Petroleum industry can create enormous wealth and employment opportunities, which is one of the pillars of the national economy. The transportation conditions of petroleum products are complex and changeable. The natural disaster–induced dangerous chemical leakage may damage the ecological environment, which leads to substantial economic losses. It significantly undermines the sustainable development agenda. Therefore, assessing the possibility of leakage and the potential environmental damages becomes a primary task to decision-makers to formulate maintenance plans. This paper evaluated the risk of an oil pipeline leakage under the regional geological disasters. Specifically, risk assessment indicators system was established considering the common threat of multiple natural hazards in the region. The sensitivities of the influence factors were determined using the combined GIS and the contribution rate model. The fuzzy analysis approach was used to process the expert’s judgment to obtain a real-time disaster hazard. Meanwhile, in terms of the analysis of pipeline failure causes, the assessment system of disaster resistance ability was developed to determine the possibility of leakage. The leakage-induced environmental losses were quantified by monetary quantification. Finally, the level of environmental risk was determined using a 5 × 5 probability-currency matrix. Case results show that the risk level is medium, thereby appropriate maintenance measures need to be taken to reduce the risk. Overall, this study provides necessary help to prevent the leakage of petroleum products in transportation. Also, the environmental risk presented in the form of currency can promote non-environmental professional risk decision-makers better understand the degree of risk.

Because of their direct contact with society, urban buses are prioritized targets for air quality improvement. In this study, a sample group of in-use urban old buses powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) and diesel engines was chosen for particle emission analysis. The CNG buses do not have any type of after-treatment, while diesel ones are equipped with a diesel particulate filter (DPF). To measure the lung deposited surface area (LDSA), a possible physical metric of exhaust particles’ toxicity, a diffusion charger-based analyzer was utilized. The measurements were done at different engine speeds in stationary conditions. The results revealed that although the particle mass emission of CNG buses remains at a low level, the number of emitted particles for 75% of the CNG buses (depending on their maintenance conditions) is 10 to 100 times more than the retrofitted diesel ones, with the range of 10⁶ to 10⁷ p/cm³. The rest 25% of the CNG buses were performing the same as the retrofitted diesel ones in terms of exhaust particle number in the range of 10⁵ p/cm³. In addition, the lowest LDSA parameter at low idle engine speed was measured to be 97.8 and 229.4 μm²/cm³ for a CNG and a DPF retrofitted diesel bus, respectively. This result indicates the same and even lower LDSA and surface area and thus the lower possible toxic potentiality of exhaust particles of CNG buses compared to diesel vehicles at DPF downstream. Investigation on the different behavior of the CNG buses in the emission of particles showed the correlation of some aging parameters such as lubricant oil aging mileage with the released particles and the importance of periodic maintenance interval. Graphical abstract

The emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a serious environmental issue, especially in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Unlike previous studies that mainly consider the bilateral and direct connection between two sectors, this study identifies path-based key sectors by considering the cascading effect of a sector on other sectors on paths of the entire economic system. We first construct an embodied CO₂ emission flow network of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, combining environmental input-output analysis and complex network theory. Then, the path-based key sectors are identified by traversing the path of each sector in the network based on cascading failure theory and hypothesis extraction method. On the one hand, the results show that a small number of sectors shoulder a large proportion of the embodied CO₂ emission flows from both path and sector perspectives. On the other hand, we identify some path-based key sectors that did not receive enough attention from the sector perspective. Additionally, the sum of the embodied CO₂ emission flows in about 30 steps accounts for 90% of the total embodied CO₂ emission flows on its supply chain path. To more effectively reduce carbon emission, sectors that connect these 30 steps should be concerned in some policy recommendations. The method proposed in this paper can complement existing methods and contribute to further reducing CO₂ emissions in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

The impact of the hydropower plants (HPPs) on the aquatic life is expected, but the biochemical markers of ecotoxicity have not been investigated in relation to HPP proximity. The aim of this study was to compare the responses of mollusk Unio tumidus from the small HPP (reservoir (Ku) and downstream of the dam (Kd)) and micro HPP (upstream (Zu) and downstream of the dam (Zd)). In total, 11 indexes (n) from digestive gland, hemocytes (lysosomal integrity), and gonads (alkali-labile phosphates, ALP) were analyzed. The mollusks from the reservoir demonstrate the typical signs of toxic impact: cholinesterase and glutathione depletion, the highest glutathione S-transferase activity, and ratio of extralysosomal cathepsin D compare to all other groups. The specimens from the micro HPP have the highest levels of glutathione (Zd) and lipid peroxidation (Zu) and lesser Cu/Zn-SOD activity (Zu) than other groups. These indications of stressful conditions may derive from the regular oscillations in the water flow regimes at the micro HPP. For both HPPs, the responses of upstream and downstream groups are distinct. The calculated IBR/n (4.17, 3.85, 3.12, and 0.26 for Ku, Kd, Zu, and Zd correspondingly) gives a quantitative basis for the evaluation of environmental impact of HPPs. Graphical abstract .

