Persulfate-based advanced oxidation process is considered as a promising technology for the degradation of phenol, where efficient, cost effective, and green methods with high peroxydisulfate (PS) activation capacity is of increasing demand. In this work, an in-situ liquid phase precipitation combined with ball milling method was applied for the synthesized of α-FeOOH/biochar, as be the PS activator for phenol degradation. Results showed that the ball-milled α-FeOOH and red pine wood biochar prepared at 700 °C (BM-α-FeOOH/PBC700) exhibited the highest catalytic property with PS for phenol oxidation (a phenol removal rate of 100%), compared with the BM-α-FeOOH (16.0%) and BMPBC700 (66.3%). The presence of intermediate products such as hydroquinone and catechol, and total organic carbon (TOC) removal rate (88.9%) proved the oxidation of phenol in the BM-α-FeOOH/PBC700+PS system. The characterization results showed that the functional groups (e.g., CO, C–O, Fe–O, and Si–O), the dissolved organic matter (DOM) in biochar, the loading of Fe element, and higher degree of graphitization and defect structures, contributed to the activation of PS to form free radicals (i.e., SO₄·⁻, ·OH, ·O₂⁻, and hVB⁺) for phenol oxidation, of which, SO₄·⁻ and ·OH account for 72.1% of the phenol removal rate. The specific contribution to the PS activation for phenol oxidation by each part of the materials was calculated based on the “whole to part” experiment. The contribution of DOM, acid-soluble substance, and carbon matrix and basal part in BM-α-FeOOH/PBC700 were 6.0%, 40.9%, and 53.1%, respectively. The reusability experiments of BM-α-FeOOH/PBC700 demonstrated that the composite was relatively stable after four cycles of reuse. Among three co-existing anions (NO₃⁻, Cl⁻, and HCO₃⁻), HCO₃⁻ played the most significant inhibition effects on phenol removal through reducing the phenol removal rate from 89.6% to 77.9%. This work provides guidance for the design of high active and stable carbon materials that activate PS to remove phenol.

Unplanned urbanization and heavy automobile use by the rapidly growing population contribute to a variety of environmental issues. Roadside plants can mitigate air pollution by modifying their enzymatic activity, physiological and anatomical traits. Plant enzymes, physiological and anatomical traits play an important role in adaptation and mitigation mechanisms against vehicular emissions. There is a significant gap in understanding of how plant enzymes and anatomical traits respond or how they participate in modulating the effect of vehicular emissions/air pollution. Modulation of leaf anatomical traits is also useful in regulating plant physiological behavior. Hence, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of vehicular pollution on the enzymatic activity, physiological, and anatomical traits of plant species that grow in forests (S1) and alongside roads (S2-1 km away from the S1 site) during different seasons. The present study examines four commonly found roadside tree species i.e. Grevillea robusta, Cassia fistula, Quercus leucotrichophora and Cornus oblonga. The study found that the activities of catalase and phenylalanine ammonium enzymes were higher in G. robusta species of roadside than control site (S1). Non-enzymatic antioxidants such as flavonoid and phenol were also found in higher concentrations in roadside tree species during the summer season. However, the measured values of physiological traits were higher in Q. leucotrichophora tree species of S1 during the summer season. When compared to the other species along the roadside, Q. leucotrichophora had the highest number of stomata and epidermal cells during the summer season. Hence, we found that tree species grown along the roadside adapted towards vehicular emissions by modulating their enzymatic, physiological, and anatomical traits to mitigate the effect of air pollution.

Bakelite, the first synthetic plastic, is a rather unexplored material in the field of ecotoxicology, despite its long production and use. The aim of this study was to investigate the ecotoxicity of Bakelite microplastics (before and after leaching) and its leachates on four aquatic organisms: the crustacean Daphnia magna, the plant Lemna minor, the bacterium Allivibrio fischeri and the alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata. Bakelite microplastics before and after leaching and leachates affected all organisms, but to varying degrees. Leachates showed increased ecotoxicity to Daphnia magna, while Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata was more affected by particles. For Lemna minor and Allivibrio fischeri, the effects of particles before leaching and leachate were comparable, while the negative effect of particles after leaching was minimal or not present. All leachates were analysed, and phenol and phenol-like compounds were the predominant organics found. In addition, bioadhesion of Bakelite microplastics to the surface of Daphnia magna and Lemna minor was confirmed, but the particles were mainly weakly adhered. Results of this study suggest that, in addition to the recently studied microplastics from consumer products (e.g. from polyethylene and polystyrene), microplastics from industrial plastics such as Bakelite may be of increasing concern, primarily due to leaching of toxic chemicals.

