Xihe River Research Articles

Chinese daughters’ day: an image-based exploration of Qiqiao traditions in Xihe County

ABSTRACT The Qiqiao Festival in Xihe County, Gansu Province, China, represents young Chinese girls' coming of age. It presents a microcosm of traditional Chinese female growth and has existed for centuries. Since weaving cloth is considered the basis of survival in the traditional Chinese social structure, the collective belief in Qiaoniangniang reflects the strong desire of young girls to acquire female labour skills at an early date. Throughout history, Qiqiao has been spread through oral tradition and written records. However, the visual records are incredibly scarce. Therefore, the author focused on the begging ceremony in the Xihe River and collected the earliest photos. It is hoped that through analysing these ancient photos, people can get a visual appearance of this thousand-year-old Qiqiao Festival and attempt to supplement and confirm the written information about the Qiqiao Festival. These images can depict the nature of the Qiqiao Festival so that people appear to have a more comprehensive understanding of the life of Xihe girls in the 20th century.

Applying synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy combined with Gaussian band fitting and two-dimensional correlation to characterize interactions of copper (II) with dissolved organic matter from urban river sediments

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) and heavy metals can form strong complexes, which might determine distribution, toxicity, bioavailability, and environmental trend of heavy metals in aquatic environment. Synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy combined with Gaussian band fitting and two-dimensional correlation (2DCOS) was applied to characterize Cu2+ interactions with DOM fractions from sediments in Xihe River. DOM from four layers was mainly associated with tyrosine-like (TYLF), tryptophan-like (TRLF), microbial humic-like (MHLF), fulvic-like (FLF), and humic-like fluorescence (HLF) substances based on Gaussian band fitting. At the first layer, the f value of FLF was the highest among five components, while TRLF at the second and third layers represented the highest f values. Besides, at the fourth layer, the f value of TYLF was the highest. According to 2DCOS and moving window 2DCOS, the decreasing binding sensitivities were HLF→MHLF→TYLF→TRLF→FLF in the first layer, which almost represented high efficiencies at 40 μM Cu2+. The binding order was MHLF→HLF→FLF→TRLF→TYLF in the second layer, where TYLF and TRLF shared the identical efficiencies at 120 μM Cu2+. For the third layer, the varying order was TYLF→FLF→TRLF→MHLF→HLF, whose high efficiencies occurred at 10 μM Cu2+. In the fourth layer, the order was TYLF→FLF→MHLF→TRLF→HLF, whose efficiencies almost covered whole titrate concentrations. At a given layer, structural equation model showed Cu2+ concentration negatively affected the fluorescence intensity of DOM components except FLF at the substrate layer. This study might provide an effective method to illustrate the interaction mechanism of the heavy metals and DOM fractions.

Nematode as a biomonitoring model for evaluating ecological risks of heavy metals in sediments from an urban river

Heavy metals have attracted much attention due to their irreversibility, persistence, concealment and bioaccumulation. Biomonitoring method combined chemical analysis can be well evaluate health risks of heavy metals in the environment. In this study, eleven sediments and water samples were collected along Xihe River, which was polluted by heavy metals in Shenyang city of China. The content of multiple heavy metals in these samples was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. 18S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to identify the composition and diversity of nematodes in fine River sediments. The biological toxicity of water-soluble extracts from the samples was further assessed by referring to different endpoints of Caenorhabditis Elegans. The results indicated that the risk of heavy metals in Xihe River was high (potential ecological risk index = 308.75), in which Hg and Cd are the main contributing factors. The relative abundance of nematodes complemented the chemical analysis result, Enoplida, Mononchida, Triplonchida, and Chromadorida nematodes presented a significant positive correlation with the concentration of heavy metals. Specially, Chromadorida nematodes were sensitive to changes in heavy metals in Xihe River, which was significant positively correlated with As, Pb and V. Therefore, nematodes such as Chromadorida can be applied in environmental monitoring to evaluate the health risks of heavy metals.

Toxicity Identification Evaluation of Sediments from the Xihe River.

In the present study, chinonomus riparius larvae were selected as a model organism, and 11 sediment samples from the Xihe River in Shenyang underwent toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) to identify sediment toxic pollutants. Heavy metals and organic pollutants were the main toxic pollutants through toxicity screening and characterization. The results of toxicity identification showed that the pollution level from Cd was most serious and that phenol and P-methyl phenol were the major organic pollutants. Moreover, a spiking test of Cd was conducted, which indicated that Cd was the main toxic pollutant of sediments at sites 4, 6, 7, 8, and 10. We confirm that TIE is the most effective method to determine the relationship between toxic effects and toxic pollutants. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:3103-3110. © 2021 SETAC.

