Showing papers by "Rong Xiao published in 2017"

Impact of salinity and Pb on enzyme activities of a saline soil from the Yellow River delta: A microcosm study

Abstract: s Soil enzyme activities are sensitive to the changes of soil properties and pollutants. In this study, the influence of salinity and Pb on the soil enzyme (catalase, CAT; invertase, IA; urease, UA) activities regarding the soil aggregate size classes was investigated. We selected a saline soil from the Yellow River delta, and adopted an orthogonal experiment designed with five Pb concentration levels and five salinity levels. The soil was dry sieved into three soil aggregate size classes: >2000 μm, 250–2000 μm, and P P −1 . When Pb concentration exceeded 400 mg kg −1 , with the increase of Pb concentration, there were no significant changes of all the enzyme activities under the inhibition or promotion effects of Pb. The Pb concentration which leads to a significant reduction is between 0 and 200 mg kg −1 for IA activity and 200–400 mg kg −1 for UA activity. And the increase of soil salinity led to a higher toxicity of Pb for UA activity. The toxicity range could be a valid reference for the formulation of soil quality standards in estuarine wetlands. We concluded that the effects of Pb on soil enzyme activities depend on the Pb concentration, soil salinity and the enzyme types. IA activity showed a higher activity in the macro-aggregate (250–2000 μm), while there was no significant difference in CAT and UA activities among three particle size classes. Since the IA activity was sensitive to soil salinity, Pb concentration and soil aggregate size, it could be selected as a representative indicator for soil monitoring in the Yellow River delta.

Phosphorus fraction and phosphate sorption-release characteristics of the wetland sediments in the Yellow River Delta

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate phosphorus (P) fractions and phosphate sorption-release characteristics of the surface sediments regarding the wetland restoration in the Yellow River Delta (YRD). Sediments samples were collected from three typical sample plots: Phragmites australis community (p), Suaeda salsa community (s), and bare land (b) both in natural wetland (N) and restored wetland (R). The results showed that the mean content of TP was 541.58 mg/kg, and the rank order of P fractions were: inorganic phosphorus (IP) (65.6%) > residual phosphorus (RP) (24.9%) > organic phosphorus (OP) (9.5%). For sediments under the same land cover, TP and OP contents were significantly higher in natural wetlands than those in restored wetlands. This indicated that the restoration project really made a difference in TP content of sediments, and the decreased TP might result from decreased OP. For P kinetics sorption, a quick sorption mainly occurred within 0.5 h. The maximum phosphorus adsorption capacities (Qmax) ranging from 139.40 mg/kg to 224.06 mg/kg and the bonding energy constant (K) ranging from 0.33 mg/L to 1.37 mg/L were both obtained using a Langmuir model. In addition, Qmax, P release (Pr) and P release rates (Prr) were in the order of Nb > Np > Ns > Rb > Rp > Rs, Np > Rp > Ns > Rs = Nb > Rb and Rp > Ns > Rs > Rb > Np > Nb, respectively. This indicated that sediments from natural wetland could adsorb more P as well as release more P into overlying water, moreover, more content of P were left in sediments comparing to restored wetland. Sediments from bare land were more likely to retain P as a pool because of the highest sorption capacity while lowest release potential. Our study showed that P sorption-release and the quick sorption processes were mainly affected by sediment moisture, amorphous iron and aluminum oxides (Feox and Alox). Besides, Qmax was related to background value of sediments P. OP was the major P fraction adsorbed by sediments, and the P adsorbed by sediments was mainly adsorbed on Feox and Alox.

Occurrence, sources, and risk assessment of OCPs in surface sediments from urban, rural, and reclamation-affected rivers of the Pearl River Delta, China

Abstract: Sediments were collected to a depth of 20 cm from urban, rural, and reclamation-affected rivers in the Pearl River Delta of China. In total, 16 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were analyzed in all sediment samples, and the occurrence, possible sources, toxicity, and health risks of OCPs were evaluated to compare the contamination characteristics of OCPs in sediments among the three types of rivers. The results showed that concentrations of Σ16OCPs in sediments from the three rivers followed the order urban river > reclamation-affected river > rural river, with a mean value of 247.21, 232.91, and 114.92 μg/kg, respectively, and the predominant OCPs were hexachlorobenzene (HCB), dieldrin, aldrin, endrin, and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs). Source diagnostics illustrated that there might be recent input of HCHs, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs), and endosulfan in some sampling sites. Based on the soil quality thresholds of China, both HCHs and DDTs fell within the range of class II criteria except for some sediment samples in urban rivers with lower levels (below class I criteria). According to sediment quality guidelines, 92.86 % of samples were predicted to be toxic. The health risk assessment showed that OCPs would not pose a threat to people via dermal contact, ingestion, and inhalation, and the followed order of incremental lifetime cancer risks for OCPs in sediment samples was reclamation-affected river > urban river > rural river.