Source identification and characteristics of dissolved organic matter and disinfection by-product formation potential using EEM-PARAFAC in the Manas River, China

Labile dissolved organic matter (DOM) and nitrogen inputs modified greenhouse gas dynamics: A source-to-estuary study of the Yangtze River

Although rivers are increasingly recognized as essential sources of greenhouse gases (GHG) to the atmosphere, few systematic efforts have been made to reveal the drivers of spatiotemporal variations of dissolved GHG (dGHG) in large rivers under increasing anthropogenic stress and intensified hydrological cycling. Here, through a source-to-estuary survey of the Yangtze River in March (spring) and October (autumn) of 2018, we revealed that labile dissolved organic matter (DOM) and nitrogen inputs remarkably modified the spatiotemporal distribution of dGHG. The average partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2), CH4 and N2O concentrations of all sampling sites in the Yangtze River were 1015 ± 225 μatm, and 87.5± 36.5 nmol L-1, and 20.3 ± 6.6 nmol L-1, respectively, significantly lower than the global average. In terms of longitudinal and seasonal variations, higher GHG concentrations were observed in the middle-lower reach in spring. The dominant drivers of spatiotemporal variations in dGHG were labile, protein-like DOM components and nitrogen level. Compared with the historical data of dGHG from published literature, we found a significant increase in N2O concentrations in the Yangtze River during 2004-2018, and the increasing trend was consistent with the rising riverine nitrogen concentrations. Our study emphasized the critical roles of labile DOM and nitrogen inputs in driving the spatial hotspots, seasonal variations and annual trends of dGHG. These findings can contribute to constraining the global GHG budget estimations and controls of GHG emission in large rivers in response to global change.

Natural and anthropogenic dissolved organic matter in landfill leachate: Composition, transformation, and their coexistence characteristics

A large number of natural and anthropogenic wastes were landfilled, and dissolved organic matter (DOM) were formed during landfill. However, the composition, transformation, and coexistence characteristics of natural and anthropogenic DOM in leachate remain unclear. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, size exclusion chromatography, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, and three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix spectrum were employed to clarify comprehensively the abovementioned question. The results showed that natural DOM in young leachate constituted mainly straight-chain organic acids, protein substances, and building blocks of humic substances (BB). Straight-chain organic acids vanished in old leachates, and the concentration of protein substances and BB decreased from 44% to 26% and from 47% to 12%, respectively, while CHON and CHONS were degraded to CHO and CHOS during the process. As to anthropogenic DOM, its types and relative content in leachate increased during landfill, and aromatic acids, terpenes, halogenated organics, indoles, and phenols became the main organic components in old leachate. Compared to natural DOM, anthropogenic DOM was degraded slowly and accumulated in leachate, and some of the natural DOM facilitated the dechlorination of dichlorinated organic compounds. This study demonstrates that landfill led to an increase in humic substances and halogenated organic compounds in old leachate, which was intensified with concentrated leachate recirculation.

Aquatic plant root exudates: A source of disinfection byproduct precursors in constructed wetlands

Aquatic plant-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) in water bodies is an important source of disinfection byproduct (DBP) precursors. It is therefore very important to investigate DBP formation, and the main DBP precursors that enter drinking water during treatment processes. In this study, Lythrum salicaria root extract (LSRE) and Acorus calamus root extract (ACRE) were analyzed. The LSRE and ACRE were chlorinated and disinfected to generate trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, haloketones, and haloacetaldehydes. The DBP formation potential of LSRE, dominated by humus, was higher than that of Suwannee River natural organic matter (SRNOM), and trichloroacetic acid was the main DBP. It was calculated that 2.09 % of the increased DOC brought by the surface flow wetland planted with emergent aquatic plants, and the contribution rates of TCMFP, DCAAFP and TCAAFP in effluent were 3.34 %, 3.23 % and 3.05 %, respectively. A total of 706 chlorinated-formula were detected by FTICR-MS, among which mono- and di-chlorinated formulae were the most abundant. Macromolecular hydrophobic organics and tannins were the main precursors for LSRE. Unlike LSRE, the DOM composition of ACRE was dominated by protein or aliphatic compounds; therefore, the risk of DBP formation was not as high as that for LSRE. This study is the first to determine the risk of DBP formation associated with aquatic plant root extracts, and confirmed that tannins in plant-derived DOM are more important DBP precursors than lignins.