Evaluating ecological risks and tracking potential factors influencing heavy metals in sediments in an urban river

BackgroundHeavy metal pollution of aquatic systems is a global issue that has received considerable attention. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA), principal component analysis (PCA), and potential ecological risk index (PERI) have been applied to heavy metal data to trace potential factors, identify regional differences, and evaluate ecological risks. Sediment cores of 200 cm in depth were taken using a drilling platform at 10 sampling sites along the Xihe River, an urban river located in western Shenyang City, China. Then they were divided into 10 layers (20 cm each layer). The concentrations of the As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn were measured for each layer. Eight heavy metals, namely Pb, Zn, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, and Hg, were measured for each layer in this study.ResultsThe average concentrations of the As, Cd, Cu, Hg, and Zn were significantly higher than their background values in soils in the region, and mainly gathered at 0–120 cm in depth in the upstream, 0–60 cm in the midstream, and 0–20 cm downstream. This indicated that these heavy metals were derived from the upstream areas where a large quantity of effluents from the wastewater treatment plants enter the river. Ni, Pb, and Cr were close or slightly higher than their background values. The decreasing order of the average concentration of Cd was upstream > midstream > downstream, so were Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn. The highest concentration of As was midstream, followed by upstream and then downstream, which was different to Cd. The potential factors of heavy metal pollution were Cd, Cu, Hg, Zn, and As, especially Cd and Hg with the high ecological risks. The ecological risk levels of all heavy metals were much higher in the upstream than the midstream and downstream.ConclusionsIndustrial discharge was the dominant source for eight heavy metals in the surveyed area, and rural domestic sewage has a stronger influence on the Hg pollution than industrial pollutants. These findings indicate that effective management strategies for sewage discharge should be developed to protect the environmental quality of urban rivers.

Study on simulation and prediction of environmental risk material leakage in an Equipment Manufacturing Industrial Park

From the perspective of environmental risks, the groundwater pollution, surface water pollution, and fire and explosion scenarios were simulated and predicted with the analytical method in an equipment manufacturing industrial park in Shenyang. The results showed that: after the accident, the maximum migration distance of COD pollution factor leakage in groundwater in the next ten years could reach 1500m, and its peak concentration was 786.35mg/L; the leakage of WSCLC wastewater treatment system would affect Xihe river, and its hazard range mainly concentrated within 17m downstream of the discharge port; the vapor cloud explosion of the HCBM enterprise oil tank caused slight damage to the equipment, and the maximum radius of minor injuries was 15.3m.

Distribution Characteristics of Per-/polyflouralkyl Substances in River Sediments Around Typical Fluorine Industrial Parks

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a group of manmade chemicals and are ubiquitously detected in aquatic environments. China is a major producer and consumer of PFASs. In this study, we investigated the occurrence and characteristics of PFASs in the surface sediments from three fluorine industrial parks in North China, the Xihe River in Liaoning Province (Fuxin Section), the Xiaoqing River in Shandong Province (Zibo Section), and the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province (Changshu Section), using the UPLC/MS-MS method. The total concentration of PFASs (∑PFASs) in surface sediments of the Xihe River ranged from 15.8 to 2770 ng ·g-1, and PFTeDA and HFPO-DA were the dominant pollutants. In the surface sediments of the Xiaoqing River, ∑PFASs ranged from 12.2 to 7853 ng ·g-1, and PFOA and HFPO-DA were the dominant pollutants. In the surface sediments of the Yangtze river, ∑PFASs ranged from 9.20 to 35.9 ng ·g-1, and PFTeDA and 6：2 FTS were the main pollutants. Sewage discharge from the industrial parks (point source pollution) was the main source of PFASs in three regions in this study. The PFAS content and composition in three regions varied significantly depending on the production capacity and industry type. There was no significant correlation between the content of PFASs and its components and the particle size and TOC of the sediments. The correlations between the components of PFASs indicated that the enrichment process of PFASs in sediments was impacted by various factors.

