Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the environment of Beijing,China: Levels,distribution, trends and sources

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have become a major type of persistent organic pollutant (POPs) in the world. To well understand the occurrence, spatial distribution and source apportionment of 16 PAHs in different media in Beijing, a comprehensive study was conducted based on 337 obtained and subsequently selected samples in four specific media, including soil, road dust, surface water and atmosphere covering sampling time spanning from 2005 to 2014. Mean concentrations of Σ16 PAHs in soils (878.5 μg/kg) decreased from inner city to exterior areas with different land uses decreased in the order of industrial estate (2510 μg/kg)>educational area (1331 μg/kg)>Park (783 μg/kg)>cultivated (650 μg/kg)>roadside (583 μg/kg)>residential (568 μg/kg)>green area (478 μg/kg)>forest area (125 μg/kg). Meanwhile, PAHs concentrations in branch roads were slightly higher than trunk roads and mainly concentrated in urban areas (1136 μg/kg). Affected by industrial and residential areas, PAHs concentrations in downstream surface rivers were much higher than upstream surface rivers (475 ng/L). Due to strong mobility, PAHs concentrations in atmosphere were not equally distributed around the study area (157.59 ng/m³). The result of source apportionment determined by diagnostic ratios method indicated PAHs in multiple media in Beijing are mainly from coal and biomass combustion.     

Characterization,source apportionment,and human health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in road dust of a small island state in the Caribbean

Sixty-four and fifty-six road dust samples were collected over two seasons from various locations throughout the island of Trinidad and analyzed for the 16 priority PAHs. Total PAH concentrations ranged from 21 ng g^?1 to 4723 ng g^?1 (d.w.) for the rainy season and 36 ng g^?1 to 2428 ng g^?1 (d.w.) for the dry season. The Σ4–6 ring PAHs accounted for 88% and 63% of the 16 PAHs in road dust samples for the rainy and dry seasons, respectively. PAH diagnostic ratios, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis revealed both pyrogenic and petrogenic sources in road dust for the two seasons, with major contributions from vehicular emissions. Contributions from incomplete combustion and petroleum sources were also identified. The estimated Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR) associated with exposure to road dust PAHs in Trinidad for the rainy and dry seasons indicated no potential risk for both children and adults, as denoted by ILCR values lower than 10^?6.     

The degradation of three-ringed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by wood-inhabiting fungus Pleurotus ostreatus and soil-inhabiting fungus Agaricus bisporus

The degradation of two isomeric three-ringed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by the white rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus D1 and the litter-decomposing fungus Agaricus bisporus F-8 was studied. Despite some differences, the degradation of phenanthrene and anthracene followed the same scheme, forming quinone metabolites at the first stage. The further fate of these metabolites was determined by the composition of the ligninolytic enzyme complexes of the fungi. The quinone metabolites of phenanthrene and anthracene produced in the presence of only laccase were observed to accumulate, whereas those formed in presence of laccase and versatile peroxidase were metabolized further to form products that were further included in basal metabolism (e.g. phthalic acid). Laccase can catalyze the initial attack on the PAH molecule, which leads to the formation of quinones, and that peroxidase ensures their further oxidation, which eventually leads to PAH mineralization.A. bisporus, which produced only laccase, metabolized phenanthrene and anthracene to give the corresponding quinones as the dominant metabolites. No products of further utilization of these compounds were detected. Thus, the fungi's affiliation with different ecophysiological groups and their cultivation conditions affect the composition and dynamics of production of the ligninolytic enzyme complex and the completeness of PAH utilization.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of the aggregation behaviour of overlapped graphene sheets in linear aliphatic hydrocarbons

Molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the aggregation of two partially overlapped graphene sheets in hexane, dodecane and eicosane. When partially overlapped graphene sheets are adjacent to one another, they will expel the adsorbed layers of the solvent molecules on the graphene surface, and the amount of overlap will increase. When the overlapped regions of the graphene sheets are separated by solvent molecules, they cannot expel the adsorption layers between them, and so the sheets remain separated. The driving force for aggregation is the van der Waals interaction between the two graphene sheets, while the van der Waals interaction between the graphene sheets and the solvent molecules inhibits graphene aggregation. The diffusion rate of the hydrocarbon molecules with shorter chain lengths is higher. Thus, they diffuse faster during graphene aggregation, which leads to a higher rate of graphene overlapping in the shorter hydrocarbons. This work provides useful insights into graphene aggregation in linear hydrocarbon solvents of varying lengths at the nanoscale.     

The Guianese population of the fire ant Solenopsis saevissima is unicolonial

In this study, conducted in French Guiana, a part of the native range of the fire ant Solenopsis saevissima, we compared the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of media workers with previous results based on intraspecific aggressiveness tests. We noted a strong congruence between the two studies permitting us to delimit 2 supercolonies extending over large distances (up to 54 km), a phenomenon known as unicoloniality. Solenopsis geminata workers, taken as an out‐group for cluster analyses, have a very different cuticular hydrocarbon profile. Because S. saevissima has been reported outside its native range, our conclusion is that this species has the potential to become invasive because unicoloniality (i.e., the main attribute for ants to become invasive) was shown at least for the Guianese population.     

Increased levels of urinary biomarkers of lipid peroxidation products among workers occupationally exposed to diesel engine exhaust

Diesel engine exhaust (DEE) was found to induce lipid peroxidation (LPO) in animal exposure studies. LPO is a class of oxidative stress and can be reflected by detecting the levels of its production, such as malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), and etheno-DNA adducts including 1,N⁶-etheno-2′-deoxyadenosine (?dA) and 3,N⁴-etheno-2′-deoxycytidine (?dC). However, the impact of DEE exposure on LPO has not been explored in humans. In this study, we evaluated urinary MDA, 4-HNE, ?dA, and ?dC levels as biomarkers of LPO among 108 workers with exclusive exposure to DEE and 109 non-DEE-exposed workers. Results showed that increased levels of urinary MDA and ?dA were observed in subjects occupationally exposed to DEE before and after age, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, and alcohol use were adjusted (all p?p?p?相似文献   

Ecological risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface sediments from the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River,China

In this research, ecological risks for eight individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and ∑PAH₈ in surface sediments from middle and lower reaches of Yellow River are evaluated using overlapping areas of probability density curves and margin of safety (MOS), based on the toxicity data and the exposure concentrations of PAHs in sediments collected from 23 sites. In the overlapping areas of probability density curves, the risk of Ant and Pyr are the highest, then the risk level is in the order of Flua > Nap > Phe > BaP > Flu > Ace. The values of MOS₁₀ present that Pyr (4.62 × 10^?4), Ant (5.60 × 10^?3), and Flua (6.4 × 10^?3) have a significantly high ecological risk level, while Nap and Phe have middle-level ecological risk. As for Ace, BaP, and Flu, they pose limited risk to the ecological system with MOS₁₀ greater than 1.0. The ∑PAH₈ (2.66 × 10^?5) is a higher risk level than that of any individual PAHs, where the probabilities of ∑PAH₈ in excess of the 10th percentile of the toxicity data were 86%.