Extensive e-waste recycling activity in Guiyu, China, has been conducted using primitive techniques for the last 20 years, resulting in serious heavy metal environmental contamination. A polymorphic variant of the δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) gene has been found to influence lead uptake and, thus, may influence an individual’s susceptibility to lead toxicity. We therefore explored whether the ALAD gene polymorphism affects blood lead levels of newborns and children in Guiyu. A total of 273 newborns and 504 children, and a combination of 2004/2005 and 2006 independent recruitments were used for this study. Umbilical cord blood from newborns (Guiyu/exposed group 189 vs. Chaonan/reference group 84) and venous blood from children (exposed group, 319 vs. Chendian/reference group 185) were collected. Blood lead levels (BLLs) were measured via graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) for all samples, while ALAD genotyping was performed using PCR-RFLP for 273 neonate cord blood and 246 children’s blood. The median BBLs of neonates in exposed group vs. the reference group were 10.50 (2.36–40.78) vs. 7.79 (0.8–19.51) for 2004/2005 and 9.41 (9.28–47.60) vs. 5.49 (0.35–18.68) for 2006, while child mean BLLs were 15.31 ± 5.79 vs. 9.94 ± 4.05 for 2004/2005 and 13.17 ± 5.98 vs. 10.04 ± 4.85 for 2006. The genotype frequencies in newborns were 98.90 % for the ALAD-1/ALAD-1 homozygote and 1.10 % for the ALAD-1/ALAD-2 heterozygotes, while the values were 95.93 and 4.07 %, respectively, in children. The allele frequencies of the ALAD-1 and ALAD-2 were 99.45 and 0.55 % for newborns, but 97.97 and 2.03 % for children, respectively. No significant differences in blood lead levels were found between ALAD-1/ALAD-1 and ALAD-1/ALAD-2 either in newborns or in children. The frequency distribution of the ALAD-2 allele in newborns from the exposed group was lower than that of the reference group. There were no significant differences, between the two different ALAD genotypes in the lead load of newborns and children. The frequency distribution of ALAD gene does not influence the blood lead levels of newborns and children in this case, which means that the higher lead burden in the exposed children was possibly influenced by e-waste recycling, but not ALAD genotypes.

In this paper, we propose a novel spatial importance parameter hierarchical logistic regression modeling approach that includes measurement error from misalignment. We apply this model to study the relationship between the estimated concentration of soil metals at the residence of mothers and the development of intellectual disability (ID) in their children. The data consist of monthly computerized claims data about the prenatal experience of pregnant women living in nine areas within South Carolina and insured by Medicaid during January 1, 1996 and December 31, 2001 and the outcome of ID in their children during early childhood. We excluded mother-child pairs if the mother moved to an unknown location during pregnancy. We identified an association of the ID outcome with arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg) concentration in soil during pregnancy, controlling for infant sex, maternal race, mother’s age, and gestational weeks at delivery. There is some indication that Hg has a slightly higher importance in the third and fourth months of pregnancy, while As has a more uniform effect over all the months with a suggestion of a slight increase in risk in later months.

Overgrowth of water chestnut (Trapa spp.) is a regional problem throughout Asia and North America because of waterway blockage and water fouling upon decomposition. In the present study, we investigated the potential of water chestnut to control cyanobacterial blooms, via a high content of phenolic compounds. In addition, we assessed the impact of biomass harvesting and crude extract application on nutrient balance. We showed that the floating parts of water chestnut contained high concentrations of total phenolics (89.2 mg g⁻¹dry weight) and exhibited strong antioxidant activity (1.31 mmol g⁻¹dry weight). Methanol-extracted phenolics inhibited growth of Microcystis aeruginosa; the half maximal effective concentration (EC₅₀) of the extracted phenolics was 5.8 mg L⁻¹, which was obtained from only 103 mg L⁻¹of dry biomass (the floating and submerged parts). However, the crude extracts also added important quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (1.49, 1.05, and 16.3 mg g⁻¹, respectively; extracted dry biomass weight basis); therefore, in practice, nutrient removal before and/or after the extraction is essential. On the other hand, biomass harvesting enables recovery of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from the water environment (23.1, 2.9, and 18.7 mg g⁻¹, respectively; dry biomass weight basis). Our findings indicate that water chestnut contains high concentrations of phenolics and exhibits strong antioxidant activity. Utilization of these resources, including nutrients, will contribute to reclamation of the water environment, and also to disposal of wet biomass.

