The development of urbanised areas together with the growing transport infrastructure and traffic volume are the main cause of air quality deterioration due to the increasing concentrations of particulate matter. Dust pollution is a threat to human health. It can cause the development of lung, larynx or circulatory system cancer. Due to the ability to accumulate dust particles on the leaf surface, the contribution of trees in the process of phytoremediation of air pollution has started to be appreciated. An analysis of the elemental composition of particulate matter (PM) stored on the leaves surface was also carried out, which showed high average concentration of: C > O > Si > Fe (above 8wt.%). It was also observed single particles with a high concentration of heavy metals: Ti, Mn, Ba, Zn, Cr, Pb, Sn, Ni and REE (rare earth elements). The major origin of PM are vehicular emissions, soil and re-suspended road dust. This paper presents also a comparison of selected tree, shrub and vine species differing in their ability to accumulate particulate matter. It was experimentally determined the average leaf surface of individual plant species and established the amount of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter between 10 and 100 μm, 2.5 and 10 μm, and 0.2 and 2.5 μm deposited on the leaf surface and in waxes.Some species of vines (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), shrubs (Forsythia x intermediata) and coniferous trees, such as Betula pendula ‘Youngii’, Quercus rubra, Cratageus monogyna, Acer pseduoplatanus, Tilia cordata Mill. or Platanus orientalis turned out to be the most efficient in the process of phylloremediation.

Epidemiological evidence has shown a significant association between short-term exposure to air pollution and mortality risk for circulatory system diseases (CSD). However, informative insights on the significance and magnitude of its relationship in the process of government interventions on abating air pollution are still lacking, particularly in a burgeoning Chinese city. In this study, we conducted a time series study in Lishui District, Nanjing, to examine the effect of ambient particulate matter (PM), e.g., PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀, on daily death counts of CSD which included cardiovascular disease (CVD), cerebrovascular disease (CEVD), and arteriosclerotic heart disease (ASHD) mortality from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2019. The results revealed that each 10 μg/m³ increase in PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ concentration at lag0 day was associated with an increase of 1.33% (95% confidence interval, 0.08%, 2.60%) and 1.12% (0.43%, 1.82%) in CSD mortality; 2.42% (0.44%, 4.43%) and 1.43% (0.32%, 2.55%) in CVD mortality; 1.20% (− 0.31%, 2.73%) and 1.21% (0.38%, 2.05%) in CEVD mortality; and 2.78% (0.00%, 5.62%) and 1.66% (0.14%, 3.21%) in ASHD mortality, respectively. For cumulative risk, the corresponding increase in daily mortality for the same change in PM₂.₅ concentration at lag03 day was significantly associated with 1.94% (0.23%, 3.68%), 3.17% (0.58%, 5.84%), 2.38% (0.17%, 4.63%), and 4.92% (1.18%, 8.81%) for CSD, CVD, CEVD, and ASHD, respectively. The exposure–response curves were approximately nonlinear over the entire exposure range of the PM concentrations. We also analyzed the effect modifications by season (warm or cold), age group (0–64 years, 65–74 years, or ≥ 75 years), and sex (male or female). Although not statistically significant, stratified analysis showed greater vulnerability to PM exposure for cold season, population over 65 years of age, and female group.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been increasingly more prevalent due to their use in product technology owing to their exceptional electrical and thermal conductivity and tensile strength because of their nanostructure and strength of the bonds among carbon atoms. The potential increase of CNTs in the environment is a concern, and studies to assess the toxic effects of these nanomaterials (NMs) are needed. However, so far, most of the studies are focused on aquatic species and much less is understood about the effects of NM in terrestrial organisms. This investigation used a functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube (f-MWCNT) and the Jamaican cricket Gryllus assimilis to assess the effects of this NM. Cricket nymphs were injected with f-MWCNT suspension—at three different concentrations. The insecticide Fipronil was used as a positive control. Survival was monitored, and histological analysis was made in the brains. Pyknotic cells were quantified in two brain regions, a neurosecretory called Pars intercerebralis (PI), and an associative region called mushroom body (MB). No mortality was observed in any f-MWCNT concentration tested. A significant increase in pyknotic cells was observed as sub-lethal effect for the intermediate concentration of f-MWCNT, at PI, while any significant change was observed at the Kenyon cells of the MB. These results are discussed in the context of agglomeration and dispersion of the f-MWCNT at different concentrations, and availability of the f-MWCNT on the circulatory system, as well as the natural decay of pyknotic cells with time and different patterns of adult cricket neurogenesis. Our results showed that f-MWCNT had negative effects in the neurosecretory region of the brain.

