Toxic Removal Research Articles

Sludge-based activated biochar for adsorption treatment of real oil sands process water: Selectivity of naphthenic acids, reusability of spent biochar, leaching potential, and acute toxicity removal

Large volumes of oil sands process water (OSPW) containing naphthenic acids (NAs) and other contaminants are generated by oil sands operations. For the first time, pristine and zinc chloride-activated biochars from sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant are studied in the adsorption of NAs in real OSPW. By using activated biochar instead of pristine biochar, the adsorption capacity (qt) for total NAs (classical and oxidized NAs) increased from 2.3 to 26.6 mg/g. The increase in qt for activated biochar was related to the improvement of surface area from 7.9 to 513 m2/g, the abundance of mesopores (89% of pore volume), and the oxygen-containing surface groups. Equilibrium was reached at 2 h of contact time. Considering the thousands of structures of NAs in the OSPW, the activated biochar presented higher affinity for NAs with higher carbon and double bond equivalency numbers, therefore, NAs with more hydrophobic and higher cyclicity characteristics. Pore-filling, hydrogen bonding, and π-π interactions are the adsorption mechanisms. Thermal regeneration of spent activated biochar was studied, and in the fifth cycle of regeneration, the regenerated biochar had qt of 7.1 mg/g, which was 5 times higher than the adsorption capacity of fresh pristine biochar. Adsorption treatment of OSPW using activated biochar decreased the following parameters: metals Mg (7%), Ca (21%), Sr (27%), and Ba (60%), organic matter by means of DOC (63%) and COD (66%), acute toxicity towards V. fischeri (66%) and bioavailability of organics (91%). These findings promote circular economy as it presents an efficient adsorbent for NAs in OSPW developed from sludge, reducing the environmental impact associated with sludge disposal and allowing the efficient reclamation and reuse of OSPW.

Comprehensive Review on Waste Water Treatment Technologies with Special Emphasize on Biological Treatments

Rapid urbanization is essential for growth and economic viability at global level, promoting the extensive industrialization. Rapid industrialization also comes with more water demand with higher water pollution. Industrial wastewater may contain heavy metal, carcinogens, mutagens and radioactive materials which must be prevented to be incorporated into the food chain. Therefore, treatments of wastewater for removal of these toxicants are a necessary and unavoidable measure. There are various modes of treatments for removal of toxicants depending on the type of contaminants. It includes physical, chemical and biological treatment alone or in combination. Here a review is carried to identify major sources of industrial wastewaters with their major pollutants. Various studies are also considered in the review for determination of the hazardous effect of wastewater on ecosystems and biological systems. Details about treatments of wastewater based on the sources were also included. More emphasis has been given on the role of microorganisms for removal of pollutants. Not limited to this, details of methods for biological removal contaminations and treatability studies are also discussed in detail. Based on the review it is found that generation of wastewater from industries must be pretreated with suitable methods before discharging into the environment to protect life on mother earth.

Enhanced purification of hospital wastewater by a novel ferrate(VI) flocs recycling process

Traditional Fe(VI) treatment process does not fully utilize the fresh iron flocs. This study proposed a novel Fe(VI) flocs recycling process. The flocs were recycled into the front-end reactor and the flocculation effluent further reacted with Fe(VI). Compared with Fe(VI) alone, the CODCr of the secondary effluent of hospital wastewater decreased from 74.9 to 59.4 mg/L and TP decreased from 0.36 to 0.10 mg/L at the dosage of 20 mg/L Fe(VI). However, the enhanced removal of NH3-N and TOC by the flocs recycling process is limited. The Fe(VI) flocs recycling process also strengthened the removal of luminescent bacterial acute toxicity, from 0.52 ± 0.01 in secondary effluent to 0.17 ± 0.01 mg-ZnSO4/L. Compared with polymeric ferric chloride and ferric chloride (FeCl3), Fe(VI) showed the best performance on purifying wastewater in the flocs recycling process. Compared with FeCl3, the CO bond contents in flocs from Fe(VI) changed more obviously. Flocs from Fe(VI) have a smaller average particle size than those from FeCl3, which may result in better adsorption capacity of Fe(VI) flocs. In conclusion, the flocs recycling process not only taken full use of the Fe(III) flocs and reduced the iron sludge, but also strengthened the purification of the wastewater without additional Fe(VI) dosing.

