Pontederia cordata is a heavy metal accumulator, while the heavy metal tolerance mechanisms of this plant are not well understood. Hydroponic experiments were used to assess the effects of Cd²⁺ on antioxidative activities, osmoregulatory substances and photosynthesis in leaves. Exposure of 5 mg L⁻¹ Cd²⁺ for 7 days, the photosynthetic apparatus functioned normally and sustained a relatively high photosynthetic rate, and good growth was observed. Under 50 and 75 mg L⁻¹ Cd²⁺, accelerated lipid peroxidation and increased peroxidase activity (POD; E.C.1.11.1.7) were detected, while no significant differences were observed in superoxide dismutase (SOD; E.C.1.15.1.1) and catalase (CAT; E.C.1.11.1.6) activities, as well as in lutein, ascorbic acid, and glutathione contains of leaves. Proline content increased, while soluble sugar and soluble protein contents decreased under 75 mg L⁻¹ Cd²⁺. Cd²⁺ at different concentrations induced a reduction in carotenoid, total carotenoid, and ascorbic acid-dehydroascorbate contents. A significant increase in phytochelatin content was induced by 75 mg L⁻¹. Chlorophyll content decreased under Cd stress and disturbed photosynthesis, causing dramatic reductions in photosynthetic parameters. Stomatal closure was responsible for a reduced photosynthetic rate under Cd²⁺ exposure. Cd²⁺ concentrations of no less than 25 mg L⁻¹ disorganized the photosynthetic apparatus, induced the partial closure, and decreased activity of the photosystem II (PS II) reaction center, thus disturbing light conversion and utilization, thereby decreasing the photosynthetic efficiency in PS II.

Cr(VI) is a widely used chemical. Excessive Cr(VI) exposure not only causes inflammatory damage but also induces mitophagy. This study aimed to demonstrate the effect of Cr(VI) on inflammatory injury and mitophagy in chicken liver. A total of 120 Hyland Brown cockerels (1 day old) were randomly divided into four groups and orally treated with different Cr(VI) doses (10% median lethal dose, 6% median lethal dose, 2% median lethal dose, and 0% median lethal dose) daily for 45 days to explore the underlying mechanism. Results showed that excessive Cr(VI) increased tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and heat shock protein but decreased interferon-γ expression and adenosine triphosphate content in chicken liver. Cr(VI) significantly increased reactive oxygen species production, induced mitochondrial membrane potential collapse, and promoted autophagosome formation. Cr(VI) treatment also caused an increase in LC3-II, stimulated Parkin translocation, and inhibited the expression of p62/SQSTM1 and translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane 20. Therefore, excessive Cr(VI) caused inflammatory damage and mitophagy in chicken liver.

Adsorption process is suitable to the advanced treatment of tetracycline antibiotics (TCs; including tetracycline (TTC), oxytetracycline (OTC), and chlortetracycline (CTC)) in poultry wastewater. In this research, Mn oxide-doped Cu oxide (MODCO) was synthesized and used for the removal of TTC, OTC, and CTC. According to the XRD and SEM analysis results, MODCO has an amorphous crystal structure and is formed by the aggregation of nano-sized particles with a uniform distribution of Cu and Mn elements. In addition, MODCO has a BET surface area of 67.7 m²/g and a pHIEP value of 7.8. The results of batch experiments illustrated that the reaction rates for the removal of three TCs were in the order of OTC > CTC > TTC. In addition, the theoretical maximum amounts of TTC, OTC, and CTC adsorbed on MODCO were determined to be 2.90 mmol/g, 4.15 mmol/g, and 2.20 mmol/g via the Langmuir model, respectively. The optimal removal performances of TCs were achieved in the pH range of 6~9, and the coexistence of anions posed an unnoticeable effect on the removal efficiencies. The spectroscopic analysis results demonstrated that the removal mechanism of TCs was mainly attributed to surface complexation. Furthermore, a part of TCs may be decomposed by Mn oxides during the removal process according to the UV spectrogram results. Overall, MODCO has exhibited a great potential for the removal of TCs from aqueous solution.