Evaluating satellite-based and reanalysis precipitation datasets with gauge-observed data and hydrological modeling in the Xihe River Basin, China

Abstract The wide application of satellite-based and reanalysis-based precipitation data has greatly promoted hydrometeorological research in areas where precipitation observations are scarce. However, the suitability of such precipitation products needs to be carefully evaluated before applications in certain basins because their inherited errors vary with different climate zones, seasonal cycles and land surface conditions; in addition, precipitation products have not been evaluated in the Xihe River basin, China. In this paper, two representative satellite-based precipitation products (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks-Climate Data Record (CDR)) and two reanalysis-based precipitation products (China Meteorological Assimilation Driving Datasets for the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model (CMADS) and National Centers for Environmental Prediction - Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR)) were selected for evaluation and corrected against gauge-observed data (OBS). Furthermore, the performances of precipitation products in hydrological simulations were also assessed using the SWAT model calibrated with OBS forcing and not with individual precipitation products. The results show that satellite-based precipitation has a higher quality than reanalysis-based precipitation. The CFSR and CDR overestimate precipitation (the overestimation of CDR precipitation is mainly concentrated in the precipitation intensity range of 1 mm/d to 5 mm/d), while the TRMM and CMADS underestimate precipitation in the Xihe River basin. The TRMM precipitation performs best during the wet season, while the CDR precipitation performed best during the dry season. After bias correction, the quality of TRMM precipitation improves significantly. The Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient (NS) (the percent bias (|PBIAS|)) increases (decreases) by 0.61 (77.27%) and 0.7 (39.15%) under the two different correction scenarios during 2009–2015. Overall, the above original precipitation products cannot be used as supplements to the OBS in the Xihe River basin unless they are corrected by the OBS.

Spatial Variabilities of Runoff Erosion and Different Underlying Surfaces in the Xihe River Basin

Runoff erosion capacity has significant effects on the spatial distribution of soil erosion and soil losses. But few studies have been conducted to evaluate these effects in the Loess Plateau. In this study, an adjusted SWAT model was used to simulate the hydrological process of the Xihe River basin from 1993 to 2012. The spatial variabilities between runoff erosion capacity and underlying surface factors were analyzed by combining spatial gradient analysis and GWR (Geographically Weighted Regression) analysis. The results show that the spatial distribution of runoff erosion capacity in the studying area has the following characteristics: strong in the north, weak in the south, strong in the west, and weak in the east. Topographic factors are the dominant factors of runoff erosion in the upper reaches of the basin. Runoff erosion capacity becomes stronger with the increase of altitude and gradient. In the middle reaches area, the land with low vegetation coverage, as well as arable land, show strong runoff erosion ability. In the downstream areas, the runoff erosion capacity is weak because of better underlying surface conditions. Compared with topographic and vegetation factors, soil factors have less impact on runoff erosion. The red clay and mountain soil in this region have stronger runoff erosion capacities compared with other types of soils, with average runoff modulus of 1.79 × 10−3 m3/s·km2 and 1.68 × 10−3 m3/s·km2, respectively, and runoff erosion power of 0.48 × 10−4 m4/s·km2 and 0.34 × 10−4 m4/s·km2, respectively. The runoff erosion capacity of the alluvial soil is weak, with an average runoff modulus of 0.96 × 10−3 m3/s·km2 and average erosion power of 0.198 × 10−4 m4/s·km2. This study illustrates the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of hydraulic erosion in the Xihe River Basin from the perspective of energy. It contributes to the purposeful utilization of water and soil resources in the Xihe River Basin and provides a theoretical support for controlling the soil erosion in the Hilly-gully region of the Loess Plateau.

Quantifying the Effect of Land Use Change and Climate Variability on Green Water Resources in the Xihe River Basin, Northeast China

Based on a land use interpretation and distributed hydrological model, soil and water assessment tool (SWAT), this study simulated the hydrological cycle in Xihe River Basin in northern China. In addition, the influence of climate variability and land use change on green water resources in the basin from 1995 to 2015 was analyzed. The results show that (1) The ENS (Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient) and R2 (coefficient of determination) were 0.94 and 0.89, respectively, in the calibration period, and 0.89 and 0.88, respectively, in the validation period. These indicate high simulation accuracy; (2) Changes in green water flow and green water storage due to climate variability accounted for increases of 2.07 mm/a and 1.28 mm/a, respectively. The relative change rates were 0.49% and 0.9%, respectively, and the green water coefficient decreased by 1%; (3) Changes in green water flow and green water storage due to land use change accounted for increases of 69.15 mm and 48.82 mm, respectively. The relative change rates were 16.4% and 37.2%, respectively, and the green water coefficient increased by 10%; (4) Affected by both climate variability and land use change, green water resources increased by 121.3 mm and the green water coefficient increased by 9% in the Xihe River Basin. It is noteworthy that the influence of land use change was greater than that of climate variability.