Effects of Pretreatment and Polarization Shielding on EK-PRB of Fe/Mn/C-LDH for Remediation of Arsenic Contaminated Soils

In this study, coupling electrokinetic (EK) with the permeable reactive barriers (PRB) of Fe/Mn/C-LDH composite was applied for the remediation of arsenic-contaminated soils. By using self-made Fe/Mn/C-LDH materials as PRB filler, the effects of pretreatment and polarization shielding on EK-PRB of Fe/Mn/C-LDH for remediation of arsenic contaminated soils were investigated. For the pretreatment, phosphoric acid, phosphoric acid and water washing, and phosphate were adopted to reduce the influence of iron in soil. The addition of phosphate could effectively reduce the soil leaching toxicity concentration. The removal rate of the soil pretreated with phosphoric acid or phosphoric acid and water washing was better than with phosphate pretreatment. For the polarization shielding, circulating electrolyte, electrolyte type, anion and cation membranes, and the exchange of cathode and anode were investigated. The electrolyte circulates from the cathode chamber to the anode chamber through the peristaltic pump to control the pH value of the electrolyte, and the highest arsenic toxicity removal rate in the soil reaches 97.36%. The variation of total arsenic residue in soil using anion and cation membranes is the most regular. The total arsenic residue gradually decreases from cathode to anode. Electrode exchange can neutralize H+ and OH- produced by electrolyte, reduce the accumulation of soil cathode area, shield the reduction of repair efficiency caused by resistance polarization, enhance current, and improve the removal rate of arsenic in soil.

ENHANCED IN-SITU REDUCTION OF LEACHATE PARAMETERS DUE TO AERATION AND LEACHATE RECIRCULATION IN PILOT SCALE MSW BIOREACTOR LANDFILL MODELS IN TROPICAL CLIMATE

The processes for optimizing toxicity removal of leachate from pilot scale Municipal Solid Waste bioreactor landfills were attempted. Landfill models were simulated in Fibre Reinforced Plastic tanks of size 1.5m x 1.0m x 1.0m by applying interventions like aeration and leachate recirculation. It was found that the Chemical Oxygen Demand and Biochemical Oxygen Demand values increased till 46th week after which the values started reducing. On 89th week after closure of landfill, the aerobic landfill model showed the minimum values for COD (10,200 mg/l) and both anaerobic and aerobic models with leachate recirculation had the lowest BOD (4934 mg/l). By 116th week the least concentrations of COD and BOD were in anaerobic landfill model with leachate recirculation (64 and 22 mg/l). Ammonia Nitrogen was the least in aerated model with leachate recirculation by 116th week from closure (281 mg/l). Conductivity was less in the landfill models with leachate recirculation (4.2 and 5 mS/cm for anaerobic and aerobic respectively).

Treatment of Hydrophobic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Toxicity Using GO-TiO2-Sr(OH)2/SrCO3 Nanocomposite via Photocatalytic Degradation

