In southern Québec, supplement roadside ground covers (i.e. Trifolium spp.) struggle to establish near edges of major roads and thus fail to assist turf recruitment. It creates empty niches vulnerable to weed establishment such as common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia). We hypothesized that heavy metal stresses may drive such species shifts along roadside edges. A growth chamber experiment was conducted to assess effects of metals (Zn, Pb, Ni, Cu, and Cd) on germination and seedling behaviors of roadside weed (A. artemisiifolia) and ground cover legumes (Coronilla varia, Lotus corniculatus, and Trifolium arvense). All metals inhibited T. arvense germination, but the effect was least on A. artemisiifolia. Low levels of Pb and Ni promoted germination initiation of A. artemisiifolia. Germination of L. corniculatus was not affected by Zn, Pb, and Ni, but inhibited by Cu and Cd. Germination of C. varia was decreased by Ni, Cu, and Cd and delayed by Zn and Pb. Metal additions hindered seedling growth of all test species, and the inhibitory effect on the belowground growth was greater than on the aboveground growth. Seedling mortality was lowest in A. artemisiifolia but highest in T. arvense when exposed to the metal treatments. L. corniculatus and C. varia seedlings survived when subjected to high levels of Zn, Pb, and Cd. In conclusion, the successful establishment of A. artemisiifolia along roadside edges can be associated with its greater tolerance of heavy metals. The findings also revealed that L. corniculatus is a potential candidate for supplement ground cover in metal-contaminated roadside edges in southern Québec, especially sites contaminated with Zn and Pb.

In this work, source pollution tracing of the sediments of the Danube River and its tributaries in Serbia was performed using sterol ratios. Improved liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method, which enabled complete chromatographic separation of four analytes with identical fragmentation reactions (epicoprostanol, coprostanol, epicholestanol and cholestanol), was applied for the determination of steroid compounds (hormones, human/animal and plant sterols). A widespread occurrence of sterols was identified in all analyzed samples, whereas the only detected hormones were mestranol and 17α-estradiol. A human-sourced sewage marker coprostanol was detected at the highest concentration (up to 1939 ng g−1). The ratios between the key sterol biomarkers, as well as the percentage of coprostanol relative to the total sterol amount, were applied with the aim of selecting the most reliable for distinction between human-sourced pollution and the sterols originated from the natural sources in river sediments. The coprostanol/(cholesterol + cholestanol) and coprostanol/epicoprostanol ratios do not distinguish between human and natural sources of sterols in the river sediments in Serbia. The most reliable sterol ratios for the sewage pollution assessment of river sediments in the studied area were found to be coprostanol/(coprostanol + cholestanol), coprostanol/cholesterol and epicoprostanol/coprostanol. For the majority of sediments, human-derived pollution was determined. Two sediment samples were identified as influenced by a combination of human and natural biogenic sources.

Production of bisphenol A (BPA) analogues such as bisphenol F (BPF) and bisphenol AF (BPAF) has recently increased, due to clear evidence of adverse effects of BPA on humans and wildlife. Bisphenols (BPs) have already been released into aquatic environment without previous available information about potential adverse effects of BPs and their potential risk to aquatic ecosystems. In this study, lethal and sublethal effects of BPF and BPAF to bacteria, algae, crustacea and fish embryos were investigated and the results were compared to the adverse effects obtained for BPA. We found that BPAF was the most toxic compound to Daphnia magna, Danio rerio and Desmodesmus subspicatus; the lowest 72 h EC50 (median effective concentration) and 21 d NOEC (no observed effect concentration) values were determined at 2.2 mg/L regarding zebrafish hatching success and 0.23 mg/L of BPAF obtained for growth and reproduction of water fleas, respectively. In most cases, BPA was more toxic to D. magna, D. rerio and D. subspicatus in comparison to BPF, but pigmentation of zebrafish embryos after 48 h of exposure and reproduction of water fleas after 21-day D. magna reproductive test exposure to BPF were much more impaired. Risk quotients (measured environmental concentration/21 d NOEC) showed that BPA, BPF and BPAF are recently not chronically hazardous to the survival, reproduction and growth of water fleas in surface waters. On the other hand, we importantly show that currently present BPAF concentrations in surface waters could cause a potential ecological risk to aquatic organisms. In the near future, higher concentrations of BPF and BPAF in surface waters are anticipated and for this reason further testing using test systems with various aquatic species and endpoints are needed to provide additional information about toxic impacts of BPF and BPAF on aquatic biota.

China's urbanization and the subsequent public vulnerability to degenerated environment is important to global public health. Among the environmental problems, fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution has become a serious hazard in rapidly urbanizing China. However, quantitative information remains inadequate. We thus collected PM2.5 concentrations and population census records, to illustrate the spatial patterns and changes in the PM2.5 hazard levels in China, and to quantify public vulnerability to the hazard during 2000–2010, following the air quality standards of World Health Organization. We found that 28% (2.72 million km2) of China's territory, including 78% of cities (154 cities) with a population of >1 million, was exposed to PM2.5 hazard in 2010; a 15% increase (1.47 million km2) from 2000 to 2010. The hazards potentially impacted the health of 72% of the total population (942 million) in 2010, including 70% of the young (206 million) and 76% of the old (71 million). This was a significant increase from the 42% of total the population (279 million) exposed in 2000. Of the total urban residents, 76% (501 million) were affected in 2010. Along with PM2.5 concentration increase, massive number of rural to urban migration also contributed greatly to China's urban public health vulnerability.

