We describe a batch-extraction with simulated digestive fluid (salivary fluid, gastric fluid and intestinal fluid) to estimate the bioaccessibility of inhaled trace metals (TMs) in particulate matter less than 10 and 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅). Concentrations of the assayed TMs (As, Cd, Cr, Ni, Mn, Cu, Zn, Sb, Hg and Pb) were determined in PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅ samples by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The TMs with the largest soluble fractions for airborne PM collected from winter and summer in saliva were Mn and Sb, respectively; in seasons this became Co in gastric fluid and Cu in intestinal fluid. Clearly, bioaccessibility is strongly dependent on particle size, the component of simulated digestive fluids (e.g., pH, digestive enzymes pepsin and trypsin), and the chemical properties of metal ions. The particle size and seasonal variation affected the inhaled bioaccessible fraction of PM-bound TMs during mucociliary clearance, which transported PM from the tracheal and the bronchial region to the digestive system. This study provides direct evidence for TMs in airborne PM being bioaccessible TMs are likely to possess an enhanced digestive toxic potential due to airborne PM pollution.

At present, coal is considered one of the main components for the production of cheap, high-energy and environmentally attractive slurry fuels. The latter can be produced on the basis of low-grade coal dust or coal processing wastes. Thus, coal-water slurries and coal-water slurries containing petrochemicals are produced. The involvement of coal and oil processing wastes expands the scope of raw materials, reduces the fuel costs from traditional energy sources and modifies the main economic characteristics of power plant performance. However, it also increases the impact of coal-fired thermal power stations on the environment. In the last 30–50 years, many efforts have been made to decrease the negative impact of human industrial activity on climate. Involving plant-based components in the process of energy generation to save energy and material resources looks very promising nowadays. This research studies the influence of adding typical bioliquids (bioethanol, turpentine, glycerol) on the concentration of anthropogenic emissions from coal-water slurry combustion. Relative mass concentrations of bioliquids varied in a small range below 20%. We focused on the concentration of the most hazardous sulfur and nitrogen oxides from the combustion of typical filter cakes, as well as plant-containing slurries. It was established that the concentration of sulfur oxides can be decreased (as compared to coal) by 75%, whereas that of nitrogen oxides by almost 30%. Using a generalizing criteria expression, we illustrated the main benefits of adding bioliquids to slurry fuels in comparison with coal. Adding 20% of glycerol was found to provide maximum advantages.

Sediment samples from three coastal sites - two beach resorts (Beach 1 and Beach 2 sites) and an area lying between an oil refinery and a river estuary (Estuarine site) - were analyzed for antibiotic- and heavy metal (HM)-resistant enterococci.A total of 123 enterococci, 36 E. faecium, 34 E. casseliflavus, 33 E. hirae, 5 E. faecalis, 3 E. durans, 3 E. gallinarum, and 9 Enterococcus spp, were recovered. Strains resistant to erythromycin, tetracycline and quinupristin/dalfopristin (Q/D) were recovered from all sites, whereas multidrug-resistant isolates were recovered only from “Beach 2” (14%) and “Estuarine” (3.7%). As regards HM resistance, the strains showed a high frequency (68%) of cadmium and/or copper resistance and uniform susceptibility to mercury. The prevalence of cadmium-resistant strains was significantly higher among erythromycin-resistant than among erythromycin-susceptible strains. A significant association between cadmium or copper resistance and Q/D resistance was also observed at “Estuarine” site. The levels of the two HMs in sediment from all sites were fairly low, ranging from 0.070 to 0.126 μg/g, for cadmium and from 1.00 to 7.64 μg/g for copper. Mercury was always undetectable. These findings are consistent with reports that low HM concentrations may contribute to co-selection of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, including enterococci.

Plants have the ability to adapt themselves under stressed conditions through reprogramming their growth and development. Understanding the mechanisms regulating overall growth of stressed plant is an important issue for plant and environmental biology research. Although the role of NO in modulating arsenic (As) toxicity is known, nitric oxide (NO) induced alteration in auxin and nutrient related transporters during As stress in rice is poorly understood. Experimental results showed that As exposure decreased gene expression level of polar auxin transporter (PIN proteins), and nutrient transporter related genes (AMT, NRT, NiR, PHT, KTP). The improved tolerance induced by As + NO combination is attributed to reduced As accumulation in rice seedlings, improved root architectural changes, overall growth of plant, chlorophyll, protein content, and accumulation of mineral nutrients by reducing the ROS generation. Further, enhanced transcript levels of PIN proteins and mineral nutrition related genes were also observed under As + NO treatment. Additional biochemical data revealed enhanced oxidative stress by increasing the level of antioxidant enzymes, and stress-related parameters. Overall, the study provides an integrated view of plant response during As + NO interaction to change the plant metabolism through different cellular processes.