In this study, the effects of increasing sun light irradiation time (30 min, 120 min, 240 min and 360 min), increasing photocatalytic power (10 W, 50 W and 100 W), increasing graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticle concentrations (2 mg/l, 4 mg/l and 8 mg/l), increasing titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticle concentrations (1 mg/l, 3 mg/l, 6 mg/l and 9 mg/l), increasing GO-TiO2-Sr(OH)2/SrCO3 nanocomposite concentrations (1 mg/l, 2 mg/l and 4 mg/l) on the destructions of four hydrophobic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a real petrochemical industry wastewater in Izmir (Turkey) were investigated. The yields in more hydrophobic PAHs with high benzene rings [benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkF)] were as high as the less hydrophobic PAHs with lower benzene rings [acenaphthylene (ACL) and carbazole (CRB)]; at pH=7.0, at 22oC after 360 min sun light irradiation time, respectively. Maximum 97%ACL, 98%CRB, 98%BaP and 99%BkF PAHs removals was detected at 4 mg/l GO-TiO2-Sr(OH)2/SrCO3 nanocomposite concentration, under 100 mW/cm2 sun light intensity, at 100 W photocatalytic power, at 360 min sun light irradiation time, at pH=7.0 and at 22oC, respectively. The effective PAHs concentrations caused 50% mortality in Daphnia magna cells increased from initial EC50=342.56 mg/l to EC50=631.05 mg/l, at pH=7.0 and at 22oC after 360 min photocatalytic degradation time resulting in a maximum acute toxicity removal of 99.99%, at 4 mg/l GO-TiO2- Sr(OH)2/SrCO3 nanocomposite concentration. The Daphnia magna acute toxicity was significantly reduced.

Estrogen toxicity reduction of industrial biochemical tailwater by electrolysis biofilters with ceramsite‑sulfur-siderite fillers

Biochemical tailwater of the industrial park wastewater treatment plant is facing the growing demand of advanced treatment and toxicity reduction. However, existing information on toxicity reduction of real industrial biochemical tailwater is still limited so far. Herein, the water quality of biochemical tailwater from an integrated industrial park in Taihu Lake Basin, China, was systematically investigated, and typical endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and estrogen toxicity were detected. Estrogen toxicity reduction by previously proposed electrolysis biofilters with ceramsite‑sulfur-siderite fillers was further verified. Results showed that total nitrogen (TN) and estrogen toxicity removal increased by 41.0 % and 30.3 % respectively under the optimal voltage of 4 V and electric loading of 24 h/d, and significantly positive correlation between estrogen toxicity reduction and TN removal (p < 0.05) was observed. The lowest effluent estrogen toxicity was 0.79–0.95 ngE2/L (in estradiol equivalent concentration) by the biofilter with ceramsite‑sulfur-siderite fillers, which was lower than the estrogen disruption effects mass concentration threshold of 1 ng/L. Electrical stimulation promoted the increase of the abundance of denitrifying bacteria Thauera and electroactive bacteria Hydrogenophaga, thus enhancing the removal of TN, furthermore, the abundance of Thiobacillus and Sulfuritalea were significantly correlated with the reduction of estrogen toxicity. The study highlights the potential of electrolysis biofilter in realizing the synergy of estrogen toxicity reduction and autotrophic denitrification of industrial biochemical tailwater, and paves the way for the application of electrolysis biofilter in the advanced purification of industrial biochemical tailwater.

Removal of Heavy Metals from Industrial Wastewater using Low-Cost Waste Materials

The most serious environmental problem in the world is heavy metal pollution due to industrialization and urbanization. A special concern is to be taken for the removal of heavy metals in the environment. In developing countries, the price effectiveness might be a major factor in the removal of heavy metal toxicity which is a major threat to the environment for several decades. In this study, heavy metal contamination of water bodies has been reviewed here. The toxic effluents from the textile industry, shredding facilities, glass industry, metal industry, refinery, automobile industry, pharmaceutical industry, semiconductor industry, printing industry, catering industry landfill leakage contain a huge amount of heavy metals in their waste. The conventional methods are very expensive, energy-intensive and sometimes generate a toxic byproduct. The current review focuses on the adsorption technique of heavy metals removal using different adsorbent materials from waste naturally. Numerous low-cost adsorbents are widely used such as garlic peel, jack fruit peel, oil palm trunk fiber, rice bran and wheat bran, broad bean peel, groundnut shell, raw agricultural solid waste, papaya seeds, leaf biomass etc. explored for the removal of toxic heavy metal from wastewater. These absorbents materials naturally have their origin by themselves such as zeolites, clay, sphagnum moss and polysaccharide which are found to be efficient agents for the removal of toxic metals like lead Cd, Zn, Cu, Ni, Hg, Cr, etc. Numerous agricultural wastes like rice husk, neem bark, black gram, waste tea-coffee, walnut-shell, coconut coir, coconut husk, bagasse etc., are widely used for the heavy metal removal in a sustainable nature.

