Health effects of particulate matter (PM) from aircraft engines have not been adequately studied since controlled laboratory studies reflecting realistic conditions regarding aerosols, target tissue, particle exposure and deposited particle dose are logistically challenging. Due to the important contributions of aircraft engine emissions to air pollution, we employed a unique experimental setup to deposit exhaust particles directly from an aircraft engine onto reconstituted human bronchial epithelia (HBE) at air-liquid interface under conditions similar to in vivo airways to mimic realistic human exposure. The toxicity of non-volatile PM (nvPM) from a CFM56-7B26 aircraft engine was evaluated under realistic engine conditions by sampling and exposing HBE derived from donors of normal and compromised health status to exhaust for 1 h followed by biomarker analysis 24 h post exposure. Particle deposition varied depending on the engine thrust levels with 85% thrust producing the highest nvPM mass and number emissions with estimated surface deposition of 3.17 × 10⁹ particles cm⁻² or 337.1 ng cm⁻². Transient increase in cytotoxicity was observed after exposure to nvPM in epithelia derived from a normal donor as well as a decrease in the secretion of interleukin 6 and monocyte chemotactic protein 1. Non-replicated multiple exposures of epithelia derived from a normal donor to nvPM primarily led to a pro-inflammatory response, while both cytotoxicity and oxidative stress induction remained unaffected. This raises concerns for the long-term implications of aircraft nvPM for human pulmonary health, especially in occupational settings.

Magnetic carbon were synthesized from sugarcane bagasse using hydrothermal carbonization followed by thermal activation was converted to solid state as beads (hydrogels SACFe) using sodium alginate and applied as adsorbent in removal sulfamethoxazole in batch and column mode. From adsorption parameter analysis it was confirmed that 0.6 g L⁻¹ SACFe was effective in removing 50 mg L⁻¹ of SMX at pH 6.2. Sorption of SMX on SACFe beads followed Elovich kinetics and Freundlich isotherm. It was further confirmed that sorption occurred on heterogeneous surface of SACFe beads with chemisorption as rate limiting step. Maximum adsorption capacity was obtained as 58.439 mg g⁻¹ pH studies revealed that charged assisted hydrogen bonding, EDA interactions are some of the mechanism that favoured removal of SMX. From column studies it was found that bead height of 2 cm and flow rate of 1.5 mL min⁻¹ found to be best in removing pollutant. Thomas model fitted better the experimental data stating that improved interaction between adsorbent and adsorbate act as major driving force tool in obtaining maximum sorption capacity. Breakthrough curve was completely affected by varied flow rate and bed height. Column adsorption was effective in reducing COD and BOD levels of sewage which are affected by toxic pollutants and miscellaneous compounds. Feasibility analysis showed that SACFe beads could be employed for real-time applications as it is cost, energy effective and easy recovery.

Bacteria and their secreted extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) are widely distributed in ecosystems and have high capacity for heavy metal immobilization. The knowledge about the molecular-level interactions with heavy metal ions is essential for predicting the behavior of heavy metals in natural and engineering systems. This comprehensive study using potentiometric titration, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) was able to reveal the functional diversity and adsorption mechanisms for Pb onto bacteira and the EPS in greater detail than ever before. We identified mono-carboxylic, multi-carboxylic, phosphodiester, phosphonic and sulfhydryl sites and found the partitioning of Pb to these functional groups varied between gram-negative and gram-positive bacterial strains, the soluble and cell-bound EPS and Pb concentrations. The sulfhydryl and phosphodiester groups preferentially complexed with Pb in P. putida cells, while multifunctional carboxylic groups promoted Pb adsorption in B. subtilis cells and the protein fractions in EPS. Though the functional site diversity, the adsorption of Pb to organic ligands occurred spontaneously through a universal entropy increase and inner-sphere complexation mechanism. The functional group scale knowledge have implications for the modeling of heavy metal behavior in the environment and application of these biological resources.

Soil chemistry of toxic metalloids and metals differs, making their simultaneous removal difficult. Soil contaminated with As, Pb, Zn and Cd was washed with oxalic acid, Na-dithionite and EDTA solution. Toxic elements were removed from the washing solution by alkalinisation with CaO to a pH 12.5: As was co-precipitated with Fe from Fe-EDTA chelate formed after the soil washing. The toxic metals precipitated after substitution of their EDTA chelates with Ca. The novel method was scaled up on the ReSoil® platform. On average, 60, 76, 29, and 53% of As, Pb, Zn, and Cd were removed, no wastewater was generated and EDTA was recycled. Addition of zero-valent iron reduced the toxic elements’ leachability. Remediation was most effective for As: phytoaccessibility (CaCl₂ extraction), mobility (NH₄NO₃), and accessibility from human gastric and gastrointestinal phases were reduced 22, 104, 6, and 51 times, respectively. Remediation increased pH but had no effect on soil functioning assessed by fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis, dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase, urease, acid and alkaline phosphatase activities. Brassica napus produced 1.9 times more biomass on remediated soil, accumulated no As and 5.0, 2.6, and 9.0 times less Pb, Zn and Cd, respectively. We demonstrated the novel remediation technology as cost-efficient (material cost = 41.86 € t⁻¹) and sustainable.