Rapid urbanization and economic growth has led to significant increase in municipal solid waste generation in India during the last few decades and its management has become a major issue because of poor waste management practices. Solid waste generated is deposited into open dumping sites with hardly any segregation and processing. Carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) are the major greenhouse gases that are released from the landfill sites due to the biodegradation of organic matter. In this present study, CH₄ and CO₂ emissions from a landfill in north-east India are estimated using a flux chamber during September, 2015 to August, 2016. The average emission rates of CH₄ and CO₂ are 68 and 92 mg/min/m², respectively. The emissions are highest in the summer whilst being lowest in winter. The diurnal variation of emissions indicated that the emissions follow a trend similar to temperature in all the seasons. Correlation coefficients of CH₄ and temperature in summer, monsoon and winter are 0.99, 0.87 and 0.97, respectively. The measured CH₄ in this study is in the range of other studies around the world. Modified Triangular Method (MTM), IPCC model and the USEPA Landfill gas emissions model (LandGEM) were used to predict the CH₄ emissions during the study year. The consequent simulation results indicate that the MTM, LandGEM-Clean Air Act, LandGEM-Inventory and IPCC models predict 1.9, 3.3, 1.6 and 1.4 times of the measured CH₄ emission flux in this study. Assuming that this higher prediction of CH₄ levels observed in this study holds well for other landfills in this region, a new CH₄ emission inventory (Units: Tonnes/year), with a resolution of 0.1⁰ × 0.1⁰ has been developed. This study stresses the importance of biodegradable composition of waste and meteorology, and also points out the drawbacks of the widely used landfill emission models.

Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), a ubiquitous suspected contaminant, is one of the world's most prominent brominated flame retardants (BFRs). In the present study, earthworms (Eisenia fetida) were exposed to HBCD. The expression of selected antioxidant enzyme genes was measured, and the metabolic responses were assessed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to identify the molecular mechanism of the antioxidant stress reaction and the metabolic reactions of earthworms to HBCD. A significant up-regulation (p < 0.05) of superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene expression was detected, with the highest gene expression level of SOD appearing at a dose of 400 mg kg⁻¹ dw (2.06-fold, p < 0.01). However, the glutathione transferase (GST) gene expression levels did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). Principal component analysis (PCA) of the metabolic responses showed that all groups could be clearly differentiated, and the highest concentration dose group was the most distant from the control group. Except for fumarate, the measured metabolites, which included adenosine triphosphate (ATP), valine, lysine, glycine, betaine and lactate, revealed significant (p < 0.05) increases after 14 days of exposure to HBCD. HBCD likely induces high levels of anaerobic respiration, which would result in high levels of ATP and lead to the disintegration of proteins into amino acids, including valine and lysine, to produce energy. The observed changes in osmotic pressure were indicative of damage to the membrane structure. Furthermore, this study showed that NMR-based metabolomics was a more sensitive tool than measuring the gene expression levels for elucidating the mode of toxicity of HBCD in earthworm exposure studies.

The (un)intentional release of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs) poses potential risks to the environment and human health. Phosphorus (P) and humic acid (HA) usually coexist in the natural environments. This study aims at investigating the transport and retention behaviors of TiO₂ NPs in the single and binary systems of P and HA in water-saturated porous media. The experimental results showed that HA alone favored the transport of TiO₂ NPs in sand columns to a greater extent than that of P alone at pH 6.0. Interestingly, the co-presence of P and HA acting in a synergistic fashion enhanced the transport of TiO₂ NPs in sand-packed columns more significantly compared to that in the single-presence of P or HA. Particularly, P plays a dominant role in the synergistic effect. This is largely due to the competitive effect between P and HA for the same adsorption sites on the sand surfaces favorable for TiO₂ NPs retention. A two-site kinetic attachment model that considers Langmuirian blocking of particles at one site provided a good approximation of TiO₂ NPs transport. Modeled first-order attachment coefficient (k₂) and the maximum solid-phase retention capacity on site 2 (Sₘₐₓ₂) for P or HA alone were larger than those in the co-presence of P and HA, suggesting a less retention degree of TiO₂ NPs in the binary system of P and HA. Our findings indicate that the mobility of TiO₂ NPs is expected to be appreciable in soil and water environments, where P and HA are rich and always co-present at low pH conditions.