Degradation and Toxicity of Amoxicillin After Electron Beam Irradiation

A recent and growing concern in environmental studies is the presence of antibiotics in wastewater, which contributes to antimicrobial resistance building. Amoxicillin, according to the World Health Organization, is one of the most consumed antibiotics worldwide, for being a first line therapy for common infections. Among several drug degradation methodologies, electron beam irradiation (EBI) is presented as an efficient and green treatment. This work presents data on amoxicillin degradation via EBI. Ecotoxicity essays were performed employing Vibrio fischeri, carbon removal efficiency was evaluated by TOC and degradation rate by LC/MS-MS. Chromatographic results indicate a 97.9% drug concentration reduction after 0.75 kGy; TOC results indicate 10% carbon removal at 3.0 kGy; toxicity assays indicate 80% in removal of toxicity at 0.75 kGy and a decrease in efficiency with higher doses. In conclusion, results indicate the 0.75 kGy as most effective for drug removal employing EBI.

Toxicity Removal of Pharmaceuticals Mixtures through Electron Beam Irradiation

Contamination of the aquatic environment by pharmaceuticals is becoming a global phenomenon of growing concern. Pharmaceuticals can be only partially metabolized during therapeutic use, resulting in the excretion and release of residual fractions into sewage, unaltered or in the form of metabolites they may remain active in sewage treatment facilities for a long time. Many studies have shown that wastewater treatment plants are not designed to eliminate these compounds, as such the main source of drug residues in the aquatic environment. Due to their frequency and detection in the environment, persistence and toxicity, the most studied pharmaceutical groups are antibiotics, psychiatric drugs, hormones, analgesics and anti-inflammatory, β-blockers, and antidiabetic drugs. Advanced Oxidative Processes (AOPs) have been applied as an alternative or complement to conventional sewage treatment processes, aiming the degradation and removal of toxic pollutants. Electron beam irradiation (EBI) is considered a clean process that offers an environmentally friendly alternative to degrade pollutants in the aquatic environment. This technology has been demonstrated effective for removal of multiclass pharmaceutical residues present in wastewater by using low doses (2.5-5.0 kGy). In this present study, we focused on toxicity removal of three different tertiary mixtures of pharmaceuticals, which showed toxicity removal efficiency around 80% for the mixture of Propranolol, Fluoxetine and Diclofenac; 75% for the mixture of Propranolol, Fluoxetine and Sulfadiazine; and 30% for the mixture of Acetylsalicylic acid, Fluoxetine and Metformin.&#x0D;

Fabrication of novel ZnO@BiOBr/UiO-66-NH2 core-shell heterojunction for improved tetracycline degradation

