BACKGROUND, AIMS AND SCOPE: Current studies have paid little attention to the dynamism in urban spatial expansion and its possible environmental and health effects or to the health effects of rapid urban environmental change at different points along the urbanisation gradient. This study adopts a public health ecology approach to systematically understand the relationship between urbanisation, urban environmental change and human health in China. METHOD: Remote sensing image analysis, based on night light data at five different time periods in recent decades, was used to determine changes to the overall urban area. Through a review of the evidence on the relationships between environmental health, urbanisation and health, we advance a pathway framework for explaining urban human health ecology. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to measure the correlation between disease prevalence and urbanisation level, adding a further dimension to a systemic understanding of urban health. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Urban areas have been increasing spatially, but unevenly, in recent decades, with medium and small cities also expanding rapidly in the past decade. Urbanisation and urban expansion result in changes to land use/coverage change, the urban environment and the residents’ lifestyle, which result in human health problems. Regions with the highest urbanisation level were more inclined to have a high prevalence of chronic disease in recent decades. An ecological public health approach provides insights into the multiple types of data which need to be routinely collected if human disease is not to become a barrier to social and economic development.

After entry into force of the Stockholm Convention and Aarhus Protocol and in order to implement the upcoming European legal background, the European countries are asked to apply control measures to reduce the release of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as dioxins and furans (PCDD/PCDF) and polychlorinated biphenyls as well as to establish POPs release inventories. In this perspective, development of measuring techniques of emissions is a focal issue in acquiring useful information. In this paper, results of various measurement campaigns at different municipal waste incineration (MWI) plants using long-term automated sampling of PCDD/PCDF are presented. The samples collected from both manual and automated campaigns were analyzed following the European Standard EN-1948:2006 by high-resolution gas chromatograph/high-resolution mass spectrometer. Performances of two different commercial systems have been investigated. Anomalous values occurred during one long-term campaign (22.16 pg I-toxic equivalent (TEQ)/Nm3), compared to average values (4–5 pg I-TEQ/Nm3) of the MWI. At this maximum value, a main occurrence of abnormal and instable operating conditions has been found. Sampling based on long-term basis was found to be more reliable to monitor PCDD/PCDF emissions than occasional short-term sampling. Nevertheless, the results of long-term campaigns demonstrate that emission levels detected in 15–30 days campaigns, when unsteady operating conditions can occur, as start-up and shut down, are not immediately comparable to the typical levels in a 6–8 h, when operating conditions are generally stable. Moreover, there are often differences observed in the congener profiles between short- and long-term campaigns.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: China's environmental problems and pollution control have global implications. China’s water pollution has been increasing with its urbanization and industrialization. Although great efforts have been taken to keep its wastewater discharge standards in pace with the water pollution development and technological advances, many challenges remain. A summary of the past achievements and lessons as well as the current problems in water pollution may provide a basis for future improvements in China and a reference for other countries. METHODS: Statistical data are summarized to reveal the evolution of China’s population, wastewater discharge and corresponding discharge standards over the past four decades. In particular, the specific control indexes and number of controlled items are discussed in details. The present water pollution situation is clearly illustrated by the water pollution map and the water quality distribution diagram. A comparison between China’s present wastewater discharge standards and those in the USA and the EU are also presented to find the possibilities for future improvement. RESULTS: The historical origins, major challenges and future perspectives of China’s wastewater discharge standards are overviewed. The barriers and ongoing efforts for standards formulation and implementation are highlighted. Some suggestions for future endeavors are given. CONCLUSIONS: China’s wastewater discharge standard system has seen significant improvement over the past decades, but it still has many defects and limitations. Nonetheless, unprecedented great efforts are underway to address all these challenges. More stringent standards and subsequently a cleaner water environment in China can be expected in the near future.

