Few studies have reported the association between greenspace and academic performance at school level. We examined associations between both residential and school greenspace and individual school grades in German adolescents.German and maths grades from the latest school certificate, residential and school greenspace, and covariates were available for 1351 10 and 15 years old Munich children and 1078 Wesel children from two German birth cohorts – GINIplus and LISA. Residential and school greenspace was assessed by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), tree cover, and (in Munich only) proportion of agricultural land, forest, and urban green space in 500-m and 1000-m circular buffers. Longitudinal associations between each exposure-outcome pair were assessed by logistic mixed effects models with person and school as random intercepts and adjusted for potential confounders.No associations were observed between any of the greenspace variables and grades in Wesel children. Several statistically significant associations were observed with German and maths grades in Munich children, however associations were inconsistent across sensitivity analyses.There is no evidence of an association of higher greenspace at residence, school or combined with improved academic performance in German adolescents from the GINIplus and LISA longitudinal studies.

China has performed crop residue burning (CRB) for a long time and has suffered from resultant environmental pollution. High temporal resolution has not been fully discussed in attempts to address the temporal and spatial impact of CRB in China on air quality. Our study used the MOD14A1 product of the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) to extract the daily CRB for China during the period from 2014 to 2016, and the daily aerosol optical depth (AOD) provided by MODIS Collection 6 was obtained to simultaneously reflect the air pollution. First, the study area was classified into five subregions. A temporal analysis was conducted on the daily variation in the number of CRB events and the regional mean value of AOD, the spatial contribution ratio of CRB on aerosol pollution was then calculated, and finally, a temporal and spatial Pearson correlation was calculated to find the spatially varying relationship between CRB and aerosol. The results suggest the following: (1) CRB possesses seasonal characteristics that are associated with the harvest time or sowing time of major crops in the region. (2) The impact of CRB on aerosol was delayed by 1–6 days. (3) High contribution ratios (70%–90%) occurred in northeast China on a large scale; even when the impact of the CRB on aerosol pollution in the Huang-Huai-Hai river basin occurred on a large scale, the value was merely approximately 30%. Relatively low contributions of CRB have been found in other places, whereas the contribution of CRB was severe in some places with high-density populations. (4) Temporal-spatial correlation provided an accurate index to reflect the correlation of CRB and aerosol in a specific location, which suggests that, in places with large scale and dense CRB, CRB tends to have a high positive correlation with aerosol pollution for each day.

We measured the concentrations of organophosphate esters (OPEs) in some biotic samples which can serve as human foodstuffs and ambient environments including air and river water from an agricultural area of Chongqing, western China. Fish samples exhibited highest OPEs levels (960 ng/g lipid weight) among the biota, followed by chicken (676 ng/g lw), cattle (545 ng/g lw) and pigs (535 ng/g lw). Tributyl phosphate (TNBP), tris (2-methylpropyl) (TIBP) and chlorinated OPEs were the major analogs in biotic samples, which appeared similar with the patterns from river water and outdoor air, but apparently different from indoor air. To further investigate the influence of ambient environment on the distribution of OPEs in biota, we analyzed the correlation between OPEs concentrations in ambient environment and biological samples, and the results revealed that most of the samples (except for pig samples) heavily correlated with outdoor air, whereas only fish and cattle samples were strongly correlated with river water. The partitioning behaviors of OPEs among biota, air and river water were also studied through calculating the biota-water accumulation factors (BWAFs), biota-air accumulation factors (BAAFs) and air-water partitioning factor (AWPFs). Significantly linear correlations (P < 0.05) were observed between log (BWAFs) and log (KOW) values, and between log (AWPFs) and log H (Henry's law constants), nevertheless log (BAAFs) was increasing along with the log (KOA) values. The daily intake (DI) values were estimated via foodstuffs ingestion and environmental exposure. The estimated DI values of OPEs from food and ambient environments were 1.78 ng/kg-bw/day, 1.23 ng/kg-bw/day and 1.42 ng/kg-bw/day in toddlers, children and adults, respectively, which lay at the low end of the reported data and well below the reference dose (RfD).

In this study, we carried out high time-resolution measurements of particle number concentration and size distribution (5–1000 nm) in Singapore, which represents a tropical urban environment. The measurements were taken during the southwest monsoon season in 2017 using a fast-response differential mobility spectrometer at a sampling rate of 1 Hz. In the measurement, short-lived nucleation events were found prominent at early afternoon because of the abundant incoming radiation that enhances the photochemical reactions in atmosphere. For the first time in the region, a five-factor positive matrix factorization approach was applied to the size spectra data. Based on particle number concentration, two sources within nucleation mode (<30 nm) were resolved and account for 43% of total number concentration, which is higher than the available monitoring data in other big cities. Among the sources, O₃-related atmospheric photochemical reactions with peak size at 10–12 nm is a unique factor and prominent in early afternoon nucleation events. The findings of this work can serve as a baseline for assessing influence of local and cross-border airborne emissions during various seasons in the future.

