In order to evaluate the effect of mining activity on the environment of the Qhorveh mining area in the west of Iran, the geological, ecological and environmental data, related to social development and regional economic status, were used. The geological data included seven sub-indices, such as vegetation coverage, land utilization type, and fault activity; ecological data, with two sub-indices, such as degree of ecological environment recovery; and finally, environmental data, with three sub-indices, such as soil and dust pollutions. These were selected based on the literature and expert opinion which were utilized for environmental pollution and geo-ecological (EPGE) risk assessment of the study site. Remote sensing (RS) image, field sampling, digital elevation map, and data retrieved from different government agencies were used to generate layers for the sub-indices in the geographic information system (GIS) environment. In addition, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method was used to determine the weight of sub-indices. Five levels consisting of best, good, middle, poor and worst were used to describe the EPGE risk assessment of the Qhorveh mining area. Results showed that worst and poor levels of EPGE risk are in the east and northeast of the study area where the gold and pumice mines are located while best and good levels of EPGE risk are in its center where the stone mines are located. According to the results of this research, the EPGE risk assessment of the Qhorveh mining area is affected by the environmental pollution index with its highest weight (0.3908). It can be concluded that the integration of the RS, GIS and AHP methods proposed in this study improved the evaluation quality of EPGE risk assessment.

β-Blockers (BB) are one of the most commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals used for treating cardiovascular and acute anxiety-related disorders. This class of drugs inhibit β-adrenoceptor signalling and given their growing, widespread use, BB are routinely detected in surface waters at nM concentrations. This is concerning as trace levels of BB impart developmental and reproductive dysfunction in non-target aquatic organisms, with potential for ecological risks. To date, environmental pharmaceutical risks to non-target animals are not part of the monitoring framework due to the lack of bioassays for assessing their biological effects. Behavioral endpoints have the advantage of a systems-level integration of multiple sensory signals and motor responses for toxicity screening; however, they are not currently used for risk assessment of environmental contaminants. The zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo photomotor response (zfPMR) has been used in high-throughput behavioral screenings for neuroactive drug effects at high, therapeutic concentrations. Our objective here was to examine if we could utilize the zfPMR for screening environmental levels of BB. Embryos were placed into 96-well plates, exposed to chemicals and/or municipal wastewater effluent (MWWE), and their zfPMRs were measured with video-analysis. To specifically target BB, embryos were co-treated with isoproterenol, a β-adrenergic agonist that stimulates the zfPMR, and the inhibition of isoproterenol-induced response was used as a biomarker of BB exposure. Our results reveal that the inhibition of isoproterenol-stimulated zfPMRs can be used as a biosensor capable of detecting BB in the parts-per-billion to parts-per-trillion in water samples, including diluted MWWE. The method developed detects BB in spite of the presence of other neuroactive compounds in water samples. This systems level approach of rapid screening for BB effects provides the most promising evidence to date that behavioral neuromodulation can be potentially applied for environmental effects monitoring of pharmaceuticals.

Knowledge of distribution of toxic metal in crop is essential for studying toxic metal uptake, transportation and bioaccumulation, and it is important for environmental pollution monitoring. In this study, the macro spatial distribution of chromium in rice leaves was visualized by re-heating dual-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (DPLIBS) and chemometric methods. After the optimization of two important parameters (delay time and energy ratio) in DPLIBS, chromium prediction model was established based on global spectra. The global model achieved acceptable performance while slight overfitting for model was found because of numerous irrelevant variables. Feature variables including emissions from chromium and other elements were successfully selected by the values of regression coefficient in partial least square regression model. Best performance was achieved by using the feature variables and support vector machine, with correlation coefficient of prediction of 0.959, root mean square error of prediction of 13.4 mg/kg and residual predictive deviation of 3.6. Finally, the distribution of chromium in rice leaves was visualized with the best prediction model. The distribution image showed that chromium distributed approximately symmetrically along the vein and was likely to be accumulated in leaf apex. The preliminary results provide an approach for investigating the macro spatial distribution of elements in crops, which is important for environmental protection and food safety.

