Contamination levels and human health risk assessment of toxic heavy metals in street dust in an industrial city in Northwest China.

This study investigated the content, distribution, and contamination levels of toxic metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn) in street dust in Lanzhou, an industrial city in Northwest China. Meanwhile, the risk these metals posed to the urban ecosystem and human health was also evaluated using the potential ecological risk index and human exposure model. Results showed that concentrations of these metals in the dust are higher than the background value of local soil, with Cu having the highest levels. The districts of Anning and Xigu had the most extreme levels of contamination, while Chengguan and Qilihe districts were lightly contaminated, which can be partly attributed to human activities and traffic densities. In comparison with the concentrations of selected metals in other cities, the concentrations of heavy metals in Lanzhou were generally at moderate or low levels. Heavy metal concentration increased with decreasing dust particle size. The pollution indices of Cr, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn were in the range of 0.289-2.09, 0.332-2.15, 1.38-6.21, 0.358-2.59, and 0.560-1.83 with a mean of 1.37, 1.49, 3.18, 1.48, and 0.897, respectively. The geo-accumulation index (I geo) suggested that Zn in street dust was of geologic origin, while Cd, Cr, Pb, and Cu were significantly impacted by anthropogenic sources. The comprehensive pollution index showed that urban dust poses a high potential ecological risk in Lanzhou. Non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic effects due to exposure to urban street dust were assessed for both children and adults. For non-carcinogenic effects, ingestion appeared to be the main route of exposure to dust particles and thus posed a higher health risk to both children and adults for all metals, followed by dermal contact. Hazard index values for all studied metals were lower than the safe level of 1, and Cr exhibited the highest risk value (0.249) for children, suggesting that the overall risk from exposure to multiple metals in dust is low. The carcinogenic risk for Cd and Cr was all below the acceptable level (< 10-6).

[Effect of Biochar on Adsorption Behavior of Nonylphenol onto Loess Soil in Northwest China].

In the present study, nonylphenol (NP) was selected as the target pollutant to investigate the effect of biochar produced from wheat residue at different temperatures on loess soil based on the batch experiments. The research basically included adsorption kinetic, thermodynamic and some influencing factors such as biochar with different pyrolysis temperature, particle size and pH value. The results showed that the adsorption reaction of NP onto loess soil without biochar was 10 h during fast reaction, and after the addition of biochar into loess soil, the fast reaction time of NP adsorption was shortened. Meanwhile, in the fast stage the adsorption reaction of NP onto loess soil with biochar was significantly higher than loess soil without biochar, while the difference of adsorption capacity was small at different carbonization temperatures. The adsorption reaction of NP onto loess soil by adding biochar could be well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetics model and reached equilibrium in 16 h. The kinetic data showed that the adsorption of NP accorded well with the Freundlich isotherm model. The saturated adsorption capacity was improved as temperature increased with or without biochar. Thermodynamic parameter analysis indicated Gibbs free energy ΔGθ<0, entropy ΔHθ>0 and enthalpy ΔSθ>0, demonstrating it was a spontaneous, endothermic and chaos-increasing adsorption process. At the same temperature, the adsorption capacity of NP in loess soils increased dramatically with the increase of carbonization temperature. The smaller particle size of the loess with the addition of biochar, the better the adsorption of NP. When the pH value was 4 to 7, the adsorption capacity of NP onto loess soil by adding biochar showed an increasing trend; in the pH range of 7 to 10, the adsorption saturation capacity decreased with the increase of pH value. Therefore, the adsorption of NP on loess with the addition of biochar had the best adsorption effect in the neutral range. Acid and alkalinity were not conducive to the adsorption of NP.

[Adsorption Behavior of p-hydroxy Biphenyl onto Sediment of the Yellow River in Lanzhou].

