C₆₀ fullerene (C₆₀) is a nano-pollutant that can damage the respiratory system. Eugenol exhibits significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. We aimed to investigate the time course of C₆₀ emulsion-induced pulmonary and spermatic harms, as well as the effect of eugenol on C₆₀ emulsion toxicity. The first group of mice (protocol 1) received intratracheally C₆₀ emulsion (1.0 mg/kg BW) or vehicle and were tested at 12, 24, 72 and 96 h (F groups) thereafter. The second group of mice (protocol 2) received intratracheally C₆₀ emulsion or vehicle, 1 h later were gavaged with eugenol (150 mg/kg) or vehicle, and experiments were done 24 h after instillation. Lung mechanics, morphology, redox markers, cytokines and epididymal spermatozoa were analyzed. Protocol 1: Tissue damping (G) and elastance (H) were significantly higher in F24 than in others groups, except for H in F72. Morphological and inflammatory parameters were worst at 24 h and subsequently declined until 96 h, whereas redox and spermatic parameters worsened over the whole period. Eugenol eliminated the increase in G, H, cellularity, and cytokines, attenuated oxidative stress induced by C60 exposure, but had no effect on sperm. Hence, exposure to C₆₀ emulsion deteriorated lung morphofunctional, redox and inflammatory characteristics and increased the risk of infertility. Furthermore, eugenol avoided those changes, but did not prevent sperm damage.

The identification of nitrate (NO₃⁻) sources and biogeochemical transformations is critical for understanding the different nitrogen (N) pathways, and thus, for controlling diffuse pollution in groundwater affected by livestock and agricultural activities. This study combines chemical data, including environmental isotopes (δ²HH₂O, δ¹⁸OH₂O, δ¹⁵NNO₃, and δ¹⁸ONO₃), with land use/land cover data and a Bayesian isotope mixing model, with the aim of reducing the uncertainty when estimating the contributions of different pollution sources. Sampling was taken from 53 groundwater sites in Comarca Lagunera, northern Mexico, during 2018. The results revealed that the NO₃⁻ (as N) concentration ranged from 0.01 to 109 mg/L, with more than 32% of the sites exceeding the safe limit for drinking water quality established by the World Health Organization (10 mg/L). Moreover, according to the groundwater flow path, different biogeochemical transformations were observed throughout the study area: microbial nitrification was dominant in the groundwater recharge areas with elevated NO₃⁻ concentrations; in the transition zones a mixing of different transformations, such as nitrification, denitrification, and/or volatilization, were identified, associated to moderate NO₃⁻ concentrations; whereas in the discharge area the main process affecting NO₃⁻ concentrations was denitrification, resulting in low NO₃⁻ concentrations. The results of the MixSIAR isotope mixing model revealed that the application of manure from concentrated animal-feeding operations (∼48%) and urban sewage (∼43%) were the primary contributors of NO₃⁻ pollution, whereas synthetic fertilizers (∼5%), soil organic nitrogen (∼4%), and atmospheric deposition played a less important role. Finally, an estimation of an uncertainty index (UI90) of the isotope mixing results indicated that the uncertainties associated with atmospheric deposition and NO₃⁻−fertilizers were the lowest (0.05 and 0.07, respectively), while those associated with manure and sewage were the highest (0.24 and 0.20, respectively).

The development of urbanised areas together with the growing transport infrastructure and traffic volume are the main cause of air quality deterioration due to the increasing concentrations of particulate matter. Dust pollution is a threat to human health. It can cause the development of lung, larynx or circulatory system cancer. Due to the ability to accumulate dust particles on the leaf surface, the contribution of trees in the process of phytoremediation of air pollution has started to be appreciated. An analysis of the elemental composition of particulate matter (PM) stored on the leaves surface was also carried out, which showed high average concentration of: C > O > Si > Fe (above 8wt.%). It was also observed single particles with a high concentration of heavy metals: Ti, Mn, Ba, Zn, Cr, Pb, Sn, Ni and REE (rare earth elements). The major origin of PM are vehicular emissions, soil and re-suspended road dust. This paper presents also a comparison of selected tree, shrub and vine species differing in their ability to accumulate particulate matter. It was experimentally determined the average leaf surface of individual plant species and established the amount of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter between 10 and 100 μm, 2.5 and 10 μm, and 0.2 and 2.5 μm deposited on the leaf surface and in waxes.Some species of vines (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), shrubs (Forsythia x intermediata) and coniferous trees, such as Betula pendula ‘Youngii’, Quercus rubra, Cratageus monogyna, Acer pseduoplatanus, Tilia cordata Mill. or Platanus orientalis turned out to be the most efficient in the process of phylloremediation.

