Activation of persulfate by vanadium oxide modified carbon nanotube for 17β-estradiol degradation in soil: Mechanism, application and ecotoxicity assessment.

Steroid hormones in the environment have attracted public attention because of their high endocrine-disrupting activity even at rather low exposure level. Excessive hormones in the soil from the pollutant discharge of intensive farming would pose a potential threat to the ecology and the human health. Vanadium oxide modified carbon nanotube (VO-CNT) was synthesized and applied as persulfate (PDS) activator to reduce17β-estrogen (17β-E2) in soil.

Analysing wastewater to estimate fentanyl and tramadol use in major Chinese cities.

The misuse of fentanyl and more recently tramadol in the population has caused an opioid crisis in several countries and drawn much public attention worldwide. However, there is a gap of information on the potential misuse of fentanyl and tramadol in China. This study aims to fill this gap by analysing fentanyl and tramadol in wastewater of major cities across China to estimate their use.

Changes in dissolved inorganic carbon in river water due to urbanization revealed by hydrochemistry and carbon isotope in the Pearl River Delta, China.

Under natural conditions, the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in river water is dominantly derived from carbonate or silicate dissolution by carbonic acid. However, sulfuric and nitric acids produced by human activities provide additional acidity for chemical weathering, which would affect the DIC flux and change its isotopic composition. To identify the natural and anthropogenic impacts on DIC, the major ion concentrations and stable carbon isotopes of the DIC (δC-DIC) of river waters were measured in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, which is one of the most developed and populated areas in China.

Three-perspective energy-carbon nexus analysis for developing China's policies of CO-emission mitigation.

Energy usage and CO emission have intimate and inseparable linkages. The growth of energy usage causes an increase in CO emissions, which will in turn constrain the related energy policies and challenge the energy-system stability. It is essential to quantify China's CO emission inventories embodied in production-driven, demand-driven and supply-driven chains considering different energy types.

Overcoming the instability of aerobic granular sludge under nitrogen deficiency through shortening settling time.

This study investigated the short settling time strategy to overcome the instability of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) under nitrogen deficiency. AGS variations in its physical and chemical characteristics and microbial community were investigated. Results showed that nitrogen deficiency led to the instability of AGS, while short settling time strategy could overcome the instability of AGS under nitrogen deficiency.

Activation of peroxydisulfate by nanoscale zero-valent iron for sulfamethoxazole removal in agricultural soil: Effect, mechanism and ecotoxicity.

In this study, peroxydisulfate (PDS) was successfully activated by nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) for the degradation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX, antibiotic frequently detected in the environment) in agricultural soils. The results indicated that the degradation of SMX was affected by the nZVI dose, the ratio of SMX/PDS, the ratio of soil/water and reaction temperature, and in cinnamon soils 87.6% of SMX degradation can be achieved within 4 h at 30 °C when the initial nZVI dose was 0.

Effect of nitrogen deficiency on the stability of aerobic granular sludge.

To assess the stability of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) under nitrogen deficiency conditions, three sequence batch reactors were operated with chemical oxygen demand (COD) to nitrogen (N) ratios of 100/5, 100/2.5, and 100/2, while COD concentration was kept consistent. AGS variations in its physicochemical characteristics, microbial community, and treatment performance were investigated.