One of the most important reasons for the controversy over the development of nuclear energy is the proper disposal of spent fuel. Separation of actinide and lanthanide ions is an important part of safe long-term storage of radioactive waste. Herein, a three-dimensional (3D) graphene-based macrostructure (GOCS) was utilized to remove actinide thorium and lanthanide europium ions from aqueous solutions. The adsorption of Eu(III) and Th(IV) on the GOCS was evaluated as a function of adsorption time, solution pH, initial ion concentrations, and ionic strength. The experimentally determined maximum adsorption capacities of this GOCS for Eu(III) (pH 6.0) and Th(IV) (pH 3.0) are as high as 150 and 220 mg/g, respectively. By using Fourier transformation infrared (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron (XPS), and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy, we concluded that the Eu(III) and Th(IV) adsorption was predominantly attributed to the inner-sphere coordination with various oxygen- and nitrogen-containing functional groups on GOCS surfaces. Our selective adsorption results demonstrate that the actinide and lanthanide ions can be effectively separated from transition metal ions. This study provides new clues to the overall recycling of actinide and lanthanide ions in radioactive environmental pollution treatments.

Antibiotics are introduced into agricultural fields by the application of manure or biosolids, or via irrigation using reclaimed wastewater. Antibiotics can enter the terrestrial food chains through plant uptake, which forms an alternative pathway for human exposure to antibiotics. However, previous studies mainly focused on detecting residues of the parent antibiotics, while ignoring the identification of antibiotics transformation products in plants. Here, we evaluated the uptake and metabolism of clarithromycin (CLA) and sulfadiazine (SDZ) in lettuce under controlled hydroponic conditions. The antibiotics and their metabolites were identified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QToF-MS/MS) and ultra-performance liquid chromatograph Micromass triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC−QqQ−MS/MS). The structure of CLA, SDZ and N-acetylated SDZ were confirmed with synthesized standards, verifying the reliability of the identification method. Eight metabolites of CLA and two metabolites of SDZ were detected in both the leaves and roots of lettuce. The metabolites of CLA included phases I and II transformation products, while only phase II metabolites of SDZ were observed in lettuce. The proportion of CLA metabolites was estimated to be greater than 70%, indicating that most of the CLA was metabolized in plant tissues. The proportion of SDZ metabolites was lower than 12% in the leaves and 10% in the roots. Some metabolites might have the ability to increase or acquire antibacterial activity. Therefore, in addition to the parent compounds, metabolites of antibiotics in edible vegetables are also worthy of study for risk assessment and to determine the consequences of long-term exposure.

Lipophilic marine toxins in shellfish pose significant threats to the health of seafood consumers. To assess the contamination status of shellfish by lipophilic marine toxins in the Bohai Sea, nine species of shellfish periodically collected from five representative aquaculture zones throughout a year were analyzed with a method of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Lipophilic marine toxins, including okadaic acid (OA), dinophysistoxin-1 (DTX1), pectenotoxin-2 (PTX2), yessotoxin (YTX), homo-yessotoxin (homo-YTX), azaspiracids (AZA2 and AZA3), gymnodimine (GYM), and 13-desmethyl spirolide C (13-DesMe-C), were detected in more than 95 percent of the shellfish samples. Toxins PTX2, YTX, 13-DesMe-C and GYM were predominant components detected in shellfish samples. Scallops, clams and mussels accumulated much higher level of lipophilic marine toxins compared to oysters. Toxin content in shellfish samples collected from different sampling locations showed site-specific seasonal variation patterns. High level of toxins was found during the stages from December to February and June to July in Hangu, while from March to April and August to September in Laishan. Some toxic algae, including Dinophysis acuminata, D. fortii, Prorocentrum lima, Gonyaulax spinifera and Lingulodinium polyedrum, were identified as potential origins of lipophilic marine toxins in the Bohai Sea. The results will offer a sound basis for monitoring marine toxins and protecting the health of seafood consumers.

Metabolic uncouplers are widely used for the in-situ reduction of excess sludge from activated sludge systems. However, the interaction mechanism between the metabolic uncouplers and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of activated sludge is unknown yet. In this study, the interactions between a typical metabolic uncoupler, o-chlorophenol (oCP), and the EPS extracted from activated sludge were explored using a suite of spectral methods. The binding constants calculated for the four peaks of three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix fluorescence were in a range of 1.24–1.76 × 10³ L/mol, implying that the tyrosine protein-like substances governed the oCP-EPS interactions. Furthermore, the results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance indicated that the carboxyl, carbonyl, amine, and hydroxyl groups of EPS were the main functional groups involved in the formation of the oCP-EPS complex. The results of this study are useful for understanding the interactions between metabolic uncouplers and the EPS of activated sludge as well as their fates in biological wastewater treatment systems.

Groundwater with elevated As concentrations is a global concern, and low-cost, high-efficiency removal technologies are necessary. Therefore, we have prepared three adsorbent FeMnLa-impregnated biochar composites (FMLBCs) for the efficient removal of As(III) from aqueous solutions and characterized them using a variety of techniques. We found that the efficiency of As(III) removal increased with increasing La content and that the removal mainly occurred via adsorption and oxidation. Moreover, the removal of As(III) by FMLBCs was rapid and was best fitted to a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The adsorption isotherms were well described by the Langmuir equation, and the maximum As(III) adsorption capacity was 15.34 mg g⁻¹. These results highlight the significant potential of FMLBCs as adsorbents for As(III) removal from aqueous solutions.

