Endocrine-disruptive chemicals as contaminants of emerging concern in wastewater and surface water: A review.

An innovative approach for the fabrication of hybrid photocatalysts on a solid porous polymeric system for the heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants is herein presented. Specifically, gold/zinc oxide (Au/ZnO)-based porous nanocomposites are formed in situ by a two-step process. In the first step, branched ZnO nanostructures fixed on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) fibers are obtained upon the thermal conversion of zinc acetate-loaded PMMA electrospun mats. Subsequently, Au nanoparticles (NPs) are directly formed on the surface of the ZnO through an adsorption dipping process and thermal treatment. The effect of different concentrations of the Au ion solutions to the formation of Au/ZnO hybrids is investigated, proving that for 1 wt % of Au NPs with respect to the composite there is an effective metal–semiconductor interfacial interaction. As a result, a significant improvement of the photocatalytic performance of the ZnO/PMMA electrospun nanocomposite for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and bisphenol A (BPA) under UV light is observed. Therefore, the proposed method can be used to prepare flexible fibrous composites characterized by a high surface area, flexibility, and light weight. These can be used for heterogeneous photocatalytic applications in water treatment, without the need of post treatment steps for their removal from the treated water which may restrict their wide applicability and cause secondary pollution.

Au/ZnO Hybrid Nanostructures on Electrospun Polymeric Mats for Improved Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants

Indicator-based sustainability assessments are useful tools in portraying the complex system of water reuse in agriculture in a simple manner. However, the growing number of indicator factors used has haltered comparability and ease of use of the indices. This working paper presents an indicator-based framework to support policymakers in assessing the level of sustainability of water reuse practices in agriculture on a regional and/or national level. The sustainability index consists of two sub-indices, assessing the environmental and socioeconomic dimensions, respectively. The index is designed in accordance with the steps proposed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), namely indicator selection, normalisation, weighting, aggregation, and robustness analysis. A minimum set of indicator factors were identified based on the existing literature and are normalised according to ‘distance to target’. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used for their weighting and further number minimisation. The overall index ranges from 0 to 1, according to the level of sustainability of the applied wastewater practices in irrigation.

/pdf/towards-a-unified-index-for-assessing-the-sustainability-of-54opj3tv0l.pdf

Towards a Unified Index for Assessing the Sustainability of Wastewater Irrigation

Bisphenol A (BPA) and fluoroquinolone antibiotics (FQs) have been detected frequently in aquatic environments. Studies have shown that high levels of BPA and FQs exposure have adverse effects on chondrogenesis in young terrestrial vertebrates. However, little is known about their combined toxicity to bone metabolism. Here, we evaluated the single and combined effects of BPA and norfloxacin (NOR, a typical species of FQs) at an environmentally relevant level (1 μg/L) on early skeletal development in zebrafish. We found that both individual and combined BPA and NOR exposure resulted in poor embryo quality and decreased calcium-phosphorus ratio. The malformation increased after exposure to BPA and NOR, and craniofacial cartilage ossification was delayed. At the molecular level, the transcriptions of genes related to ossification were down-regulated significantly, and the lysine oxidase activity decreased. Hence, we infer that an environmentally relevant concentration of BPA and NOR have adverse effects on early skeletal development in fish. In addition, combined exposure to BPA and NOR seems to have an antagonistic effect on early skeletal development. 

Environmentally relevant levels of BPA and NOR disturb early skeletal development in zebrafish

The focus of the present study is on the fabrication of effective and eco-friendly hybrid electrospun materials based on poly(L-lactide-co-D,L-lactide) (PLDLLA), Fe3O4 and ZnO with an appropriate design for antioxidant and photocatalytic performance. The design of the fibrous materials was purposely tailored in one step by electrospinning and simultaneous electrospinning/electrospraying. Electrospinning of PLDLLA and its mixture with Fe3O4 resulted in the fabrication of materials with design type “in”. Furthermore, the surface of the electrospun PLDLLA and Fe3O4-in-PLDLLA was decorated with ZnO particles by simultaneous electrospraying, thus materials with design type “on” were obtained. In this case, quaternized N,N,N-trimethyl chitosan iodide (QCOS) was used as a sticking agent of ZnO particles onto the fiber's surface. Different structures and morphologies of the electrospun materials were observed by SEM equipped with EDX and TEM. TGA and XRD analyses show that the presence of inorganic particles had an impact on the thermal properties and crystallinity of the electrospun materials. Furthermore, the material type “on” showed improved wettability with a water contact angle less than 90° compared to the material type “in” with an angle larger than 90°. In particular, the presence of Fe3O4 imparts complementary magnetic properties, while ZnO considerably increased the antioxidant activity of the fibrous materials. Materials with design type “on” displayed over 70% radical scavenging capacity in contrast to the material type “in” with less than 20% capacity within 30 min of contact. Moreover, the purposely tailored design type “on” materials provided excellent photocatalytic degradation of model organic pollutant methylene blue dye under UV light irradiation even after 5-fold use, and at the end of the fifth cycle these materials degraded more than 90% of the dye. These results reveal not only a strategy for the fabrication of electrospun hybrid bio-based materials with targeted design but also provide a promising, simple and effective way for mitigating water pollution. 

Imparting Photocatalytic and Antioxidant Properties to Electrospun Poly(L-lactide-co-D,L-lactide) Materials

The wide occurrence of new-emerging pollutants and their potential environmental and ecological risks have recently caused great public concerns. The paper firstly put forward the severe problem. Then the possible main reasons were analyzed which might attribute to both the inefficient removal of wastewater treatment plants with conventional technology and ignorance of the monitor and control of new-emerging pollutants in the effluents. Also, the complexity and extreme high costs may also make the organizations sidestep the problem. Finally, possible strategies to deal with the problems were proposed. The upgrade of wastewater treatment plants was important and urgent.

/pdf/importance-of-monitor-and-control-on-new-emerging-pollutants-2fvcssbozr.pdf

Importance of Monitor and Control on New-Emerging Pollutants in Conventional Wastewater Treatment Plants

The invention discloses a method for improving the resource utilization of kitchen waste. The method comprises the following steps: (1) grinding and pulping kitchen waste to obtain an anaerobic fermentation substrate; (2) adding civil sludge into the substrate to serve as an inoculating microbe; (3) diluting the fermentation substrate with washing wastewater containing linear alkyl benzene sulfonates to obtain a fermentation system; and (4) performing oxygen removal and sealing on the fermentation system, and performing anaerobic fermentation. The method can improve the characteristics of kitchen waste by adding washing wastewater to realize resource utilization and recycling of the kitchen waste and the like and is favorable to reduction and harmless disposal of washing wastewater and kitchen waste; furthermore, relative to clean water, such as tap water, kitchen waste is diluted with washing wastewater, the solid content of the kitchen waste is reduced, and the treatment cost can bereduced; and the linear alkyl benzene sulfonates can be used for promoting dissolution of complex organic substances and increasing the generation rate and yield of short-chain fatty acids, the anaerobic fermentation time can be remarkably shortened, and the operation cost can be reduced.

Method for improving resource utilization of kitchen waste

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Importance of Monitor and Control on New-Emerging Pollutants in Conventional Wastewater Treatment Plants

Method for improving resource utilization of kitchen waste