Roles of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in shaping the distribution pattern of heavy metal in the Yangtze River

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) strongly influences the solid-liquid partitioning and migration characteristics of heavy metals, yet little is known about the metal distribution and risk with the participation of DOM in large riverine systems. This study investigated the spatiotemporal distribution of 14 heavy metals and DOM along the entire Yangtze River (over 6000 km), and highlighted the critical roles of DOM in regulating the environmental behaviors of heavy metals. Significant spatial variations of metal contents were observed, with the river source and lower reach remarkably different from the upper-middle reaches. Heavy metals in the Yangtze River were mainly from the natural sources with minor anthropogenic disturbance. We found DOM could promote the conversion of metals from solid to liquid phase and DOM with higher aromaticity showed higher metal affinities. Although low ecological risks were observed in the Yangtze River, potential risks of metal leaching warrant attention, especially for As, Cd and Sb in the middle-lower reaches with higher DOM content and aromaticity. This study established a source-to-sea investigative approach to evaluate the influences of DOM features on metal partitioning, which is crucial for the risk control and sustainable management of large rivers.

Impact of different classification schemes on discrimination of proteins with noise-contaminated spectra using laboratory-measured fluorescence data

Biological agents are important to detect and identify with respect to environmental contamination and public health. Noise contamination in fluorescent spectra is one of the contributors to the uncertainties of identification. In order to investigate the noise-tolerant capability provided by laboratory-measured excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectra that are used as a database, fluorescence properties of four proteinaceous biotoxin samples and ten harmless protein samples were characterized by EEM fluorescence spectra, and the predicting performance of models trained by laboratory-measured fluorescence data was tested and verified from validation data with noise-contaminated spectra. By means of peak signal of noise (PSNR) as an indicator of noise levels, the potential impact of noise contaminations on the characterization and discrimination of these samples was evaluated quantitatively. Different classification schemes utilizing multivariate analysis techniques of Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Random Forest (RF), and Multi-layer Perceptron (MPL) coupled with feature descriptors of differential transform (DT), Fourier transform (FT) and wavelet transform (WT) were conducted under different PSNR values. We systematically analyzed the performance of classification schemes by the case study at 20 PSNR and by statistical analysis from 1-100 PSNR. The results show that the spectral features with EEM-WT decreased the demanding number of input variables while retaining high performances in sample classification. The spectral features with EEM-FT presented the worst performance although having the largest number of features. The distributions of feature importance and contribution were found sensitive to noise contaminations. The classification scheme of PCA prior to MPL with EEM-WT as input presented an improvement in lower PSNR. These results indicate that robust features extracted by corresponding techniques are critical to enhancing the spectral differentiation capabilities among these samples and play an important role in eliminating the noise effect. The study of classification schemes for discriminating protein samples with noise-contaminated spectra presents tremendous potential for future developments in the rapid detection and identification of proteinaceous biotoxins based on three-dimensional fluorescence spectrometry.

Rhizosphere activity induced mobilization of heavy metals immobilized by combined amendments in a typical lead/zinc smelter-contaminated soil

The persistence of the stabilization effect of amendments on heavy metals (HMs) is of great concern when they are used for remediating HM-contaminated soil. Here, pot experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of two consecutive seasons of vegetable cultivation on the mobilization of HMs (Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cd) immobilized by different application ratios (0, 20, 40, and 80 g kg^-1, labelled C0, C2, C4, and C8) of a combined amendments (lime: sepiolite: biochar: humic acid = 2:2:1:1). The results showed that HM bioavailability decreased with increasing application ratios of the combined amendments in control (CK) treatments. The DOC contents, HM bioavailability, and HM contents in the leaves of vegetables increased, but the pH decreased during two consecutive seasons of vegetable cultivation; however, the HM bioavailability in the C2, C4, and C8 treatments was lower than that in the C0 treatments with vegetables. Catalase, urease, alkaline phosphatase, and dehydrogenase activities in the combined amendment treatments with and without vegetables were decreased compared to those in the C0 treatments. The relative abundances of the dominant bacterial phyla in the different treatments were Actinobacteria > Proteobacteria > Chloroflexi > Acidobacteria > Gemmatimonadetes > Bacteroidetes for the first season and Proteobacteria > Actinobacteria > Chloroflexi > Acidobacteria > Bacteroidetes > Gemmatimonadetes for the second season. Correlations showed that the pH and DOM properties during two consecutive seasons of vegetable cultivation were important factors influencing HM bioavailability, enzyme activity, and bacterial community composition. The bacterial community composition shift indirectly influenced the mobilization of HMs immobilized by the combined amendments. Thus, rhizosphere activity induced the mobilization of HMs immobilized by combined amendments during two consecutive seasons of vegetable cultivation.

