Soils polluted by organic or inorganic pollutants are an emerging global environmental issue due to their toxic effects. A phytoremediation experiment was conducted to evaluate the extraction potential of three European aspen clones (R2, R3, and R4) and seven hybrid aspen clones (14, 27, 34, 134, 172, 191, and 291) grown in soils polluted with hydrocarbons (includes polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH)). Height growth, plant survival rates, and .hydrocarbon removal efficiencies were investigated over a 4-year period at a site in Somerharju, Luumaki Finland, to assess the remediation potential of the clones. Hydrocarbon content in the soil was determined by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The results revealed that hybrid aspen clones 14 and 34 and European aspen clone R3 achieved greater height growth (171, 171, and 114 cm, respectively) than the other clones in the study. Further, the greatest removals of PAH (90% at depth 10–50 cm) and (86% at depth 5–10 cm) were observed in plot G15 planted with clone R2. Furthermore, the greatest TPH removal rate at 5–10 cm depth (C₂₂–C₄₀, 97%; C₁₀–C₄₀, 96%; and C₁₀–C₂₁, 90%) was observed in plot 117 with clone 134. However, other clones demonstrated an ability to grow in soils with elevated levels of TPH and PAH, which indicates their tolerance to hydrocarbons and their potential capacity for phytoremediation of hydrocarbon-polluted soils. Our study suggests that European aspen and hybrid aspen clones could be used for the remediation of soils polluted with PAH and TPH.

This study sought to investigate the impacts of climate change on cereal production in China over the period 1990Q1–2013Q4. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach, the results showed that CO₂ emissions, average temperature, and temperature variability have a significant negative impact on cereal production in the long run. However, energy consumption, average rainfall, labor force, and cultivated area significantly and positively influenced the production of cereal crops in the long run. Meanwhile, the study observed that rainfall variability has no significant effect on cereal production in the long run. The study again found that in the short run, CO₂ emissions, average temperature, and temperature variability have a significant negative relationship with cereal production. Besides, energy consumption, average rainfall, rainfall variability, labor force, and the cultivated area had a significant positive association with cereal production in the short run. The results of the Granger causality test showed that there exists a unidirectional causality running from CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, and labor force to the production of cereal crops in China. On the contrary, the study found no causality between cultivated area and cereal production. The study suggests that improved cereal crop varieties ought to be developed and introduced to cope with the adverse impacts of climate change in China. This will help to circumvent Huang et al.’s (2017) prediction of a decline in the total food self-sufficiency of China from 94.5% in 2015 to about 91% by 2025.

The present study was the first trial to use the adsorptive capacity of the rice husk to reduce the toxicological impacts of the iron and aluminum oxides nanoparticles on Oreochromis niloticus. The fish groups were subjected to a sub-lethal concentration (10 mg/l) of both metal oxides nanoparticles (in single and combined doses) with and without rice husk water treatment for 7 days. The bioaccumulation of iron and aluminum metals showed a significant increase (p < 0.05) compared with the control groups. The results revealed a tissue-specific distribution pattern as following: liver > kidney > gills > skin > muscles for iron and liver > gills > kidney > skin > muscles for aluminum. Moreover, the bioaccumulation potency of iron was greater than that of aluminum in all studied tissues. Both studied nanoparticles caused a decrease in the red blood cells count, hemoglobin content, hematocrit values, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, with an obvious increase in mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin. While all those parameters were restored more or less to that of control groups after rice husk water treatment. The histological studies of the gills, liver, and kidneys showed different histopathological alterations ranging from compensatory histological changes in the rice husk–treated groups to severe histopathological damage in the untreated groups. Based on the all studied biomarkers, the rice husk is a good absorbent for both studied nanoparticles individually or combined.