A novel ternary heterojunction of ZnO-nanorods/BiOBr/UiO-66-NH2 Z-scheme with improved charge separation ability was prepared and characterized by XRD, FTIR, XPS, FE-SEM, EDX, TEM, HRTEM, BET, UV–vis DRS, PL, EIS, and TGA analyses. The degradation of the tetracycline (TC) by the synthesized photocatalyst was investigated at the optimal molar ratio of ZnO: BiOBr: UiO-66-NH2 = 3: 1: 0.17. The ternary heterojunction showed significant development in photodegradation compared with ZnO/BiOBr, and pure UiO-66-NH2. The optimal operational conditions were determined by the Box-Behnken design at pollutant concentration = 20 ppm, catalyst dose = 0.48 g/L, pH = 7.2 and irradiation time = 90 min. The maximum degradation efficiency reached 96.6 % at the optimum conditions. In addition, at optimal conditions, the effect of immobilization of the ternary photocatalyst was investigated on FTO, and the TC degradation efficiency was about 98.2 %. The new ternary heterojunction showed good chemical stability and recoverability after 4 cycles. Based on the trapping experiments, O2–• and OH• improved the degradation process of TC. The toxicity test was studied by the growth of Escherichia coli bacteria and confirmed the rapid toxicity removal process by ZnO-nanorods/BiOBr/UiO-66-NH2 photocatalysis.

Enhancing economic and environmental friendliness of xylonic acid bioproduction from corncob hydrolysate by the combined recycling-technology of detoxifying-resin and catalyzing-cell

The bioproduction of xylonic acid (XA) from acidic lignocellulosic hydrolysate presents a potential booming research area, that XA serves as an important building block of biomass-based chemicals for biomass valorization. However, the existence of inhibiting compounds such as acetic acid in hydrolysate greatly influences bacterial cell metabolism and catalysis, as well as the following electrodialysis separation for XA purification. Therefore, the removal of inhibitors including acetic acid is an essential issue in the industrial bioproduction of XA. In this study, five polymer resins were evaluated on their ability to remove acetic acid and other inhibitors from acidic hydrolysate of corncob (AHC). By comparison, anion exchange resin 335 performed the best on the removal of acetic acid in the model solution and AHC at 100 % and 80 %, respectively, while the sugar loss was also confined within 10 %. Finally, 208.6 g XA was obtained with a productivity of 5.8 g/L/h by 6 rounds of cell-recycling bioconversion. Moreover, recycled resin kept at least 80% toxic removal efficiency after 4 renewed rounds with hot water washing. The combined recycling-technology of detoxifying-resin and catalyzing-cell greatly facilitate economic and environmental bioproduction of XA from lignocellulosic biomass.

Evaluation of Ecotoxicity of Wastewater from the Full-Scale Treatment Plants

In this work, the influence of wastewater from full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) on aquatic and soil biota was reviewed and presented. Moreover, the methods and model organisms used in testing the ecotoxicity of wastewater were shown. It was found that wastewater usually affected the biochemical activity and growth of organisms such as bacteria, algae and protozoa. They contributed to the immobilization and death of inter alia crustaceans and fishes. The values of degree of inhibition or lethality widely varied dependent on the type of wastewater, the sampling point (influent or effluent) and the model organisms applied in the biotests. Thus, a battery of ecotoxicity tests using model organisms of different sensitivities should be employed. So far, bacteria (e.g., Vibrio fischeri), green microalgae (e.g., Raphidocelis subcapitata) and crustaceans (Daphnia magna) have been frequently used organisms in the biological assessment of wastewater. They were applied in almost half (bacteria) or more than half (microalgae, crustaceans) of papers analyzed in this study. In almost all studies, the reduction of wastewater toxicity after treatment processes was found. It was proven that the conventional activated sludge systems were efficient in the removal of wastewater toxicity from both municipal and industrial wastewater, while the tertiary stage of treatment, in particular chlorination or ozonation, contributed to the increase in wastewater toxicity.

Biosorption of heavy metals from phosphate-processing effluent by Serratia rubidaea NCTC12971 immobilized in Ca-alginate beads.

