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In order to solve environmental problems resulting from ammonia released into the atmosphere, the emission of ammonia contamination from monosodium glutamate (MSG) production was quantitatively observed, and the relationships with relevant influencing factors (ammonium-N, nitrate/nitrite-N and pH) were statistically analyzed. The results indicated that the release of gaseous ammonia from MSG production including the treatment and discharge of wastewater was highly dependent on the technical processes utilised. The flux of ammonia released from the fermentation workshop was highest, up to 8.98 × 10 mg m min, and the flux from the sugar-refining workshop was lowest, only 85.1 mg m min. The release of gaseous ammonia during the whole MSG production was significantly proportional to the concentration of ammonium-N in the discharged solution, and exponentially proportional to the concentrations of nitrate–nitrogen and nitrite-nitrogen in the discharged solution. Although there was no linear relationship between the flux of ammonia released during the whole MSG production and pH values in the discharged solution, pH was significantly related to the flux of ammonia released during the treatment and discharge of wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil pollution by cadmium has been a long standing ecological problem in Zhangshi Irrigation Area, Shenyang, China, as a result of the 30-year practice of irrigation with wastewater containing high levels of heavy metals. To evaluate the adverse impact of cadmium contamination on soil ecosystems, the responses of soil microbiota to both long-term and short-term cadmium stress were studied by molecular microbial community profiling with denaturating gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis. Our results show that soil characteristics and nutrient conditions were likely more important than cadmium toxicity in shaping the soil bacterial community structure in the long term. In comparison, soil microbial genetic diversity was shown to be more closely correlated to cadmium levels under short-term cadmium stress, with the highest microbial genetic diversity occurring at mild cadmium stress conditions, which might be attributed to the enrichment of metal-resistant microbial populations through mechanisms of competitive selection and genetic adaptation. In contrast, severe cadmium stress likely presented a condition that fewer microbial populations could survive, thus leading to reduced microbial genetic diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]