Magnetic particles (MP) emitted by an iron smelter were used to investigate the exposure of cows grazing on a grassland polluted by these MP and by large amounts of potentially toxic elements (PTE). The morphology as well as the chemical composition of the MP separated from cow dung were studied. Large amounts of typical MP were found (1.1 g kg−1 dry weight) in the cow dung sampled from the exposed site, whereas these particles were absent from the reference unpolluted site. The ingested MP were mainly technogenic magnetic particles (TMP) emitted by the smelter. Considering the MP concentration in the grazed grass on the exposed site, it was concluded that cows absorb the MP not only from the grass but also from the soil surface. The results of a mild acidic leaching of the MP suggested that the particles were possibly submitted to a superficial dissolution in the abomasum, pointing at a potential route of transfer of the PTE originating from the TMP and leading into food chains. TMP were only a small part of the anthropogenic contamination having affected the soil and the dung. However, due to their unequivocal signature, TMP are a powerful tracer of the distribution of PTE in the different compartments constituting the food chains and the ecosystems. Furthermore, the measurement of the particle sizes gave evidence that a noticeable proportion of the MP could enter the respiratory tract.

Effect-directed analysis (EDA) was performed to identify the major aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists in sediments collected from a highly industrialized area (Lake Shihwa, Korea). Great AhR-mediated potencies were found in fractions containing aromatic compounds with log Kow values of 5–8, and relatively great concentrations of styrene oligomers (SOs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were detected in those fractions. Until now, there was little information on occurrences and toxic relative potencies (RePs) of SOs in coastal environments. In the present study; i) distributions and compositions, ii) AhR binding affinities, and iii) contributions of SOs to total AhR-mediated potencies were determined in coastal sediments. Elevated concentrations of 10 SOs were detected in sediments of inland creeks ranging from 61 to 740 ng g−1 dry mass (dm), while lesser concentrations were found in inner (mean = 33 ng g−1 dm) and outer regions (mean = 25 ng g−1 dm) of the lake. Concentrations of PAHs in sediments were comparable to those of SOs. 2,4-diphenyl-1-butene (SD3) was the predominant SO analogue in sediments. SOs and PAHs were accumulated in sediments near sources, and could not be transported to remote regions due to their hydrophobicity. RePs of 3 SOs could be derived, which were 1000- to 10,000-fold less than that of one representative potent AhR active PAH, benzo[a]pyrene. Although concentrations of SOs in sediments were comparable to those of PAHs, the collective contribution of SOs to total AhR-mediated potencies were rather small (<1%), primarily due to their smaller RePs. Overall, the present study provides information on distributions and AhR binding affinities for SOs as baseline data for degradation products of polystyrene plastic in the coastal environment.

Exposure to 4-tert-octylphenol (tOP) has been linked with adverse health outcomes in animals and humans, while epidemiological studies about associations between prenatal exposure to tOP and fetal growth are extremely limited. We measured urinary tOP concentrations in 1100 pregnant women before their delivery, and examined whether tOP levels were associated with birth outcomes, including weight, length, head circumference and ponderal index at birth. tOP could be detected in all samples, and the median uncorrected and creatinine-corrected tOP concentrations were 0.90 μg/L (range from 0.25 to 20.05 μg/L) and 1.33 μg/g creatinine (range from 0.15 to 42.49 μg/g creatinine), respectively. Maternal urinary log-transformed tOP concentrations were significantly negatively associated with adjusted birth weight [β (g) = −126; 95% confidence interval (CI): −197, −55], birth length [β (cm) = −0.53; 95% CI:−0.93, −0.14], and head circumference [β (cm) = −0.30; 95% CI: −0.54, −0.07], respectively. Additionally, considering sex difference, these significant negative associations were also found among male neonates, while only higher maternal tOP concentrations were associated with a significant decrease in birth weight among female neonates. This study suggested significant negative associations between maternal urinary tOP concentrations and neonatal sizes at birth, and they differed by neonatal sex. Further epidemiological studies are required to more fully elaborate the associations between prenatal tOP exposure and birth outcomes.

