Occurrence of Regulated and Emerging Iodinated DBPs in the Shanghai Drinking Water

Drinking water chlorination plays a pivotal role in preventing pathogen contamination against water-borne disease. However, chemical disinfection leads to the formation of halogenated disinfection by products (DBPs). Many DBPs are highly toxic and are of health concern. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive measurements of DBPs, including iodoacetic acid (IAA), iodoform (IF), nine haloacetic acids and four trihalomethanes in drinking waters from 13 water plants in Shanghai, China. The results suggested that IAA and IF were found in all the water treatment plants, with maximum levels of 1.66 µg/L and 1.25 µg/L for IAA and IF, respectively. Owing to deterioration of water quality, the Huangpu River has higher IAA and IF than the Yangtze River. Our results also demonstrated that low pH, high natural organic matter, ammonia nitrogen, and iodide in source waters increased IAA and IF formation. Compared to chlorine, chloramines resulted in higher concentration of iodinated DBP, but reduced the levels of trihalomethanes. This is the first study to reveal the widespread occurrence of IAA and IF in drinking water in China. The data provide a better understanding on the formation of iodinated disinfection byproducts and the findings should be useful for treatment process improvement and disinfection byproducts controls.     

东海具齿原甲藻的扫描电子显微结构

在光学显微镜分析鉴定的基础上,通过高分辨率的扫描电子显微镜,对东海赤潮原甲藻标本和美国国家海洋藻种中心(CCMP)的具齿原甲藻(Prorocentrum dentatum)藻株(CCMPl517)的细胞表面结构进行观察和比较,认为两者为同一种类．在分析大量文献资料的基础上,可以认为发生在我国东海水域的赤潮原甲藻种类是具齿原甲藻(Prorocentrum dentatum),而非新种．     

First report of three benthic dinoflagellates,Gambierdiscus pacificus,G. australes and G. caribaeus (Dinophyceae), from Hainan Island,South China Sea

Species of the marine benthic dinoflagellate genus Gambierdiscus are the principal cause of Ciguatera fish poisoning. This genus has been recorded from tropical to temperate oceans, although Gambierdiscus species have rarely been found in Chinese waters. Our work revealed the morphological and genetic characteristics of three potentially toxic Gambierdiscus species observed in the temperate to subtropical waters of China. The fine thecal morphology was determined based on light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy analyses, and these species were also characterized by sequencing the D1–D3 and D8–D10 regions of the LSU rDNA. The morphological and genetic data indicated that these three Gambierdiscus species were G. pacificus, G. australes and G. caribaeus. This work provides the first report of these species in Chinese waters, which increases the known species distribution of this genus.     

Harmful algal bloom causative collected from Hong Kong waters

The secondary metabolites of three sponges collected as bycatch in the fishing nets were explored for biological potencies. The sponge Dendrilla nigraexhibited wider biological activity. It showed potent activity in antibacterial, brineshrimp cytotoxicity, larvicidal, antifouling and ichthyotoxic assays. One of the well-studied cytotoxic sponge Axinella donnaniwas least active in brineshrimp cytotoxicity assay. The secondary metabolites of Clathria gorgonoideswere highly cytotoxic albeit it showed least activity in other bioassays. Based on the present findings, it could be inferred that the bioassay-guided fractionation and purification of D. nigramay come up with potent bioactive drugs. %     

Seasonal distribution of dinoflagellate resting cysts in surface sediments from Changjiang River Estuary

In order to understand the distribution of dinoflagellate cysts, surface sediments were collected from 15 stations in Changjiang River Estuary from 122°E to 123.5°E and from 29°N to 32°N in four cruises from May 2002 to February 2003. In the present study, 38 different cyst morphotypes representing 21 genera and 6 groups were identified, while 1 type was not identified into genus level. Species number and cell density of dinoflagellate cysts ranged from 10 to 25 species and from 12 to 587 per gram of dry weight, respectively. There were no obvious differences in cyst composition and density among seasons. However, the highest cyst species number and density were recorded in summer and winter, respectively. Cysts of heterotrophic dinoflagellates, which held 55.7% of the overall cyst density averagely, dominated cyst assemblages. Cyst density and species number increased from the west to the east, from the north to the south within the study area. Cysts of toxic dinoflagellates Alexandrium cat‐enella and Alexandrium tamarense complex distributed widely and were observed in almost all stations, with the maximum cell density of 81 per gram of dry weight.     

