The phytomanagement concept combines a sustainable reduction of pollutant linkages at risk-assessed contaminated sites with the generation of both valuable biomass for the (bio)economy and ecosystem services. One of the potential benefits of phytomanagement is the possibility to increase biodiversity in polluted sites. However, the unique biodiversity present in some polluted sites can be severely impacted by the implementation of phytomanagement practices, even resulting in the local extinction of endemic ecotypes or species of great conservation value. Here, we highlight the importance of promoting measures to minimise the potential adverse impact of phytomanagement on biodiversity at polluted sites, as well as recommend practices to increase biodiversity at phytomanaged sites without compromising its effectiveness in terms of reduction of pollutant linkages and the generation of valuable biomass and ecosystem services.

Pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) are environmentally ubiquitous around the world, and the countries of Latin America (LATAM) are not the exception; however there is still little knowledge of the magnitude and conditions of their occurrence in LATAM and of the environmental consequences of their presence. The present work reviews 79 documents published from 2007 to 2019 on the occurrence, concentrations, and sources of PhACs and hormones in surface water (SW), wastewater (WW), and treated wastewater (TWW) in LATAM and on the circumstances of their release to the environment. Research efforts are reported in only ten countries and confirm the presence of 159 PhACs, mainly analgesics and anti-inflammatories, although extraordinarily high concentrations of carbamazepine (830 μg/L) and ethinylestradiol (6.8 μg/L) were found in Ecuador and Brazil, respectively. The analysis of maximum concentrations and the ecotoxicological risk assessment corroborate that (1) these values exceed the environmental concentrations found in other parts of the world, (2) the environmental risk posed by these concentrations is remarkably high, and (3) there is no statistically significant difference between the maximum concentrations found in WW and those found in TWW. The main source of PhACs in LATAM’s aquatic environment is WW; hence, these countries should direct substantial efforts to develop efficient and cost-effective treatment technologies and plan and apply WW management strategies and regulations. This analysis presents the current states of occurrence, concentrations, and sources of PhACs in the aquatic environment of LATAM and outlines the magnitude of the environmental problem in that part of the world.

We studied the effect of sand filtration with natural esker material on the removal of total organic carbon (TOC), total suspended solids (TSS), and turbidity from the effluent of an experimental recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) farm. Separate experiments were performed with the same esker sand: (1) a soil column experiment in 2017 where the effluent (mean TOC 8.14 mg L⁻¹) was percolated vertically through a 50-cm-thick sand column with the infiltration 1 m day⁻¹; (2) a sand filtration experiment with water-saturated conditions in 2018 where the effluent from the woodchip denitrification (mean TOC 26.84 mg L⁻¹) was infiltrated through a sand layer with the retention time of 1.2 days. In experiment 2, infiltration of 25 L day⁻¹ through a 31-cm sand layer and 40 L day⁻¹ through a 50-cm sand layer were studied. Both experiments were performed in association with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) grow-out trials. In sand filtration with vertical water flow through a soil column, the removal of TSS was 40%, while of TOC 6%, partly due to the small thickness of the soil column and coarse sand material. In water-saturated conditions, mean removal of TOC (3 mg L⁻¹ 1.2 day⁻¹), TSS (1.2 mg L⁻¹ 1.2 day⁻¹), and turbidity (0.4 FTU 1.2 day⁻¹) reached 11% (TOC), 18% (TSS), and 15% (turbidity), even with the retention time of only 1.2 days. The removal of TOC in water-saturated conditions correlated with the removal of TSS and turbidity.

