Lead has caused serious environmental pollution due to its toxicity, accumulation in food chains and persistence in nature. In this paper, removal of lead from aqueous solutions is investigated using a novel gel adsor...Lead has caused serious environmental pollution due to its toxicity, accumulation in food chains and persistence in nature. In this paper, removal of lead from aqueous solutions is investigated using a novel gel adsorbent synthesized from natural condensed tannin. The novel adsorbent performs in aqueous solutions as a weak base with valid basic groups of 1.2mmol·g-1 tannin gel particles and therefore results in the elevation of pH value of aqueous solutions. Even when initial pH is 3.6, final pH at equilibrium can climb up to 6.5 that is above the pH value for Pb(OH)2 precipitation formation and then lead can be removed from wastewater by this so-called surface precipitation. The adsorption isotherm can be expressed by the Langmuir equation and the maximum capacity for adsorption of Pb is up to 92 mg·g-1 (based on dry adsorbent) when initial pH value is 3.6. Hence, the adsorbent does offer favorable properties in lead removal with respect to its high adsorption capacity at low initial pH value, which is advantageous to lead removal from acidic wastewater. A model is put forward to describe the individual adsorption phenomenon of the tannin gel adsorbent.展开更多
The aim of our study was to explore whether honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) could be used as a reliable alternative to the standard mechanical devices for monitoring of air quality, in particular with respect to the con...The aim of our study was to explore whether honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) could be used as a reliable alternative to the standard mechanical devices for monitoring of air quality, in particular with respect to the concentration of the heavy metals cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and vanadium (V). We therefore tested whether the concentrations of these metals in adult honeybees and in ambient air were positively correlated, and whether differences in concentration between locations were similar for bees and air. On the basis of our measurements, conducted over a two-month period at three distinct locations in the Netherlands with each three replicate honeybee colonies placed next to mechanical monitoring devices, we concluded that a significant positive relationship between the concentrations in bees and in air could only be established for V. Also, only in the case of V, the differences between the three locations in mean concentration were similar for bees and air. Both outcomes were probably due to the relatively large range over which the concentrations of V varied, both in bees and in air, as compared to Cd and Pb. However, for V, as well as for Cd and Pb, the concentrations in ambient air were about two orders of magnitude below the established air quality standards. We therefore conclude that in the Netherlands, both variation and levels of the atmospheric concentrations of these metals are too low to establish a relationship between the concentration in bees and in air that is useful to present honeybees as an alternative to mechanical devices in monitoring of air pollution. However, in countries with larger variation and higher levels of the atmospheric concentrations of these metals, further exploration of the potential of honeybees in biomonitoring of air pollution may be worthwhile.展开更多
文摘Lead has caused serious environmental pollution due to its toxicity, accumulation in food chains and persistence in nature. In this paper, removal of lead from aqueous solutions is investigated using a novel gel adsorbent synthesized from natural condensed tannin. The novel adsorbent performs in aqueous solutions as a weak base with valid basic groups of 1.2mmol·g-1 tannin gel particles and therefore results in the elevation of pH value of aqueous solutions. Even when initial pH is 3.6, final pH at equilibrium can climb up to 6.5 that is above the pH value for Pb(OH)2 precipitation formation and then lead can be removed from wastewater by this so-called surface precipitation. The adsorption isotherm can be expressed by the Langmuir equation and the maximum capacity for adsorption of Pb is up to 92 mg·g-1 (based on dry adsorbent) when initial pH value is 3.6. Hence, the adsorbent does offer favorable properties in lead removal with respect to its high adsorption capacity at low initial pH value, which is advantageous to lead removal from acidic wastewater. A model is put forward to describe the individual adsorption phenomenon of the tannin gel adsorbent.
文摘The aim of our study was to explore whether honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) could be used as a reliable alternative to the standard mechanical devices for monitoring of air quality, in particular with respect to the concentration of the heavy metals cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and vanadium (V). We therefore tested whether the concentrations of these metals in adult honeybees and in ambient air were positively correlated, and whether differences in concentration between locations were similar for bees and air. On the basis of our measurements, conducted over a two-month period at three distinct locations in the Netherlands with each three replicate honeybee colonies placed next to mechanical monitoring devices, we concluded that a significant positive relationship between the concentrations in bees and in air could only be established for V. Also, only in the case of V, the differences between the three locations in mean concentration were similar for bees and air. Both outcomes were probably due to the relatively large range over which the concentrations of V varied, both in bees and in air, as compared to Cd and Pb. However, for V, as well as for Cd and Pb, the concentrations in ambient air were about two orders of magnitude below the established air quality standards. We therefore conclude that in the Netherlands, both variation and levels of the atmospheric concentrations of these metals are too low to establish a relationship between the concentration in bees and in air that is useful to present honeybees as an alternative to mechanical devices in monitoring of air pollution. However, in countries with larger variation and higher levels of the atmospheric concentrations of these metals, further exploration of the potential of honeybees in biomonitoring of air pollution may be worthwhile.