Assessing build-up and wash-off process uncertainty is important for accurate interpretation of model outcomes to facilitate informed decision making for developing effective stormwater pollution mitigation strategies. Uncertainty inherent to pollutant build-up and wash-off processes influences the variations in pollutant loads entrained in stormwater runoff from urban catchments. However, build-up and wash-off predictions from stormwater quality models do not adequately represent such variations due to poor characterisation of the variability of these processes in mathematical models. The changes to the mathematical form of current models with the incorporation of process variability, facilitates accounting for process uncertainty without significantly affecting the model prediction performance. Moreover, the investigation of uncertainty propagation from build-up to wash-off confirmed that uncertainty in build-up process significantly influences wash-off process uncertainty. Specifically, the behaviour of particles <150 μm during build-up primarily influences uncertainty propagation, resulting in appreciable variations in the pollutant load and composition during a wash-off event.

In the Northern coast of Rio de Janeiro State is located the major urban centers of the oil and gas industry of Brazil. The intense urbanization in recent decades caused an increase in human use of the coastal areas, which is constantly impacted by agricultural, industrial and wastewater discharges. Franciscana dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) is a small cetacean that inhabits coastal regions down to a 30 m depth. This species is considered the most threatened cetacean in the Western South Atlantic Ocean. This study investigated the levels of 52 PCB congeners and 9 PBDE congeners in liver of nine individuals found stranded or accidentally caught between 2011 and 2012 in the Northern coast of Rio de Janeiro. PCB mean levels ranged from 208 to 5543 ng g⁻¹ lw and PBDEs mean concentrations varied between 13.84 and 36.94 ng g⁻¹ lw. Contamination patterns suggest the previous use of Aroclor 1254, 1260 and penta-BDE mixtures in Brazil. While still few studies have assessed the organic contamination in cetaceans from the Southern Hemisphere, including Brazil, the levels found in this study could represent a health risk to these endangered species.

The presence of sulfonamide antibiotics in aquatic environments poses potential risks to human health and ecosystems. In the present study, a highly porous activated carbon was prepared by KOH activation of an anthracite coal (Anth-KOH), and its adsorption properties toward two sulfonamides (sulfamethoxazole and sulfapyridine) and three smaller-sized monoaromatics (phenol, 4-nitrophenol and 1,3-dinitrobenzene) were examined in both batch and fixed-bed adsorption experiments to probe the interplay between adsorbate molecular size and adsorbent pore structure. A commercial powder microporous activated carbon (PAC) and a commercial mesoporous carbon (CMK-3) possessing distinct pore properties were included as comparative adsorbents. Among the three adsorbents Anth-KOH exhibited the largest adsorption capacities for all test adsorbates (especially the two sulfonamides) in both batch mode and fixed-bed mode. After being normalized by the adsorbent surface area, the batch adsorption isotherms of sulfonamides on PAC and Anth-KOH were displaced upward relative to the isotherms on CMK-3, likely due to the micropore-filling effect facilitated by the microporosity of adsorbents. In the fixed-bed mode, the surface area-normalized adsorption capacities of Anth-KOH for sulfonamides were close to that of CMK-3, and higher than that of PAC. The irregular, closed micropores of PAC might impede the diffusion of the relatively large-sized sulfonamide molecules and in turn led to lowered fixed-bed adsorption capacities. The overall superior adsorption of sulfonamides on Anth-KOH can be attributed to its large specific surface area (2514 m²/g), high pore volume (1.23 cm³/g) and large micropore sizes (centered at 2.0 nm). These findings imply that KOH-activated anthracite coal is a promising adsorbent for the removal of sulfonamide antibiotics from aqueous solution.

