bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) of SCCPs ranged from 1.6 to 3.0, and increased significantly with the increase of K ow values for most marine biota species, indicating that K ow was the major factor controlling the bioaccumulation of SCCPs and that SCCPs with higher lipophilicity were more prone to being bioaccumulated from water. Opposite to that observed for log BAFs, biota-sediment accumulation factors of specific SCCPs (range: 0.01-30) decreased significantly with the increase of K ow values. The biomagnification factor of total SCCPs for oyster-mangrove crab was 2.40, implying the potential biomagnification of SCCPs for benthos in the PRE., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study investigated the levels of persistent toxic substances, such as 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Σ16PAHs) and heavy metals (Cu, As, Cd, Zn, Pb, Ni, Mo, and Cr) in biochars produced from crop residues (walnut shell, corn cob, corn straw, rice straw, and rice husk) at different heat treatment temperatures (HTTs, 250, 400, and 600 °C). The levels of Σ16PAHs in different biochars were 0.47-7.11 mg kg -1 , with naphthalene and phenanthrene contributing the most. The Σ16PAHs had the positive correlations with H/C and (O + N)/C, but had negative correlations with biochar surface areas. This finding indicates the increasing hydrophobic π-π interactions between the PAHs and the aromatic sheets of biochars and even the trapping of PAHs within the micropores with the increase of HTTs. The levels of heavy metals in rice residue-derived biochars were significantly higher than those in other biochars. The heavy metals had positive correlations with ash contents in the biochars, indicating the enrichment of heavy metals in the ash. The potential ecological risks of PAHs and heavy metals (dosage: 1%, w/w; frequency: 1) were minimal according to the risk quotient of negligible concentrations (RQ NCs : 2.50-47.40, << 800) and maximum permissible concentrations (RQ MPCs : 0.02-0.48, << 1) for PAHs and the potential ecological risk indexes (PERI: 0.01-0.28, << 150) for heavy metals.

We report a multi-pass tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer based on the frequency-modulation spectroscopy (FMS) technique. It has the advantage of high scan speed and is immune to the etalon effect. A multi-pass Herriott-type cell was used in the spectrometer to increase the effective optical length to 17.5 m and compact the physical dimensions of the spectrometer to 60×30×30 cm 3 . Noise due to low-frequency fluctuation of the laser power and the 1/f noise in the rapid detection are sufficiently reduced by FMS. Interference fringes are effectively suppressed when the modulation frequency equals to integer or half-integer times of their free spectral range (FSR). An absorption line of C 2 H 2 around 1.51 µm was recorded with the spectrometer to demonstrate its capabilities. The response frequency of the spectrometer is up to 100 kHz (10 µs) thanks to the high modulation frequency of FMS. The detection sensitivity of the spectrometer is about 240 ppb (3σ) at 100 kHz measurement repetition rate. The amplitude of the absorption signal is highly linear to the C 2 H 2 concentration in the range of 300 ppb -100 ppm. Based on the Allan variation, the detection limit was determined to be 18 ppb with a detection time of 166 s.