Although organic species are transported and efficiently transformed in clouds, more than 60% of this organic matter remains unspeciated. Using GCxGC-HRMS technique we were able to detect and identify over 100 semi-volatile compounds in 3 cloud samples collected at the PUY station (puy de Dôme mountain, France) while they were present at low concentrations in a very small sample volume (<25 mL of cloud water). The vast majority (∼90%) of the detected compounds was oxygenated, while the absence of halogenated organic compounds should be specially mentioned. This could reflect both the oxidation processes in the atmosphere (gas and water phase) but also the need of the compounds to be soluble enough to be transferred and dissolved in the cloud droplets. Furans, esters, ketones, amides and pyridines represent the major classes of compounds demonstrating a large variety of potential pollutants. Beside these compounds, priority pollutants from the US EPA list were identified and quantified. We found phenols (phenol, benzyl alcohol, p-cresole, 4-ethylphenol, 3,4-dimethylphenol, 4-nitrophenol) and dialkylphthalates (dimethylphthalate, diethylphthalate, di-n-butylphthalate, bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate, butylbenzylphthalate, di-n-octyl phthalate). In general, the concentrations of phthalates (from 0.09 to 52 μg L−1) were much higher than those of phenols (from 0.03 to 0.74 μg L−1). To our knowledge phthalates in clouds are described here for the first time. We investigated the variability of phenols and phthalates concentrations with cloud air mass origins (marine vs continental) and seasons (winter vs summer). Although both factors seem to have an influence, it is difficult to deduce general trends; further work should be conducted on large series of cloud samples collected in different geographic areas and at different seasons.

The increased release and accumulation of Bisphenol A (BPA) in contaminated wastewater has resulted in the world wide concerns because of its potential negative effects on human health and aquatic ecosystems. Starting with metal-organic frameworks, we present a simple method to synthesize magnetic porous microcubes (N-doped Fe⁰/Fe₃C@C) with graphitized shell and highly dispersed active kernel via the pyrolysis process under N₂ atmosphere. Batch adsorption experimental results showed that N-doped Fe⁰/Fe₃C@C had high adsorption capacity for BPA (∼138 mg g⁻¹ at pH = 7 and 298 K). Degradation of BPA adsorbed on N-doped Fe⁰/Fe₃C@C was further investigated as a function of BPA concentration, persulfate amount, temperature and solution pH. It was found that potassium peroxodisulfate could be activated by N-doped Fe⁰/Fe₃C@C, and a large number of free radicals were generated which was crucial for the degradation of BPA. The concentration of BPA was barely changed in the individual persulfate system. BPA (10 mg L⁻¹) was almost completely degraded within 60 min in the presence of N-doped Fe⁰/Fe₃C@C (∼0.2 g L⁻¹). When the BPA content increased to 25 mg L⁻¹, the removal efficiency of BPA achieved to 98.4% after 150 min. From the XRD, Raman, and XPS analysis, the main adsorption mechanism of BPA was π-π interactions between the π orbital on the carbon basal planes and the electronic density in the BPA aromatic rings. While the superior degradation was attributed to the radical generation and evolution in phenol oxidation. This work not only proved the potential application of N-doped Fe⁰/Fe₃C@C in the adsorption and degradation of BPA, but also opened the new possibilities to eliminate organic pollutants using this kind of magnetic materials in organic pollutants’ cleanup.

Energy crops are an important renewable source for energy production in future. To ensure high yields of crops, N fertilization is a common practice. However, knowledge on environmental impacts of bioenergy plantations, particularly in systems involving trees, and the effects of N fertilization is scarce. We studied the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOC), which negatively affect the environment by contributing to tropospheric ozone and aerosols formation, from Miscanthus and willow plantations. Particularly, we aimed at quantifying the effect of N fertilization on VOC emission. For this purpose, we determined plant traits, photosynthetic gas exchange and VOC emission rates of the two systems as affected by N fertilization (0 and 80 kg ha−1 yr−1). Additionally, we used a modelling approach to simulate (i) the annual VOC emission rates as well as (ii) the OH. reactivity resulting from individual VOC emitted. Total VOC emissions from Salix was 1.5- and 2.5-fold higher compared to Miscanthus in non-fertilized and fertilized plantations, respectively. Isoprene was the dominating VOC in Salix (80–130 μg g−1 DW h−1), whereas it was negligible in Miscanthus. We identified twenty-eight VOC compounds, which were released by Miscanthus with the green leaf volatile hexanal as well as dimethyl benzene, dihydrofuranone, phenol, and decanal as the dominant volatiles. The pattern of VOC released from this species clearly differed to the pattern emitted by Salix. OH. reactivity from VOC released by Salix was ca. 8-times higher than that of Miscanthus. N fertilization enhanced stand level VOC emissions, mainly by promoting the leaf area index and only marginally by enhancing the basal emission capacity of leaves. Considering the higher productivity of fertilized Miscanthus compared to Salix together with the considerably lower OH. reactivity per weight unit of biomass produced, qualified the C4-perennial grass Miscanthus as a superior source of future bioenergy production.

