Contaminants in Liquid Organic Fertilizers Used for Agriculture in Japan

Thermal hydrolyzed food waste liquor as liquid organic fertilizer

Thermal hydrolysis (TH) is an efficient technology for food waste (FW) management. This study investigated the nutrients released from FW under various TH temperature (140, 160, 180, 200 and 220 °C) and evaluated the feasibility of the hydrolyzed liquor (HL) as liquid organic fertilizer. The phytotoxicity and biotoxicity of HL was analyzed using wheat seed and Pseudomonas putida. Results revealed that TH could effectively solubilize FW and release nutrients (N, P and K) and organic substances. The highest content of total nitrogen (TN, 1685 mgN/L) and phosphorus (TP, 235 mgP/L) in the HL was obtained under 180 °C. The K⁺ was 278-293 mg/L regardless of treatment temperature. Secondary nutrients (Ca and Mg) and micro metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Al, Co and Mn) were all detected at relatively high level, while heavy metals (As and Cd) were generally lower than 0.5 mg/L. Twenty types of free amino acid were identified and the maximum total concentration was 4965.13 mg/L. 2% HL displayed higher germination index (>80%) and enhanced root and shoot lengths. No biotoxicity was observed as confirmed by the bioassay. This study proposes a feasible method to solubilize food waste and produce liquid organic fertilizer.

Use of comprehensive target analysis for determination of contaminants of emerging concern in a sediment core collected from Beppu Bay, Japan

In recent years, concern about the release of anthropogenic organic micropollutants referred to as contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) has been growing. The objective of this study was to find potential CECs by means of an analytical screening method referred to as comprehensive target analysis with an automated identification and quantification system (CTA-AIQS), which uses gas and liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC-MS and LC-QTOF-MS). We used CTA-AIQS to analyze samples from a sediment core collected in Beppu Bay, Japan. With this method, we detected 80 compounds in the samples and CTA-AIQA could work to useful tool to find CECs in environmental media. Among the detected chemicals, three PAHs (anthracene, chrysene, and fluoranthene) and tris(isopropylphenyl)phosphate (TIPPP) isomers were found to increase in concentration with decreasing sediment depth. We quantified TIPPP isomers in the samples by means of targeted analysis using LC-MS/MS for confirmation. The concentration profiles, combined with previous reports indicating persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic properties, suggest that these chemicals can be categorized as potential CECs in marine environments.

Development of a novel scheme for rapid screening for environmental micropollutants in emergency situations (REPE) and its application for comprehensive analysis of tsunami sediments deposited by the great east Japan earthquake

The tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011, the strongest quake ever recorded in Japan, deposited tsunami sediments along the coastline of the affected area. Because the sediments contained a wide variety of hazardous chemicals, including organic micropollutants, a method for rapidly evaluating the environmental and human health risks of such chemicals is necessary. For this purpose, we propose a novel three-step scheme designated "rapid screening for environmental micropollutants in emergency situations (REPE)". In the first step, samples are subjected to target screening analysis using an automated identification and quantification system (TSA-AIQS) involving gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In the second step, the chemicals detected by TSA-AIQS analysis are quantified precisely by conventional target analysis. The third step is risk assessment of the target chemicals. TSA-AIQS analysis of the tsunami sediments detected 63 substances, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (both native and alkylated PAHs) at high concentrations. These PAHs were precisely quantified by target analysis, and the concentrations were used to assess the health risks posed by oral intake, which were found to be negligible. Our results suggest that the REPE scheme will be useful for rapid, comprehensive screening and risk assessment in emergency situations.

Individual heavy metal exposure and birth outcomes in Shenqiu county along the Huai River Basin in China

Background: Exposure to heavy metals during pregnancy is an important risk factor for adverse birth outcomes. We aimed to investigate the current heavy metal exposure levels in cord blood from healthy pregnant women residing in the Huaihe River Basin, China, and examined the association between heavy metal levels and dietary habits and lifestyle factors. In this study, we measured the exposure levels of five heavy metals in the umbilical cord blood from 350 healthy pregnant women and administered 350 self-reported questionnaires regarding the general characteristics and dietary habits of those women. Methods: This study was undertaken in Shenqiu county, Henan province, which is in the area of the Huai River Basin, in a cohort of pregnant women and newborn babies in 2013-2014. We recruited a sample of 1000 pregnant women among those receiving prenatal examination, measured the real individual newborn exposure to heavy metals in serum by ICP-MS, collected information regarding the pregnant women with a questionnaire survey and obtained data on environmental quality from environmental protection agencies and the available literature. We estimated the daily individual exposure to heavy metals of all the 1000 participants throughout the pregnancy and recorded their birth outcomes after delivery. Then we analyzed the association between birth outcome and individual exposure to heavy metals. Results: 54 newborn children had birth defects. The geometric means of cord blood levels of As, Cd, Cr, Pb and Hg were measured at 0.92 ± 1.01 ng mL-1, 0.11 ± 0.17 ng mL-1, 4.57 ± 5.02 ng mL-1, 3.37 ± 3.81 ng mL-1 and 0.89 ± 1.69 ng mL-1 for subjects (n = 54) who gave birth to infants with birth defects and 0.43 ± 0.88 ng mL-1, 0.52 ± 3.86 ng mL-1, 1.94 ± 2.92 ng mL-1, 4.38 ± 4.96 ng mL-1 and 0.43 ± 0.91 ng mL-1 for subjects (n = 296) with healthy infants, respectively. The contents of all five heavy metals in the whole blood of both of these two groups were higher than the reference values of the Chinese general population (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The occurrence of birth defects was 15.4% in this cohort, and was correlated to exposure of parents to environments containing heavy metal contaminants in Shenqiu county in the Huai River Basin. The heavy metal exposure situation of the investigated population had serious effects in terms of reproductive defects in children. The specific link between newborn defects and environmental heavy metal contaminants suggested that contamination in pregnant women persisted over time, and that the exposure may have a long term effect.