In recent years, the scale of shrimp ponds has rapidly increased adjacent to mangrove forests. Discharge of shrimp pond effluent has led to degradation of the surrounding environment and reduction of biodiversity in the estuary. But it remains poorly understood how shrimp pond effluent affects functional traits and functional diversity of mangroves. We sampled roots, stems and leaves of Kandelia obovata and other mangrove plants, as well as sediments and pore water from shrimp pond effluent polluted area (P) and clean area (control area, C) in Zhangjiang Estuary in southeast coast of China. Twenty plant functional traits and six functional diversity indices were analyzed to explore the effects of shrimp pond effluent on individual plants and mangrove communities. The results showed that the discharge of shrimp pond effluent significantly affected the nutrient content in soils and pore water, for example, sediment NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻ concentration increased from 0.26 ± 0.06 to 0.77 ± 0.29 mg/g and from 0.05 ± 0.03 to 0.16 ± 0.05 mg/g, respectively, when comparing the C and P site. Furthermore, some mangrove plant functional traits such as plant height, diameter at breast height, canopy thickness and specific leaf area were significantly increased by the effluent discharge. Functional diversity in the polluted area reduced as a whole compared to the control area. In particular, ammonium and nitrate nitrogen input is the main reason to induce the changes of plant functional traits and functional diversity. Besides, the community structure changed from functional differentiation to functional convergence after shrimp pond effluent discharge. In addition, the long-term shrimp pond effluent discharge may lead to the ecological strategy shift of K. obovata, while different organs may adopt different ways of nutrient uptake and growth strategies in the face of effluent disturbance. In conclusion, pollution from shrimp pond does affect the functional traits of mangrove plants and functional diversity of mangrove community. These results provide strong evidence to assess the impact of effluent discharges on mangrove plants and provide theoretical basis for conservation and sustainable development of mangroves.

There have been many studies on the relationship between fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) and lung function. However, the impact of short-term or long-term PM₂.₅ exposures on lung function in children is still inconsistent globally, and the reasons for the inconsistency of the research results are not clear. Therefore, we searched the PubMed, Embase and Web of Science databases up to May 2022, and a total of 653 studies about PM₂.₅ exposures on children's lung function were identified. Random effects meta-analysis was used to estimate the combined effects of the 25 articles included. PM₂.₅ concentrations in short-term exposure studies mainly come from individual and site monitoring. And for every 10 μg/m³ increase, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV₁) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) decreased by 21.39 ml (95% CI: 13.87, 28.92), 25.66 ml (95% CI: 14.85, 36.47) and 1.76 L/min (95% CI: 1.04, 2.49), respectively. The effect of PM₂.₅ on lung function has a lag effect. For every 10 μg/m³ increase in the 1-day moving average PM₂.₅ concentration, FEV₁, FVC and PEF decreased by 14.81 ml, 15.40 ml and 1.18 L/min, respectively. PM₂.₅ concentrations in long-term exposure studies mainly obtained via ground monitoring stations. And for every 10 μg/m³ increase, FEV₁, FVC and PEF decreased by 61.00 ml (95% CI: 25.80, 96.21), 54.47 ml (95% CI: 7.29, 101.64) and 10.02 L/min (95% CI: 7.07, 12.98), respectively. The sex, body mass index (BMI), relative humidity (RH), temperature (Temp) and the average PM₂.₅ exposure level modify the relationship between short-term PM₂.₅ exposure and lung function. Our study provides further scientific evidence for the deleterious effects of PM₂.₅ exposures on children's lung function, suggesting that exposure to PM₂.₅ is detrimental to children's respiratory health. Appropriate protective measures should be taken to reduce the adverse impact of air pollution on children's health.

Stormwater and snowmelt runoff is known to contribute to the deterioration of quality of urban surface waters. Vehicular traffic is recognised as a major source of a wide range of pollutants to urban runoff, including conventional pollutants, such as suspended solids and metals, and those referred to as ‘contaminants of emerging concern’. The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of selected metal(loid)s (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Pd, Sb, W, Zn), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), nonylphenols, octylphenols and –ethoxylates, phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA) from vehicular traffic by sampling urban roadside snow at eight sites, with varying traffic intensities, and one control site without direct impacts of traffic. Our results confirmed that vehicles and traffic-related activities were the sources of octylphenols, BPA and phthalates as well as the metal(loid)s Sb and W, infrequently reported in previous studies. Among metal(loid)s, Cu, Zn and W occurred in the highest concentrations (up to 1.2 mg/L Cu, 2.4 mg/L Zn and 1.9 mg/L W), while PAHs and phthalates occurred in the highest concentrations among the trace organic pollutants (up to 540 μg/L phthalate diisononyl phthalate). Among the phthalates, di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate had the highest frequency of detection (43% of the roadside samples). While BPA and octylphenols had relatively high frequencies of detection (50% for BPA and 81% for octylphenols), they were present in comparatively low concentrations (up to 0.2 μg/L BPA and 1.1 μg/L octylphenols). The control site displayed generally low concentrations of the pollutants studied, indicating that atmospheric deposition was not a significant source of the pollutants found in the roadside snow. Several of the pollutants in the roadside snow exceeded the applicable surface water and stormwater effluent guideline values. Thus, the transport of these pollutants with runoff posed risk of causing adverse effects in the receiving surface waters.

