Currently, according to Taiwan’s Water Pollution Control Act, the environmental control of waterbodies and water quality depends on the effluent standards and the standard of water quality in the rivers. The Act demands that each stationary pollution source comply with the effluent standard before being discharged into the rivers, and that the overall water quality in the river shall not exceed the declared standard of water quality. To improve the condition of the waterbodies and water quality of the rivers, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in Taiwan has made stricter regulations concerning the discharge standard. Such regulations will help to reduce the weight of individual pollutants discharged; the discharged wastewater, however, will still gradually worsen the water quality of the rivers even after complying with the effluent standard since some of the pollutant dischargers may decrease the concentration of pollutants by diluting the water before discharging; thus, the total weight of metals discharged in the rivers will not be reduced, and the water quality in the areas where the pollutant sources are concentrated will not thereby be significantly improved. To protect the irrigation water and farmlands from being polluted by discharged heavy metals in industrial wastewater, the EPA started controlling the sources in accordance with the total quantity control (TQC) as defined in the Water Pollution Control Act, in the hope of perfecting the environmental protection of waterbodies and water quality, as well as ensuring clean water sources without any pollution for the rivers, land, and people.

Phytoextraction is a phytoremediation technique used for remediating polluted soils and it greatly relies on the plants’ capacities to accumulate contaminants. Turnip is a high cadmium (Cd)-accumulating plant. We compared the Cd tolerance, growth, and Cd accumulation characteristics of two turnip landraces with three additional commonly known high Cd-accumulating species to systematically estimate its Cd phytoremediation potential. Results showed that the turnips could tolerate relatively lower Cd concentrations than other plants. Growth characteristics analyses indicated that the turnips initially grew rapidly and then gradually slowed down, and their photosynthetic parameters indicated that biomass accumulation was easily affected by light. However, the Cd uptake and translocation capacities of the two turnip landraces were higher than those of Phytolacca americana Linn. and Bidens pilosa Linn. but close to that of Brassica napus Linn.. Ultimately, large amounts of Cd accumulated in turnips during early growth and slightly increased as the fleshy roots increased in size. Based on these findings, the present turnip landraces have potential for soil remediation, but additional research is needed before these landraces can be practically used. Moreover, turnips are good candidates for studying the molecular mechanism of high Cd accumulation in plants.

Atmospheric dust pollution, especially particulate matter below 2.5 μm, causes 3.3 million premature deaths per year worldwide. Although pollution sources are increasingly well known, the role of ecosystems in mitigating their impact is still poorly known. Our objective was to investigate the role of forests located in the surrounding of industrial and urban areas in reducing atmospheric dust pollution. This was tested using lichen transplants as biomonitors in a Mediterranean regional area with high levels of dry deposition. After a multivariate analysis, we have modeled the maximum pollution load expected for each site taking into consideration nearby pollutant sources. The difference between maximum expected pollution load and the observed values was explained by the deposition in nearby forests. Both the dust pollution and the ameliorating effect of forested areas were then mapped. The results showed that forest located nearby pollution sources plays an important role in reducing atmospheric dust pollution, highlighting their importance in the provision of the ecosystem service of air purification.

Effects of environmental chemicals on human reproductive health and sex hormone levels have been reported for several years, but compared to other environmental chemicals, such as heavy metals, PCBs, triclosan, Phthalate, the links between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and sex hormone levels have not been studied widely. Therefore, our purpose of research was to study the associations between urinary PAH metabolites and serum total testosterone (T) levels among men. The data was obtained from the independent cross-section wave (2011–2012) of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), including demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, health-related questions, examinations and laboratory test. All analyses were performed by R software (version 3.2.3), including one-way analysis of variance, multivariable linear regression, stratified analysis and heterogeneity test. Of 1102 American adults aged 20 and above included in the statistical analysis, we found that urinary 3-hydroxyfluorene and 2-hydroxyfluorene were significantly positively associated with serum T levels (β = 40.62, 95%CI = 21.78–59.46, P = 2.56 × 10⁻⁵; β = 35.17, 95%CI = 13.18–57.15, P = 1.75 × 10⁻³, respectively). The associations between urinary PAH metabolites and serum T levels signified a major public health problem over the world. Prospective work is needed to investigate the potential long-term health consequences of these findings.

FOCUS models are used in the European regulatory risk assessment (RA) to predict individual pesticide concentrations in edge-of-field surface waters. The scenarios used in higher tier FOCUS simulations were mainly based on Central/North European, and work is needed to underpin the validity of simulated exposure profiles for Mediterranean agroecosystems. In addition, the RA of chemicals are traditionally evaluated on the basis of single substances although freshwater life is generally exposed to a multitude of pesticides. In the present study, we monitored 19 pesticides in surface waters of five locations in the Portuguese ‘Lezíria do Tejo’ agricultural area. FOCUS step 3 simulations were performed for the South European scenarios to estimate predicted environmental concentrations (PECs). We verified that 44% of the PECs underestimated the measured environmental concentrations (MEC) of the pesticides, showing a non-compliance with the field data. Risk was assessed by comparing the environmental quality standards (EQS) and regulatory acceptable concentrations with their respective MECs. Risk of mixtures was demonstrated in 100% of the samples with insecticides accounting for 60% of the total risk identified. The overall link between the RA and the actual situation in the field must be considerably strengthened, and field studies on pesticide exposure and effects should be carried out to assist the improvement of predictive approaches used for regulatory purposes.