In this study, the 30-day aerobic microorganism-mediated biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was investigated in four size fractions (i.e., <0.002, 0.002–0.031, 0.031–0.063 and >0.063 mm) of sand-dominated sediment S1 and mud-dominated S2 collected from intertidal zones in Bohai Bay (China). Prior to biodegradation, the total quantity of phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene comprised more than 80 % of the total quantity of 16 EPA-priority PAHs in each size fraction, with the exception of 70.33 % found in the >0.063 mm fraction of sediment S1. Among the three dominant compounds, the intermediate size fraction (0.031–0.063 mm) showed higher levels of biodegradation than other size fractions in sediment S1 and S2. After pooling data from sediment S1 and S2 for joint analysis, it was observed that the biodegraded portion of the three dominant compounds showed negative correlations with both total organic carbon (TOC) and humic coverage index (HCI) in the size fractions. The observed negative correlation with TOC was in agreement with findings in many other studies, but the negative correlation with HCI had not been observed in early studies, which only investigated aged sediment/soil samples. The findings in this study indicated that the greatest bioavailability of PAHs in intertidal surface sediment may be present in sediment particles of intermediate size and mobility, and that intertidal sediment particles are less likely to experience sufficient ageing given periodical tidal disturbance. These findings have important implications for the assessment of the environmental fate of PAHs in intertidal regions.

Emissions of CH₄and N₂O related to private pig farming under a tropical climate in Uvéa Island were studied in this paper. Physicochemical soil parameters such as nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, Kjeldahl nitrogen, total organic carbon, pH and moisture were measured. Gaseous soil emissions as well as physicochemical parameters were compared in two private pig farming strategies encountered on this island on two different soils (calcareous and ferralitic) in order to determine the best pig farming management: in small concrete pens or in large land pens. Ammonium levels were higher in control areas while nitrate and nitrite levels were higher in soils with pig slurry inputs, indicating that nitrification was the predominant process related to N₂O emissions. Nitrate contents in soils near concrete pens were important (≥55 μg N/g) and can thus be a threat for the groundwater. For both pig farming strategies, N₂O and CH₄fluxes can reach high levels up to 1 mg N/m²/h and 1 mg C/m²/h, respectively. CH₄emissions near concrete pens were very high (≥10.4 mg C/m²/h). Former land pens converted into agricultural land recover low N₂O emission rates (≤0.03 mg N/m²/h), and methane uptake dominates. N₂O emissions were related to nitrate content whereas CH₄emissions were found to be moisture dependent. As a result relating to the physicochemical parameters as well as to the gaseous emissions, we demonstrate that pig farming in large land pens is the best strategy for sustainable family pig breeding in Uvéa Islands and therefore in similar small tropical islands.

Cadmium (Cd) is a widely spread pollutant and can be easily taken up by crop from soil, resulting in a serious health issue for humans. The objective of this study was to comparatively investigate the photosynthetic activity, chlorophyll a fluorescence, chlorophyll contents, and spectral reflectance in mature and young leaves of soybean plants after being treated with different concentrations of Cd for 10 days. The photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll contents, actual photochemical efficiency of PSII, and photochemical quenching in the young leaves decreased more significantly with increasing concentrations of Cd in the nutrient solution, compared with those in the mature leaves, though the young leaves had less Cd concentrations. Thus, there was more excessive excited energy produced in the young leaves than that in the mature leaves. In the young leaves, due to more excessive excited energy, more reactive oxygen species may be generated, which further damaged the photosynthetic apparatus. It was supported by the fact that the decrease of reflectance in near-infrared wavelengths of the young leaves was more noticeable than that of the mature leaves. In addition, the chlorophyll a fluorescence transients of the young leaves was significantly different from that in the mature leaves, indicating that the electron transport of young leaves were inhibited much more severely than that of the mature leaves. These observations imply that the responses of photosynthetic activity of soybean leaves to Cd stress depend on their growth stage, and the Cd-induced inhibition of photosynthetic activity might be attributed to the decrease in chlorophyll contents and the decrease in mesophyll CO₂assimilation ability cause by the Cd, which further decreased the consumption of ATP and NADPH, leading to accumulation of NADPH on the acceptor sides of the PSI, and then feedback inhibited electron transport in chloroplasts.

