Although previous studies showed that children are widely exposed to phthalates, the sources of phthalate exposure for school-aged children in China are not well understood. This study aimed to assess phthalate metabolite levels and explore the factors influencing exposure in children. We collected demographic data and biological samples from 336 children aged 6–12 years. We calculated urinary concentrations of 14 mono-phthalate metabolites and conducted chi-square (χ2) tests and logistic regression analysis to determine the variables associated with phthalate levels. Mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP) and mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP) were the most abundant urinary phthalate metabolites. In addition, housing type, decorating materials in the home, and frequency of canned food consumption were associated with exposure to low molecular weight phthalates. Water source, duration of time spent playing with toys, residential area, and frequency of canned food consumption were associated with exposure to high molecular weight phthalates. Based on these results, potential strategies to reduce exposure to phthalates include avoiding plastic food containers and chemical fragrances as well as eating fewer processed foods, especially canned foods, and foods in plastic packaging.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer new opportunities to monitor pollution and provide valuable information to support remediation. Their low-cost, ease of use, and rapid deployment capability make them ideal for environmental emergency response. Here we present a UAV-based study of the third largest coal ash spill in the United States. Coal ash from coal combustion is a toxic industrial waste material present worldwide. Typically stored in settling ponds in close proximity to waterways, coal ash poses significant risk to the environment and drinking water supplies from both chronic contamination of surface and ground water and catastrophic pond failure. We sought to provide an independent estimate of the volume of coal ash and contaminated water lost during the rupture of the primary coal ash pond at the Dan River Steam Station in Eden, NC, USA and to demonstrate the feasibility of using UAVs to rapidly respond to and measure the volume of spills from ponds or containers that are open to the air. Using structure-from-motion (SfM) imagery analysis techniques, we reconstructed the 3D structure of the pond bottom after the spill, used historical imagery to estimate the pre-spill waterline, and calculated the volume of material lost. We estimated a loss of 66,245 ± 5678 m3 of ash and contaminated water. The technique used here allows rapid response to environmental emergencies and quantification of their impacts at low cost, and these capabilities will make UAVs a central tool in environmental planning, monitoring, and disaster response.

A large increase of grasses Calamagrostis epigejos, Bromus inermis and Brachypodium pinnatum has often been observed in many regions enriched by higher nitrogen (N) wet deposition inputs. Competitive relationships between these grasses under enhanced N loads have not yet been studied. Therefore an outdoor experiment was established which involved monocultures of Calamagrostis, Bromus and Brachypodium and their 1:1 mixtures in containers under two N treatments, i.e., unfertilized and fertilized (+50 kg N ha⁻¹). In monocultures, the total aboveground biomass of Calamagrostis, Bromus and Brachypodium were 1.1, 3.6 and 2.5 times higher respectively due to enhanced N fertilization. Relative crowding and aggressivity coefficients indicate that Calamagrostis and Bromus dominate when mixed with Brachypodium at both levels of N availability. When mixed with Bromus, Calamagrostis is the poorer competitor at lower N loads, however, it can be dominating in N fertilized treatments.

Microplastics (MPs, plastics < 5 mm) are a growing concern in ecosystems, being found in the soil and water environment. One of the primary sources of MPs has been suspected to be road dust in urban areas as it can flow into waters with runoff. To understand the occurrence of MPs (100 μm–5 mm) in surface road dust of three cities (Kusatsu, Shiga, Japan; Da Nang, Vietnam; and Kathmandu, Nepal), we collected surface road dust samples. The samples were pretreated (organic matter decomposition and gravity separation), and all MP candidates were individually observed by microscope for color, shape, and size; and analyzed their polymer types using fourier transform infrared spectrometry. The abundances of MPs 100 μm to 5 mm in size were 2.0 ± 1.6 pieces/m2 (13 polymer types) in Kusatsu, 19.7 ± 13.7 pieces/m2 in Da Nang (14 types), and 12.5 ± 10.1 pieces/m2 in Kathmandu (15 types). We classified the MPs into two groups; containers/packaging-MPs and rubber-MPs. Among all MPs, the containers/packaging-MPs accounted for 55 ± 5% of the polymer types composition. In contrast, the rubber-MPs accounted for 16 ± 6% of all MPs which were higher than those previously published for environmental water and sediment samples. The containers/packaging-MPs were fragments of various colors while most of the rubber-MPs were fragments or granules in black. The number–size distributions of MPs showed that the mode of formation explains the differences between their polymer types (tearing for containers/packaging-MPs and abrasion for rubber-MPs). In Da Nang and Kathmandu, the abundance of containers/packaging-MPs and rubber-MPs were correlated so that those MPs might be micronized from the originated materials in the sources with the similar composition (e.g. dump points). It was indicated that the characteristics of MPs pollution in surface road dust might be different depending on waste management practices.

