Ocean acidification (OA) and microplastics (MPs) contamination are two results of human excises. In regions like estuarine areas, OA and MPs exposure are happening at the same time. The current research investigated the synthesized effects of OA and MPs exposure for a medium-term duration on the physiology and energy budget of the thick shell mussel Mytilus coruscus. Mussels were treated by six combinations of three MPs levels (0, 10 and 1000 items L⁻¹) × two pH levels (7.3, 8.1) for 21 d. As a result, under pH 7.3, clearance rate (CR), food absorption efficiency (AE), respiration rate (RR), and scope for growth (SFG) significantly decreased, while the fecal organic dry weight ratio (E) significantly increased. 1000 items L⁻¹ MPs led to decrease of CR, E, SFG and increase of AE under pH 8.1. Interactive effects from combination of pH and MPs were found in terms of CR, AE, E and RR, but not for SFG of M. coruscus.

In peri-urban critical zones, soil ecosystems are highly affected by increasing urbanization, causing probably an intense interaction between dissolved organic matter (DOM) and heavy metals in soil. Such interaction is critical for understanding the biogeochemical cycles of both organic matter and heavy metals in these zones. However, limited research has reported the correlative distribution of DOM and heavy metals at high seasonal and spatial resolutions in peri-urban critical zones. In this study, 160 soil samples were collected from the farmland and forestland of Zhangxi watershed, in Ningbo, eastern China during spring, summer, fall and winter four seasons. UV–visible absorption and fluorescent spectroscopy were used to explore the optical characteristics of DOM. The results indicated a mixture of exogenous and autogenous sources of DOM in the Zhangxi watershed, while DOM in farmland exhibited a higher degree of aromaticity and humification than that in forestland. Fluorescent results showed that humic acid-like, fulvic acid-like and microbial-derived humic-like fractions were mostly affected by seasons. The distribution of heavy metals was affected mainly by land-use changes and seasons. Correlation analysis between heavy metals and DOM characteristics and components suggested that aromatic and humic substances were more favorable in binding with EDTA extractable Ni, Cu, Zn and Cd. The bioavailable Cd and Pb decreased due to binding with humic fractions, indicating its great effects on the bioavailability of Cd and Pb. Overall, these findings provide an insight into the correlative distributions of DOM and heavy metals in peri-urban areas, thereby highlighting their biogeochemical cycling in the soil environment.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been produced and used in a broad range of products since the 1950s. This class, comprising of thousands of chemicals, have been used in many different products ranging from firefighting foam to personal care products and clothes. Even at relatively low levels of exposure, PFAS have been linked to various health effects in humans such as lower birth weight, increased serum cholesterol levels, and reduced antibody response to vaccination. Human biomonitoring data demonstrates ubiquitous exposure to PFAS across all age groups. This has been attributed to PFAS-contaminated water and dietary intake, as well as inadvertent ingestion of indoor dust for adults and toddlers. In utero exposure and breast milk have been indicated as important exposure pathways for foetuses and nursing infants. More recently, PFAS have been identified in a wide range of products, many of which come in contact with skin (e.g., cosmetics and fabrics). Despite this, few studies have evaluated dermal uptake as a possible route for human exposure and little is known about the dermal absorption potential of different PFAS. This article critically investigates the current state-of-knowledge on human exposure to PFAS, highlighting the lack of dermal exposure data. Additionally, the different approaches for dermal uptake assessment studies are discussed and the available literature on human dermal absorption of PFAS is critically reviewed and compared to other halogenated contaminants, e.g., brominated flame retardants and its implications for dermal exposure to PFAS. Finally, the urgent need for dermal permeation and uptake studies for a wide range of PFAS and their precursors is highlighted and recommendations for future research to advance the current understanding of human dermal exposure to PFAS are discussed.

A total of 1345 specimens belonging to 58 different species of wild fish and seafood from the western Mediterranean Sea were analyzed to assess total mercury levels and to estimate which species meet the EU recommendations for human consumption (0.5 μg g⁻¹ ww) in all cases. All fish species were caught off the Mediterranean coasts and intended for human consumption. All specimens were collected from local markets located in Spain, Italy and France that sell fish caught by local fishermen (Eivissa, Menorca, Mallorca, Alacant, L'Ampolla, Ametlla de Mar, Marseille, Genoa, Civitavecchia, Alghero) at different time periods. Mercury concentrations were measured by thermal decomposition-gold amalgamator-atomic absorption spectrometry. Only thirteen species were found that did not exceed 0.5 μg g⁻¹ ww in any specimen analyzed. These safe species were sardines (Sardina pilchardus), anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus), blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou), picarel (Spicara smaris), blackspot seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo), gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), pearly razorfish (Xyrichtys novacula), surmullet (Mullus surmuletus), painted comber (Serranus scriba), brown meagre (Sciaena umbra), salema (Sarpa salpa), common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) and squid (Loligo vulgaris). These species occupy different trophic levels, have different lengths and average weights, but show a low mercury concentration than others living in the same environments. Potential human consumption of these species as sole source of fish would imply estimated weekly intakes representing between 49% and 70% of the recommended provisional tolerable weekly intake of methylmercury in the worst case. Health authorities should pay specific attention to species that do not meet EU thresholds and make appropriate precautionary health recommendations, especially for pregnant women and children.