In this study, the biosorption ability of various potentially toxic elements from phosphate-processing effluent (PPE) using the indigenous bacterium Serratia rubidaea NCTC12971 immobilized in Ca-alginate beads was investigated. The experimental data analyzed by the Langmuir isotherm revealed that the optimum dose of 2g·100ml-1 of immobilized S. rubidaea NCTC12971 at pH 7 and a contact time of 48h allowed the removal of 92.07%, 98.05%, 95.57%, and 88.39% of lead (Pb (II)), cadmium (Cd (II)), copper (Cu (II)), and zinc (Zn (II)), respectively. Moreover, under the Langmuir isotherm, the maximum single-layer adsorption capacity (qmax) of the biosorbent was estimated to 32.14mgg-1, 45.87mgg-1, 0.06mgg-1, and 3.01mgg-1 for Pb (II), Cd (II), Cu (II), and Zn (II), respectively, under the stated conditions. Alternatively, the regeneration and reuse of the Ca-alginate beads was evaluated. Indeed, after four consecutive adsorption-desorption cycles, there was no significant loss in the biosorption capacity. The effectiveness of the bacterial biosorption as treatment process was evaluated by assessing the phytotoxicity of the treated effluent (TE) on Medicago sativa and Lactuca sativa seed germination and their root elongation. Results exhibited a significant toxicity removal expressed by a notable increase in the germination indices (GI), which reach 80% and 70%, respectively, for Medicago sativa and Lactuca sativa compared to the GI values of 46.6% and 16.6% of the same species in presence of the untreated effluent (PPE).

Synthesis of Ce0.1La0.9MnO3 Perovskite for Degradation of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals under Visible Photons

The UN Environmental Protection Agency has recognized 4-n-Nonylphenol (NP) and bisphenol A (BPA) as among the most hazardous chemicals, and it is essential to minimize their concentrations in the wastewater stream. These industrial chemicals have been witnessed to cause endocrine disruption. This report describes the straightforward hydrothermal approach adopted to produce Ce0.1La0.9MnO3 (CLMO) perovskite’s structure. Several physiochemical characterization approaches were performed to understand the Ce0.1La0.9MnO3 (CLMO) perovskite crystalline phase, element composition, optical properties, microscopic topography, and molecular oxidation state. Here, applying visible photon irradiation, the photocatalytic capability of these CLMO nanostructures was evaluated for the elimination of NP and BPA contaminants. To optimize the reaction kinetics, the photodegradation of NP and BPA pollutants on CLMO, perovskite was studied as a specification of pH, catalyst dosage, and initial pollutant concentration. Correspondingly, 92% and 94% of NP and BPA pollutants are degraded over CLMO surfaces within 120 and 240 min, respectively. Since NP and BPA pollutants have apparent rate constants of 0.0226 min−1 and 0.0278 min−1, respectively, they can be satisfactorily fitted by pseudo-first-order kinetics. The decomposition of NP and BPA contaminants is further evidenced by performing FT-IR analysis. Owing to its outstanding photocatalytic execution and simplistic separation, these outcomes suggest that CLMO is an intriguing catalyst for the efficacious removal of NP and BPA toxicants from the aqueous phase. This is pertinent for the treatment of endocrine-disrupting substances in bioremediation.

Fast degradation of florfenicol in SiC-Fe0 Fenton-like process: The overlooked role of atomic H* in peroxymonosulfate activation

Herein, the SiC-Fe0 powders were mechanically synthesized and employed for activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to remove florfenicol (FLO). Compared to Fe0/PMS system, up to a 3.97-fold increase in degradation rates of 20 mg/L FLO was observed by 25% (w/w) SiC-Fe0/PMS system in 5 mins, which could be attributed to the increased specific surface area and electron transfer rate of SiC-Fe0. Both the radical and non-radical processes were involved in the SiC-Fe0/PMS system, in which 1O2 and •O2− played the dominant role in the FLO degradation and SO4•− as well as •OH also participated in the system. ROSs investigation suggested that 1O2, •O2−, SO4•− were mainly generated from the decomposition of PMS and •OH was mainly derived from the ZVI (or Fe2+)-catalyzed activation of O2. Meanwhile, H* has a nonnegligible role in PMS activation or the transformation of iron species. Five intermediates of FLO in SiC-Fe0/PMS system were identified and a significant removal of the overall toxicity was observed. The degradation pathways of FLO were proposed to be hydrolysis, hydroxylation and dechlorination. Besides, this SiC-Fe0/PMS system shows effective removal rate for 2-chlorophenol, acetaminophen, tetrabromobisphenol A and carbamazepine, and the FLO-polluted surface water and artificial wastewater. Overall, this study demonstrated that SiC-Fe0 was promising in practical application and provided new insights into the generation mechanisms of ROSs in the ZVI/PMS system.

