Microbial degradation of decabromodiphenyl ether (DBDE) in soil slurry microcosms.

Decabromodiphenyl ether (DBDE), which has been identified as an endocrine disrupting compound, is used as brominated flame retardant, and this can result in serious bioaccumulation within ecological systems. The objective of this study was to explore DBDE bioremediation (25 mg/kg) using laboratory scale soil slurry microcosms. It was found that effective biodegradation of DBDE occurred in all microcosms. Various biometabolites were identified, namely polybrominated diphenyl ethers congeners and hydroxylated brominated diphenyl ether. Reductive debrominated products such as tri-BDE to hepta-BDE congeners were also detected, and their total concentrations ranged from 77.83 to 91.07 ng/g. The mechanism of DBDE biodegradation in soil slurry microcosms is proposed to consist of a series of biological reactions involving hydroxylation and debromination. Catechol 2,3-oxygenase genes, which are able to bring about meta-cleavage at specific unbrominated locations in carbon backbones, were identified as present during the DBDE biodegradation. No obvious effect on the ecological functional potential based on community-level physiological profiling was observed during DBDE biodegradation, and one major facultative Pseudomonas sp. (99 % similarity) was identified in the various soil slurry microcosms. These findings provide an important basis that should help environmental engineers to design future DBDE bioremediation systems that use a practical microcosm system. A bacterial-mixed culture can be selected as part of the bioaugmentation process for in situ DBDE bioremediation. A soil/water microcosm system can be successfully applied to carry out ex situ DBDE bioremediation.

Submicron particle characteristics of atmospheres in a long highway tunnel.

This study used a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) to measure and categorize submicron atmospheric particles in the 14-737-nm size range for ambient and urban roadside air and for air in the Hsuehshan Tunnel (12.9 km), Taiwan. Principal component analysis, traffic flow, and particle size distributions were used to identify the emission characteristics of light-duty vehicles (LDV) with the SMPS data. In the Hsuehshan Tunnel, the particle size from the majority of emissions discharged by LDV is approximately 20-60 nm, and the maximum particle number can reach up to 2.5 × 10(5). In contrast, submicron particle size distribution for urban roadsides is mostly 14-200 nm, and the maximum particle number is approximately 4 × 10(4) with the particle number for most particle sizes being below 1,200. The submicron particle size distribution at the ambient air station was unimodal with a mode sizes at 30-50 nm with the maximum particle number of 3,000.

Development of real-world driving cycles and estimation of emission factors for in-use light-duty gasoline vehicles in urban areas.

This investigation adopts vehicle tracking manner to establish real-world driving patterns and estimates emission factors with dynamometers with 23 traffic-driving variables for 384 in-use light-duty passenger vehicles during non-rush hour. Adequate numbers of driving variables were decided with factor analysis and cluster analysis. The dynamometer tests were performed on FTP75 cycle and five local driving cycles derived from real-world speed profiles. Results presented that local driving cycles and FTP75 cycle were completely different in driving characteristic parameters of typical driving cycles and emission factors. The highest values of emission factor ratios of local driving cycle and FTP75 cycle for CO, NMHC, NO x , CH4, and CO2 were 1.38, 1.65, 1.58, 1.39, and 1.14, respectively.