The present study evaluated mutagenic and genotoxic effects and metal accumulation in the liver and musculature of Pterygoplichthys ambrosetti and Prochilodus lineatus in the Amambai River, a tributary of the Upper Paraná River in Brazil. We also evaluated the potential for these fish species as environmental bioindicators and performed risk assessment for conservation purposes. We found that P. ambrosetti had a higher frequency of micronuclei compared to P. lineatus (p < 0.0001). There were no significant differences between species in other erythrocyte nuclear abnormalities (ENA) (p > 0.05). For both species, the liver contained a higher concentration of metals (Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu, Fe, Zn, and Ni) than the musculature did (p < 0.0001). Of the two species, P. ambrosetti was more suitable to evaluate mutagenic and genotoxic effects and metal accumulation in the liver and musculature, likely due to its resident behavior; hence, we highlight the potential of this species for use as an environmental bioindicator. The concentrations of non-essential metals observed in the fish confirm conditions of environmental stress in the Amambai River, possibly related to the discharge of pollutants and exacerbated by lack of native vegetation cover along the watercourse.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of soil and rice pollution on human renal dysfunction. The participants were 97 inhabitants (46 men and 51 women) who are aged 50 to 60 years old and have been living in Xiaogan (Hubei, China) from birth. We collected samples of soil, rice, and urinary correspondingly. Urinary N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) and β-2-microglobulin (β₂MG) were used as indicators of renal dysfunction, and urinary cadmium (U-Cd) was used as indicator of total internal cadmium exposure. We made a hypothesis that soil cadmium concentration (S-Cd) and rice cadmium concentration (R-Cd) could be used as indicators of environmental cadmium exposure. Correlation and path analysis were used to estimate the relationships among the levels of rice cadmium (R-Cd), soil cadmium (S-Cd), urinary cadmium (U-Cd), and renal damage indicators (NAG and β₂MG). Our results showed that there was positive significant relationship between S-Cd (R-Cd, U-Cd), and U-NAG (U-β₂MG). The standard multiple regression describing the relationship between S-Cd (R-Cd, U-Cd) and U-NAG was Y₁ = 1.26X₁–6.53X₂ + 9.32, where Y is U-NAG, X₁ is U-Cd, X₂ is S-Cd. The equation of U-β₂MG was Y = 49.32X₁ + 3085.99X₂ + 143.42, where Y is U-β₂MG, X₁ is U-Cd, X₂ is R-Cd. It is obvious that the effect of S-Cd and R-Cd on NAG or U-β₂MG cannot be ignored. Through our study, we can find that the effects of S-Cd on renal health even as significant as R-Cd. To protect people from the damage of cadmium pollution, it is vital to monitor the situation of soil and rice cadmium pollution.

The use of nanotechnology and advanced materials promises to revolutionise many areas of technology and improve our daily life. In that respect, many positive effects on the environment are expected, either directly, by developing new technologies for remediation, filtering techniques or energy generation, or indirectly, by e.g. saving resources due to lower consumption of raw materials, or lower energy and fuel consumption due to reduced weight of vehicles. However, such beneficial effects of new technologies are often confronted by concerns regarding the safety of novel substances or materials. During the past 10 years, great effort has been put into research on potential hazards of nanomaterials towards environmental organisms. As the methodology for reliable assessment of nanomaterials was immature, many studies reporting contradictory results have been published, hindering both risk assessment for nanomaterials, as well as the knowledge communication to all involved stakeholders. Thus, DaNa².⁰ serves as a platform to implement trusted knowledge on nanomaterials for an objective discussion.

A total of 47 passive air samples and 25 soil samples were collected to study the temporal trend, distribution, and air–soil exchange of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) in Shanghai, China. Atmospheric PCNs ranged from 3.44 to 44.1 pg/m³ (average of 21.9 pg/m³) in summer and 13.6 to 153 pg/m³ (average of 40.0 pg/m³) in winter. In the soil samples, PCN concentrations were 54.7–1382 pg/g dry weight (average of 319 pg/g). Tri-CNs and tetra-CNs were two dominant homolog groups in air samples, while di-CNs were also found at comparable proportions to tri-CNs and tetra-CNs in soil samples. Most air and soil samples from the industrial and urban areas showed higher PCN concentrations than those from suburban areas. However, some soil samples in urban centers presented higher PCN concentrations than industrial areas. Analysis of PCN sources indicated that both industrial thermal process and historical usage of commercial PCN mixtures contributed to the PCN burden in most areas. The fugacity fraction results indicated a strong tendency of volatilization for lighter PCNs (tri- to hexa-CNs) in both seasons, and air–soil deposition for octa-CNs. Moreover, air–soil exchange fluxes indicate that soil was an important source of atmospheric PCNs in some areas. The results of this study provide information for use in the evaluation of the potential impact and human health risk of PCNs around the study areas.