This work aimed to explore a new technique for improving the performance of solar stills (SSs) through utilizing three different types of a new hybrid structure of heat localization materials (HSHLM) floating on the water surface to increase the evaporation rate as well as water production and minimize heat losses. The three types were exfoliated graphite flakes with wick (type A), carbon foam with wick (type B), and exfoliated graphite flakes with wick and carbon foam (type C). These hybrid structures had good features such as high absorption and hydrophilic capillary forces to interconnected pores for fluid flow through the structure. Two identical SSs were designed, fabricated, and investigated to assess SSs’ performance with and without HSHLM (modified and conventional SSs). The obtained results showed that the daily productivity was enhanced by 34.5, 28.6, and 51.8% for type A, type B, and type C, respectively, relative to the conventional one. Moreover, the efficiency of the SS reached about 37.6% for type C; while, it reached about 27% for the conventional SS. Contrary to conventional SSs, the use of HSHLM resulted in increasing the productivity proportional to water depth.

Heavy metals have a separate precaution in the air pollution components as they are not easily deteriorated in nature, they tend to bioaccumulate, they are carcinogenic or poisonous, and they can be toxic even at low concentrations. Therefore, monitoring of heavy metal pollution is of great importance. Plants are frequently used as biomonitors to monitor the heavy metal pollution. However, the heavy metal accumulation capacities of plants can vary considerably depending on the plant species, as well as on the organelle basis and the amount of particulate matter in the environment. It is also very important to determine how much of the heavy metal concentrations found in plants are derived from the plant species and how much from the particulate matter on the organ. In this study, it was aimed to determine the change of heavy metal accumulation in some landscape plants grown in the city center of Kastamonu depending on plant type, plant organism, washing status, and traffic density. For this purpose, leaf and branch samples were collected from individuals of Ligustrum vulgare L., Euonymus japonica Thunb., Biota orientalis L., Juniperus sabina L., Berberis thunbergii DC, Mahonia aquifolium (Pursh) Nutt., and Buxus sempervirens L., which are frequently used in urban landscape designs growing in areas with heavy, low dense, and no traffic. Some of the collected samples were washed, and heavy metal analyses were conducted to determine the amount of Pb and Mg concentrations. It was remarkable that Pb concentration was higher in branches than in the leaves for all the species. And the alteration depending on traffic density on the base of the factors studied was in different proportion depending on the metals.

Indoor dust is an important route of exposure for organophosphate esters (OPEs), which are associated with adverse health effects. In the present study, the pollution occurrence and potential health risks of 13 OPEs in indoor dust from urban homes, college dormitories, and rural homes in Nanjing were investigated. Most OPEs were detected in the tested samples. College dormitories dust samples showed significantly higher OPEs concentrations (132.31–1.61 × 10³ ng/g), followed by that in urban homes (31.42–49.84 ng/g) and rural homes (51.19–309.75 ng/g). The Mann-Whitney U test found no significant difference in the total concentrations of OPEs except for some individual OPEs between urban and rural homes. Tris (2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCPP) was the most abundant compound in all tested areas. Spearman correlation coefficients and principal component analysis indicated that OPEs might originate from different sources in three microenvironments. Estimated exposures for adults and children in all indoor dust were below the relevant reference doses. Additionally, TCPP was the primary contributors to the non-carcinogenic risk, ranging from 1.07 × 10⁻⁶ to 2.20 × 10⁻⁵. Tris (2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate was the dominant carcinogenic risk contributor in indoor dust, with a range of 1.33 × 10⁻¹¹ to 8.74 × 10⁻¹⁰. These results suggested that the health risk of OPEs was within acceptable limits in the tested areas.

This study offers an investigation of the catalytic activity of TiO₂/SiO₂ during oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of a model fuel that includes dibenzothiophene (DBT), using hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) as a green oxidant in the absence of UV irradiation. For the first time, though a novel and simple protocol, TiO₂/SiO₂ nanohybrid was synthesized using ascorbic acid and glycerol as green complexing and polymerizing agents, respectively. The TiO₂/SiO₂ catalyst was thoroughly characterized by XRD, FT-IR, nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements, TEM, FESEM, and TGA. Results revealed a high catalytic oxidative activity for the catalyst in the removal of DBT regarding sulfur removal up to 99.4% within 20 min under optimum reaction conditions. The main factors affecting the ODS process, including catalyst dosage, temperature, O/S molar ratio, and different oxidizing agents, were evaluated to identify optimum conditions. The desulfurization efficiency of the recoverable catalysts showed no loss in activity after four times. The present article suggests a new and green method for the synthesis and characterization of an efficient catalyst (TiO₂/SiO₂) in deep oxidative desulfurization at 25 °C and removal of refractory organosulfur compounds that yield ultra-low sulfur fuels. Also, it proved to have a much higher catalytic oxidation capacity when compared to pure TiO₂.