This study sets out to propose a new ensemble of probabilistic spatial modeling and multi-criteria decision-making comprised of stepwise areal constraining and Mahalanobis distance algorithms in order to assess areal suitability for landfilling. The Ardak watershed was selected as the study area due to encountering several cases of open garbage dumps and uncontrolled landfills which are one of the main sources of river water pollution in the upstream of the Ardak dam. The results revealed that the proposed algorithm successfully assists in inventory-irrespective probabilistic modeling of landfill siting which is mainly indebted to the role of areal constraining in providing training and validation samples for the Mahalanobis distance model. The latter also showed a robust pattern recognition results from which a discernible differentiation of the area was attained while the spatial dependencies between the environmental factors were taken into account. Mahalanobis distance also gave an outstanding performance in terms of goodness of fit (area under the success rate 89.367) and prediction power (area under the success rate 89.252). Based on a five-point scale classification scheme, about 2.7% and 2.6% of the study area, respectively, have high and very high suitability for landfilling, while the remaining area is shared between very low-to-moderate suitability classes. According to the current trail of literature regarding landfill site selection which mostly relies on mere areal filtering, a probabilistic model would give invaluable inferences regarding the pattern of suitability/susceptibility of the area of interest and causative role of the influential factors. Graphical Abstract

Environmental innovation is an important way to low-carbon economic growth. Outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) can produce reverse technology transfer to promote innovation. This study aims to examine whether OFDI to developed countries can transfer reverse green technology and promote the environmental innovation of manufacturing enterprises in emerging economies (EEs). Based on the technology gap theory, resource bricolage theory, resource-based view, and Potter hypothesis, this study constructs a conceptual model including the direct effect of OFDI on environmental innovation and the moderating effects of the knowledge level of the host country, multinational strategy, absorptive capacity, and environmental regulation. To verify the model, we also use a panel dataset of 424 Chinese manufacturing enterprises during 2010–2017, and the results indicate that OFDI to developed countries can produce reverse green technology transfer and promote parent companies’ environmental innovation. The knowledge level of the host country and multinational strategy can further improve the impacts on environmental product innovation. However, absorptive capacity and environmental regulation in EEs do not play a significant moderating role. Consequently, this study expands the application scope of existing theories and enriches the theoretical basis of the relationship between OFDI and environmental innovation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate, for the first time, the effects of Bifenthrin (Bif) chronic exposure on plasmatic and aortic lipid parameters disturbance and their pro-atherogenic possibility in Wistar rats. The ameliorative role of vitamin E (Vit E) and selenium (Se) were also targeted. Thus, rats were treated by gastric gavage with combination of Vit E (100 mg/kg/bw) and Se (0.25 mg/kg/bw) in alone and co-treated groups for 90 days. Apart from control and Vit E-Se groups, all the groups were subjected to Bif (3 mg/kg, via gavage) toxicity. Results showed that Bif increased markedly plasmatic and aortic total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, native LDL-apoB-100, and oxidized-LDL, compared to the control. Moreover, Bif treatment significantly increased the plasmatic levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-2, and IL-6. In addition, the densitometric quantification of protein bands showed that the amount of hepatic native LDL-receptor protein decreased significantly in the intoxicated rats compared to the control group. The expression of arterial LDL receptors (LDLRs) and scavenger receptors (CD36) was amplified owing to Bif toxicity. This harmful effect was confirmed by histological study using Oil-Red-O staining. Owing to their antioxidant capacities, Vit E and Se have maintained all the changes in plasma and aorta lipids and prevented the pro-atherogenic effect observed in Bif-treated animals.

We found an error in the materials and methods section. Since our team used two methodsfor anesthesia in rats and the anesthesia method used in this paper was 3.5% chloralhydrate anesthesia, we mistakenly wrote the anesthetic as 3% sodium pentobarbital.

The purpose of this study was to examine the accumulation potential of spontaneously developed Tussilago farfara populations colonizing sites with different levels of anthropogenic pollution. Physical characteristics of the soil are presented, together with the concentrations of macroelements and microelements (Ca, Mg, Fe, S, Al, Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Mn, As, Sb, Ag, Ti, and Sr) in both soil and plants. The biological concentration, accumulation, and translocation factors were used to assess the potential for heavy metal accumulation. Considerable differences were found among assessions from unevenly contaminated habitats, particularly in comparison with an unpolluted site. In line with the ore’s characteristics, substrate samples from polluted sites were heavily contaminated with Pb, Zn, As, and Sb. Increased levels of microelements were also detected in plant samples from flotation tailings. Despite active absorption of Zn, Cu, Cd, Mn, and Sr by the plants from mining sites, the detected quantities of these elements in all samples were below the hyperaccumulation threshold. However, the obtained results indicate that the use of T. farfara from such sites in traditional medicine could pose a risk to human health due to accumulation of several toxic elements in the plant’s aboveground tissues. Additionally, as a successful primary colonizer and stabilizer of technogenic substrates, T. farfara has an important role in the initial phases of revegetation of highly contaminated sites.

Over-exploration of rare earth elements causes soil desertification and environmental degradation. However, the restoration of rare earth mine tailings requires the recovery of both vegetation and soil microbiota. Accordingly, the present study aimed to compare the efficacy of restoring mine tailings using organic compost and native plants (Miscanthus sinensis, Pinus massoniana, Bambusa textilis, or a mixture of all three). After three years, the mixed plantation harbored tenfold greater plant richness than that in the barren land. Among these, M. sinensis played a dominant role across all restored areas. The microbial communities of the soils were assessed using high-throughput 16S rDNA gene sequencing. A total of 34,870 16S rDNA gene sequences were obtained and classified into 15 bacterial phyla and 36 genera. The dominant genus across all the restored soils was Burkholderia, and the bacterial diversity of restored soils was greater than that of soils from either unrestored or natural (unexploited) areas, with the M. sinensis plantation yielding the greatest diversity. The effects of phytoremediation were mainly driven by changes in nutrient and metal contents. These results indicate that M. sinensis significantly improves phytoremediation and that mixed planting is ideal for restoring the soils of abandoned rare earth mines.