The occurrence of POPs in remote areas, such as Antarctica, is the result of their ability to udergo Long Range Transport (LRT) in the atmosphere, precipitation and cold condensation.In this study, both recent levels of various POPs in Trematomus bernacchii and their changes in roughly three decades were determined in order to evaluate trends of POPs in Antarctic benthic seawaters. In fact, Trematomus bernacchii is considered a good sentinel bio-indicator for monitoring not only the extent of contamination by POPs in the Antarctic aquatic ecosystem, but also changes in Antarctic ecosystem quality and trends.A slight decreasing PCB trend was detected during 30-years time span (from early 1980's to 2010) in the circumantarctic seawaters. Two higher peaks of concentrations were reported in 2001 and 2005 in the Ross Sea and they may reflect the ice melting of icebergs.Because fire risk is very high in Antarctica due to the very dry air, a large use of flame retardants in buildings and furniture of stations is highly probable; moreover, many stations were built when there were no restrictions on flame retardants use. The PBDE levels in the T. bernacchii from 2001 to 2011 ranged 0.05–0.35 pg/g and were of the same order of magnitude in 2001/2011 and in 2002/2005, with a maximum value in 2005 (0.35 pg/g).Comparable concentrations of HCB, HCHs PCDDs and PCDFs are available only for few seasons: all these compounds showed a decreasing temporal trends and their concentrations were one or more order of magnitude lower in 2000s–2010s.

We estimated net annual temperature-related mortality in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in Australia using 62 global climate model projections under three IPPC SRES CO2 emission scenarios (A2, A1B and B1). In all cities, all scenarios resulted in increases in summer temperature-related deaths for future decades, and decreases in winter temperature-related deaths. However, Brisbane and Sydney will increase the net annual temperature-related deaths in the future, while a slight decrease will happen in Melbourne. Additionally, temperature-related mortality will largely increase beyond the summer (including January, February, March, November and December) in Brisbane and Sydney, while temperature-related mortality will largely decrease beyond the winter in Melbourne. In conclusion, temperature increases for Australia are expected to result in a decreased burden of cold-related mortality and an increased burden of heat-related mortality, but the balance of these differences varied by city. In particular, the seasonal patterns in temperature-related deaths will be shifted.

Studies focused on pollutants deposition on vegetation surfaces or aerodynamics of vegetation space conflict in whether vegetation planting can effectively reduce airborne particulate matter (PM) pollution. To achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the conflict, we conducted experiments during 2013 and 2014 in Beijing, China to evaluate the importance of vegetation species, planting configurations and wind in influencing PM concentration at urban and street scales. Results showed that wind field prevailed over the purification function by vegetation at urban scale. All six examined planting configurations reduced total suspended particle along horizontal but not vertical direction. Shrubs and trees–grass configurations performed most effectively for horizontal PM2.5 reduction, but adversely for vertical attenuation. Trapping capacity of PMs was species-specific, but species selection criteria could hardly be generalized for practical use. Therefore, design of planting configuration is practically more effective than tree species selection in attenuating the ambient PM concentrations in urban settings.

The rapid growth of the production of electrical and electronic products has meant an equally rapid growth in the amount of electronic waste (e-waste), much of which is illegally imported to India, for disposal presenting a serious environmental challenge. The environmental impact during e-waste recycling was investigated and metal as well as other pollutants [e.g. polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)] were found in excessive levels in soil, water and other habitats. The most e-waste is dealt with as general or crudely often by open burning, acid baths, with recovery of only a few materials of value. As resulted of these process; dioxins, furans, and heavy metals are released and harmful to the surrounding environment, engaged workers, and also residents inhabiting near the sites. The informal e-waste sectors are growing rapidly in the developing countries over than in the developed countries because of cheapest labor cost and week legislations systems. It has been confirmed that contaminates are moving through the food chain via root plant translocation system, to the human body thereby threatening human health. We have suggested some possible solution toward in which plants and microbes combine to remediate highly contaminated sites.