Caps and stipes of 141 fruiting bodies of Parasol Mushroom (Macrolepiota procera) and surface layer of soils collected from 11 spatially distant and background (pristine) areas in Northern Poland were analyzed for Ag, Al, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Rb, Sr, and Zn by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy and cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy. In terms of bioconcentration and bioexclusion concept, K, Ag, Cu, Rb, and P were highly bioconcentrated in caps, and their bioconcentration factor values varied for the 11 sites between 120 and 500—67–420, 70–220, 10–170, and 45–100, respectively. Cd, Zn, Mg, and Na showed bioconcentration factors (BCFs) between 3.3 and 36, 3.7–15, 0.92–6.3, and 1.4–44 while Al, Ba, Ca, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Sr were excluded (BCF < 1). The Parasol Mushroom is a species harvested in the wild, and its caps are of unique taste and can contain a spectrum of essential and hazardous mineral compounds accumulated at elevated concentrations, even if collected at the background (pristine) areas. These elevated mineral concentrations of the caps are due to the efficient bioconcentration potential of the species (K, Ag, Cu, Rb, P, Cd, Zn, Mg, and Na) and abundance in the soil substrates (Al, Ca, Fe, Mn). The estimated intake rates of Cd, Hg, and Pb contained in Parasol Mushroom’s caps show a cause for concern associated with these metals resulting from the consumption of between 300- and 500-g caps daily, on a frequent basis in the mushrooming season.

The objectives of the present study were to compare nine dominant plant species growing in mine tailings and nonmining areas in terms of biomass and Cd concentrations and to search for Cd accumulation and tolerance. Also, more detailed experiments were conducted on Athyrium wardii using a pot experiment to assure its Cd-accumulation ability and tolerance as a potential phytostabilizer of Cd-polluted soils. Nine dominant plant species growing on Pb/Zn mine tailings and their corresponding nonmining ecotypes were investigated for their potential to phytostabilize Cd. The performance of A. wardii exposed to high levels of Cd was investigated under controlled conditions. A field study revealed that the Cd concentrations in the roots of these plants ranged from 0.21 to 251.07 mg kg−1, and the highest concentrations were found in A. wardii, which reached a concentration of 69.78, 251.07, and 126.35 mg kg−1 during the early growth stage (May), vigorous growth stage (August), and late growth stage (October), respectively. The Cd concentrations of roots among the nine mining ecotypes were positively correlated with available content of Cd in the rhizosphere soils, whereas a negative correlation was observed in the nonmining ecotypes. A pot experiment showed that the mining ecotype of A. wardii had a higher biomass production and Cd retention capacity in roots than that of the nonmining ecotype. Due to the relatively high tolerance to Cd and the capacity of roots to retain this metal, A. wardii may be useful for the phytostabilization of soils contaminated by Cd.

INTRODUCTION: Textile industry is one of the most common and essential sectors in Tunisia. However, the treatment of textile effluents becomes a university because of their toxic impacts on waters, soils, flora, and fauna. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The aim of this work was to evaluate the ability of Pseudomonas putida mt-2 to decolorize a textile wastewater and to compare the biologic decolorization process to the chemical one currently used by the textile industry. RESULTS: P. putida exhibited a high decolorizing capacity of the studied effluent, compared to the coagulation–flocculation method with decolorization percentage of 86% and 34.5%, respectively. Genotoxicity of the studied effluent, before and after decolorization by P. putida mt-2, was evaluated in vitro, using the SOS chromotest, and in vivo, in mouse bone marrow, by assessing the percentage of cells bearing different chromosome aberrations compared to not treated mice. In addition, textile effluent statistically significant influenced acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase activities and lipid peroxidation (p < 0.01) when compared to not-treated mice. Coagulation–flocculation treatment process used by industry was revealed to be ineffective. Indeed toxicities persisted after treatment and the effluent did not show any statistically significant decrease in toxicities compared to non-treated effluent. Our results indicate that P. putida is a promising and improved alternative to treating industrial scale effluent compared to current chemical decolorization procedures used by the Tunisian textile industry.

PURPOSE: Psychoactive compounds—meprobamate, pyrithyldione, primidone, and its metabolites, phenobarbital, and phenylethylmalonamide—were detected in groundwater within the catchment area of a drinking water treatment plant located downgradient of a former sewage farm in Berlin, Germany. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of the psychoactive compounds in anoxic groundwater and to assess the risk of drinking water contamination. Groundwater age was determined to achieve a better understanding of present hydrogeological conditions. METHODS: A large number of observation and production wells were sampled. Samples were analyzed using solid-phase extraction and ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Groundwater age was estimated using the helium–tritium (3He–3H) dating method. RESULTS: Concentrations of psychoactive compounds up to 1 μg/L were encountered in the contamination plume. Generally, concentrations of phenobarbital and meprobamate were the highest. Elevated concentrations of the analytes were also detected in raw water from abstraction wells located approximately 2.5 km downgradient of the former sewage farm. Concentrations in the final drinking water were below the limit of quantification owing to dilution. The age of shallow groundwater samples ranged from years to a decade, whereas groundwater was up to four decades old at 40 m below ground. Concentrations of the compounds increased with groundwater age. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated concentrations of psychoactive drugs indicate a strong persistence of these compounds in the environment under anoxic aquifer conditions. Results suggest that the heritage of sewage irrigation will affect raw water quality in the area for decades. Therefore, further monitoring of raw and final drinking water is recommended to ensure that contaminant concentrations remain below the health-based precautionary value.