Intermittent, fluctuating and pulsed contaminant discharges may result in organisms receiving highly variable toxicant exposures. This study investigated the toxicity of continuous and pulsed exposures of a complex, neutralised drainage water (NDW) and dissolved copper-spiked dilute NDW to the green alga, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata. The effects of single pulses of between 1 and 48 h duration and continuous exposures (72 h) on algal growth rate inhibition were compared on a time-averaged concentration (TAC) basis. Algal growth rates generally recovered to control levels within 24–48 h of the pulse removal. Continuous exposures to NDW resulted in similar or marginally higher toxicity to the algae when compared to pulsed exposures of equivalent TAC (% NDW). The toxicity of the NDW was attributed mostly to the metals, with the major cations potentially causing effects that are both additive (direct toxicity) and antagonistic (lower bioavailability of trace metals). For dissolved copper in dilute NDW, the pulsed exposures caused slightly higher toxicity than continuous exposures of equivalent dissolved copper TAC, with much of the difference explained by differences in labile copper concentrations between treatments. The results indicate that water quality guideline values for toxicants derived from continuous chronic exposures may be relaxed for pulsed exposures by a factor related to the TAC with the intent to provide an adequately protective but not overly-conservative outcome. The study highlights the influence that natural water quality parameters such as water hardness and DOC can have metal speciation and toxicity, and indicates that these parameters are particularly important for site-specific water quality guideline value derivation where, on a TAC basis, pulsed exposures may be more toxic than continuous exposures typically used in guideline value derivation.

Ground-level ozone (O3) concentrations have been elevating in the last century. While there has been a notable progress in understanding O3 effects on vegetation, O3 effects on ecological stoichiometry remain unclear, especially early in the oxidative stress. Ethyelenediurea (EDU) is a chemical compound widely applied in research projects as protectant of plants against O3 injury, however its mode of action remains unclear. To investigate O3 and EDU effects early in the stress, we sprayed willow (Salix sachalinensis) plants with 0, 200 or 400 mg EDU L−1, and exposed them to either low ambient O3 (AOZ) or elevated O3 (EOZ) levels during the daytime, for about one month, in a free air O3 controlled exposure (FACE); EDU treatment was repeated every nine days. We collected samples for analyses from basal, top, and shed leaves, before leaves develop visible O3 symptoms. We found that O3 altered the ecological stoichiometry, including impacts in nutrient resorption efficiency, early in the stress. The relation between P content and Fe content seemed to have a critical role in maintaining homeostasis in an effort to prevent O3-induced damage. Photosynthetic pigments and P content appeared to play an important role in EDU mode of action. This study provides novel insights on the stress biology which are of ecological and toxicological importance.

Fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) pollution has been a major issue in many countries. Considerable studies have demonstrated that PM₂.₅ pollution is a regional issue, but little research has been done to investigate the regional extent of PM₂.₅ pollution or to define areas in which PM₂.₅ pollutants interact. To allow for a better understanding of the regional nature and spatial patterns of PM₂.₅ pollution, This study proposes a novel framework for delineating regional boundaries of PM₂.₅ pollution. The framework consists of four steps, including cross-correlation analysis, time-series clustering, generation of Voronoi polygons, and polygon smoothing using polynomial approximation with exponential kernel method. Using the framework, the regional PM₂.₅ boundaries for China are produced and the boundaries define areas where the monthly PM₂.₅ time series of any two cities show, on average, more than 50% similarity with each other. These areas demonstrate straightforwardly that PM₂.₅ pollution is not limited to a single city or a single province. We also found that the PM₂.₅ areas in China tend to be larger in cold months, but more fragmented in warm months, suggesting that, in cold months, the interactions between PM₂.₅ concentrations in adjacent cities are stronger than in warmer months. The proposed framework provides a tool to delineate PM₂.₅ boundaries and identify areas where PM₂.₅ pollutants interact. It can help define air pollution management zones and assess impacts related to PM₂.₅ pollution. It can also be used in analyses of other air pollutants.