Investigating the migration and transformation of carbonaceous and nitrogenous matter in the cryosphere areas is crucial for understanding global biogeochemical cycle and earth's climate system. However, water-soluble organic constituents and their transformation in multiple water bodies are barely investigated. Water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and organic nitrogen (WSON), and particulate black carbon (PBC) in multiple types of water bodies in eastern Tibetan Plateau (TP) cryosphere for the first time have been systematically investigated. Statistical results exhibited that from south to north and from east to west of this region, WSOC concentrations in alpine river runoff were gradually elevated. WSOC and nitrogenous matter in the alpine river runoff and precipitation in the glacier region presented distinct seasonal variations. WSON was the dominant component (63.4%) of water-soluble total nitrogen in precipitation over high-altitude southeastern TP cryosphere. Water-soluble carbonaceous matter dominated the carbon cycle in the TP cryosphere, but particulate carbonaceous matter in the alpine river runoff had a small fraction of the cryospheric carbon cycle. Analysis of optical properties illustrated that PBC had a much stronger light absorption ability (MAC-PBC: 2.28 ± 0.37 m² g⁻¹) than WSOC in the alpine river runoff (0.41 ± 0.26 m² g⁻¹). Ionic composition was dominated by SO₄²⁻, NO₃⁻, and NH₄⁺ (average: 45.13 ± 3.75%) in the snow of glaciers, implying important contribution of (fossil fuel) combustion sources over this region. The results of this study have essential implications for understanding the carbon and nitrogen cycles in high altitude cryosphere regions of the world. Future work should be performed based on more robust in-situ observations and measurements from multiple environmental medium over the cryosphere areas, to ensure ecological protection and high-quality development of the high mountain Asia.

Organic aerosol (OA) emitted from biomass burning (BB) impacts air quality and global radiation balance. However, the comprehensive characterization of OA remains poorly understood because of the complex evolutionary behavior of OA in atmospheric processes. In this work, smoke particles were generated from rice straw combustion. The effect of OH radicals photooxidation on size distribution, light absorption, and molecular compositions of smoke particles was systematically investigated. The results showed that the median diameters of smoke particles increased by a factor of approximately 1.2 after photooxidation. In the particle compositions, although both non-polar fractions (n-hexane-soluble organic carbon, HSOC) and polar fractions (water-soluble organic carbon, WSOC) underwent photobleaching after aging, the photobleaching properties of HSOC (1.87–2.19) was always higher than that of WSOC (1.52–1.33). Besides, the light-absorbing properties of HSOC were higher than that of WSOC, showing a factor of approximately 1.75 times for mass absorption efficiency at 365 nm (MAE₃₆₅). Consequently, the simple forcing efficiency (SFE) caused by absorption showed that HSOC has higher radiation effects than WSOC. After photooxidation, the concentration of 16 PAHs in HSOC fractions significantly decreased by 15.3%–72.5%. In WSOC fractions, the content of CHO, CHONS, and CHOS compounds decreased slightly, while the content of CHON compounds increased. Meantime, the variations in molecular properties supported the decrease in light absorption of WSOC fractions. These results reveal the aging behavior of smoke particles, then stress the importance of non-polar organic fractions in particles, providing new insights into understanding the atmospheric pollution caused by BB smoke particles.

The coastal megacity Shanghai is located in the center of the Yangtze River Delta, a dominant flame retardants (FRs) production region in China, especially for organophosphate esters (OPEs). This prompted us to investigate occurrence and seasonal changes of atmospheric OPEs in Shanghai, as well as to evaluate their sources, environmental behavior and fate as a case study for global coastal regions. Atmospheric gas and particle phase OPEs were weekly collected at two coastal sites - the emerging town Lingang New Area (LGNA), and the chemical-industry zone Jinshan Area (JSA) from July 2016–June 2017. Total atmospheric concentrations of the observed OPEs were significantly higher in JSA (median of 1800 pg m⁻³) than LGNA (median of 580 pg m⁻³). Tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP) was the most abundant compound, and the proportion of three chlorinated OPEs were higher in the particle phase (55%) than in the gas phase (39%). The year-round median contribution of particle phase OPEs was 33%, which changed strongly with seasons, accounting for 10% in summer in contrast to 62% in winter. Gas and particle phase OPEs in JSA exhibited significant correlations with inverse of temperature, respectively, indicating the importance of local/secondary volatilization sources. The estimated fluxes of gaseous absorption were almost 2 orders of magnitude higher than those of particle phase deposition, which could act as sources of organic phosphorus to coastal and open ocean waters.