Propiconazole degradation and its toxicity removal during UV/H2O2 and UV photolysis processes.

Propiconazole (PRO) is a triazole fungicide that is frequently detected in the water. In this study, we investigated the kinetics and degradation mechanism of PRO during the UV photolysis and UV/H2O2 processes. PRO was removed by the pseudo-first-order kinetics in both processes. The removal of PRO was enhanced by increasing H2O2 concentration in the UV/H2O2 process. The highest removal under neutral conditions, and lower removal of PRO were observed in acidic and alkaline pHs in the UV/H2O2 process. The presence of natural water ingredients such as Cl-, NO3-, humic acid acted as radical scavengers, but HCO3- ion acted as both radical promoter and scavenger in the UV/H2O2 process. The transformation products (TPs) of PRO during both processes were identified using LC-QTOF/MS. Four TPs ([M+H]+=238, 256, 306, and 324) were identified during UV photolysis, and six TPs ([M+H]+=238, 256, 306, 324, 356, and 358) were identified in the UV/H2O2 process. Among the identified TPs, TP with [M+H]+ values of 356 and 358 were newly identified in the UV/H2O2 process. In addition, ionic byproducts, such as Cl-, NO3-, formate (HCOO-), and acetate (CH3COO-), were newly identified, indicating that significant mineralization was achieved in the UV/H2O2 process. Based on the identified TPs and ionic byproducts, the degradation mechanisms of PRO during two processes were proposed. The major reactions in both processes were ring cleavage and cyclization, and hydroxylation by OH radicals. The Microtox test with Vibrio fischeri showed that, while the toxicity of the reaction solution increased first, then gradually decreased during UV photolysis, the UV/H2O2 process initially increased toxicity at 10min due to the production of TPs, but toxicity was completely removed as the reaction progressed. The results obtained in this study imply that the UV/H2O2 process is an effective treatment for eliminating PRO, its TPs, and the resulting toxicity in water.

An Analysis of Aconiti Ciliare Radix Patents

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze Korean domestic patents on aconiti ciliare radixand to identify the trend of aconitum tuber technology.Methods: To analyze the patent, a combinations of words such as “aconitum” or “korean aconite root” were usedin search engine Kipris(www.kirpis.or.kr). The patents of aconiti ciliare radix were analyzed in three ways: year trendanalysis, internatonal patent classification (IPC) code analysis related to content classification, and patent registrationstatus analysis.Results: Among the patents found in the search results, 17 patents with significant contents were analyzed. Resultsshowed that, first, patents were steadily registered until 2018, but recently there has been no new patent registration.Second, there were many patents related to efficacy verification and decoction method, and the number of IPC codesrelated to them was also high. Third, there are five patents maintaining the registration status, and they are patentsrelated to the aconiti ciliare radix extraction method, toxicity removal, and combination method.Conclusions: In this study, the domestic patents of aconiti ciliare radix were analyzed. The analysis results of thisstudy are expected to be exploited as basic data for the development of Korean medicine analgesics with fewer sideeffects by suppressing tuber toxicity and the creation of new medical technologies.