Organic fraction municipal solid waste (OFMSW) has a high potential for energy and value-added product recovery due to its carbon- and nutrient-rich composition; however, traditional value chains have treated OFMSW as an undesired by-product. This study focuses on value chain optimisation to assist the transition to resource recovery value chains. To achieve this, this work combined two stage stochastic mathematical optimisation with geographical spatial analysis and time series waste generation analysis. Existing infrastructure in England, including anaerobic digestion plants and road transportation networks, were included in the model. To account for uncertainty in waste generation, multiple scenarios and their associated probabilities were developed based on environmental variables. The optimisation problem was solved to further advance the understanding of economically optimal waste-to-resource value chains under waste generation variability. The pertinent decision variables included sizing, technology selection, waste flows and location of thermochemical treatment sites. The model highlights the potential reduction in system profitability as a result of different operating constraints, such as minimum plant operating capacity factors and landfill taxation. The latter was shown to have the largest impact on profitability as overconservative systems designs were implemented to hedge against the waste variability. Such computer-aided models offer opportunities to overcome the challenges posed by waste generation variability and waste to resource value chain transformation.

Hydraulic fracturing has become widely used in recent years to access vast global unconventional sources of oil and gas. This process involves the injection of proprietary mixtures of water and chemicals to fracture shale formations and extract the hydrocarbons trapped within. These injection fluids, along with minerals, hydrocarbons, and saline waters present within the formations being drilled into, return to the surface as flowback and produced water (FPW). FPW is a highly complex mixture, containing metals, salts and clay, as well as many organic chemicals, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as phenanthrene. The present study sought to determine the effects of temperature on the accumulation of phenanthrene in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). This model organism resides in rivers overlapping the Montney and Duvernay formations, both highly developed formations for hydraulic fracturing. Rainbow trout acclimated to temperatures of 4, 13 and 17 °C were exposed to either 5% or 20% FPW, as well as saline mixtures representing the exact ionic content of FPW to determine the accumulation of radiolabelled ¹⁴C phenanthrene within the gill, gut, liver and gallbladder. FPW exposure reduced the overall accumulation of phenanthrene in a manner most often similar to high salinity exposure, indicating that the high ionic strength of FPW is the primary factor affecting accumulation. Accumulation was different at the temperature extremes (4 and 17 °C), although no consistent relationship was observed between temperature and accumulation across the observed tissues. These results indicate that several physiological responses occur as a result of FPW exposure and water temperature change which dictate phenanthrene uptake, particularly in the gills. Temperature (and seasonality) alone cannot be used to model the potential accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons after FPW spills.

Atmospheric semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) are complex in their chemical and toxicological characteristics with sources from both primary combustion emissions and secondary oxygenated aerosol formation processes. In this study, thermal desorption of PM₂.₅ in association with online measurement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was carried out to study the role of SVOCs in its gas-particle partitioning. The mass concentrations of PM₂.₅, black carbon (BC) and p-PAHs downstream of a thermodenuder were measured online at different temperature settings (25, 50, 100, and 200 °C) to characterize PM physico-chemical properties. While the mass concentrations of PM₂.₅ and p-PAHs reduced to ∼34% at 200 °C compared to that in ambient temperature, BC mass concentration has decreased by 30% at the highest temperature. Furthermore, the submicron particle size distribution showed reduced particle number concentration in Aitken mode at 200 °C heating. The ROS, measured by Particle-into-Nitroxide-Quencher, also showed reduction and followed a similar trend with PM measurements, where the total ROS decreased by 12%, 31%, and 53% at 50 °C, 100 °C, and 200 °C, respectively, compared to the ambient sample. When a HEPA filter was included in the upstream of samples, 39% of gas phase ROS reduction was observed at 200 °C. This provided a good estimate of the contribution of SVOCs in ROS production in PM₂.₅, where decreased SVOCs concentration at 200 °C increased the percentage of particle surface area. This concludes that the surface chemistry of these organic coatings on the particles is important for assessing the health impacts of PM.

Triclosan (TCS), an emergent pollutant, is raising a global concern due to its toxic effects on organisms and aquatic ecosystems. The non-availability of proven treatment technologies for TCS remediation is the central issue stressing thorough research on understanding the underlying mechanisms of toxicity and assessing vital biomarkers in the aquatic organism for practical monitoring purposes. Given the unprecedented circumstances during COVID 19 pandemic, a several-fold higher discharge of TCS in the aquatic ecosystems cannot be considered a remote possibility. Therefore, identifying potential biomarkers for assessing chronic effects of TCS are prerequisites for addressing the issues related to its ecological impact and its monitoring in the future. It is the first holistic review on highlighting the biomarkers of TCS toxicity based on a comprehensive review of available literature about the biomarkers related to cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, hematological, alterations of gene expression, and metabolic profiling. This review establishes that biomarkers at the subcellular level such as oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, neurotoxicity, and metabolic enzymes can be used to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of TCS in future investigations. Micronuclei frequency and % DNA damage proved to be reliable biomarkers for genotoxic effects of TCS in fishes and other aquatic organisms. Alteration of gene expression and metabolic profiling in different organs provides a better insight into mechanisms underlying the biocide's toxicity. In the concluding part of the review, the present status of knowledge about mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance of TCS and its relevance in understanding the toxicity is also discussed referring to the relevant reports on microorganisms.

