Accumulation of steroid hormones in soil and its adjacent aquatic environment from a typical intensive vegetable cultivation of North China.

Steroid hormones released from manure agricultural application are a matter of global concern. The residual levels of steroid hormones were studied in a typical intensive vegetable cultivation area in northeast China, with a long history of heavy manure application. Seven steroids (estrone, 17α-estradiol, 17β-estradiol, estriol, testosterone, androstendione and progesterone) were analyzed from soil sampled from vegetable greenhouses, from sediments and water from the adjacent drainage ditch and from the groundwater.

[Sorption of 17beta-estradiol to soils and sediment and influence of pig manure DOM].

Natural steroid estrogens such as 17beta-estradiol (E2) with low concentrations (ng x L(-1)) can adversely affect the reproductive health of aquatic organisms. Batch equilibrium experiments were conducted to quantify the sorption of E2 to two agricultural soils and a river sediment from different physiographic regions in northern China, a critical step in predicting transport of estrogens in runoff from agricultural fields. Meanwhile, the effect of pig manure and its compost borne dissolved organic matter (DOM) on E2 sorption was investigated.

[Effects of particle-sizes, pH and organic matter on adsorption and desorption of mercury to sediments in the Songhua River].

The present study aims to further reveal the environmental behavior of mercury on sediments surface. Effects of particle-sizes, pH and concentrations of dissolved organic matter (DOM) on mercury adsorption and desorption to the surface of sediments in the Songhua River were investigated by simulation experiments. A distinct variety of absorption ability among sediments with different particle-sizes was observed.

Increase in complexation ability of humic acids with the addition of ligneous bulking agents during sewage sludge composting.

Wood sawdust and maize straw were selected to co-compost sewage sludge to investigate the effects of organic bulking agents on the formation and molecular transformation of humic substances. The results showed that composting process increased humic acids (HA) while decreased fulvic acids (FA), and the wood sawdust and maize straw promoted the formation of HA by 25.6% and 16.

[GIS-based analysis of the land suitability for manure application in the northeastern provinces].

As an important industrial and grain production base of China, livestock and poultry industry have been rapidly developed in the northeastern provinces. With the rapid increasing amount of animal production, how to handle the huge amount of animal manure has become a critical issue for local government. A quantitative analysis based on geographic information system (GIS) combining the biophysical, environmental, social and economic factors was applied to determine the land suitability for manure application in the northeastern provinces.

Cadmium in animal production and its potential hazard on Beijing and Fuxin farmlands.

A random sample of pairs of animal feeds and manures were collected from 215 animal barns in Beijing and Fuxin regions of China. The concentrations of Cd in manures and feeds ranged from non-detectable to 129.8 mg/kg dry weight and non-detectable to 31 mg/kg dry weight, respectively.