Dinoflagellate cyst records in recent sediments from Daya Bay, South China Sea

Nine sediment cores of 8–26 cm in length were collected from two basins of Daya Bay, the South China Sea, by Tokyo University Fisheries Oceanography Laboratory core sampler in August 2001 to investigate the distribution of dinoflagellate resting cysts. In the present study, 51 different cyst morphotypes representing 22 genera were identified from 65 sediment samples. Among them, there were 21 autotrophic species and 30 heterotrophic ones. Cyst species richness in each sample varied from 12 to 29, while the values of Shannon‐Weaver diversity index (H′) were between 0.15 and 4.13. There were an obvious increase in both species richness and values of H′in 2–6 cm sediments. Cyst concentrations varied from 154 to 113 483 cysts per gram dry weight sediment, and were much higher in upper sediments. Scrippsiella trochoidea was the most dominant cyst type, which took up over 90% of cyst assemblages in the upper sediments. The abrupt increase of S. trochoidea cysts in the surface sediments reflected the bloom of this species in Daya Bay in 2000. The results from cyst assemblages showed some trend of changes in water quality in this area, and indicated a typical type of pollution caused by cultural eutrophication, which started in the 1980s and greatly accelerated in the middle of 1990s. Cysts of Alexandrium, mainly those of Alexandrium catenella and Alexandrium tamarense complex, occurred frequently and abundantly in this area, with the highest concentration and relative frequency of 503 cysts per gram dry weight sediment and 22.3%, respectively. The high abundance of Alexandrium cysts provided rich ‘seed bed’ for Alexandrium blooms and was also an important source of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins, especially in winter.     

春季海南岛近岸海域尿素与浮游生物的脲酶活性

2011年春季(4-5月),对海南岛的海口湾、澄迈湾、文昌八门湾、陵水新村湾和大东海5个海湾的尿素浓度及浮游生物的脲酶活性开展调查研究,结合其它理化环境因子,分析海南岛近岸海域尿素的可利用性及其对该海区浮游植物生长可能产生的影响.结果表明,海南岛近岸水体中尿素平均浓度为2.07-3.30 μmol/L,占总溶解态氮TDN含量的14％-38％,尿素占TDN比例由北向东、南方向递增.浮游生物脲酶活性为0.30-0.84 μmolN· L-1· h-1,海口湾最高,从北部向东、南部逐渐减少.各海湾较高水平的尿素和脲酶活性主要分布在排污口、养殖区或旅游区的近岸海域.硅藻为优势种,甲藻种类少且密度低,部分甲藻密度达到104-105个/L的水体,尿素和脲酶活性也处于较高水平.海区浮游植物细胞密度与脲酶活性或尿素占TDN比例等因子存在相关性,表明尿素是海南海域浮游植物生长不可忽略的重要氮源.尿素在一定程度上促进春季海南岛近岸海域甲藻等浮游植物的生长,可能对浮游植物群落结构的改变产生重要影响.     

An Optimized Analytical Method for the Simultaneous Detection of Iodoform,Iodoacetic Acid,and Other Trihalomethanes and Haloacetic Acids in Drinking Water

An optimized method is presented using liquid-liquid extraction and derivatization for the extraction of iodoacetic acid (IAA) and other haloacetic acids (HAA₉) and direct extraction of iodoform (IF) and other trihalomethanes (THM₄) from drinking water, followed by detection by gas chromatography with electron capture detection (GC-ECD). A Doehlert experimental design was performed to determine the optimum conditions for the five most significant factors in the derivatization step: namely, the volume and concentration of acidic methanol (optimized values  = 15%, 1 mL), the volume and concentration of Na₂SO₄ solution (129 g/L, 8.5 mL), and the volume of saturated NaHCO₃ solution (1 mL). Also, derivatization time and temperature were optimized by a two-variable Doehlert design, resulting in the following optimized parameters: an extraction time of 11 minutes for IF and THM₄ and 14 minutes for IAA and HAA₉; mass of anhydrous Na₂SO₄ of 4 g for IF and THM₄ and 16 g for IAA and HAA₉; derivatization time of 160 min and temperature at 40°C. Under optimal conditions, the optimized procedure achieves excellent linearity (R² ranges 0.9990–0.9998), low detection limits (0.0008–0.2 µg/L), low quantification limits (0.008–0.4 µg/L), and good recovery (86.6%–106.3%). Intra- and inter-day precision were less than 8.9% and 8.8%, respectively. The method was validated by applying it to the analysis of raw, flocculated, settled, and finished waters collected from a water treatment plant in China.     

Some observations on harmful algal bloom (HAB) events along the coast of Guangdong,southern China in 1998

The year 1998 was an unusual year for Guangdong Province and Hong Kong, both in southern China, as the frequency and intensity of harmful algal blooms (HAB) were much higher than usual. This paper describes the causative organisms found associated with these blooms and speculates on the possible causes of these blooms, including the effects of increased temperature, reduced salinity, eutrophication and meteorological and oceanographic events on the initiation and spread of these blooms.