Leaching of organic matters and formation of disinfection by-product as a result of presence of microplastics in natural freshwaters

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in the environment that may cause negative impacts on the aquatic organisms and human health. They exist in water and wastewater, which are from several sources, such as inappropriate disposal and littering. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the characteristics of MPs in different water types and oxidation processes and study dissolved organic carbon (DOC) leaching and chloroform formation. A commonly existing plastic matter, polyethylene (PE) was placed in different waters and gone through the Fenton-like reaction and the chlorination. The result showed that the PE leached nearly a similar amount of DOC (<1 mg L^-1), which was regardless of the water types and under low-dosed irradiation/dark environment. The leached DOC caused the chloroform formation after the chlorination in the waters. During the Fenton-like reaction with the PE, a higher amount of leached DOC (∼3 mg L^-1) was detected compared with that in the chlorination (∼0.8 mg L^-1). The degree of DOC leaching from the PE caused by the oxidation processes was reflected by the degree of surface structural damage on the PE. However, the chlorination resulted in a higher chloroform formation from the PE (∼20 μg L^-1) as the Fenton-like reaction degraded the chloroform. The higher the sodium hypochlorite concentration, the higher the chloroform concentration. When the chloroform existed in the water with the PE, adsorption of chloroform onto the PE was initially observed; however the rate of volatilization would be higher than the rate of adsorption eventually. This study offers useful information for the risk assessment of MPs in our fresh water and drinking water and possible mitigation strategies.

Treatment of Sewage Sludge Compost Leachates on a Green Waste Biopile: A Case Study for an On-Site Application

This work proposes a suitable treatment for the leachates from a sewage sludge composting process using a specific windrow (biopile). The biopile’s evolution and organic content degradation were followed for 2 months with regular leachate spraying to assess the physico-chemical and biological impacts, and determine the risk of enrichment with certain monitored pollutants. The final objective was the valorization of the biopile substrates in the composting process, while respecting the quality standards of use in a circular economy way. Classical physico-chemical parameters (pH, conductivity, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), etc.) were measured in the leachates and in the water-extractable and dry-solid fractions of the biopile, and the catabolic evolution of the micro-organisms (diversity and activities), as well as the enrichment with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) (prioritized PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls)), were determined. The results showed that the microbial populations that were already present in the biopile, and that are responsible for biodegradation, were not affected by leachate spraying. Even when the studied compost leachate was highly concentrated with ammonium nitrogen (10.4 gN L−1 on average), it significantly decreased in the biopile after 2 weeks. A study on the evolution of the isotopic signature (δ15 N) confirmed the loss of leachate nitrogen in its ammoniacal form. The bio-physico-chemical characteristics of the biopile at the end of the experiment were similar to those before the first spraying with leachate. Moreover, no significant enrichment with contaminants (metal trace elements, volatile fatty acids, or persistent organic pollutants) was observed. The results show that it would be possible for composting platforms to implement this inexpensive and sustainable process for the treatment of leachates.

Characteristics and chlorine reactivity of biochar-derived dissolved organic matter: Effects of feedstock type and pyrolysis temperature

Increasing biochar application worldwide may release more biochar-derived dissolved organic matter (BDOM) to the source water for drinking water supply. However, it is unclear how feedstock types and pyrolysis temperatures for biochar production would affect the characteristics and chlorine reactivity of BDOM. Here, we studied the spectroscopic characteristics of BDOM pyrolyzed from pine needle, wheat straw, walnut shells, alfalfa, pig manure, and sludge derived biochars at 300, 500, and 700 °C, as well as the formation potential of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and their bulk toxicity after BDOM chlorination. The N/C ratio of biochar was higher for N-rich than C-rich feedstocks. Optical analyses indicated that BDOM aromaticity was highest at 700 °C, while the impact of pyrolysis temperature on the molecular weight of BDOM varied greatly among feedstocks. Increasing pyrolysis temperature caused consistently decreased BDOM reactivity toward haloketone formation but did not show consistent impacts on the other DBPs. Among feedstocks, the N-rich sludge showed the highest specific haloacetonitrile formation potential of BDOM at any given pyrolysis temperature. The DBP formation potential from biochar was consistently highest at 300 °C and was higher for N-rich than C-rich feedstocks. The microtoxicity of DBP mixture was highest for the BDOM derived from sludge produced at 300 °C. This study highlights the high variations in characteristics and chlorination reactivity of BDOM with varying feedstocks and pyrolysis temperatures, which implies that more attention should be paid to the environmental impacts of the intensive application of low-temperature biochar from N-rich feedstock such as sludge.