Soil washing is an effective technology for the remediation of multi-metal contaminated soils. However, bioavailability of residual heavy metals in soils and soil properties could be changed during washing processes. This study investigated the effects of EDTA, FeCl 3 and mixed chelators (MC) on bioavailability of residual heavy metals in soils and soil biological properties after soil washing. The results showed that soil washing by chelators successfully decreased the total concentration of heavy metals in soils, while it did not effectively decrease the exchangeable fraction of heavy metals, especially for calcareous contaminated soil. The toxic effects of the washed soils seemed to exhibit higher correlations with the changes in the soil properties such as soil pH and nutrient concentrations. As compared with FeCl 3 and EDTA, MC tended to moderately change soil properties (e.g., pH, total N, available N, available P, and exchangeable K, Ca, and Mg). Additionally, MC-washed soil had the least influence on the soil enzymes activities, and had the highest germination and growth of Chinese cabbage. Accordingly, MC is a moderate washing solution in the removal of heavy metals from multi-metal contaminated soils, and had minimal negative effects on soil qualities., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Little is known regarding how biochars' feedstock and pyrolysis temperature affect soil function and plant growth. To address this gap in knowledge, 12 biochars (walnut shells, corn cobs, corn straws, and rice straws were separately pyrolyzed at 250, 400, and 600°C for 4h) were applied to soil from an indigenous coking site with application rate of 2.5% (w/w) in a pot experiment to determine the impact of biochar types on macro-nutrients (total and available N, P, and K) and ryegrass growth in the soil from an indigenous coking site. Generally, the total N, P, and K in the soil was not significantly different from that of the control group. However, biochars decreased the available N from 21.76mg·kg -1 for the control to 14.96mg·kg -1 . Corn straw and rice straw biochars increased the available P from 2.14mg·kg -1 for the control to 28.35mg·kg -1 , specifically at higher pyrolysis temperature, while walnut shell and corn cob biochars had little influence on it regardless of pyrolysis temperature. Biochars increased the available K from 173.58mg·kg -1 for the control to 355.64mg·kg -1 , varying as their feedstocks of corn cob>rice straw>corn straw>walnut shell and increasing with the increase of pyrolysis temperature. Correlation analysis suggests that it is responsible for the competition of soluble cations from biochars with K for adsorption sites on the soil surface. Biochars increased the ryegrass biomass from 0.07g·pot -1 for the control to 0.16g·pot -1 , with the generally most effective stimulation by biochars produced at 400°C. Ryegrass biomass had obviously positive correlation with available K, indicating its essential role in the growth of ryegrass in the studied soil., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Because of mountain cold-trapping, the soil in the Tibetan Plateau may be an important global sink of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). However, there are limited data on OCPs in the soils of the Tibetan Plateau. In addition, the atmospheric transport and deposition mechanisms of OCPs also need to be further studied. In this study, the sampling area covered most regions of the Tibetan Plateau. The detection frequencies of ΣChlordane (sum of trans-chlordane, cis-chlordane and oxychlordane), HCB, ΣNonachlor (sum of trans- and cis-nonachlor), DDTs, ΣEndo (sum of endosulfan-I, endosulfan-II and endosulfate), aldrin, HCHs, ΣHeptachlor (sum of heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide), mirex and dieldrin were 100%, 98.3%, 96.6%, 94.8%, 89.7%, 87.9%, 62.1%, 55.2%, 32.8% and 6.9%, respectively. DDTs (with arithmetic mean values of 1050ngkg -1 dw) and HCHs (393ngkg -1 ) were the principal OCPs in cultivated soils, whereas ΣEndo (192ngkg -1 ) and ΣChlordane (152ngkg -1 ) were the principal OCPs in non-cultivated soils. Local use of DDTs, dicofol and HCHs may be an important source of OCP accumulation in the soil of the Tibetan Plateau. Aldrin and endosulfan are considered to be good indicators for studying atmospheric transport and deposition of OCPs from South Asia and Southeast Asia. Two zones with high OCP levels were found in the southeast and northwest of the Tibetan Plateau. The zones have dissimilar pollution sources of OCPs and are influenced by different factors that affect their precipitation scavenging efficiency. The amount of precipitation was the dominant factor in the southeast, whereas large differences in temperature and wind speed were the dominant factors in the northwest., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of biochars on the availability of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) to ryegrass in an alkaline contaminated soil. Biochars only slightly decreased or even increased the availability of heavy metals assesses by chemical extractant (a mixture of 0.05 mol L -1 ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium, 0.01 mol L -1 CaCl 2 , and 0.1 mol L -1 triethanolamine). The significantly positive correlation between most chemical-extractable heavy metals and the ash content in biochars indicated the positive role of ash in this extraction. Biochars significantly reduced the plant uptake of heavy metals, excluding Mn. The absence of a positive correlation between the chemical-extractable heavy metals and the plant uptake counterparts (except for Mn) indicates that chemical extractability is probably not a reliable indicator