A comparative study was conducted to (1) assess the potential of raw sewage used for urban agriculture to disseminate bacterial resistance in two cities of different size in Cameroon (Central Africa) and (2) compare the outcome with data obtained in Burkina Faso (West Africa). In each city, raw sewage samples were sampled from open-air canals in three neighbourhoods. After DNA extraction, the microbial population structure and function, presence of pathogens, antibiotic resistance genes and Enterobacteriaceae plasmids replicons were analysed using whole genome shotgun sequencing and bioinformatics. Forty-three pathogen-specific virulenc e factor genes were detected in the sewage. Eighteen different incompatibility groups of Enterobacteriaceae plasmid replicon types (ColE, A/C, B/O/K/Z, FIA, FIB, FIC, FII, H, I, N, P, Q, R, T, U, W, X, and Y) implicated in the spread of drug-resistance genes were present in the sewage samples. One hundred thirty-six antibiotic resistance genes commonly associated with MDR plasmid carriage were identified in both cities. Enterobacteriaceae plasmid replicons and ARGs found in Burkina Faso wastewaters were also present in Cameroon waters. The abundance of Enterobacteriaceae, plasmid replicons and antibiotic resistance genes was greater in Yaounde, the city with the greater population.In conclusion, the clinically relevant environmental resistome found in raw sewage used for urban agriculture is common in West and Central Africa. The size of the city impacts on the abundance of drug-resistant genes in the raw sewage while ESBL gene abundance is related to the prevalence of Enterobacteriaceae along with plasmid Enterobacteriaceae abundance associated to faecal pollution.

The present study introduces a mechanically robust, sealable SPME sampler for the on-site sampling and extraction of a wide range of untargeted pollutants in environmental waters. Spray-coating and dip coating methodologies were used to coat the surfaces of six stainless steel bolts with a layer of HLB/PAN particles, which served as the extractive substrate in the proposed device. In addition, this sampler was designed to withstand rough handling, long storage times, and various environmental conditions. In order to identify whether the sampler was able to stabilize extracted compounds for long periods of time, the effects of storage time and temperature were evaluated. The results of these tests showed no significant differences in the quantity and quality of the extracted chemicals following 12 days storage at room temperature, thus confirming the device's suitability for use at sampling sites that are far away from the laboratory facilities. The proposed device was also used to perform extraction and untargeted analyses of river waters in five different geographical locations. The constituent chemicals in the samplers were analyzed and determined using high-resolution HPLC-Orbitrap MS. Toxin and Toxin-Target Database was used as a reference database for toxins and environmental contaminants. Ultimately, over 80 tentative chemicals with widely varying hydrophobicities ranging within −2.43 < logP <11.9—including drugs, metabolites, wide ranges of toxins, pesticide, and insecticides—were identified in the samplers used in the different rivers. The log P values for the tentative analytes confirmed that the introduced device is suitable for the extraction and trace analysis of wide ranges of targeted and untargeted pollutants.

Natural environments are receiving an increasing number of contaminants. Therefore, the evaluation and identification of early responses to pollution in these complex habitats is an urgent and challenging task. Doñana National Park (DNP, SW Spain) has been widely used as a model area for environmental studies because, despite its strictly protected core, it is surrounded by numerous threat sources from agricultural, mining and industrial activities. Since many pollutants often induce oxidative stress, redox proteomics was used to detect redox-based variations within the proteome of Mus spretus mice captured in DNP and the surrounding areas. Functional analysis showed that most differentially oxidized proteins are involved in the maintenance of homeostasis, by eliciting mechanisms to respond to toxic substances and oxidative stress, such as antioxidant and biotransformation processes, immune and inflammatory responses, and blood coagulation. Furthermore, changes in the overall protein abundance were also analysed by label-free quantitative proteomics. The upregulation of phase I and II biotransformation enzymes in mice from Lucio del Palacio may be an alert for organic pollution in the area located at the heart of DNP. Metabolic processes involved in protein turnover (proteolysis, amino acid catabolism, new protein biosynthesis and folding) were activated in response to oxidative damage to these biomolecules. Consequently, aerobic respiratory metabolism increased to address the greater ATP demands. Alterations of cholesterol metabolism that could cause hepatic steatosis were also detected. The proteomic detection of globally altered metabolic and physiological processes offers a complete view of the main biological changes caused by environmental pollution in complex habitats.

