Exposure to ambient air pollutants during pregnancy may be associated with numerous side health effects and adverse birth outcomes. Growing numbers of studies have explored a possible linkage between prenatal exposure to PM₂.₅ (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm) and impacts on fetal development. We aimed to conduct a systematic review based on published cohort studies to summarize evidence regarding the association between maternal PM₂.₅ exposure and birth outcomes, including birth weight, low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth (PTB), and small for gestational age (SGA). Eligible studies meeting the following criterion were selected: PM₂.₅ exposure during pregnancy and live birth singletons, certain presentation of sample sizes, and quantitative evaluation of the associations between exposure and outcomes. Among the 42 selected studies, 23 evaluated the impact of prenatal PM₂.₅ exposure on birth weight of infants while 12 of them provided a significantly negative association for exposure and birth weight. Twenty-one studies aimed to identify the possible relationship between maternal exposure and LBW and 8 studies proved significant associations. Among 18 studies that explored the correlation between prenatal exposure and PTB, 9 reached a consistent conclusion that gestational exposure would add to the risk of PTB. Nine studies assessed the impact of PM₂.₅ on SGA and 5 of them demonstrated a significant effect. So far, linkages between maternal PM₂.₅ exposure during varied gestational stages and multiple adverse birth outcomes have been observed in many studies. A summary of them will be meaningful for further research on maternal exposure and adverse birth outcomes.

Polycaprolactone nanocapsules (PCL) containing pretilachlor were prepared, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used for their structural and morphological investigations. The results revealed that the nanocapsules had irregular shape and their particles size was in the range of 70–200 nm. The encapsulation efficiency of pretilachlor was measured as 99.5 ± 1.3% using high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. The physicochemical stability studies over 60 days showed that the nanocapsules were stable in the suspension without any aggregation. The herbicide activity was examined in a pre-emergence manner using barnyard grass as a target plant and rice as a non-target plant. The nanoformulation had no negative effect on rice plant. However, its effect on barnyard grass was significant. The cytotoxicity analysis indicated that the nanocapsulated herbicide is less toxic rather than the commercial formulation. Therefore, encapsulation of pretilachlor in PCL nanocapsules can be used effectively to construct environmentally friendly PCL-herbicide systems in agriculture.

A photosynthetic algal (Chlorella vulgaris) microbial fuel cell (PAMFC) with double chambers was adopted for power production and removal of carbon and nitrogen in swine sewerage that could provide nutrients for the growth of C. vulgaris. C. vulgaris was expected to utilize carbon dioxide (CO₂) delivered from the anode chamber and generate oxygen as an electron acceptor by photosynthesis. PAMFC presented a maximum voltage output of 0.747 V and a maximum power density of 3720 mW/m³ at 240 h, much higher than that of the standalone MFC. 85.6%, 70.2%, and 93.9% removal of ammonia nitrogen, total nitrogen (TN), and total organic carbon (TOC), respectively, were obtained in the anode chamber of the PAMFC system, while the corresponding removal in MFC was 83.1%, 56.0%, and 87.2%, respectively. PAMFC also presented a much higher removal of ammonia nitrogen (68.7%) in the cathode chamber than MFC (47.5%). The results indicated the superiority of the PAMFC device for carbon and nitrogen removal.

Chenopodium album and C. murale are cosmopolitan, annual weed species of notable economic importance. Their unique biological features, including high reproductive capacity, seed dormancy, high persistence in the soil seed bank, the ability to germinate and grow under a wide range of environmental conditions and abiotic stress tolerance, help these species to infest diverse cropping systems. C. album and C. murale grow tall and absorb nutrients very efficiently. Both these species are allelopathic in nature and, thus, suppress the germination and growth of native vegetation and/or crop plants. These weed species infest many agronomic and horticultural crops and may cause > 90% loss in crop yields. C. album is more problematic than C. murale as the former is more widespread and infests more number of crops, and it also acts as an alternate host of several crop pests. Different cultural and mechanical methods have been used to control these weed species with varying degrees of success depending upon the cropping systems and weed infestation levels. Similarly, allelopathy and biological control have also shown some potential, especially in controlling C. album. Several herbicides have been successfully used to control these species, but the evolution of wide-scale herbicide resistance in C. album has limited the efficacy of chemical control. However, the use of alternative herbicides in rotation and the integration of chemicals and biologically based control methods may provide a sustainable control of C. album and C. murale.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants which exert detrimental effects on living beings. Considering the health risk associated with exposure to these pollutants, their presence in food increases efforts to establish early-warning indicators of pollution. We aimed to examine the effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of fluoranthene (0.2 ng and 18 ng/g dry weight of diet) on the activities of midgut antioxidant and detoxification enzymes in Blaptica dubia. Significant changes of superoxide dismutase and catalase activities, recorded at the higher fluoranthene concentration regardless of the exposure time, suggest that they may be used as biomarkers of PAH pollution. Increased GST activity and decreased total GSH content, detected upon acute exposure to the lower concentration, indicate processes of detoxification. Reorganization of B. dubia mechanisms of defense in response to oxidative stress caused by exposure to dietary PAH point to the necessity for further examination of fluoranthene actions.