to predict the phytoavailability of most heavy metals in alkaline soils treated with biochars. The obviously negative correlation between the plant uptake of heavy metals (except for Mn) and the (O + N)/C and H/C indicates that biochars with more polar groups, which were produced at lower temperatures, had higher efficiency for reducing the phytoavailability of heavy metals. The significantly negative correlations between the plant uptake of Mn and ryegrass biomass indicated the "dilution effect" caused by the improvement of biomass. These observations will be helpful for designing biochars as soil amendments to reduce the availability of heavy metals to plants in soils, especially in alkaline soils., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) were continuously monitored from May 2011 to May 2012 at the Wuzhishan State Atmosphere Background Monitoring Station (109°29'30.2″ E, 18°50'11.0″ N) located in Hainan Island. This station is an ideal site for monitoring long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants from mainland China and Southeast Asia to South China Sea. Annual average GEM concentration was 1.58 ± 0.71 ng m -3 during the monitoring period, which was close to background values in the Northern Hemisphere. GEM concentrations showed a clear seasonal variation with relatively higher levels in autumn (1.86 ± 0.55 ng m -3 ) and winter (1.80 ± 0.62 ng m -3 ) and lower levels in spring (1.16 ± 0.45 ng m -3 ) and summer (1.43 ± 0.46 ng m -3 ). Long-range atmospheric transport dominated by monsoons was a dominant factor influencing the seasonal variations of GEM. The GEM diel trends were related to the wind speed and long-range atmospheric mercury transport. We observed 30 pollution episodes throughout the monitoring period. The analysis of wind direction and backward trajectory suggested that elevated GEM concentrations at the monitoring site were primarily related to the outflows of atmospheric Hg from mainland China and the Indochina peninsula. The △GEM/△CO values also suggested that GEM was significantly affected by the long-range transport from the anthropogenic sources and biomass burning in Asia and Indochina peninsula.

Unlabelled: Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are candidate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that are under review by the Stockholm Convention. China is currently the largest producer and consumer of chlorinated paraffins (CPs). To study the environmental behavior and fate of SCCPs in the soils of urban and suburban regions, the SCCP concentrations in 88 topsoils and 15 soil columns from land of different use types (e.g., woodland, vegetable field, paddy field and greenbelt) from Guangzhou and Chengdu have been determined. The SCCP concentrations in topsoils from Guangzhou (range: 1.45-25.5ngg(-1) dry weight (dw), average: 10.3ngg(-1) dw) were much higher than those from Chengdu (range: 0.218-3.26ngg(-1) dw, average: 1.43ngg(-1) dw). When compared to previously reported SCCP levels for topsoils from other areas, the SCCP concentrations measured in the present work were quite low. Much higher SCCP concentrations were observed in the greenbelt topsoils from Chengdu relative to the values measured from woodlands and vegetable and paddy fields. The composition profiles suggest that C10Cl6-10 and C11-13Cl6-8 were the major groups of SCCPs in topsoils from the woodlands and vegetable and paddy fields in Guangzhou and Chengdu. Vertical variations of the SCCP concentrations in the soil columns suggest that less chlorinated SCCPs (Cl5-6-SCCPs) are more capable of migrating to the deeper-layer soils than more chlorinated ones (Cl9-10-SCCPs). The SCCP concentrations displayed little dependence on organic matter (OM) for most topsoils (p>0.05), indicating that OM is not the controlling factor in the distribution of SCCPs in the soils., Capsule: This study analyzed the occurrence, homologue patterns and vertical migration of SCCPs in the topsoils of two Chinese cities with different industrial structures and climate conditions., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Limited data on the spatial distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Tibetan soils have been reported. This study measured the concentrations of PAHs in background soils across Tibet including 44 surface soils (0-10 cm) and 14 subsurface soils (10-20 cm) and assessed the effect of input pathways and altitudes on spatial distribution of PAHs. The concentrations of 15 US EPA priority PAHs (∑15-PAHs, naphthalene excluded) in all surface soils ranged from 1.50 to 29.88 ng/g dry weight with a mean concentration of 6.09 ng/g. The levels of PAHs in soils from southeast of Tibet were higher than those from northwest, which might be attributed to both more local emission as a result of relative higher population density and contributions of long-range atmosphere transport (LRAT) processes from Indian subcontinent in the south and Sichuan in the east. For the northwest Tibet, the westerly wind originated from the western boundaries between India and Nepal but not local emission might play an important role in input of PAHs, since there were slight anthropogenic activities. A general decrease of ∑15-PAHs with depth suggested their atmospheric input, while surface runoff might also play an important role in input of PAHs to soils from canyon and valley. The abundances of more volatile three-ring PAHs positively correlated with altitudes while less volatile ones unrelated (four rings) or inversely correlated (five and six rings) with altitudes, indicating cold condensation effect. The results of PAH isomer ratios suggested mixed sources of petroleum evaporation and combustion of petroleum and biomass.

