The purpose of this pilot study was to test spider webs as a fast tool for magnetic biomonitoring of air pollution. The study involved the investigation of webs made by four types of spiders: Pholcus phalangioides (Pholcidae), Eratigena atrica and Agelena labirynthica (Agelenidae) and Linyphia triangularis (Linyphiidae). These webs were obtained from outdoor and indoor study sites. Compared to the clean reference webs, an increase was observed in the values of magnetic susceptibility in the webs sampled from both indoor and outdoor sites, which indicates contamination by anthropogenically produced pollution particles that contain ferrimagnetic iron minerals. This pilot study has demonstrated that spider webs are able to capture particulate matter in a manner that is equivalent to flora-based bioindicators applied to date (such as mosses, lichens, leaves). They also have additional advantages; for example, they can be generated in isolated clean habitats, and exposure can be monitored in indoor and outdoor locations, at any height and for any period of time. Moreover, webs are ubiquitous in an anthropogenic, heavily polluted environment, and they can be exposed throughout the year. As spider webs accumulate pollutants to which humans are exposed, they become a reliable source of information about the quality of the environment. Therefore, spider webs are recommended for magnetic biomonitoring of airborne pollution and for the assessment of the environment because they are non-destructive, low-cost, sensitive and efficient.

Narragansett Bay is a temperate estuary on the Atlantic coast of Rhode Island in the north-eastern United States, which receives organic pollutants from urban and industrial activities in its watershed, though detailed knowledge on sources and fluxes is missing. Twenty-four polyethylene passive samplers were deployed in the surface water of the watershed around Narragansett Bay during June–July of 2014, to examine the spatial variability and possible sources of priority pollutants, namely dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Dissolved ∑22PAH concentrations ranged from 3.6 to 340 ng L−1, and from 2.9 to 220 pg L−1 for ∑12PBDE. The spatial variability of the concentrations was correlated to land use pattern and population distribution, in particular with human activities within 2 km of sampling sites. River discharges derived from the concentrations of PAHs and PBDEs measured here were 10–20 times greater than their previously measured concentrations in the open waters of Narragansett Bay. These results imply that river waters are the main source of PAHs and PDBEs to the Bay and that major sink terms (e.g., sedimentation, degradation) affect their concentrations in the estuary. Predicted PAH and PBDE toxicity based on dissolved concentrations did not exceed 1 toxic unit, suggested that no toxicity occurred at the sampling sites.

Microplastics (MPs) have adverse effects on aquatic organisms in marine environments; however, there is a lack of information on freshwater environments. This study investigated the dietary uptake, and biodistribution and depuration of MPs in the freshwater diving beetle Cybister japonicus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) after consumption of zebrafish (Danio rerio) exposed to MPs. The transfer of MPs in diving beetles after consumption of zebrafish was assessed to determine whether the presence of MPs affected diving beetle behavior and predation. We found that diving beetles that consumed MP-exposed fish had a significantly lower ingestion rate than the control. In addition, the trophic transfer rate of MPs was 13–18%. However, MPs were found only in the crop and proventriculus of the beetles, and all particles were depurated within 48 h, likely via regurgitation. As diving beetle is a top predator in freshwater ecosystems and could facilitate transfer from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems via predation, its behavior towards indigestible MPs in its digestive organs (i.e., filtering and vomiting) could represent a meaningful phenomenon as a potential vector for MP transport. This is the first report of the trophic transfer of MPs from fish to dytiscid species, which helps clarify the effects and mechanisms of MPs in freshwater systems.