During chlorine disinfection process, reactions between the disinfectant and 17β-estradiol (E2) lead to the formation of halogenated disinfection byproducts (DBPs) which can be a risk to both ecosystem and human health. The degradation and transformation products of E2 in sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) disinfection processes of different water samples were investigated. The reaction kinetics research showed that the degradation rates of E2 were considerably dependent on the initial pH value and the types of water samples. In fresh water, synthetic marine aquaculture water and seawater, the reaction rate constant was 0.133 min−1, 2.067 min−1 and 2.592 min−1, respectively. The reasons for the above phenomena may be due to the different concentrations of bromide ions (Br−) in these three water samples which could promote the reaction between NaClO and E2. Furthermore, Br− could also cause the formation of brominated DBPs (Br-DBPs). The main DBPs, reaction centers and conceivable reaction pathways were explored. Seven halogenated DBPs have been observed including three chlorinated DBPs (Cl-DBPs) and four Br-DBPs. The active sites of E2 were found to be the pentabasic cyclic ring and the ortho position of the phenol moiety as well as C9-C10 position. The identified Cl/Br-DBPs were also confirmed in actual marine aquaculture water from a shrimp pond. The comparison of bio-concentration factors (BCF) values based on calculation of EPI-suite showed that the toxicities of the Br-DBPs were stronger than that of their chloride analogues. The absorbable organic halogens (AOX) analysis also suggested that the DBPs produced in the marine aquaculture water were more toxic than that in the fresh water system.

The placenta is an intermediary organ between the female and the developing foetus. Some chemical substances, including the most harmful ones, exhibit the ability to accumulate in or penetrate through the placenta. The aim of the study was to determine the role of the placenta of the Baltic grey seal (Halichoerus grypus grypus) in the transfer of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) - (bisphenol A, 4-tert- octylphenol, 4- nonylphenol), as well as total and organic mercury. 30 placentas were collected from grey seals pupping under human care at the Hel Marine Station in the years 2007–2016. The assays were conducted using the technique of high-preformance liquid chromatography (phenol derivatives) and atomic absorption spectrometry (mercury and selenium). A measurable level of EDCs was indicated in the placentas of grey seals. It was established that the inorganic Hg form was accumulated in the placenta, and that its concentrations were an order of magnitude higher than the concentrations of the organic form, which penetrated to the foetus. Similar observations were made for phenol derivatives - bisphenol A, 4-tert- octylphenol and 4-nonylphenol. For this compound group the placenta was a barrier, but the properties of phenol derivatives suggest the possibility of their penetration through this organ.

The presence of sulfonamide antibiotics in aquatic environments poses potential risks to human health and ecosystems. In the present study, a highly porous activated carbon was prepared by KOH activation of an anthracite coal (Anth-KOH), and its adsorption properties toward two sulfonamides (sulfamethoxazole and sulfapyridine) and three smaller-sized monoaromatics (phenol, 4-nitrophenol and 1,3-dinitrobenzene) were examined in both batch and fixed-bed adsorption experiments to probe the interplay between adsorbate molecular size and adsorbent pore structure. A commercial powder microporous activated carbon (PAC) and a commercial mesoporous carbon (CMK-3) possessing distinct pore properties were included as comparative adsorbents. Among the three adsorbents Anth-KOH exhibited the largest adsorption capacities for all test adsorbates (especially the two sulfonamides) in both batch mode and fixed-bed mode. After being normalized by the adsorbent surface area, the batch adsorption isotherms of sulfonamides on PAC and Anth-KOH were displaced upward relative to the isotherms on CMK-3, likely due to the micropore-filling effect facilitated by the microporosity of adsorbents. In the fixed-bed mode, the surface area-normalized adsorption capacities of Anth-KOH for sulfonamides were close to that of CMK-3, and higher than that of PAC. The irregular, closed micropores of PAC might impede the diffusion of the relatively large-sized sulfonamide molecules and in turn led to lowered fixed-bed adsorption capacities. The overall superior adsorption of sulfonamides on Anth-KOH can be attributed to its large specific surface area (2514 m²/g), high pore volume (1.23 cm³/g) and large micropore sizes (centered at 2.0 nm). These findings imply that KOH-activated anthracite coal is a promising adsorbent for the removal of sulfonamide antibiotics from aqueous solution.

Triclosan (5-Chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy) phenol) is an antibacterial compound widely employed in pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Although this emerging compound has been detected in aquatic environments, scarce information is found on the effects of Triclosan to marine organisms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of a concentration range of Triclosan through fertilization assay (reproductive success), embryo-larval development assay (early life stage) and physiological stress (Neutral Red Retention Time assay - NRRT) (adult stage) in the marine sentinel organism Perna perna. The mean inhibition concentrations for fertilization (IC₅₀ = 0.490 mg L⁻¹) and embryo-larval development (IC₅₀ = 0.135 mg L⁻¹) tests were above environmental relevant concentrations (ng L⁻¹) given by previous studies. Differently, significant reduction on NRRT results was found at 12 ng L⁻¹, demonstrating the current risk of the continuous introduction of Triclosan into aquatic environments, and the need of ecotoxicological studies oriented by the mechanism of action of the compound.