Highlights► Adsorption of mercury. ► Impregnation of A zeolite on MCM-41. ► Prepared with fly ash.

Highlights► Adsorption of tetracycline antibiotics. ► Impregnation of one weight percentage of A zeolite on MCM-41. ► Equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic study of adsorption of tetracycline antibiotics onto modified MCM-41.

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China’s industry accounts for 46.8% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and plays an important strategic role in its economic growth. On the other hand, industrial wastewater is also the major source of water pollution. In order to examine the relationship between the underlying driving forces and various environmental indicators, values of two critical industrial wastewater pollutant discharge parameters (Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N)), between 2001 and 2009, were decomposed into three factors: i.e., production effects (caused by change in the scale of economic activity), structure effects (caused by change in economic structure) and intensity effects (caused by change in technological level of each sector), using additive version of the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI I) decomposition method. Results showed that: (1) the average annual effect of COD discharges in China was −2.99%, whereas the production effect, the structure effect, and the intensity effect were 14.64%, −1.39%, and −16.24%, respectively. Similarly, the average effect of NH4-N discharges was −4.03%, while the production effect, the structure effect, and the intensity effect were 16.18%, −2.88%, and −17.33%, respectively; (2) the production effect was the major factor responsible for the increase in COD and NH4-N discharges, accounting for 45% and 44% of the total contribution, respectively; (3) the intensity effect, which accounted for 50% and 48% of the total contribution, respectively, exerted a dominant decremental effect on COD and NH4-N discharges; intensity effect was further decomposed into cleaner production effect and pollution abatement effect with the cleaner production effect accounting for 60% and 55% of the reduction of COD and NH4-N, respectively; (4) the major contributors to incremental COD and NH4-N discharges were divided among industrial sub-sectors and the top contributors were identified. Potential restructuring and regulation measures were proposed for pollutant reduction.

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In this study, a life cycle assessment (LCA) method was used to examine the environmental impact of the rice production system in Taihu region, China. The LCA considered the entire system required to produce 1 t of rice. The analysis included raw material extraction and transportation, agrochemical production and transportation, and arable farming in the field. The result shows that the significance of environmental impacts, followed by aquatic eutrophication, water depletion, global warming, acidification, and energy depletion. As such, reducing nitrogen (N) fertilizer intensity and increasing utilization efficiency are the key points to control the life cycle environmental impacts of rice, which would decrease resource consumption and emissions not only directly in the arable farming subsystem but also indirectly in the upstream production stage. Strengthening water management, especially in the early growth stage, and reduction of paddy field water discharge are also significant measures with which to minimize N and phosphorus (P) runoff losses and control acidification potential (AP) and aquatic eutrophication potential (AEP), so as to reduce life cycle environmental impacts of the rice production system.

Marbofloxacin is a fluoroquinolone veterinary antibiotic. An indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the detection of marbofloxacin using polyclonal antibody. The half-maximum inhibition concentrations (IC(50)) and limit of detection (LOD, calculated as IC(20)) of the ELISA for marbofloxacin in phosphate buffer were 4.6 and 0.6 ng/mL, respectively. The assay showed little cross-reactivity with marbofloxacin structural analogues, except for ofloxacin (148%). Matrixes from the extracts of beef and pork muscle have shown a significant influence on the ELISA. Standard curves of ELISA for marbofloxacin in the extracts of the appropriate marbofloxacin-free control muscles were used in the analysis of marbofloxacin in the animal muscles without any cleanup. The average recoveries of intra- and interassay for marbofloxacin from fortified muscle samples, at five concentrations of 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1000 ng/g, were 87-93 and 84-95%, respectively. The LOD of this assay for marbofloxacin in real muscle extracts was 0.8 ng/mL. A survey of 55 animal muscle samples purchased from local markets by the ELISA was conducted, and marbofloxacin was detected in one of them at a concentration of 22 ng/g. This positive sample was validated by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) to be 28 ng/g of marbofloxacin.