In vitro assays act as surrogate measurements of relative bioavailability (RBA) for inorganic contaminants. The values derived from these assays are routinely used to refine human health risk assessments (HHRA). Extensive in vitro research has been performed on three major inorganic contaminants; As, Cd and Pb. However, the majority of these studies have evaluated the contaminants individually, even in cases when they are found as co-contaminants. Recently, in vivo studies (animal model) have determined that when the three aforementioned contaminants are present in the same soil matrix, they have the ability to influence each other's individual bioavailability. Since in vitro assays are used to inform HHRA, this study investigated whether bioaccessibility methods including the Solubility/Bioavailability Research Consortium (SBRC) assay, and physiologically based extraction test (PBET), have the ability to detect interactions between As, Cd and Pb. Using a similar dosing methodology to recently published in vivo studies, spiked aged (12 years) soil was assessed by evaluating contaminant bioaccessibility individually, in addition to tertiary combinations. In two spiked aged soils (grey and brown chromosols), there was no influence on contaminant bioaccessibility when As, Cd and Pb we present as co-contaminants. However, in a red ferrosol, the presence of As and Pb significantly decreased (p < 0.05) the bioaccessibility of Cd when assessed using gastric and intestinal phases of the SBRC assay and the PBET. Conceivable, differences in key physico-chemical properties (TOC, Fe, Al, P) between the study soils influenced contaminant interactions and bioaccessibility outcomes. Although bioaccessibility methods may not account for interactions between elements as demonstrated in in vivo models, in vitro assessment provides a conservative prediction of contaminant RBA under co-contaminant scenarios.

The city of London, UK, has seen in recent years an increase in the number of high-rise/multi-storey buildings (“skyscrapers”) with roof heights reaching 150 m and more, with the Shard being a prime example with a height of ∼310 m. This changing cityscape together with recent plans of local authorities of introducing Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) led to a detailed study in which CFD and wind tunnel studies were carried out to assess the effect of such high-rise buildings on the dispersion of air pollution in their vicinity. A new, open-source simulator, FLUIDITY, which incorporates the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) method, was implemented; the simulated results were subsequently validated against experimental measurements from the EnFlo wind tunnel. The novelty of the LES methodology within FLUIDITY is based on the combination of an adaptive, unstructured, mesh with an eddy-viscosity tensor (for the sub-grid scales) that is anisotropic. The simulated normalised mean concentrations results were compared to the corresponding wind tunnel measurements, showing for most detector locations good correlations, with differences ranging from 3% to 37%. The validation procedure was followed by the simulation of two further hypothetical scenarios, in which the heights of buildings surrounding the source building were increased. The results showed clearly how the high-rise buildings affected the surrounding air flows and dispersion patterns, with the generation of “dead-zones” and high-concentration “hotspots” in areas where these did not previously exist. The work clearly showed that complex CFD modelling can provide useful information to urban planners when changes to cityscapes are considered, so that design options can be tested against environmental quality criteria.

Inflammation may play an important role in the association between exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.To investigate the association of PAHs exposure with ASCVD risk and effects of mean platelet volume (MPV) or Club cell secretory protein (CC16) on the association.A total of 2022 subjects (689 men and 1333 women) were drawn from the baseline Wuhan residents of the Wuhan-Zhuhai Cohort study. Data on demography and the physical examination were obtained from each participant. Urinary monohydroxy PAH metabolites (OH-PAHs) levels were measured by a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We estimated the association between each OH-PAHs and the 10-year ASCVD risk or coronary heart disease (CHD) risk using logistic regression models, and further analyze the mediating effect of MPV or plasma CC16 on the association by using structural equation modeling.The results of multiple logistic regression models showed that some OH-PAHs were positively associated with ASCVD risk but not CHD risk, including 2-hydroxyfluoren (β = 1.761; 95% CI: 1.194–2.597), 9-hydroxyfluoren (β = 1.470; 95% CI: 1.139–1.898), 1-hydroxyphenanthrene (β = 1.480; 95% CI: 1.008–2.175) and ΣOH-PAHs levels (β = 1.699; 95% CI: 1.151–2.507). The analysis of structural equation modeling shows that increased MPV and increased plasma CC16 levels contributed 13.6% and 15.1%, respectively, to the association between PAHs exposure and the 10-year ASCVD risk (p < 0.05).Exposure to PAHs may increase the risk of atherosclerosis, which was partially mediated by MPV or CC16.

Recent climate change may be enhancing mercury fluxes to Arctic lake sediments, confounding the use of sediment cores to reconstruct histories of atmospheric deposition. Assessing the independent effects of climate warming on mercury sequestration is challenging due to temporal overlap between warming temperatures and increased long-range transport of atmospheric mercury following the Industrial Revolution. We address this challenge by examining mercury trends in short cores (the last several hundred years) from eight lakes centered on Cape Herschel (Canadian High Arctic) that span a gradient in microclimates, including two lakes that have not yet been significantly altered by climate warming due to continued ice cover. Previous research on subfossil diatoms and inferred primary production indicated the timing of limnological responses to climate warming, which, due to prevailing ice cover conditions, varied from ∼1850 to ∼1990 for lakes that have undergone changes. We show that climate warming may have enhanced mercury deposition to lake sediments in one lake (Moraine Pond), while another (West Lake) showed a strong signal of post-industrial mercury enrichment without any corresponding limnological changes associated with warming. Our results provide insights into the role of climate warming and organic carbon cycling as drivers of mercury deposition to Arctic lake sediments.