It is estimated that over 700,000 tons of synthetic dyes are produced annually, 15% of which are emitted as effluents. These highly stable dyes enter the world water ecosystems and stay in the environment, and eventually cause adverse impacts to the environment. Current wastewater treatment methods, such as filtration, coagulation, and chemical oxidation, have sideeffects, including toxic residue formation, membrane fouling, bioaccumulation, and secondary pollutant formation. Given the issues mentioned, it is necessary to study how to improve the degradation of synthetic dye with a cost-effective and ecofriendly approach. Natural oxidation provides a greener option. Recently, Deuteromycetes fungus Myrothecium verrucaria G-1 (M. verrucaria G-1) has shown great potential in producing high level of dye oxidase. This study aims to generate a dye oxidase hyperproducer, 3H6 from M. verrucaria G-1 by using atmospheric and room temperature plasma (ARTP) coupled with ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. This method increases oxidase production by nearly 106.15%. After a simple precipitation and dialysis, this mutant oxidase increases by 1.97-fold in a specific activity with dye degradation rates at 70% for Mmethylene blue (MB) and 85% for Congo red (CR). It is found that the genetic stability of 3H6 remains active for ten generations. The size of oxidase is 65 kDa, and optimum temperature for reaction is 30 °C with 4.5 pH. This study presents that the first combined mutagenesis approach by ARPT-UV on fungus species generates an impressive increment of acid dye oxidases production. As such, this method presents a cost-effective alternative to mitigate hazardous dye pollution.

The current study provides an information on the combined effect of pollution with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in hydromorphic soils on the accumulation, growth, functional and morphological-anatomical changes of macrophyte plant, i.e., Phragmites australis Cav., as well as information about their bioindication status on the example of small rivers of the Azov basin. The territory of the lower reaches of the Kagalnik River is one of the small rivers of the Eastern Azov region was examined with different levels of PTEs contamination in soils, where the excess of the lithosphere clarkes and maximum permissible concentrations (MPC) for Mn, Cr, Zn, Pb, Cu, and Cd were found. The features of the 16 priority PAHs quantitative and qualitative composition in hydromorphic soils and P. australis were revealed. The influence of soil pollution on accumulation in P. australis, as well as changes in the morphological parameters were shown. It has been observed that morphometric changes in P. australis at sites experiencing the сontamination and salinity are reflected with the changes in the ultrastructure of plastids, mitochondria, and EPR elements of plant cells. PTEs accumulated in inactive organs and damaged cell structures. At the same time, PAHs penetrated through the biomembranes and violated their integrity, increased permeability, resulted cell disorganization, meristem, and conductive tissues of roots. The nature and extent of the structural alterations found are dependent on the type and extent of pollution in the examined regions and can be utilized as bioindicators for evaluating the degree of soil phytotoxicity characterized by the accumulation of PTE and PAHs.

Both heavy metals and radiation could affect the proliferation and dissemination of emerging antibiotic resistance pollutants. As an environmental medium rich in radioactive metals, the profile of antibiotic resistance in uranium mine remains largely unknown. A uranium mine in Guangdong province, China was selected to investigate the distribution and influencing factors of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) including intracellular ARGs (iARGs), adsorbed-extracellular ARGs (aeARGs), and free extracellular ARGs (feARGs). The result indicated that sulfonamide and tetracycline ARB could be generally detected in mining area with the absolute concentrations of 7.70 × 10²–5.18 × 10⁵ colony forming unit/g. The abundances of aeARGs in mine soil were significantly higher than those of iARGs (p < 0.05), highlighting the critical contribution of aeARGs to ARGs spread. The feARGs in mine drainage and its receiving river were abundant (3.38 × 10⁴–1.86 × 10⁷ copies/mL). ARB, aeARGs, and iARGs may correlate with nitrogen species and heavy metals (e.g., U and Mn), and feARGs presented a significant correlation with chemical oxygen demand (p < 0.05). These findings demonstrate the occurrence of ARB and ARGs in uranium mine for the first time, thereby contributing to the assessment and control of the ecological risk of antibiotic resistance in radioactive environments.