Nowadays, a large proportion of photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) devices are being implemented in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. However, no systematic studies have been carried out regarding the influence of inlet air preconditioning. To analyse the impact of the inlet air-conditions into photocatalytic efficiency, a simulated air-conditioning duct with flowing gas through inside was designed. Isobutylene was chosen as the target VOCs. The concentration in the gas phase was monitored using a photoionization detector. The influence of flow rate, relative humidity and temperature on the VOC removal efficiency was analysed. Experimental results were presented in terms of gas-removal efficiency (η) and clean air delivery rate (CADR) and analysed on a kinetic basis. From them, the weight of each parameter in the global process has been determined, from bigger to smaller contribution, flow>>temperature>relative humidity. Also, the relevance of the inlet air conditions has been illustrated in a model room in order to determinate the time necessary to obtain a threshold value accomplishing with enough air quality and the energy consumption of the device. Additionally, the photocatalytic decontamination has been assimilated to the “air exchange rate”, a parameter commonly used in indoor air quality studies. The results show that preconditioning of air can improve the efficiency of photocatalytic devices and bring important energy savings.

Pot-culture experiments were conducted to evaluate the phytoremediation potential of a wetland plant species, Phragmites australis in cadmium (Cd) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) co-contaminated soil under glasshouse conditions for 70 days. The treatments included Cd (0, 5 and 50 mg kg⁻¹) without or with PCP (50 and 250 mg kg⁻¹). The results showed that growth of P. australis was significantly influenced by interaction of Cd and PCP, decreasing with either Cd or PCP additions. Plant biomass was inhibited and reduced by the rate of 89 and 92 % in the low and high Cd treatments and by 20 and 40 % in the low and high PCP treatments compared to the control. The mixture of low Cd and low PCP lessened Cd toxicity to plants, resulting in improved plant growth (by 144 %). Under the joint stress of the two contaminants, the ability of Cd uptake and translocation by P. australis was weak, and the BF and TF values were inferior to 1.0. A low proportion of the metal is found aboveground in comparison to roots, indicating a restriction on transport upwards and an excluding effect on Cd uptake. Thus, P. australis cannot be useful for phytoextraction. The removal rate of PCP increased significantly (70 %) in planted soil. Significant positive correlations were found between the DHA and the removal of PCP in planted soils which implied that plant root exudates promote the rhizosphere microorganisms and enzyme activity, thereby improving biodegradation of PCP. Based on results, P. australis cannot be effective for phytoremediation of soil co-contaminated with Cd and PCP. Further, high levels of pollutant hamper and eventually inhibit plant growth. Therefore, developing supplementary methods (e.g. exploring the partnership of plant–microbe) for either enhancing (phytoextraction) or reducing the bioavailability of contaminants in the rhizosphere (phytostabilization) as well as plant growth promoting could significantly improve the process of phytoremediation in co-contaminated soil.

The study covers a thorough assessment of the overall degradation of diclofenac-Na (DCF) by high-frequency ultrasound, focusing particularly on identification, interpretation, and characterization of the oxidation byproducts and their reaction mechanisms. It was found that sonication of 5 mg L⁻¹DCF at near neutral pH rendered complete conversion of the compound, 45 % carbon, 30 % chlorine, and 25 % nitrogen mineralization. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirmed the experimentally detected major byproduct 2,6-dichloroaniline, the formation of which was explained by OH• addition to the ipso-position of the amino group. The stability of UV absorption at around 276–280 nm throughout reaction was in agreement with the detected byproduct structures, i.e., the presence of amino/amine groups and phenolic, aniline, benzene, and quinine-type derivatives, which all absorbed at around the same band. Microtox toxicity of the reactor aliquots at early reaction showed that initially the reaction products, specifically 1-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-2-indoline-one, were very toxic; subsequently toxicity exhibited a fluctuating pattern, and a steady declination towards the “non-toxic” level was observed only after 90 min. Oxygen uptake analysis also revealed the formation of harmful products at early reaction, but the reactor was totally biodegradable upon 1-h sonication.

Developing advanced treatment technologies for improving the removal of micropollutants in water/wastewater is important. A suitable treatment is more likely to be used as the polishing step in the treatment scheme. Advanced oxidation technologies (AOTs) are relevant for removing micropollutants. The ability of direct UV photolysis and selected AOTs to degrade pharmaceuticals, endocrine-disrupting compound and herbicide has been studied and compared. The tested methods resulted in the degradation of the studied micropollutants; however, none of the methods was preferred for the removal of all tested compounds. The UV-active processes have strong potential for removal of the studied micropollutants. The utilisation of a moderate hydrogen peroxide admixture resulted in a more reliable treatment.