In this study, the concentrations of Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, As, Cd, and Hg in the surface sediments of 94 sites sampled from six water systems in the Lake Taihu Basin in China were measured, and the pollution risks and sources of the metals were identified. The results showed that the mean concentrations of Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, As, Cd, and Hg in the riverine surface sediments were 163.6, 102.5, 45.5, 44.7, 37.0, 13.3, 0.5, and 0.1 mg/kg, respectively, higher than the corresponding background values (except for Hg). According to the geoaccumulation index (Igₑₒ), the Pb, Ni, Zn, Cu, and Cd concentrations in the riverine surface sediments were generally at low levels of pollution. Based on a pollution load index (PLI) evaluation, the Pb, Ni, Zn, and Cu concentrations in the riverine surface sediments were generally at moderate levels of pollution. According to the thresholds of potential ecological risk, the Cd and Hg concentrations in the riverine surface sediments exhibited moderate potential ecological risks. Multivariate statistical analysis indicated that the Pb in the riverine surface sediments primarily originated from domestic sewage, agricultural wastewater discharge, and petroleum combustion; the concentrations of Cr, Ni, and Zn were influenced by the electroplating and alloy manufacturing industries; the concentrations of Cu and As mainly originated from pesticide use and industrial wastewater discharge; and those of Cd and Hg primarily stemmed from industrial wastewater discharge. This research provides information regarding metallic contamination and the possible associated ecological risks to benthic organisms in the surface sediments of river systems and is useful for developing sustainable strategies for environmental pollution control and management in the Lake Taihu Basin.

In recent years, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have become a group of major pollutants that endanger human health and the ecological environment. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the gas-phase adsorption processes of benzene and toluene, which are important VOCs, on the activated carbon (AC) produced from Elaeagnus angustifolia seeds by physical activation method. In this context, the central composite design (CCD) approach-based response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to examine and optimize the effects of process parameters on the adsorption of benzene and toluene by AC adsorbent. The characterization of the produced AC was performed by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction analysis. The optimum process parameters were achieved (adsorption time of 74.98 min, initial benzene concentration of 16.68 ppm, and temperature of 26.97 °C, and adsorption time of 73.26 min, initial toluene concentration of 18.46 ppm and temperature of 29.80 °C) for benzene and toluene, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacities of benzene and toluene on AC were determined to be 437.36 and 512.03 mg/g, respectively, under optimum parameters. The adsorption process kinetics and equilibrium isotherms were also evaluated. Besides, AC reusability studies were performed five times for the gas-phase adsorption and desorption of benzene and toluene. After five cycles, it was observed that the benzene and toluene adsorption capacity of the AC decreased slightly by 8.10% and 7.42%, respectively. The results revealed that the produced AC could be utilized successfully for the removal of benzene and toluene in the gas-phase adsorption systems because of its high surface area, high adsorption capacity, and high reusability performance. Furthermore, the adsorption processes of benzene and toluene were investigated, both sole components and in a binary mixture. It was concluded that the adsorption behaviors of benzene and toluene against AC were quite different when they were in the competition (in a binary mixture) and without competition (sole components). Graphical abstract

The disposal of carmine cochineal and caramel IV dyes into the environment through effluents generated in the industry is constant. However, studies on the toxicity caused to terrestrial plants and aquatic organisms are limited for the carmine dye and non-existent for the caramel dye. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of color additives in meristematic Allium cepa cells from 22.50 to 0.225 mL/L for the carmine cochineal dye and from 18.00 to 0.045 mL/L for the caramel IV dye. In A. cepa, we considered the concentration of each dye in the effluent after the usual biological degradation carried out in the industry. Data were tested by using analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA), and the mean values were compared by using the Scott-Knott test with a significance of 0.05. Cochineal dye at concentrations from 22.50 to 2.81 mL/L and caramel dye at concentrations from 18.00 to 1.125 mL/L were cytotoxic. Cochineal dye was not genotoxic. Caramel concentrations 2.25 and 0.09 mL/L were genotoxic. The toxicity of each dye was also evaluated against Artemia salina at concentrations from 1000 to 0.97 ppm, determining the LC₅₀. The analyzed concentrations were defined based on the standard protocol for checking the mortality rate in brine shrimp. Concentration that causes mortality of 50% larvae was calculated based on the equation of the line obtained by linear regression. The additives were very toxic to A. salina with LC₅₀ = 1.72 ppm for carmine additive and LC₅₀ = 3.88 ppm for caramel. The dyes evaluated in this study indicate the potential to cause damage to organisms in the environment.