Mechanisms of PD-L1 Regulation in Tumor Immune Ecosystem

In this study, nano-cerium dioxide doped titanium-dioxide (CeO2-TiO2) Nanocomposites (NCs) was used for the photocatalytic degradation of pollutant parameters (color, polyphenols, polyaromatics) from a textile industry wastewater (TI ww) treatment plant located in Izmir, Turkey, at different operational conditions such as at increasing photocatalytic time (0, 10, 15, 20, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min), at different CeO2-TiO2 mass ratios (1%, 3%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 16%, 25%, 30%, 50%), at the different amounts of CeO2 (1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 15, 20 and 25 mg/L) under 130 W Ultraviolet (UV) and 35 W sun lights irradiations, respectively. Color, polyphenols (quercetin, fisetin, ellargic acid, carminic acid, luteolin, and curcumin) and polyaromatics [2,6-dimethylaniline (2,6-DMA), 2-aminoanisole (MOA), 2,4-toluenediamine (TDA), 2-naphthylamine (NA), 4,40-thiobisbenzenamine (TOA), 3,3-dichlorobenzidine (DCB) and 3,30-dimethoxybenzidine (DMOB)] removal efficiencies were observed between 78% and 99% during photocatalytic experiments, under 130 W UV light, at 15% CeO2-TiO2 NCs, at 21°C, after 30 min irradiation time. 15% CeO2-TiO2 NCs shows the highest photodegradation yield of color under both UV and visible-light irradiation, with maximum photo-degradation rates of 99% and 98.5%, respectively, after 30 min irradiation time. 94.44% maximum Microtox acute toxicity yield was found in CeO2-TiO2 NCs = 20 mg/L, at 5% CeO2 mass ratio, after 150 min photodegradation time at 60oC. 90% maximum Daphnia magna acute toxicity removal was obtained in CeO2-TiO2 NCs = 20 mg/L, at 5% CeO2 mass ratio, after 150 min photodegradation time at 60°C. The results show that the CeO2-TiO2 NCs has a high photocatalytic activity to remove the pollutants from TI ww.

Effect of Iron Complex Source on MWWTP Effluent Treatment by Solar Photo-Fenton: Micropollutant Degradation, Toxicity Removal and Operating Costs.

Benzophenone-3, fipronil and propylparaben are micropollutants that are potential threats to ecosystems and have been detected in aquatic environments. However, studies involving the investigation of new technologies aiming at their elimination from these matrices, such as advanced oxidation processes, remain scarce. In this study, different iron complexes (FeCit, FeEDTA, FeEDDS and FeNTA) were evaluated for the degradation of a mixture of these micropollutants (100 µg L−1 each) spiked in municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWWTP) effluent at pH 6.9 by solar photo-Fenton. Operational parameters (iron and H2O2 concentration and Fe/L molar ratio) were optimized for each complex. Degradation efficiencies improved significantly by increasing the concentration of iron complexes (1:1 Fe/L) from 12.5 to 100 µmol L−1 for FeEDDS, FeEDTA and FeNTA. The maximum degradation reached with FeCit for all iron concentrations was limited to 30%. Different Fe/L molar ratios were required to maximize the degradation efficiency for each ligand: 1:1 for FeNTA and FeEDTA, 1:3 for FeEDDS and 1:5 for FeCit. Considering the best Fe/L molar ratios, higher degradation rates were reached using 5.9 mmol L−1 H2O2 for FeNTA and FeEDTA compared to 1.5 and 2.9 mmol L−1 H2O2 for FeEDDS and FeCit, respectively. Acute toxicity to Canton S. strain D. melanogaster flies reduced significantly after treatment for all iron complexes, indicating the formation of low-toxicity by-products. FeNTA was considered the best iron complex source in terms of the kinetic constant (0.10 > 0.063 > 0.051 > 0.036 min−1 for FeCit, FeNTA, FeEDTA and FeEDDS, respectively), organic carbon input and cost-benefit (USD 327 m−3 > USD 20 m−3 > USD 16 m−3 > USD 13 m−3 for FeEDDS, FeCit, FeEDTA and FeNTA, respectively) when compared to the other tested complexes.