While modern agriculture brings more food to people, it causes environmental pollution as well. Agricultural pollution has attracted extensive public attention. A lot of reviews on agricultural research were conducted from different research aspects, but there is a lack of work on analyzing the research trend from large volumes of publications in the field of agricultural pollution. In the present work, a scientometric analysis of agricultural pollution was conducted to fill the gap by using the software of VoSviewer and HistCite™. The datasets are collected from the core database of Web of Science from 1991 to 2019, totally 1338 records on the topic of agricultural pollutions. In most years (1996, 1999, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2013), the total local citation score (TLCS) and total global citation score (TGCS) have coincident peaks. Zhang, Ju, and Zhu have the highest TLCS and TGCS. In terms of institutes, Chinese Acad Sci and China Agr Univ are the leading institutes in this field. The Univ Calif Davis, INRA, and USDA ARS have very high global impacts. From the research hot topics, the representative words include “soil,” “agriculture,” “contamination,” “environment,” “lead,” and “balance.” Representative words like “heavy-metals,” “groundwater,” “land-use,” and “water” are emerging in the latter time period. Five leading research co-cited reference clusters are identified, including environment management, underground water, monitoring and alarming for the agriculture-environment standards, intrinsic mechanism to the circulatory system, and ecology system and land use. The recent trend is revealed from the bibliographical-coupling network, focusing on classical and old-fashion research, like pollution chemicals including N management, pesticides, and heavy metal. This work provides a holistic picture on the research in the field of agriculture pollution.

The cardiovascular impact of fine particles has caused great concern worldwide. However, evidences on the impact of fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) on emergency department (ED) admissions for circulatory system disease in Northeast China is limited. We assessed the acute, lag, cumulative, and harvesting effects of PM₂.₅ on ED admissions for circulatory system diseases and their exposure-response relationship. A total of 26,168 ED admissions, including those for hypertension, ischemic heart disease (IHD), arrhythmia, heart failure (HF), and cerebrovascular events (CVE), were collected from the Shenyang Emergency Center from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018. The relationship between PM₂.₅ and ED admissions for circulatory system disease was estimated using a distributed lag non-linear model and a generalized additive quasi-Poisson model. We stratified the analyses by temperature. Air pollution was positively correlated with daily ED admissions for circulatory system disease or other cause-specific diseases under different lag structures. For every 10-μg/m³ increase in the PM₂.₅ concentration, the relative risk of daily ED admissions for circulatory system disease was 1.007 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.001–1.013] in lag0, 1.007 (95%CI, 1.000–1.013) in lag1, and 1.011 (95%CI, 1.002–1.021) in lag03. A lag effect was found in IHD, a cumulative effect was found in CVE, and both lag and cumulative effects were found in hypertension and arrhythmia. A harvesting effect was observed in daily ED admissions for circulatory system disease and HF. We found no interaction between pollutants and temperature. We observed a monotonic and almost linear exposure-response relationship between PM₂.₅ and circulatory system disease with no threshold effect.PM₂.₅ contributes to obvious acute, lag, cumulative, and harvesting effects on circulatory system disease. PM₂.₅ was associated with the risk of daily ED admissions for circulatory system disease, hypertension, IHD, arrhythmia, HF, and CVE. Therefore, air quality management must be strengthened.

Daily time air quality indices, which can reflect air quality in 1 day, are suitable for identifying daily exposure during conditions of poor air quality. The aim of this study is to compare the main effectiveness of four daily time indices in representing variation in the number of disease admissions. These indices include pollution standard index (PSI), air quality index (AQI) and their respective indices derived from mean and entropy functions: MEPSI and MEAQI. The hourly concentrations of fine particulate matter less than 10 μm in diameter (PM₁₀), PM₂.₅, O₃, CO, NO₂ and SO₂ from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2010 were obtained from 14 air quality monitoring stations owned by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in the Kaoping region, Taiwan.Instead of circulatory system disease admissions, the indices were correlative with the number of respiratory disease admissions with correlative coefficients of 0.49 to 0.56 (P < 0.05). The daily time air quality indices derived from mean and entropy functions improved their performance of reactive range and air pollution identification. The reactive range of MEPSI and MEAQI was 1.4–3 times that of the original indices. The MEPSI and MEAQI increased identification from 40 to 180 in index scale and revealed one to two additional categories of public health effect information. In comparison with other indices, MEAQI is more effective for application to pollution events with multiple air pollutants.

Bioavailability (BA) determines the potential harm of a contaminant that exerts on the receptor. However, environmental guidelines for site contamination assessment are often set assuming the contaminant is 100 % bioavailable. This conservative approach to assessing site risk may result in the unnecessary and expensive remediation of a contaminated site. The National Environmental Protection Measures in Australia has undergone a statutory 5-year review that recommended that contaminant bioavailability and bioaccessibility (BAC) measures be adopted as part of the contaminated site risk assessment process by the National Environment Protection Council. We undertook a critical review of the current bioavailability and bioaccessibility approaches, methods and their respective limitations. The ‘gold’ standard to estimate the portion of a contaminant that reaches the system circulatory system (BA) of its receptor is to determine BA in an in vivo system. Various animal models have been utilised for this purpose. Because of animal ethics issues, and the expenses associated with performing in vivo studies, several in vitro methods have been developed to determine BAC as a surrogate model for the estimation of BA. However, few in vitro BAC studies have been calibrated against a reliable animal model, such as immature swine. In this review, we have identified suitable methods for assessing arsenic and lead BAC and proposed a decision tree for the determination of contaminant bioavailability and bioaccessibility for health risk assessment.