Contaminants are ubiquitous in the environment and their impacts are of increasing concern due to human population expansion and the generation of deleterious effects in aquatic species. Oxidative stress can result from the presence of persistent organic pollutants, metals, pesticides, toxins, pharmaceuticals, and nanomaterials, as well as changes in temperature or oxygen in water, the examined species, with differences in age, sex, or reproductive cycle of an individual. The antioxidant role of glutathione (GSH), accompanied by the formation of its disulfide dimer, GSSG, and metabolites in response to chemical stress, are highlighted in this review along with, to some extent, that of glutathione S-transferase (GST). The available literature concerning the use and analysis of these markers will be discussed, focusing on studies of aquatic organisms. The inclusion of GST within the suite of biomarkers used to assess the effects of xenobiotics is recommended to complement that of lipid peroxidation and mixed function oxygenation. Combining the analysis of GSH, GSSG, and conjugates would be beneficial in pinpointing the role of contaminants within the plethora of causes that could lead to the toxic effects of reactive oxygen species.

PURPOSE: The aim of this paper is to understand the sustainability of urban spatial transformation in the process of rapid urbanization, and calls for future research on the demographic and economic dimensions of climate change. Shanghai towards its transformation to a metropolis has experienced vast socioeconomic and ecological change and calls for future research on the impacts of demographic and economic dimensions on climate change. We look at the major questions (1) to explore economic and demographic growth, land use and land-cover changes in the context of rapid economic and city growth, and (2) to analyze how the demography and economic growth have been associated with the local air temperature and vegetation. METHOD: We examine urban growth, land use and land-cover changes in the context of rapid economic development and urbanization. We assess the impact of urban expansion on local air temperature and vegetation. The analysis is based on time series data of land use, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and meteorological, demographic and economic data. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The results indicate that urban growth has been driven by mass immigration; as a consequence of economic growth and urban expansion, a large amount of farmland has been converted to paved road and residential buildings. Furthermore, the difference between air temperature in urban and exurban areas has increased rapidly. The decrease of high mean annual NDVI has mainly occurred around the dense urban areas.

INTRODUCTION: A plasmid named pDNS10 was detected from an atrazine-degrading strain Arthrobacter sp. DNS10 which has been isolated previously in our laboratory. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this paper, a special plasmid-detecting method and drop assays experiments were mainly used to achieve research goals. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: pDNS10 exhibited an excellent stability because it also could be detected even when the strain DNS10 has been subcultured under nonselective conditions for eight times. Over a 48-h incubation period, the OD₆₀₀ of samples inoculated with strain DNS10 and strain DNS10-ST (both of them contained pDNS10) were 0.31 ± 0.042 and 0.305 ± 0.034, respectively ,whereas the OD₆₀₀ of samples inoculated strain without pDNS10 (strain DNS10-PE) was only 0.138 ± 0.018. No atrazine was detected in the inoculated strain DNS10 and strain DNS10-ST samples at this period. Contrarily, the atrazine-degrading rate of strain DNS10-PE was only 5.23 ± 0.71%. Furthermore, both the two types of strains containing pDNS10 confirmed the presence of known degrading genes such as trzN, atzB, and atzC. It suggests that pDNS10 is an atrazine catabolic plasmid. In drop assays experiments, the wild-type strain DNS10 cells were chemotactically attracted to atrazine, whereas strain DNS10-PE showed no chemotaxis to atrazine and hydroxyatrazine. There was some relationship between atrazine degradation and the chemotactic response towards atrazine in strain DNS10. CONCLUSIONS: The biochemical characteristics of pDNS10 and the chemotaxis characteristics of strain DNS10 could help us in better understanding of the mechanism of atrazine degradation by strain DNS10.