Effects of Climate Change and Human Activities on Soil Erosion in the Xihe River Basin, China

Climate change and human activities are the major factors affecting runoff and sediment load. We analyzed the inter-annual variation trends of the annual rainfall, air temperature, runoff and sediment load in the Xihe River Basin from 1969–2015. Pettitt’s test and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model were used to detect sudden changes in hydro-meteorological variables and simulate the basin hydrological cycle, respectively. According to the simulation results, we explored spatial distribution of soil erosion in the watershed by utilizing ArcGIS10.0, analyzed the average soil erosion modulus by different types of land use, and quantified the contributions of climate change and human activities to runoff and sediment load in changes. The results showed that: (1) From 1969–2015, both rainfall and air temperature increased, and air temperature increased significantly (p < 0.01) at 0.326 °C/10 a (annual). Runoff and sediment load decreased, and sediment load decreased significantly (p < 0.01) at 1.63 × 105 t/10 a. In 1988, air temperature experienced a sudden increased and sediment load decreased. (2) For runoff, R2 and Nash and Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (Ens) were 0.92 and 0.91 during the calibration period and 0.90 and 0.87 during the validation period, for sediment load, R2 and Ens were 0.60 and 0.55 during the calibration period and 0.70 and 0.69 during the validation period, meeting the model’s applicability requirements. (3) Soil erosion was worse in the upper basin than other regions, and highest in cultivated land. Climate change exacerbates runoff and sediment load with overall contribution to the total change of −26.54% and −8.8%, respectively. Human activities decreased runoff and sediment load with overall contribution to the total change of 126.54% and 108.8% respectively. The variation of runoff and sediment load in the Xihe River Basin is largely caused by human activities.

Identification of Nitrate Sources and Transformation Processes in Midstream Areas:A Case in the Taizi River Basin

This study analyzed the nitrate (NO3-), ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N), chloride (Cl-), δ15 N-NO3-, δ18O-NO3-, and δ18O-H2O in the surface water to identify the nitrate sources and transformation processes in midstream areas of the Taizi River basin in May and August 2016, corresponding to the dry season and wet season, respectively. The results indicated that the NO3-, Cl-, and NH4+-N concentrations and the δ18O-NO3- in the dry season were greater than those in the wet season, and the δ15 N-NO3- did not show significant seasonal variations based on the Man-Whitney U test. The NO3- was derived mainly from the mixed sources according to the ranges of NO3-/Cl-, δ15 N-NO3-, and δ18O-NO3-. The nitrate sources in the surface water were synthetic fertilizer, soil nitrogen, manure, and sewage in the Xihe River (XR), Lanhe River (LR), and Xiada River (XDR) and soil nitrogen and synthetic fertilizer in the Er dao River (EDR) during the wet season. The sources were synthetic fertilizer and soil nitrogen in the XDR and soil nitrogen, manure, and sewage in the XR, LR, and EDR during the dry season. The significant negative relationship between NO3- and NH4+ and the significant positive relationship between NO3- and δ15 N-NO3- in the wet season indicated that the volatilization and nitrification of soil N might be related to NO3- sources in the wet season. NH4+-N and δ15 N-NO3- increased with decreasing NO3- and Cl- in EDR and LR during the wet season, which indicated denitrification processes occurred. There was a significant relationship between NO3- and Cl-, indicating that mixing processes occurred in the surface water during the two sampling periods. This study will provide a better understanding for nitrate sources related to seasonal variations and transformation processes in hilly areas.

Comparison of PARAFAC components of fluorescent dissolved and particular organic matter from two urbanized rivers.

Excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy combined with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and multivariable analysis were employed to compare components of dissolved (DOM) and particulate (POM) organic matter and to reveal their correlations with water quality in Baitapuhe River and Xihe River in Shenyang City of northeast China. Eighteen water samples in Baitapuhe River and 16 water samples in Xihe River were collected along a human impact gradient. The DOM concentrations in Baitapuhe River were lower than those in Xihe River, so were the POM concentrations. The DOM in Baitapuhe River mainly derived from livestock wastewater and domestic sewage, which had strong biodegradability. However, the DOM in Xihe River mainly originated from industrial wastewater, which exhibited weak biodegradability. Four PARAFAC components (C1 to C4) were extracted from the DOM and POM. C1 was defined as fulvic-like component, and C2 was assigned as microbial humic component. C3 and C4 were ubiquitous protein-like component, which were referred as tryptophan-like and tyrosine-like components, respectively. The C3 was representative for the DOM in Baitapuhe River. The C3 and C4 were the main fractions of the DOM in Xihe River across the centralized wastewater-discharge region, whereas the C2 was the major component across the dispersed wastewater-discharge region. POM was dominated by the C4 in both rivers. Latent factors of water quality included the DOM, DO, Chl a, NO3-N, and NH4-N in Baitapuhe River, but the latent factors contained DOM, DO, BOD5, and COD in Xihe River. Baitapuhe River was under the aerobic condition, but Xihe River was under the anaerobic condition.

Applying fluorescence spectroscopy and multivariable analysis to characterize structural composition of dissolved organic matter and its correlation with water quality in an urban river

Excitation–emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy combined with multivariable analysis was employed to discriminate structural component of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in Xihe River, an urban river, located in western Shenyang City of China, and to reveal its correlation with water quality. Eight water samples were collected along the river across the centralized wastewater-discharge region and the dispersed wastewater-discharge region. Water quality had deeply deteriorated in the river. Based on DOM fluorescence spectroscopic properties, DOM was composed of tyrosine-like, tryptophan-like, soluble microbial by-product-like, fulvic-like and humic-like materials, among which protein-like material was dominant in the DOM fractions. The DOM in the centralized wastewater-discharge region had a lower level of aromaticity than that in the dispersed wastewater-discharge region, and its humification degree was lower than that in the latter too. Key factors for the trophic state contained NH4-N, DO, DOC, TP, Φ 2,n and Φ 4,n by multivariable analysis. DOM was mainly derived from treated and untreated industrial wastewater with weak biodegradability.

Bioleaching of heavy metals from contaminated sediments by the Aspergillus niger strain SY1

The objective of this study was to investigate the bioleaching of heavy metals from contaminated sediments by Aspergillus niger strain SY1. To achieve this, three targets were identified: (1) identify organic acids produced by the isolated A. niger strain SY1 from contaminated sediments, (2) compare the leaching ability and transformation of chemical speciation of heavy metals during the bioleaching processes, and (3) determine the toxic characteristic of sediment before and after bioleaching. The contaminated sediment was collected from the dredging of the Xihe River, China. The A. niger strain SY1 was isolated from this sediment. Bioleaching experiments were carried out in 250 ml autoclaved conical flasks with 10 g autoclaved sediment, 1 ml of spore suspension, and 99 ml culture medium; the flasks were placed in a shaking incubator (220 rpm) at 30 °C for 7 days. Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) tests were carried out according to USEPA-SW846 Method 1311, and the wheat and earthworm toxicity tests were carried out according to OECD “Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals.” Fractionation of heavy metals was undertaken by the three-step sequential extraction procedure. The metabolites were determined with a HPLC system. There was 11.5 % leaching efficiency of Pb from the polluted sediment in the one-step bioleaching process; while in the two-step bioleaching process, the highest extraction efficiency of Pb was 65.4 %. In one-step bioleaching, 93.5 % Cd, 62.3 % Cu, and 68.2 % Zn were leached out; whereas, the highest metal extraction efficiencies of Cd, Cu, and Zn were 99.5, 56, 71.9, and 76.4 %, respectively, in two-step bioleaching. After the bioleaching, the metals remaining in the sediment were mainly found in the stable fractions. Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn concentrations in extracted liquor of TCLP tests were reduced to far below the levels in two Chinese standards, and the sediment after bioleaching had a lower toxicity on wheat and earthworm. A. niger strain SY1 can effectively remove heavy metals in contaminated sediment. The bioleaching efficiencies of heavy metals in the two-step bioleaching were better than that in one-step bioleaching. After the bioleaching, metals remaining in the sediment were mainly found in the stable fractions, and the toxicity of it was reduced to a level for it to be used safely in landfill or used in land application. A. niger strain SY1 is a cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and efficient bioleacher of heavy metals.