The contributions of major driving forces on temporal changes of heavy metals in the soil in a representative river−alluviation area at the lower of Yangtze River were successfully quantified by combining geostatistics analysis with the modified principal component scores & multiple linear regressions approach (PCS−MLR). The results showed that the temporal (2003–2014) changes of Cu, Zn, Ni and Cr presented a similar spatial distribution pattern, whereas the Cd and Hg showed the distinctive patterns. The temporal changes of soil Cu, Zn, Ni and Cr may be predominated by the emission of the shipbuilding industry, whereas the significant changes of Cd and Hg were possibly predominated by the geochemical and geographical processes, such as the erosion of the Yangtze River water and leaching because of soil acidification. The emission of metal−bearing shipbuilding industry contributed an estimated 74%–83% of the changes in concentrations of Cu, Zn, Ni and Cr, whereas the geochemical and geographical processes may contribute 58% of change of Cd in the soil and 59% of decrease of Hg.

Long-term exposure to primary traffic pollutants may be harmful for health but few studies have investigated effects on mortality. We examined associations for six primary traffic pollutants with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in 2003–2010 at small-area level using linear and piecewise linear Poisson regression models. In linear models most pollutants showed negative or null association with all-cause, cardiovascular or respiratory mortality. In the piecewise models we observed positive associations in the lowest exposure range (e.g. relative risk (RR) for all-cause mortality 1.07 (95% credible interval (CI) = 1.00–1.15) per 0.15 μg/m³ increase in exhaust related primary particulate matter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5)) whereas associations in the highest exposure range were negative (corresponding RR 0.93, 95% CI: 0.91–0.96). Overall, there was only weak evidence of positive associations with mortality. That we found the strongest positive associations in the lowest exposure group may reflect residual confounding by unmeasured confounders that varies by exposure group.

Exposure of young children to toxic metals in urban environments is largely due to soil and dust ingestion. Soil particle size distribution and concentrations of toxic metals in different particle sizes are important risk factors in addition to bioaccessibility of these metals in the particles. Analysis of particle size distribution and metals concentrations for 13 soils, 12 sampled from urban gardens and 1 from orchard found that fine particles (<105 μm) comprised from 22 to 66% by weight of the tested soils, with Ba, Cu, Pb and Zn generally at higher concentrations in the finer particles. However, metal bioaccessibility was generally lower in finer particles, a trend most pronounced for Ba and Pb. Gastric was higher than gastrointestinal bioaccessibility for all metals except Cu. The lower bioaccessibility of Pb in urban garden soils compared to orchard soil is attributable to the higher organic matter content of the garden soils.

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is one of the main threats for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Measurement techniques like ion-exchange resin collectors (IECs), which are less expensive and time-consuming than conventional methods, are gaining relevance in the study of atmospheric deposition and are recommended to expand monitoring networks. In the present work, bulk and throughfall deposition of inorganic nitrogen were monitored in three different holm oak forests in Spain during two years. The results obtained with IECs were contrasted with a conventional technique using bottle collectors and with a literature review of similar studies. The performance of IECs in comparison with the conventional method was good for measuring bulk deposition of nitrate and acceptable for ammonium and total dissolved inorganic nitrogen. Mean annual bulk deposition of inorganic nitrogen ranged 3.09–5.43 kg N ha−1 according to IEC methodology, and 2.42–6.83 kg N ha−1 y−1 using the conventional method. Intra-annual variability of the net throughfall deposition of nitrogen measured with the conventional method revealed the existence of input pulses of nitrogen into the forest soil after dry periods, presumably originated from the washing of dry deposition accumulated in the canopy. Important methodological recommendations on the IEC method and discussed, compiled and summarized.

Organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) have been detected at high concentrations in various environmental and biotic samples, but little is known about their toxicity. In this study, the potential neurotoxicity of three OPFRs (TCEP, TDCPP, and TPP) and Chlorpyrifos (CPF, an organophosphate pesticide) were compared in Chinese rare minnow using an acute toxicity test and a 21-day fish assay. The acute test demonstrated significant inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) by CPF. Although significant AChE inhibition at high concentration of TPP was also observed, none of the OPFRs had effects similar to CPF on these enzymes, indicating that their acute toxicities to Chinese rare minnow may be unrelated to cholinesterase inhibition. In addition, the 21-day fish assay with TDCPP demonstrated no significant effects on cholinesterase activities or neurotransmitter levels. Nonetheless, this OPFR exhibited widespread effects on the neurotrophic factors and their receptors (e.g., ntf3, ntrk1, ntrk2, ngfr, and fgf2, fgf11, fgf22, fgfr4), indicating that TDCPP or other OPFRs may elicit neurological effects by targeting neurotrophic factors and their receptors in Chinese rare minnow.