Despite their ecological and socioeconomic importance, mangroves are among the most threatened tropical environments in the world. In the past two decades, the world's mangrove degradation and loss were estimated to lie between an 35% and >80%. However, appropriate bioindicators for assessing the impact of external factors, and for differentiating polluted from unpolluted areas are still scarce. Here, we determine the physicochemical profiles of the soils of two mangroves, one exposed to and one not exposed to anthropogenic factors. By metagenomic analysis based on 16S rRNA, we generated the bacterial diversity profiles of the soils and estimated their functional profiles. Our results showed that the two examined mangrove forests differed significantly in the physicochemical properties of the soils, especially regarding organic carbon, phosphorus and metal content, as well as in their microbial communities, which was likely caused by anthropogenic pollution. The physicochemical differences between the soils explained 76% of the differential bacterial composition, and 64% depended solely on gradients of phosphorus, metal ions and potassium. We found two genera JL-ETNP-Z39 and TA06 exclusively in polluted and non-polluted mangroves, respectively. Additionally, the polluted mangrove was enriched in Gemmatimonadetes, Cyanobacteria, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, and Nitrospirae. A total of 77 genera were affected by anthropic contamination, of which we propose 33 as bioindicators; 26 enriched, and 7 depleted upon pollution.

Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) pollution levels and human health risks resulting from exposure to non-anthropogenic pollution sources, such as coal mine-fires, are serious global issues. The toxicity of PM₁₀-bound metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was assessed according to their non-cancer and cancer risks (CRs) at the mine-fire and in an adjacent city area. Health risks were estimated for inhalation, ingestion, and dermal absorption pathways. The non-cancer risks, presented in terms of the hazard index (HI) and hazard quotient (HQ), were found to be significant (>1) at all locations, except in the mining (for HQ-dermal) and city background area (for HQ-ingestion and HQ-dermal) in children and adults, respectively. The total CR was estimated to be highest at the city nearby the mine-fire area (3.31E-02 and 1.93E-02) followed by the mine-fire area (2.66E-02 and 1.71E-02) for children and adults, respectively. The total CR and CR via individual exposure routes were estimated to be in the high risk (10⁻³ ≤ CR < 10⁻¹) category at the mine-fire site and adjacent city area. For all exposures, CR levels were calculated to be higher than the acceptable range (from 1.00E-06 to 1.00E-04), except for the CR-inhalation level at the A5 location. Among all elements, Cd and BaPₑqᵤ were more significant for the CR at the coal mine-fire and the adjacent city area. Hence, this study concluded that non-anthropogenic sources, such as coal mine-fires, could be part for the significant health risk (carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic) levels in the study area.

Swine waste is a reservoir of microbial pollutants, including pathogens, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB); therefore, soil fertilized with swine waste is an essential pathway for the dissemination of microbial pollutants from concentrated swine farms to the public. To rationalize the intervals of swine wastes application and investigate the effects of soil type on the occurrences of microbial pollutants and antibiotic resistance, pot experiments were conducted with three typical soils, humic acrisol, calcaric cambisols and histosols, being collected from south, northwest and northeast China (soil-R, soil-Y and soil-B, respectively). The soils were amended with swine slurry, digestate and chemical fertilizers and then conducted for 172 days. The influence of microbial pollutants and antibiotic resistance in soil posed by digestate application was similar to that of the chemical fertilizers, while swine slurry posed high risks to the soil. Soil-B which had the highest organic matter and neutral pH was least influenced by the swine slurry amendment. tetG, tetM and ermF were persistent ARGs in the slurry treated soil, and their decay rates fitted to first-order kinetics in the order soil-B> soil-Y > soil-R. Putative pathogens showed strong correlations with ARGs, suggesting a risk of dissemination. The initial 43–82 days was the active phase of microbial pollution in slurry treated soil, during which time heavy metals, moisture content, total organic carbon and the microbial community were key factors contributing to changes in antibiotic resistance. Fertilization intervals of livestock wastes should be lengthened over the ARG active phase.

The long-term use of animal manure in agriculture has resulted in estrogen pollution, which poses risks to facility vegetable soils. Owing to the complex soil composition, estrogen may exhibit a variety of behaviors at the water/soil interface. This study demonstrated the role of humic acid (HA) on the 17β-estradiol (E2) adsorption by clay minerals (montmorillonite, kaolinite, and hematite). The interfacial behaviors were investigated using adsorption kinetics and isotherms data. Then, the effects of temperature, pH, and bisphenol A (BPA) on the interactions between humic-mineral complexes and E2 were explored. The adsorption of E2 is an exothermic and spontaneous process, and the addition of HA to minerals significantly promoted their E2 adsorption capacities. Higher pH levels (>10) and the presence of BPA decreased the adsorption capacities of minerals and mineral complexes for E2. Moreover, intercalation, hydrophobic partitioning, π-π interactions and hydrogen bonding could dominate the E2 adsorption onto complexes. These results provided insight into the interfacial behaviors of E2 on the surfaces of humic-mineral complexes and promoted the understanding of the migration and transport of estrogens in soils.