Pollutions of Nutrient Salts and Heavy Metals of Groundwater in Xihe River Basin in Shenyang

In order to evaluate the groundwater quality in the Xihe River Basin, the concentrations of fluoride (F-), chloride (Cl-), nitrite (NO2-), nitrate (NO3-), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb) and barium (Ba) of the groundwater were investigated in the three sections, Section I, II and III for the upstream, midstream and down stream, respectively. A method of Nemero composite index was used to evaluate the groundwater quality. The concentrations of nutrient salts of groundwater in the Xihe River basin decreased from the upstream to the midstream and downstream. The values of heavy metals were higher in the midstream than in the upstream and downstream. The groundwater had obvious nutrient-salt pollutions in the upstream and midstream. According to the Nemero composite index the F-values of groundwater were 9.5, 5.7 and 0.3 in the up-, mid-and downstream, respectively, indicated that the groundwater in the midstream and the upstream of Xihe River basin was polluted and extremely polluted, respectively. KEYWORDS: Groundwater quality, Nutrient salts, Heavy metals, Xihe River

Application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for the Estimation of Source of Heavy Metal Contamination in Sediments of Xihe River, Shenyang City

Source estimation of heavy metals of Hg, Cd, Zn, Pb, Ba, Bi, Sn and Sb in Xihe River sediment was studied using PCA. The results showed that there were three principal components extracted. Hg, Zn, Bi, Sn and Sb were controlled by Componet1 explaining the sources of material, chemical and pharmacy industries, Cd and Pb controlled by Component2 explaining the sources of smelting and machinery manufacturing industries and also automobile exhaust, and Ba controlled by Component3 explaining the effect of geochemical compositions changes on in the sediments. The results indicated that industry sewage and rock weathering and erosion process were the main sources of heavy metals in the Xihe River sediment.

Heavy Metals Accumulation and its Environmental Risk in Sediments of Xihe River, Shenyang City

Heavy metal accumulation in Xihe River sediments was studied, and also its potential environmental risk was evaluated using geoaccumulation index (Igeo). The results showed that mean concentrations of Hg, Cd, Zn, Pb, Ba, Bi, Sn and Sb were 2.73, 18.42, 1066.1, 128.8, 366.9, 7.76, 24.70 and 8.53 mg/kg, respectively. The values of examined heavy metals, except for Ba, were higher than the reference of deep soil. There were different accumulation characteristics for heavy metals at different river sections. Cadmium and Pb concentrations in sediment dropped from upper to lower reaches along river, but Ba was quite the reverse. The potential environmental risk of heavy metals in sediments was in order: Cd > Hg > Bi > Zn > Sb > Sn > Pb > Ba. The river was subjected to a higher potential risk by Hg, Cd, Zn and Bi, a medium-high risk by Sn and Sb, and a lower risk by Pb and Ba.

Aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Xihe River, an urban river in China's Shenyang City: Distribution and risk assessment

The characteristics of petroleum hydrocarbons and the risks they pose to the ecosystem were studied in the Xihe River, which is an urban river located in Shenyang, China. High levels of aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHc) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were observed in the river due to the discharge of wastewater from industrial and municipal facilities for a long period of time. High-molecular-weight hydrocarbons, including unresolved complex mixtures (UCM) of n-alkanes between n-C16 and n-C32 and of PAHs with four to six rings, were the dominant hydrocarbons in the river, particularly in suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediments. The AHc was mainly from petrogenic sources, whereas PAHs was from both pyrolytic and petrogenic source inputs. Our results suggest that there is a high risk of toxicity for the soils and groundwater of the study area. The overall toxicity in the sediments can be described using the toxic equivalent (TEQ) of dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (DBA) based on benzo(a)pyrene (TEQBaP) and dioxins (TEQTCDD) toxic equivalent concentrations. The TEQ values for benzo(a)pyrene (TEQBaP) and dioxins (TEQTCDD) presented a consistent assessment of sediment PAHs.

Research on Fuxin Plant Coal Ash as a Fluoride-Containing Wastewater and Mechanism of Fluoride Removal

Aimed at the status in China there are still some people who drink the water with excessive concentration fluorine, what may seriously threat to human health. For example Fuxin is an important production base in Liaoning province, which products aromatic compounds of fluorine. We found that the wastewater had large fluorine ion by testing the wastewater from the plant. It was polluted XiHe River and harmed to people’s health. So we chose the fly ash of Fuxin Plant as the agent to eliminate fluoride，then studied the mechanism of fluorine-removal and the physical properties of fly ash. Eventually we adopted the activation methods and combined the dynamic experiment and static experiment to research the mechanism to eliminate the fluorine with fly ash. The results of the experiment showed that the technology route was feasible which used the modified fly ash to get rid of the fluoride in the wastewater and reached the national emission standards.