Exposure to phthalates is reported to be associated with increased incidence of microalbuminuria and low-grade albuminuria in children and adolescents. However, this phenomenon of phthalate-related nephrotoxicity is unknown in adults.Urine samples of 1663 adults from the 2012 Shanghai Food Consumption Survey (SHFCS) were measured for 10 metabolites of 6 phthalates and for renal function parameters. Their associations were explored by linear and logistic regression models.Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that all three renal function parameters (albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR), β2-microglobulin (B2M), and N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (NAG)) are positively associated with six metabolites, including mono-benzylphthalate (MBzP), mono-2-ethylhexylphthalate (MEHP), mono-2-ethyl-5-oxohexyphthalate (MEOHP), mono-2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexylphthalate (MEHHP), mono-2-ethyl-5-carboxypentylphthalate (MECPP), and mono-2-carboxymethyl-hexyl phthalate (MCMHP) (P < 0.05). Logistic analysis showed that the prevalence of hyperALBuria, hyperB2Muria, hyperNAGuria, or potentially impaired renal function (PIRF) were positively associated with urinary levels of MBzP, MEOHP, and MECPP, respectively (P < 0.05). Co-exposure to identified risk metabolites monoethylphthalate (MEP), MBzP, MEHP, MEOHP, MECPP, MEHHP, and MCMHP increased the risk of having impaired renal function.Certain metabolites of phthalates, including bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and benzyle butyl phthalate (BBzP), were associated with impaired renal function in Shanghai adults.

Based on long-term systematic sampling, information is currently limited regarding the impacts of different air pollution levels on variations of bacteria, fungi and ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOMs) in fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅), especially their interactions. Here, PM₂.₅ samples were weekly collected at different air pollution levels in Beijing, China during one-year period. Microbial composition was profiled using Illumina sequencing, and their interactions were further investigated to reveal the hub genera with network analysis. Diversity of bacteria and fungi showed obvious seasonal variations, and the heavy- or severe-pollution levels mainly affected the diversity and composition of bacteria, but not fungi. While, the community structure of both bacteria and fungi was influenced by the combination of air pollution levels and seasons. The most abundant bacterial genera and some genera with highest abundance in heavy- or severe-pollution days were the hub bacteria in PM₂.₅. Whereas, only the dominant fungi in light-pollution days in winter were the hub fungi in PM₂.₅. The complex positive correlations of bacterial or fungal pathogens would aggravate the air pollution effects on human health, despite of their low relative abundances. Moreover, the strong co-occurrence and co-exclusion patterns of bacteria and fungi in PM₂.₅ were identified. Furthermore, the hub environmental factors (e.g., relative humidity and atmospheric pressure) may play central roles in the distributions of bacteria and fungi, including pathogens. Importantly, AOMs showed significant co-occurrence patterns with the main bacterial and fungal genera and potential pathogens, providing possible microbiological evidences for controlling ammonia emissions to effectively reduce PM₂.₅ pollution. These results highlighted the more obvious air pollution impacts on bacteria than fungi, and the complex bacterial-fungal interactions, as well as the important roles of AOMs in airborne microbial interactions webs, improving our understanding of bioaerosols in PM₂.₅.

In this paper, the equilibrium and mass transfer kinetics of Sr2+ sorption onto 3 types of microplastics, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were investigated. A novel film-pore mass transfer (FPMT) model was developed and used to study the sorption kinetics and mechanisms. This model can be used to describe the external mass transfer (EMT) and the internal mass transfer (IMT) processes and to calculate the diffusion rate. The FPMT model could successfully predict the kinetics data of Sr2+ sorption onto microplastics. The maximum value of the EMT rate achieved at the beginning of sorption was 103 μg g−1·h−1 for PET, 247 μg g−1·h−1for PE, and 854 μg g−1·h−1 for PVC, and then it decreased dramatically with time. The IMT rate was far less than the EMT rate, and decreased slowly with time. The overall sorption rate of Sr2+ onto microplastics was controlled by the external mass transfer step.

Moss is usually as an initial colonizer in alpine glacier retreated regions. We hypothesized that moss can significantly facilitate the toxic metals accumulation in alpine ecosystems based on its strong ability of absorption and the role in soil development. Hence, we investigated the trace element pool sizes and enrichment factors, especially for mercury (Hg) by using the Hg isotopic compositions to determine the source contributions in a moss-dominated ecosystem over glacial erratic in Eastern Tibetan Plateau. Results show that Hg, lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) are highly enriched in organic soils. Specifically, Cd concentration is 5–20 times higher than the safety limit of the acid soil (pH ≤ 5.5) in China. Atmospheric depositions dominantly contribute to the Pb and Cd sources in organic soils, and followed by the moraine particles influences. The lowering pH in organic soils increasing with glacial retreated time results in the desorption of Cd in organic soils. Atmospheric Hg⁰ uptake by moss predominantly contributes to the Hg sources in organic soils. The average Pb accumulation rate over last 125-year is about 5.6 ± 1.0 mg m⁻² yr⁻¹, and for Cd is 0.4 ± 0.1 mg m⁻² yr⁻¹, and for Hg⁰ is 27.6 ± 3.2 μg m⁻² yr⁻¹. These elevated accumulation rates are caused by the high moss biomass and elevated atmospheric Hg, Pb and Cd pollution levels in China and neighbouring regions. Our study indicates that the moss not only as the bioindicator, but also plays an important role in the hazardous metal biogeochemical cycling in alpine regions.

Atmospheric transport is an important pathway for the deposition of micro- and nano-plastics in remote areas. However, the sources and fate of atmospheric microplastics remain poorly understood. A study on atmospheric transport and deposition in the Pyrenean Mountains highlights the movement of microplastics away from known sources (cities, agriculture, and industry) into remote areas. Following this first evidence of atmospheric microplastic deposition in a pristine location, it is necessary to reconsider previous studies on atmospheric microplastic deposition and behavior in remote areas.