Elements pollution in the extremely high tumor risk residents in Chaoshan littoral, southern China

Background ＆ aim： To investigate and analyze the elements pollution in the extremely high tumor risks residents in the Chaoshan littoral, southern China. Methods： 19 elements including Cr, Mn, Ni, Sr, Pb, Zn, Co, Sn, Th, Tl, Se, Hg, Cu, Mo, Cd, Sb, U, Ge, As, and Al were measured from 145 hair samples of residents from the high-risk Nanao Island （mortality of cancer 173-156/106 in recent 30 years）, Shantou high-risk village （mortality of cancer 230.4/106 in recent three years）, and two controls Shanwei （mortality of cancer 32/106 in 1970s） and Meizhou Hakka （incidence of cancer 103/106 ） using AAS, AFS, ICP-MS methods collaborated with Beijing University. And 21 samples of water, 18 samples office from the Nanao Island, Shantou high-risk village, and other low-risk controls were measured using the same methods. Results： The element analysis showed that levels of CD, PB in the Shantou high-risk village were the highest, Hg, MN, SR, SB, TH, U on the Nanao Island were the highest in hairs. Conclusions： It is indicated that there occurred elements pollution among the local high-risk population.     

XANES analysis of the mechanisms of arsenic removal in biological iron and manganese treatment unit

Biological iron and manganese removal utilizing indigenous iron and manganese oxidizing bacteria （IRB hereafter） in groundwater can also be applied to arsenic removal according to our pilot-scale test. The arsenic removal probably occurred through sorption and complexation of arsenic to iron and manganese oxides formed by enzymic action of IRB. We investigated the chemical properties of iron and manganese oxides in IRB floc and the valence state of arsenic sorbed to the floc to clarify the mechanisms of the arsenic [especially As （Ⅲ）] removal. The floc samples were collected from two drinking water plants using IRB （Jyoyo and Yamatokoriyama, Japan）, and our pilot - scale test site where arsenic and iron removal using IRB is under way （Mukoh, Japan）. The Jyoyo and Yamatokoriyama IRB floc samples were subjected to As （Ⅲ） and As（Ⅴ） sorption experiments. The elemental composition of the floc samples was measured. XANES spectra were collected on As, Fe and Mn K-edges at synchrotron radiation facility Spring 8 （Hyogo, Japan）. FT-IR and the X-ray diffraction spectra of the samples were also obtained. The IRB floc contained ca. 35 % Fe, 0.3%-3.5% Mn and 2%-6% P. The samples were highly amorphous and contained ferrihidrites and hydrated iron phosphate. According to XANES analyses of IRB, As associated with IRB was in ＋5 valence state when As （Ⅲ） （or As （Ⅴ）） was added in laboratory sorption test, Fe in ＋3 valence state, and Mn a mixture of＋3 and ＋4 valence states. Small shift was observed in the XANES spectra of IRB on As K-edge as the equilibration time of the sorption experiment was increased. Gradual oxidation of a small amount of As （Ⅲ） associated with IRB or change in arsenic binding with sorption site were the probable mechanism.     

Permeable Reactive Barrier for the treatment of contaminated surface water in Katedan industrial development area, Hyderabad, India

Permeable Reactive Barrier （PRB） is an emplacement of inert material （s） in the subsurface, designed to intercept a contaminated plume, provides a preferential flow path through the reactive media, and transforms the contaminant into environmentally acceptable forms to attain concentration remediation goals at the discharge of the barrier. The phenomena, which help in remediation within PRB, are adsorption/sorption, precipitation, oxidation/reduction and biodegradation. Various materials like zero-valent iron, zero-valent bi-metals, natural zeolites, organic carbon, fly ash, zeolites, limestone, activated alumina, apatites, etc. have been tried by many researchers to remove organic and inorganic contaminants. In USA, Canada, and many European countries commercial full-scale and pilot scale PRBs are successfully working. The design and installation of full scale PRBs needs laboratory treatability and dynamic flow column experiments？ The concept of PRB is being applied to treat contaminated surface water in the Katedan industrial area, Hyderabad, India. National Geophysical Research Institute （NGRI）, Hyderabad, India, conducted systematic studies in collaboration with Norwegian Geotechnical Institute （NGI）, Norway, to develop PRB technique to decontaminate the surface water pollution due to industrial effluent. A site assessment study in the Katedan Industrial Area, were carried out and water, soil and sediment from the lakes of the area were found to be polluted with high concentrations of heavy metals like As, Pb, Cr, Cd, Ni, etc. Adsorption studies at NGRI with synthetic samples and in-situ industrial effluent using different reactive media for removing contaminants like arsenic, chromium, cadmium, copper, nickel, lead and zinc have been carried out and yielded satisfactory results. The performance of zero-valent iron and limestone is encouraging in removing As,     