Using solely an optical remotely sensed dataset to obtain an accurate thematic map of land use and land cover (LU/LC) is a serious challenge. The dataset fusion of multispectral and panchromatic images play a big role and provide an accurate estimation of LU/LC map simply because using a dataset from different spectrum portions with different spatial and spectral characteristics will improve image classification. For this study, the Landsat operational land imager multispectral and panchromatic images were adopted. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of using a panchromatic highly spatial resolution to refine the methodology for LU/LC mapping in Baghdad city, Iraq, by performing a comparison of classifications using different algorithms on multispectral and fused images. Different classification algorithms were employed to classify the data set; minimum distance (MD) and the maximum likelihood classifier (MLC). A suitable classification method was proposed to map LU/LC based on the outcome results. The result evaluation was conducted by applying a confusion matrix. An overall accuracy of a fused image using a principal component-based spectral sharpening algorithm and classified by the MLC classifier reveals the highest accurate results with an overall accuracy and kappa coefficient of 98.90% and 0.98, respectively. Results showed that the best methodology for LU/LC mapping of the study area is found from fusion of multispectral with panchromatic images via principal component-based spectral algorithm with MLC approach for classification.

An iron ore pelletizing plant in southeastern Brazil exposes the tropical coastal ecosystems known as restinga to emissions of dust, iron solid particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide (SO₂). We aimed to assess the effects of those emissions on the leaf morphology and anatomy of the restinga species Byrsonima sericea, Cordia verbenacea, and Psidium guineense by evaluating visual symptomatology and analyzing the anatomical and micromorphological alterations resulting from exposure. Leaves were collected from individuals growing at two sites: a restinga forest fragment located 800 m away from the pelletizing plant and a restinga conservation unit 20 km away, which served as reference site. In all three species, individuals growing near the pelletizing plant showed necrotic regions on the leaf and foliar micromorphological alterations like turgor loss of epidermal cells, cuticle and epicuticular wax erosion, stomatal obliteration, and rupture and plasmolysis of trichomes. Anatomically, we found cell collapse, cell hypertrophy, and formation of a wound tissue. C. verbenacea showed the most severe visual and anatomical damage, being thus considered the most sensitive species to emissions. Leaf structural features such as uniseriate epidermis, lack of hypodermis, and presence of trichomes contributed to the highest sensitivity of C. verbenacea. Our findings reinforce the importance of performing morpho-anatomical studies to elucidate how leaf structure determines differential sensitivity to airborne pollutants in native species.

Hydroxyapatite-silica fibers were prepared by sol-gel process and electrospinning, and their capacity for adsorption of cadmium and lead ions in aqueous solution was studied. The samples were characterized by SEM, FTIR, TGA, DSC, BET, and XRD. The composite consists on a network of continuous rough fibers with mean diameter of 150 ± 40 nm after thermal treatment. The fibers present a mesoporous structure with pore size of 15.75 nm. Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction demonstrated the presence of crystalline hydroxyapatite and amorphous silica. Adsorption process is represented by Freundlich isotherm, while the adsorption kinetics follow the pseudo-second-order model. The capacity shown by the fibrous material for the removal of lead ions (466.98 mg/g) was five times higher than the capacity observed for the adsorption of cadmium (93.30 mg/g). Therefore, the hydroxyapatite-silica electrospun fibers represent a suitable material for the efficient removal of lead and cadmium ions from aqueous solution.

A method for the preconcentration of mercury using vortex-assisted temperature-controlled dispersive liquid-phase microextraction (VA-TC-DLPME) is proposed. A miniaturized gas-liquid separator (m-GLS) was developed and applied to the determination of mercury after VA-TC-DLPME. The detection was performed using cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CV AAS). Ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (APDC) reagent was used as a complexing agent for Hg(II). The VA-TC-DLPME method consists in dispersing the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([Bmim][PF₆]) in the aqueous phase by vigorous vortexing, followed by heating and cooling in an ice bath. The mixture was submitted to centrifugation, and the sedimented rich phase was then dissolved in an acid solution to reduce viscosity. Mercury was quantified in the final solution using m-GLS and CV AAS. Under optimized conditions, the method presents a limit of detection of 4.5 × 10⁻² μg L⁻¹, and an enrichment factor of 54. The accuracy was evaluated by the determination of mercury in reference material-certified ERM-CE 278, mussel tissue. The method was applied to the determination of mercury in fish oil samples. The developed m-GLS can be tested for use after other LPME procedures.