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is the termination of pregnancies, usually before 20 weeks of gestation, and is defined as the loss of two or more pregnancies. In Taiwan, after 2011 di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) exposure episode, more reproductive-aged women still expose to high levels of DEHP and di-butyl phthalate (DBP) than have women of other age groups. Phthalates might be involved in the RPL pathogenesis. This study assessed the association of phthalate exposure with RPL risk in reproductive-aged Taiwanese women.This study recruited 103 patients diagnosed by a physician with RPL of unknown etiology and 76 controls from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at a medical center in southern Taiwan between August 2013 and August 2017. Urine samples were analyzed for 11 phthalate metabolites through liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry; subsequently, principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis were performed to determine the main sources of phthalate exposure. Finally, multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the RPL risk.The creatinine-unadjusted median levels of mono-iso-butyl phthalate (MiBP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), and mono-(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) phthalate (MECPP) in RPL/control were 9.8/5.3, 27.2/13.1, 11.4/8.1, and 12.9/9.5 ng/mL, respectively; furthermore, ΣDBPm and ΣDEHPm in RPL/control were 0.18/0.10 and 0.15/0.12 nmol/mL, respectively. PCA revealed three primary components of phthalate exposure: diethyl phthalates (DEP), DEHP, and DBP. Plastic food container use and medication were identified as the main phthalate exposure sources. After adjustment for potential confounding factors (urinary creatinine, age, age at menarche, education, and plastic food container use), we found that the urinary level of ΣDBPm was significantly associated with elevated risk for RPL (OR = 2.85, p = 0.045).Our findings supported the hypothesis that exposure to phthalates increases RPL risk. The development of a strategy to reduce phthalate exposure among reproductive-aged women should be emphasized.

To assess pollution levels of major inorganic nitrogen species and their atmospheric deposition input to sensitive ecosystems in Sichuan Basin, southwest China, ambient concentrations of oxidized (NOy ∼ NO2, HNO3, NO3−) and reduced (NHx = NH3, NH4+) nitrogen species were collected at two urban sites during four one-month periods, each in a different season from July 2014 to April 2015. Estimated annual mean concentration of NOy was 20.3 and 13.5 μg N m−3 in Chengdu and Wanzhou, respectively, and NHx was 16.9 and 13.6 μg N m−3, respectively. Back trajectory cluster analysis indicated that high levels of NOy and NHx in Chengdu were mainly caused by local emissions while those in Wanzhou were caused by both the local emissions and long-range transport of pollutants. On annual basis, NO2 contributed the most to NOy, followed by NO3− and HNO3, accounting for 87.5%, 10.5% and 2.0%, respectively, of NOy in Chengdu, and 91.4%, 6.9% and 1.7%, respectively, in Wanzhou. NH3 was the predominant contributor to NHx, contributing 65.6% and 72.2% in Chengdu and Wanzhou, respectively. Dry deposition fluxes were estimated using the inferential method with measured ambient concentrations and modelled dry deposition velocities. The total inorganic nitrogen dry deposition flux was estimated to be 21.4 and 8.5 kg N ha−1 yr−1, with 44.3% and 41.4% from NOy in Chengdu and Wanzhou, respectively. NO2 and NH3 each contributed about 80% of NOy and NHx dry deposition, respectively. Wet deposition was only collected in Wanzhou, where the annual wet deposition of NO3− and NH4+ was 4.5 and 15.7 kg N ha−1 yr−1, respectively. The total wet plus dry deposition was 28.7 kg N ha−1 yr−1 in Wanzhou with 72.2% from reduced nitrogen. Therefore, controlling NH3 emissions from agricultural, traffic, waste containers and sewage system sources would be effective to reduce the total nitrogen deposition in the Sichuan Basin area.

The Great Eastern Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, damaged reactor cooling systems at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The subsequent venting operation and hydrogen explosion resulted in a large radioactive nuclide emission from reactor containers into the environment. Here, we collected environmental samples such as soil, plant species, and water on April 10, 2011, in front of the power plant main gate as well as 35 km away in Iitate village, and observed gamma-rays with a Ge(Li) semiconductor detector. We observed activation products (²³⁹Np and ⁵⁹Fe) and fission products (¹³¹I, ¹³⁴Cs (¹³³Cs), ¹³⁷Cs, ¹¹⁰ᵐAg (¹⁰⁹Ag), ¹³²Te, ¹³²I, ¹⁴⁰Ba, ¹⁴⁰La, ⁹¹Sr, ⁹¹Y, ⁹⁵Zr, and ⁹⁵Nb). ²³⁹Np is the parent nuclide of ²³⁹Pu; ⁵⁹Fe are presumably activation products of ⁵⁸Fe obtained by corrosion of cooling pipes. The results show that these activation and fission products, diffused within a month of the accident.

Monitoring beach litter is essential for reducing ecological threats towards humans and wildlife. In Monterey Bay, CA information on seasonal and spatial patterns is understudied. Central California’s coastal managers require reliable information on debris abundance, distribution, and type, to support policy aimed at reducing litter. We developed a survey method that allowed for trained citizen scientists to quantify the types and abundance of beach litter. Sampling occurred from July 2009–June 2010. Litter abundance ranged from 0.03 to 17.1itemsm−2. Using a mixed model approach, we found season and location have the greatest effect on litter abundance. Styrofoam, the most numerically abundant item, made up 41% of the total amount of litter. Unexpected items included fertilizer pellets. The results of this study provide a baseline on the types and abundance of litter on the central coast and have directly supported policy banning Styrofoam take out containers from local municipalities.

This study assesses vessel-noise exposure levels for Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) in the Salish Sea. Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) was used to delineate SRKW summer core areas. Those areas were combined with the output of a regional cumulative noise model describing sound level variations generated by commercial vessels (1/3-octave-bands from 10 Hz to 63.1 kHz). Cumulative distribution functions were used to evaluate SRKW's noise exposure from 15 vessel categories over three zones located within the KDE. Median cumulative noise values were used to group categories based on the associated exposure levels. Ferries, Tugboats, Vehicle Carriers, Recreational Vessels, Containers, and Bulkers showed high levels of exposure (Leq−50th > 90 dB re 1 μPa) within SRKW core areas. Management actions aiming at reducing SRKW noise exposure during the summer should target the abovementioned categories and take into consideration the spatial distribution of their levels of exposure, their mechanical and their operational characteristics.