Agricultural production has a major impact on the environment. Indeed, the emissions from agricultural machinery have a significantly negative impact on ambient air, thereby contributing to Climate Change. This study analyses combine harvesters and justifies their optimization in order to increase resource efficiency as well as reduce any negative impact on the environment. Data from 90 combine harvesters in Lithuania and Latvia from 2016 to 2018 is collected using telematics, and the parameters that directly influence engine exhaust emissions are analyzed, such as operation time, grain unloading method, fuel consumption, and auto-steering, according to the engine-operating modes of harvesting, transportation, and idling. Statistically reliable strong correlations can be found between harvesting time and idling time, as well as between fuel consumption during harvesting and idling modes. On average, roughly 20% of the operating time consists of idling and roughly 15% of transportation; moreover, roughly 14% of the diesel fuel is used per year in the aforementioned engine modes. In addition, the auto-steering function enables the efficient use of diesel fuel (average cost per combine harvester is reduced by 0.2 t year⁻¹), thereby reducing air pollution (pollution per combine harvester is reduced on average by 0.6 t year⁻¹). The results suggest telematics system data can be effectively used for data analysis, problem identification, and decision-making with respect to pollution prevention and optimizing combine harvester operation. Graphical Abstract

In order to analyze and control air pollutant emissions effectively, on the basis of comprehensive consideration of three different pollution sources of industrial sulfur dioxide, industrial nitrogen oxides, and industrial smoke and dust, the Tapio decoupling model and LMDI decomposition model with six decomposition variables are constructed to compare the effects of socioeconomic factors on industrial air pollutant emissions in 11 cities in Zhejiang Province during 2006–2017. Then, a decoupling effort model is developed to analyze the effectiveness of the decoupling efforts taken at city level. This study found that (1) during the period of 2006–2017, the air pollutant emission reduction work in Zhejiang Province achieved remarkable results. More specifically, economic scale effect and population effect are the main factors for the increase of air pollutant emissions. And, the energy emission intensity effect and technological progress are the main driving forces for the reduction of three atmospheric pollutants, followed by the reduction effect of industrial structure and energy structure. (2) The environmental pollution problems of different air pollution sources in different cities are heterogeneous. (3) Eleven cities in Zhejiang Province have made significant decoupling efforts on the emission of three kinds of air pollutants, but there are some differences in the trend of the decoupling effort index of different pollution sources in different cities. In the future, illustrating by the example of Zhejiang, we should implement a “common but different” emission reduction strategy and emphasize pollutant emissions control during energy use in the efforts of further promoting the reduction of air pollutants.

Aquatic environments can be easily contaminated due to anthropogenic activities that may affect local biota. Microalgae are abundant and have an important role on the food chain. Consequently, they stand out as promising models for studies of contaminants. This study investigated the cytotoxic effects of atrazine and copper (separate and mixture) exposure in microalgae Desmodesmus communis, as well as its cellular defense due to ABC (ATP-binding cassette) proteins activity against the xenobiotics. We analyzed two different ABC proteins activity pathways: P-gp, which is responsible for nonspecific substance efflux, and MRP that is associated with metals efflux. It was observed that the microalgae exposure to atrazine (90 nM) and copper (141 nM) has been considered cytotoxic. When contaminants were mixed, only the combination of both highest concentrations tested was cytotoxic. The P-gp blocker, verapamil, demonstrated that the contaminants tested caused proteins inhibition. However, the MK-571 (MRP blocker) did not block pump activity. There was an inverse relationship between ABC protein activity and cytotoxicity; non-cytotoxic conditions suggest increased activity of microalgae defense proteins.

Cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTMAB)–modified bentonite was synthesized as adsorbent for the removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions. Batch adsorption studies show that the adsorption capacity of CTMAB-modified bentonite (1.962 mg g⁻¹) was about 19 times higher than that of natural bentonite (0.101 mg g⁻¹). The weakly acidic or neutral environment can improve the adsorption ability of both natural and modified bentonites. Cr(VI) adsorption onto CTMAB-modified bentonite follows the Langmuir model and obeys the pseudo-second-order model. In a fixed-bed column test, the adsorption capacities of 5% modified bentonite with 95% sand, and 10% modified bentonite with 90% sand were 0.31 mg g⁻¹ and 0.35 mg g⁻¹, respectively. These values were much lower than their theoretical maximum adsorption capacity using the Langmuir model.