High abundances of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria (ARPB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in agricultural soil-plant systems have become serious threats to human health and environmental safety. Therefore, it is crucial to develop targeted technology to control existing antibiotic resistance (AR) contamination and potential dissemination in soil-plant systems. In this work, polyvalent bacteriophage (phage) therapy and biochar amendment were applied separately and in combination to stimulate ARPB/ARG dissipation in a soil-lettuce system. With combined application of biochar and polyvalent phage, the abundance of Escherichia coli K-12 (tetR) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 (ampR + fosR) and their corresponding ARGs (tetM, tetQ, tetW, ampC, and fosA) significantly decreased in the soil after 63 days' incubation (p < 0.05). Similar results for endophytic K-12 and PAO1, and ARGs, were also obtained in lettuce tissues following combined treatment. Additionally, high throughput sequencing revealed that biochar and polyvalent phage synergetically improved the structural diversity and functional stability of the indigenous bacterial communities in soil and the endophytic ones in lettuce. Hence, this work proposes a novel biotechnology that combines biochar amendment and polyvalent phage therapy to achieve targeted inactivation of ARPB, which stimulates ARG dissipation in soil-lettuce systems.

Antibiotic resistance is an increasingly important environmental pollutant with direct consequences for human health. Identification of environmental sources of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) makes it possible to follow their evolution and prevent their entry into the clinical setting. ARGs have been found in environmental sources exogenous to the original source and previous studies have shown that these genes are capable of being transferred from livestock to humans. Due to the nature of farming and the slaughter of ruminants for food, humans interact with these animals in close proximity, and for this reason it is important to consider the risks to human health. In this study, we characterised the ARG populations in the ovine rumen, termed the resistome. This was done using the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD) to identify the presence of genes conferring resistance to antibiotics within the rumen. Genes were successfully mapped to those that confer resistance to a total of 30 different antibiotics. Daptomycin was identified as the most common antibiotic for which resistance is present, suggesting that ruminants may be a source of daptomycin ARGs. Colistin resistance, conferred by the gene pmrE, was also found to be present within all samples, with an average abundance of 800 counts. Due to the high abundance of some ARGs (against daptomycin) and the presence of rare ARGs (against colistin), we suggest further study and monitoring of the rumen resistome as a possible source of clinically relevant ARGs.

Determining sources of heavy metals in soils, sediments and groundwater is important for understanding their fate and transport and mitigating human and environmental exposures. Artificially imported fill, natural sediments and groundwater from 240 ha of reclaimed land at Fishermans Bend in Australia, were analysed for heavy metals and other parameters to determine the relative contributions from different possible sources. Fishermans Bend is Australia's largest urban re-development project, however, complicated land-use history, geology, and multiple contamination sources pose challenges to successful re-development. We developed a method for heavy metal source separation in groundwater using statistical categorisation of the data, analysis of soil leaching values and fill/sediment XRF profiling. The method identified two major sources of heavy metals in groundwater: 1. Point sources from local or up-gradient groundwater contaminated by industrial activities and/or legacy landfills; and 2. contaminated fill, where leaching of Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn was observed. Across the precinct, metals were most commonly sourced from a combination of these sources; however, eight locations indicated at least one metal sourced solely from fill leaching, and 23 locations indicated at least one metal sourced solely from impacted groundwater. Concentrations of heavy metals in groundwater ranged from 0.0001 to 0.003 mg/L (Cd), 0.001–0.1 mg/L (Cr), 0.001–0.2 mg/L (Cu), 0.001–0.5 mg/L (Ni), 0.001–0.01 mg/L (Pb), and 0.005–1.2 mg/L (Zn). Our method can determine the likely contribution of different metal sources to groundwater, helping inform more detailed contamination assessments and precinct-wide management and remediation strategies.