High cadmium (Cd) concentration in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grains poses potential health risks. Several management strategies have been used to reduce grain Cd concentration. However, limited information is available on the use of ammonium-nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N) as a strategy to manage Cd concentration in wheat grains. In this study, NH₄⁺-N addition at the seedling stage unchanged the grain Cd concentration in the high-Cd accumulator, Zhoumai 18 (ZM18), but dramatically increased that in the low-Cd accumulator, Yunmai 51 (YM51). Further analysis revealed that the effects of NH₄⁺-N addition on whole-plant Cd absorption, root-to-shoot Cd translocation, and shoot-to-grain Cd remobilization were different between the two wheat cultivars. In ZM18, NH₄⁺-N addition did not change whole-plant Cd absorption, but inhibited root-to-shoot Cd translocation and Cd remobilization from lower internodes, lower leaves, node 1, and internode 1 to grains via the down-regulation of yellow stripe-like transporters (YSL), zinc transporters (ZIP5, ZIP7, and ZIP10), and heavy-metal transporting ATPases (HMA2). This inhibition decreased the grain Cd content by 29.62%, which was consistent with the decrease of the grain dry weight by 23.26%, leading to unchanged grain Cd concentration in ZM18. However, in YM51, NH₄⁺-N addition promoted continuous Cd absorption during grain filling, root-to-shoot Cd translocation and whole-plant Cd absorption. The absorbed Cd was directly transported to internode 1 via the xylem and then re-transported to grains via the phloem by up-regulated YSL, ZIP5, and copper transporters (COPT4). This promotion increased the grain Cd content by 245.35%, which was higher than the increased grain dry weight by 132.89%, leading to increased grain Cd concentration in YM51. Our findings concluded that the addition of NH₄⁺-N fertilizer at the seedling stage is not suitable for reducing grain Cd concentration in common wheat cultivars.

Combining hydrothermal treatment and composting is an effective method to dispose of penicillin fermentation residue (PFR), but the safety and related mechanism are still unclear. In this study, penicillin solution was hydrothermally treated to decipher its degradation mechanism, and then hydrothermally treated PFR (HT-PFR) was mixed with bulking agents at ratios of 2:0 (CK), 2:1.5 (T1), and 2:5 (T2) to determine the absolute abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and the succession of bacterial community. Results showed that penicillin was degraded to several new compounds without the initial lactam structure after hydrothermal treatment. During composting, temperature and pH of the composts increased with the raising of HT-PFR proportion, except the pH at days 2. After 52 days of composting, the absolute copies of ARGs (blaTEM, blaCMY2, and blaSFO) and the relative abundance of bacteria related to pathogens were reduced significantly (P < 0.05). Especially, the total amount of ARGs in the samples of CK and T1 were decreased to equal level (around 5 log₁₀ copies/g), which indicated that more ARGs were degraded in the latter by the composting process. In the CK samples, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria accounted for ~69.8% of the total bacteria, but they were gradually replaced by Firmicutes with increasing proportions of HT-PFR, which can be caused by the high protein content in PFR. Consisting with bacterial community, more gram-positive bacteria were observed in T1 and T2, and most of them are related to manganese oxidation and chitinolysis. As composting proceeded, bacteria having symbiotic or pathogenic relationships with animals and plants were reduced, but those related to ureolysis and cellulolysis were enriched. Above all, hydrothermal treatment is effective in destroying the lactam structure of penicillin, which makes that most ARGs and pathogenic bacteria are eliminated in the subsequent composting.

In this study, wasted mask is chosen as a pyrolysis feedstock whose generation has incredibly increased these days due to COVID-19. We suggest a way to produce value-added chemicals (e.g., aromatic compounds) from the mask with high amounts through catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP). To this end, the effects of zeolite catalyst properties on the upgradation efficiency of pyrolytic products produced from pyrolysis of wasted mask were investigated. The compositions and yields of pyrolytic gases and oils were characterized as functions of pyrolysis temperature and the type of zeolite catalyst (HBeta, HY, and HZSM-5), including the mesoporous catalyst of Al-MCM-41. The mask was pyrolyzed in a fixed bed reactor, and the pyrolysis gases evolved in the reactor was routed to a secondary reactor inside which the zeolite catalyst was loaded. It was chosen 550 °C as the CFP temperature to compare the catalyst performance for the production of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) because this temperature gave the highest oil yield (80.7 wt%) during the non-catalytic pyrolysis process. The large pore zeolite group of HBeta and HY led to 134% and 67% higher BTEX concentrations than HZSM-5, respectively, likely because they had larger pores, higher surface areas, and higher acid site density than the HZSM-5. This is the first report of the effect of zeolite characteristics on BTEX production via CFP.