Synergistic effect of combining sulfate reducing bacteria and zerovalent iron permeable reactive barriers on the treatment of groundwater rich in uranium, sulfate and heavy metals

Uranium processing and mining activities that generate many contaminants, such as high concentrations of U （VI）, sulfate and heavy metals （Zn, Cu, Ni, etc）, may pose a serious threat to the groundwater resources. In recent years, considerable research has been conducted respectively on two kinds of permeable reactive barriers （PRB）, including zerovalent iron （ZVI） and sulfate reducing bacteria （SRB）, for in-situ removal of these pollutants from groundwater. However, little investigation has been carried out on the potential benefits of bioaugmenting ZVI barriers to enhance the elimination of the pollutants by combining ZVI with SRB systems. The main goal of this study was to conduct batch and column experiments to determine whether the combination of SRB and ZVI can function synergistically and accelerate the rate of pollutant removal. The results of anaerobic batch experiments demonstrated that although the integrated ZVI/PRB system itself has no ability to reduce and remove sulfate directly, SRB can utilize hydrogen gas produced during the slow process of ZVI corrosion as an electron donor to raise biomass yields significantly and accelerate reductive sulfate removal. In particular, ferrous cations produced as the byproduct of ZVI corrosion process reacted with hydrogen sulfide from sulfate reduction and formed iron-bearing sulfide precipitates, which can stimulate the growth of SRB and promote sulfate removal activity by eliminating the biotoxicity of hydrogen sulfide. It was also shown that secondary mineral products （pyrite/ferrous sulfide） formed as a consequence of microbial sulfate reduction and ZVI corrosion process can enhance the microbial precipitation of soluble U （VI） as insoluble uraninite（uranium dioxide）.     

Analysis of the effect of geology, soil properties, and land use on groundwater quality using multivariate statistical and GIS methods

The regional survey of groundwater used as a small water supply system was performed to know the effect of geology, soil properties and land use on groundwater quality at Nonsan City, Korea. A total of 126 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed at the study area. The multivariate statistical methods, principal components analysis and discriminant analysis, and GIS technique were used for the quantitative interpretation of groundwater quality. The study area is mainly composed of Precambrian gneiss, Jurassic granite, and Cretaceous volcanics, and metasedimentary rocks of the Ogcheon zone. The land use was grouped as paddy, upland, grassland, resident, point source, industrial area, and water system. The soil properties were classified as 4 major groups, Entisols, Alfisols, Inceptisols, and Ultisols, by the degree of development, and reclassified as 11 subgroups. The modified and simplified geologic map, soil map, and land use map were made by using ARCGIS soft-ware. The area of geology, soil property, and land use affecting the groundwater quality for each well were also calculated by ARCGIS soft-ware to acquire the quantitative parameters for multivariate statistical analysis. The monitoring results of groundwater in the study area showed that 13%-21% of the groundwater samples exceeded the portable water guideline and the main causes were turbidity, bacteria, arsenic and nitrate-N. The spatial distribution of each component showed the close relationship between groundwater quality and geology reflecting the topography, land use.     

Boron isotopic geochemistry of karst groundwater in Guiyang City, China

Boron has two stable isotopes （^10B and ^11B） with relative abundances of about 20% and 80%, respectively. Boron isotopic ratios in natural materials show a huge range of variations, from -70‰ to ＋60‰, when expressed with the classical δ^11B notation. Most of these isotopic variations occur at the surface of the Earth. Hence, boron isotopic composition can be used as a sensitive tracer in geochemical study, for instance, to identify the different sources of contamination and factors controlling the salinity of groundwater. During the last decade, boron isotopes have been used to discriminate between the influences of seawater intrusion and anthropogenic discharge. But few of those researches can precisely identify the different sources of contamination. We measured the boron concentrations and boron isotopic ratios of groundwater samples collected in Guiyang City, as well as the major ions. The results indicate that the major ion composition of the groundwater in the investigated area is mainly controlled by the interactions between water and the dominant rock i.e. carbonates. All the water compositions are characterized by high concentrations of Ca^2＋, Mg^2＋, HCO3^-, SO4^2-, and NO3^-, which are the dominant contaminants. Both dissolved boron concentrations and isotopic ratios show large variations among the ground waters, from 2 μg/L to 90 μg/L and from -6‰ to ＋26‰, respectively. The boron concentrations and isotopic ratios indicate that the river across the studied city has been seriously contaminated by urban discharge. Boron concentrations of fiver water samples varied from 20 μg/L to 140 μg/L, with an average δ^11B value of ＋2.0‰. Using boron isotopic compositions and different geochemical indices allowed us to clearly identify and distinguish the two major sources of contamination, agricultural activity and urban wastewater. Both of the two sources are characterized by high boron concentrations but their boron isotopic compositions significantly differ.