It is necessary to determine an environmentally friendly method of reusing the vast amount of coal waste that is generated during coal preparation. This study evaluates the applicability of using weathered coal waste in a permeable reactive barrier to prevent groundwater contamination. Coal waste, with different weathering degrees, was obtained from two coal mining sites in South Jeolla Province, Korea. The reactivities of the coal waste with inorganic contaminants, such as copper, cadmium, and arsenic, were examined in batch and column experiments. The batch experiment results indicate that the coal waste removal efficiencies of copper (99.8%) and cadmium (95.4%) were higher than those of arsenic (71.0%). The maximum adsorption capacities of coal waste for copper, cadmium, and arsenic calculated from the Langmuir isotherm model were 4.440 mg/g, 3.660 mg/g, and 0.718 mg/g, respectively. The equilibrium of adsorption was attained within 8 h. The column experiment results reveal that the coal waste effectively removed inorganic contaminants under flow-through conditions. Faster breakthrough times were observed in single solute system (As(V) = 19.3 PV, Cu(II) = 47.6 PV) compared with binary solute system (As(V) = 27.8 PV, Cu(II) = 65.4 PV). To confirm the applicability of using coal waste in a groundwater environment, its decontamination ability was analyzed at low concentrations and under various pH conditions. To examine the potential ecological risks in the subsurface environment, a test to determine acute toxicity to Daphnia magna and a toxic characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) test were conducted. The coal waste was found to satisfy appropriate standards. The acute toxicity test also confirmed the ecological safety of using coal waste in a groundwater environment. The acceptably high capacity and fast kinetics of inorganic contaminant sorption by the coal waste indicate it could potentially be employed as a reactive material. The recycling and application of this abundant waste material will contribute to solving both coal waste disposal and water pollution problems.

Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) have gained attention in recent years due to their continuous discharge in natural waters. Their persistence in the environment has impacted flora, fauna and human being worldwide. One of the most common PPCPs is caffeine (1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine) which acts as a stimulant to the central nervous system in humans and is found in nature in about 60 plant species, especially in coffee, tea and cacao plants. Here we discuss the evidence with respect to caffeine occurrence, its persistence and remediation in light of increasing knowledge and the impact of caffeine on the environment. Daily intake of caffeine around the world is found to increase due to the frequent introduction of new caffeinated beverages as well as increased consumption of coffee, tea and carbonated soft drinks, which has led to increase in its concentration in water bodies including agricultural soil. The caffeine concentration in different water system, studied by various authors is also described. Diverse effects of the use of caffeine on several organisms including humans are also briefly presented. Therefore, urgent attention for the removal of caffeine and its derivatives is the need of the hour. Various methods described in literature for caffeine degradation/removal is also presented. Another widely used technique in environmental remediation is molecular imprinting (MIP); however, only few MIPs have been demonstrated for caffeine which is also discussed. Regular monitoring can be useful to control toxic effects of caffeine. Graphical abstract

Assisted phytoremediation using amendments is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly approach to control soil pollution. However, amendment type, combination and application rate can influence process effectiveness. In the present study, the effect of the association of red mud and carbon-based amendments on the physicochemical properties of a former mine soil as well as the growth and metal(loid) uptake of Trifolium repens was investigated. For this purpose, a mesocosm experiment was set up using a former mine technosol highly contaminated by As and Pb, amended with red mud combined with different carbon-based amendments, i.e., bamboo biochar, oak biochar, steam activated carbon and acidic activated carbon, and sown with Trifolium repens. The final goal was to determine which amendment combination allows soil metal(loid) immobilization and an efficient plant growth. Results showed that all the four different treatments improved soil characteristics by increasing pH and electrical conductivity and reducing redox potential. All the treatments were also effective in reducing soil pore water lead concentrations. Among the four treatments, the addition of red mud and acidic activated carbon in the soil showed better results regarding Trifolium repens growth. Finally, when grown on the soil amended with red mud and acidic activated carbon, Trifolium repens presented mainly a metal(loid) storage in roots, making it a right candidate for the establishment of a vegetation cover.