Nanoplastic is recognized as an emerging environmental pollutant due to the anticipated ubiquitous distribution, increasing concentration in the ocean, and potential adverse health effects. While our understanding of the ecological impacts of nanoplastics is still limited, we benefit from relatively rich toxicological studies on other nanoparticles such as nano metal oxides. However, the similarity and difference in the toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic aspects of plastic and metallic nanoparticles remain largely unknown. In this study, juvenile Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei was exposed to two types of nanoparticles at environmentally relative low and high concentrations, i.e., 100 nm polystyrene nanoplastics (nano-PS) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO₂) via dietary exposure for 28 days. The systematic toxicological evaluation aimed to quantitatively compare the accumulation, excretion, and toxic effects of nano-PS and nano-TiO₂. Our results demonstrated that both nanoparticles were ingested by L. vannamei with lower egestion of nano-TiO₂ than nano-PS. Both nanoparticles inhibited the growth of shrimps, damaged tissue structures of the intestine and hepatopancreas, disrupted expression of immune-related genes, and induced intestinal microbiota dysbiosis. Nano-PS exposure caused proliferative cells in the intestinal tissue, and the disturbance to the intestinal microbes was also more serious than that of nano-TiO₂. The results indicated that the effect of nano-PS on the intestinal tissue of L. vannamei was more severe than that of nano-TiO₂ with the same particle size. The study provides new theoretical basis of the similarity and differences of their toxicity, and highlights the current lack of knowledge on various aspects of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) pathways of nanoplastics.

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is a flammable, corrosive and lethal gas even at low concentrations (ppm levels). Hence, the capture and removal of H₂S from various emitting sources (such as oil and gas processing facilities, natural emissions, sewage treatment plants, landfills and other industrial plants) is necessary to prevent and mitigate its adverse effects on human (causing respiratory failure and asphyxiation), environment (creating highly flammable and explosive environment), and facilities (resulting in corrosion of industrial equipment and pipelines). In this review, the state-of-the-art technologies for H₂S capture and removal are reviewed and discussed. In particular, the recent technologies for H₂S removal such as membrane, adsorption, absorption and membrane contactor are extensively reviewed. To date, adsorption using metal oxide-based sorbents is by far the most established technology in commercial scale for the fine removal of H₂S, while solvent absorption is also industrially matured for bulk removal of CO₂ and H₂S simultaneously. In addition, the strengths, limitations, technological gaps and way forward for each technology are also outlined. Furthermore, the comparison of established carbon capture technologies in simultaneous and selective removal of H₂S–CO₂ is also comprehensively discussed and presented. It was found that the existing carbon capture technologies are not adequate for the selective removal of H₂S from CO₂ due to their similar characteristics, and thus extensive research is still needed in this area.

Contamination with hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) such as persistent organic pollutants negatively affects global water quality. Accurate and globally comparable monitoring data are required to understand better the HOCs distribution and environmental fate. We present the first results of a proof-of-concept global monitoring campaign, the Aquatic Global Passive Sampling initiative (AQUA-GAPS), performed between 2016 and 2020, for assessing trends of freely dissolved HOC concentrations in global surface waters. One of the pilot campaign aims was to compare performance characteristics of silicone (SSP) and low-density polyethylene (PE) sheets co-deployed in parallel under identical conditions, i.e. at the same site, using the same deployment design, and for an equal period. Individual exposures lasted between 36 and 400 days, and samples were collected from 22 freshwater and 40 marine locations. The sampler inter-comparability is based on a rationale of common underlying principles, i.e. HOC diffusion through a water boundary layer (WBL) and absorption by the polymer. In the integrative uptake phase, equal surface-specific uptake in both samplers was observed for HOCs with a molecular volume less than 300 Å³. For those HOCs, transport in the WBL controls the uptake as mass transfer in the polymer is over 20-times faster. In such a case, sampled HOC mass can be converted into aqueous concentrations using available models derived for WBL-controlled sampling using performance reference compounds. In contrast, for larger molecules, surface-specific uptake to PE was lower than to SSP. Diffusion in PE is slower than in SSP, and it is likely that for large molecules, diffusion in PE limits the transport from water to the sampler, complicating the interpretation. Although both samplers provided mostly well comparable results, we recommend, based on simpler practical handling, simpler data interpretation, and better availability of reliable polymer-water partition coefficients, silicone-based samplers for future operation in the worldwide monitoring programme.