In this study, we assess the validity of an African-scale groundwater pollution model for nitrates. In a previous study, we identified a statistical continental-scale groundwater pollution model for nitrate. The model was identified using a pan-African meta-analysis of available nitrate groundwater pollution studies. The model was implemented in both Random Forest (RF) and multiple regression formats. For both approaches, we collected as predictors a comprehensive GIS database of 13 spatial attributes, related to land use, soil type, hydrogeology, topography, climatology, region typology, nitrogen fertiliser application rate, and population density. In this paper, we validate the continental-scale model of groundwater contamination by using a nitrate measurement dataset from three African countries. We discuss the issue of data availability, and quality and scale issues, as challenges in validation. Notwithstanding that the modelling procedure exhibited very good success using a continental-scale dataset (e.g. R² = 0.97 in the RF format using a cross-validation approach), the continental-scale model could not be used without recalibration to predict nitrate pollution at the country scale using regional data. In addition, when recalibrating the model using country-scale datasets, the order of model exploratory factors changes. This suggests that the structure and the parameters of a statistical spatially distributed groundwater degradation model for the African continent are strongly scale dependent.

The study investigates the long-run impact of tourism development on ecological footprint by employing the time-varying coefficient cointegration approach (TVC), in addition to the conventional cointegration techniques in the case of Azerbaijan for the period of 1996–2014. Based on the TVC estimation results, the coefficient of tourism development, which is the income elasticity of environmental degradation, was found to be time invariant. The paper uses energy consumption, trade, urbanization, and institutional quality indicators as control explanatory variables. The estimation results revealed that trade and energy consumption have statistically significant and positive impact on ecological footprint, while the coefficients of the other explanatory variables were found to be insignificant. Both the conventional estimation methods and the TVC concluded that, for the relationship between ecological footprint and tourism development, the EKC hypothesis is not present in Azerbaijan. Policy implications for the resource-rich economies have been discussed.

As a commonly used surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) usually coexists with inorganic anions in the industrial wastewater. These anions have a significant influence on SDS removal, indirectly threatening the environment. It is important to understand the relationship between the adsorption of SDS and inorganic anions. In this study, calcium-based layered double hydroxide (CaAl-LDH-Cl) as an efficient adsorbent was synthesized for investigating the effect of SO₄²⁻ on SDS removal. The SDS adsorption capacities were enhanced to 3.21 and 4.21 mmol g⁻¹ in the presence of SO₄²⁻ with low/high SDS concentration, respectively. The phenomenon and mechanism were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Anionic exchange played a dominant role in the adsorption of SDS onto CaAl-LDH-Cl at DS⁻/SO₄²⁻ < 2, while both anion exchange and precipitation occurred when DS⁻/SO₄²⁻ exceeded 2. Moreover, the thermal analysis (TG–DTA) was employed to further reveal the interaction mechanism. The results showed the highest total mass loss and the lowest loss temperature of interlayer water in the sulfate coexist system, confirming the enhancement of SDS adsorption amount in the presence of SO₄²⁻.

Availability of clean water and adequate sanitation facilities are the principal measures for limiting various waterborne diseases. These basic amenities are critical for health and sustainable socio-economic development. This study attempted to assess the status of water and sanitation facilities and practices of the people living in rural areas of Chandigarh including awareness about the waterborne diseases. The community-based cross-sectional study design was adopted having 300 households across 12 villages of city Chandigarh. A standardized interview schedule was used to collect information related to water uses, storage, water treatment options, water conservation practices, personal hygiene, knowledge about waterborne diseases, and government schemes. The interview schedule was administered with the head of the family as a study approach during the door-to-door survey. Households in rural Chandigarh have municipal water supply for drinking as well as other domestic purposes. The mean per capita water usage was 67 ± 13.4 l. Most (68.6%) of the study participants reported that they do not treat water before drinking and store it in plastic bottles or bucket (58%). The survey shows that 97% of the household had functional toilets in their premises, remaining reported lack of finances, and space for construction as major barriers. Regarding personal hygiene, 83% of respondents wash hands with soap and rest used only water or ash. Observations made under the study highlighted the need to create awareness regarding the role of water and sanitation practices on health including knowledge about various government schemes to improve water quality, sanitation, and hygiene practices for better health.

Aside from the ability of plants to remove domestic-industrial wastewater contaminants from various types of water, macrophytes can also serve as an alternative source of energy. The goal of the present study was to test the viability of biogas production using aquatic macrophyte species—Eichhornia crassipes and Pistia stratiotes—contaminated with cadmium (Cd) after the phytoremediation process. The plants were transferred to a nutrient solution contaminated with 0.8 mg L⁻¹of Cd. The experiment was set up in a 2 × 3 factorial scheme with the presence or absence of Cd and three phytoremediation times (20, 40, or 60 days) using P. stratiotes followed by an additional treatment consisting of P. stratiotes + E. crassipes for 20 days. The acute and chronic effects of bioassays with the microcrustacean Daphnia similis were used to evaluate the ability of the macrophytes to remove toxicity by phytoremediation. The viability test of biogas production after phytoremediation was evaluated using micro-biodigesters. According to the results, at least 60 days of phytoremediation are necessary to remove/remediate the Cd present in the contaminated solution. The metal did not influence the macrophytes’ methanogenic activity, showing that these macrophytes can be used for biogas/methane production. The combination of Pistia stratiotes with Eichhornia crassipes is a good alternative to reduce phytoremediation time, but for 20 days of testing, the presence of Eichhornia crassipes reduces the biogas production/CH₄. However, it is believed that if the digestion time is extended, this effect can be minimized. The phytoremediation time indicated that Pistia stratiotes must remain at least 60 days to remove/remediate the Cd present in the contaminated solution.