Microbes in sediments contribute to nutrient release and play an important role in lake eutrophication. However, information about the profiles of functional genes and bacterial communities and the most important environmental factor affecting them in the sediments of eutrophic lake remains unrevealed. In this work, the real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay and 16S ribosomal RNA gene next generation sequencing analysis were used to explore the profiles of functional genes and bacterial communities in the sediments of Chaohu Lake. The selected 18 functional genes involved in C, N and P cycles were detected in most of samples. Seasonal variation and sediment variables were found to affect the profiles of functional genes and bacterial communities, and total nitrogen was the dominant environmental factor to drive the formation of bacterial community structure. Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were observed to be the two dominant phyla in the sediments with relative abundance ranging from 10.8% to 36.0% and 7.7%–46.7%, respectively. Three bacterial phyla, i.e., Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Spirochaetes, were found to be significantly positively correlated with the C, N and P-cycle related functional genes. Bacterial community structure was the most important driver to shape the profiles of functional genes. Seasonal variation also influenced the co-occurrence patterns between functional genes and bacterial taxa as revealed by network analysis. The findings from this work facilitate a better understanding about the C, N, and P cycles in the sediments of eutrophic lakes.

Harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in the North and Baltic Seas are exposed to anthropogenic influences including acoustic stress and environmental contaminants. In order to evaluate immune responses in healthy and diseased harbor porpoise cells, cytokine expression analyses and lymphocyte proliferation assays, together with toxicological analyses were performed in stranded and bycaught animals as well as in animals kept in permanent human care. Severely diseased harbor porpoises showed a reduced proliferative capacity of peripheral blood lymphocytes together with diminished transcription of transforming growth factor-β and tumor necrosis factor-α compared to healthy controls. Toxicological analyses revealed accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) in harbor porpoise blood samples. Correlation analyses between blood organochlorine levels and immune parameters revealed no direct effects of xenobiotics upon lymphocyte proliferation or cytokine transcription, respectively. Results reveal an impaired function of peripheral blood leukocytes in severely diseased harbor porpoises, indicating immune exhaustion and increased disease susceptibility.

Epidemiological studies on the impact of outdoor temperature to human health have demonstrated the capability of humans to adapt to local climate. However, there is limited information on the association between indoor temperature and human health, despite people spending most of their time indoors. The problem stems from the lack of sufficient indoor temperature measurement in the population. To overcome this obstacle, this paper presents an indirect epidemiological approach to evaluate the impact of high indoor temperature on mortality. The relationships between indoor-outdoor temperatures in different climate zones identified in the literature were combined with the outdoor temperature-mortality curves of the same locations to obtain the local indoor minimum mortality temperatures (iMMT), the temperature at which mortality is lowest, which by implication is the temperature at which the population is most comfortable on average. We show that the iMMT varies and has a weak linear relationship with the distance to the equator, which provides evidence of human adaptation to local indoor temperatures. These findings reinforce the adaptive comfort theory, which states that people can adapt to local indoor environment and establish their thermal comfort. Recognising the human adaptability to local climate will direct flexible and optimized policy to protect public health against extreme temperature events. This will also help reduce energy consumption for regulating indoor temperature without compromising the occupants’ health.

Potential impacts of change in climate on Indian agriculture may be significantly adverse, if not disastrous. There are projections of potential loss in wheat yield due to the rise in daily minimum (Tmin) and maximum (Tmax) temperature, but only few researchers have considered the extent of such loss on a spatial scale. We therefore, systematically studied the effect of change in Tmax, Tmean (daily average temperature) and Tmin, solar radiation (Srad) and precipitation (RAIN) during wheat growing seasons (from 1986 to 2015) on wheat crop yield over five wheat growing zones across India, taking into account the effect modification by aerosol loading (in terms of aerosol optical depth, 2001–2015). We note that for the entire India, 1 °C rise in Tmean resulted a 7% decrease in wheat yield which varied disproportionately across the crop growing zones by a range of −9% (peninsular zone, PZ) to 4% (northern hills zone, NHZ). The effect of Tmean on wheat yield was identical to the marginal effect of Tmax and Tmin, while 1% increase in Srad enhance wheat yield by 4% for all India with small geographical variations (2–5%), except for the northern hill region (−4%). Rise in 1 °C Tmean exclusively during grain filling duration was noted positive for all the wheat growing regions (0–2%) except over central plain zone (−3%). When estimates of weather variables on wheat yield was combined with the estimated impact of aerosols on weather, the most significant impact was noted over the NHZ (−23%), which otherwise varied from −7% to −4%. Overall, the study brings out the conclusive evidence of negative impact of rising temperature on wheat yield across India, which we found spatially inconsistent and highly uncertain when integrated with the compounding effect of aerosols loading.

Large amounts of short chain and medium chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs) are released into the environment during production and usage. However, compared to SCCPs, there is a significant lack of attention for MCCPs. In this work, 83 air samples, collected between 2012 and 2015 from the Tibetan Plateau, were analyzed to investigate the airborne levels and distributions of MCCPs, further to evaluate their potential long-range transport behavior on the alpine area. The total air MCCP concentrations at Shergyla Mountain and Lhasa were between 50 and 690 pg/m3 and 800–6700 pg/m3, respectively. At Shergyla Mountain, MCCP concentrations in the air appeared an increasing trend with altitude, which indicated that MCCPs could potentially possess the ability of “mountain cold trapping”. C14 and C15 congener groups were the dominant homologue groups. The mountain contamination potential (MCP) of different congener groups is closely related to their equilibrium partitioning coefficients between octanol and air (KOA), and water and air (KWA). Increasing MCCPs levels might be a potential threat to the environment and human exposure.