China is the largest coke producer and exporter in the world, and it has been a major concern that large populations of coke workers are exposed to the associated air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This study aimed to preliminarily quantify the potential exposure to VOCs emitted from two representative coking plants and assess the potential health risks. Air samples from various stages of coking were collected from the topside of coke ovens and various plant areas and then analyzed for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX). The time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations were used to quantify the coke oven emission (COE). The TWA concentrations for benzene were 705.6 and 290.4 μg m(-3) in plant A and plant B, respectively, which showed a higher exposure level than those reported in other countries. COE varied on the topside of coke ovens during charging and pushing processes, from 268.3 to 1197.7 μg m(-3) in plant A and 85.4-489.7 μg m(-3) in plant B. Our results indicate that benzene exposure from the diffusion of tar distillation also exerts significant health risks and thus should also be concerned. Charging and pushing activities accounted for nearly 70 % of benzene dose at the topside, and the benzene exposure risks to the coke oven workers in China were higher than those reported by US EPA. Compared to the reported emission sources, the weight-based ratios of average benzene to toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene in different COE air samples showed unique characteristic profiles. Based on the B/T ratios from this work and from literatures on several major cities in northern China, it was evident that COE contributes significantly to the severe pollution of VOCs in the air of northern China. Future more rigorous studies are warranted to characterize VOC emission profiles in the stack gas of the coking processes in China.

The potential for Hg release during municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) is attracting increased attention due to high volume of municipal waste being treated by incineration in China. Emission amounts have been estimated using emission factors developed for other countries. To fine tune our emission estimate total mercury (THg) and mercury speciation were measured using isokinetic sampling in eight plants, of which six used grate furnace combustor (GFC) and two circulation fluidized bed combustors (CFBCs). Results showed that average THg concentration (19.5 ± 13.6 μg/Nm) in flue gas at the facilities that used CFBC was significantly lower than that at those using GFC (51.4 ± 28.3 μg/Nm, p=0.002). Gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM), gaseous elemental mercury (GEM, Hg), and particulate mercury (Hg) represented 95.5 ± 3.8%, 4.1 ± 3.9% and 0.4 ± 0.3% in GFC, and 63.8 ± 8.6%, 33.6 ± 10.5% and 2.6 ± 1.9% in CFBC, respectively. The measured average THg emission factor for the 8 MSWI plants was 208 ± 130 mg/t in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, with 217 ± 158 mg/t and 188 ± 17.7 mg/t were from GFC and CFBC, respectively. Using the average emission factor the estimated total mercury emissions from MSWI were 4.67 ± 2.91 t in China, and 770 ± 65.5 kg in the PRD region in 2010. Of these, 4240 ± 210 kg, 408 ± 231 kg and 14.8 ± 14.1 kg, and 688 ± 37 kg, 78.9 ± 40.6 kg and 3.2 ± 3.0 kg were GOM, Hg, and Hg, respectively. Mercury emissions will continue to increase as the amounts of MSW being incinerated increases., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Gram-negative bacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia G2 was isolated from a soil sample and was found to have high nematotoxic activity against a free-living nematode, Panagrellus redivivus, and a plant-parasitic nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. The analysis of virulence factors revealed that although the small molecular metabolites participated in nematode killing, the crude extracellular protein extract from the bacterial culture supernatant contributed significantly to its nematocidal activity. An extracellular protease was purified by chromatography, and its effects on degrading purified nematode cuticle and killing living nematodes were confirmed experimentally. Characterization of this purified protease revealed that the application of phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride, an inhibitor of serine proteases, could completely abolish its proteolytic activity. The results from N-terminal amino acid sequencing showed no similarity with any known serine protease in S. maltophilia, suggesting a novel virulence serine protease was obtained. Our study is the first to show the nematocidal activity of S. maltophilia, and we identified a novel serine protease as an important pathogenicity factor.