In order to study the adsorption behavior of organic pollutants in sediment of the Yellow River in Lanzhou, p-hydroxy biphenyl (PHB) was selected as the typical organic pollutants to understand the adsorption kinetics and thermodynamics of PHB onto sediment of the Yellow River in Lanzhou based on the batch experiments. Meanwhile, the effects of systemic temperature, such as the particle size, the initial concentration of PHB, pH value, and the ionic strength, were also investigated for the adsorption of PHB onto sediment of the Yellow River. The results indicated that the adsorption kinetics of PHB onto sediment of the Yellow River could be better described by Pseudo-second-order model, and the boundary layer and intraparticle diffusion were both involved in the adsorption kinetic process. The adsorption thermodynamics of PHB onto sediment of the Yellow River were fitted well with the Langmuir model(R2>0.974), which was a single molecular layer adsorption process. The average adsorption free energy E ranged from 0.913 to 1.00 kJ·mol-1 when the systemic temperatures increased from 25℃ to 45℃, suggesting a physical adsorption. Thermodynamic parameter analysis indicated that Gibbs free energy (ΔGθ) and Entropy (ΔHθ) were less than zero, but Enthalpy (ΔSθ) was more than zero in the adsorption process, which tended to prove the spontaneous nature of the adsorption process, the endothermic nature of the adsorption process and the increased randomness at the sediment surface. Furthermore, the smaller the particle size, the greater the adsorption capacity of the PHB. The adsorption capacity was increased with the increase of the initial concentration of PHB. When the pH value in a range of 4.23 to 7.00, the adsorption capacity of PHB showed a slow decreasing trend, while the decreasing was sharp when pH value was greater than 7.00, and the adsorption capacity was almost zero when pH value was about 10.3. With the increase of ionic strength, the adsorption amount of PHB was also increased, but when the ionic strength increased to a certain value, due to the competitive adsorption, the adsorption of PHB onto sediments would be inhibited, resulting in decreased amount of adsorption.

[Adsorption and Influential Factors of Diuron on the Loess Soil by Adding Different Biochar Prepared at Varying Temperatures].

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the effect of biochar, produced from maize and pine needles residue at different temperatures, on the adsorption of diuron onto loess soil. Meanwhile, the effect of the systemic temperature, pH values and the initial concentration of diuron were also investigated for the adsorption of diuron onto losses soil. And Kinetic parameters, such as rate constants, equilibrium adsorption capacities and related correlation coefficients were also calculated and discussed. The results showed that the adsorption of diuron onto loess soil by adding biochar could be described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and followed the intraparticle diffusion model, but diffusion was not only the rate-controlling step. The adsorption process was divided into fast (0-8 h) and slow (8-12 h) adsorption stages, and equilibrium was reached at around 12 h. The adsorption thermodynamics of diuron onto loess soil was nonlinear by nature, and well fitted with the Freundlich isothermal model. Thermodynamic parameter analysis of diuron onto loess soil by adding biochar showed that Gibbs free energy (ΔGθ) was less than zero, while Enthalpy (ΔSθ) and Entropy (ΔHθ) were greater than zero, indicating a spontaneous endothermic adsorption, which increased the degree of disorder during the process. And Thermodynamic parameter analysis of diuron onto loess soil without adding biochar showed that Gibbs free energy (ΔGθ) and Entropy (ΔHθ) were less than zero, while Enthalpy (ΔSθ) was greater than zero. The average adsorption free energy E was in range of 1.29-5.00 kJ·mol-1 when the temperatures increased from 25 to 45℃, indicated that adsorption of diuron onto loess was a physical adsorption. The results also suggested that the influencing factors of diuron had significant effects on the adsorptive behaviors of diuron on loess soil. With increasing pyrolysis temperature of biochar, the equilibrium concentration of diuron in water decreased, while the amount of adsorption on loess soil increased. When the initial concentration of diuron increased from 0.5 mg·L-1 to 6 mg·L-1, the adsorption capacity of diuron onto loess soil by adding biochar showed a rapidly increasing trend. When the initial concentration increased. the adsorption capacity showed a slow increasing trend and gradually tended to be stable. In the pH range of 3 to 10, the adsorption capacity of diuron onto loess soil by adding biochar changed a little.