The coupling of biological and thermal technologies allows for the complete conversion of wastes into energy and biochar eliminating the problem of sludge disposal. The valorisation of fatty residues as co-substrate in a mesophilic digester of a wastewater treatment plant was studied considering an integrated approach of co-digestion and pyrolysis. Four digested samples obtained from co-digestion of sewage sludge and butcher’s fat waste were studied by thermogravimetric analysis. The activation energy corresponding to the sludge pyrolysis was calculated by a non-isothermal kinetic. Arrhenius activation energy was lower for the pyrolysis of a digested grease sample (92 kJ mol⁻¹ obtained by OFW and 86 kJ mol⁻¹ obtained by Vyazovkin) than for the pyrolysis of sewage sludge and its blends (164–190 kJ mol⁻¹ obtained by OFW and 162–190 kJ mol⁻¹ obtained by Vyazovkin). The analysis of the integrated approach of anaerobic co-digestion and pyrolysis of digestates demonstrated that the addition of 3% (w/v) of fat to the feeding sludge results in a 25% increase in the electricity obtained from biogas (if a combined heat and power unit is considered for biogas valorisation) and increasing the fat content to 15% allows for covering all thermal needs for drying of digestate and more than doubles (2.4 times) the electricity production when the scenario of digestion and pyrolysis is contemplated.

The dissipation and terminal residues of difenoconazole in whole bananas and pulp were investigated under field conditions. The residual levels of difenoconazole in various parts of bananas grown in Guangdong, Hainan and Yunnan were determined by a GC-ECD detection method after simple, rapid pretreatment. The mean recovery was 80.66~107.40%, and the relative standard deviation was 3.36~9.84%. The results showed that the half-lives of difenoconazole in whole bananas and in the pulp were 12.16~13.33 days and 17.77~20.38 days, respectively. At harvest intervals of 28 and 35 days after the last application, the terminal residues of difenoconazole in whole bananas and pulp were 0.45~0.84 mg/kg and 0.19~0.37 mg/kg, respectively, which were lower than the maximum residue level established in China. The distribution of difenoconazole in banana pulp and peels was studied. The results showed that until harvesting, the residue in the peels was always 2.19~12.30 times larger than that in the pulp. Difenoconazole was mainly absorbed by the banana peels but did not easily penetrate into the pulp. Based on dietary risk assessment results, the residual levels of difenoconazole at the sampling interval of 28 days after the last application were within acceptable limits for chronic and acute dietary risks in different populations in China. This study can provide a reference for the safe and rational use of difenoconazole as a fungicide and for the future research and application of banana pulp and peels.

Hydrocarbon degradation is usually measured in laboratories under controlled conditions to establish the likely efficacy of a bioremediation process in the field. The present study used greenhouse-based bioremediation to investigate the effects of natural attenuation (NA) and necrophytoremediation (addition of pea straw (PS)) on hydrocarbon degradation, toxicity and the associated bacterial community structure and composition in diesel-contaminated soil. A significant reduction in total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration was detected in both treatments; however, PS-treated soil showed more rapid degradation (87%) after 5 months together with a significant reduction in soil toxicity (EC₅₀ = 91 mg diesel/kg). Quantitative PCR analysis revealed an increase in the number of 16S rRNA and alkB genes in the PS-amended soil. Substantial shifts in soil bacterial community were observed during the bioremediation, including an increased abundance of numerous hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria. The bacterial community shifted from dominance by Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria in the original soil to Actinobacteria during bioremediation. The dominance of two genera of bacteria, Sphingobacteria and Betaproteobacteria, in both NA- and PS-treated soil demonstrated changes occurring within the soil bacterial community through the incubation period. Additionally, pea straw itself was found to harbour a diverse hydrocarbonoclastic community including Luteimonas, Achromobacter, Sphingomonas, Rhodococcus and Microbacterium. At the end of the experiment, PS-amended soil exhibited reduced ecotoxicity and increased bacterial diversity as compared with the NA-treated soil. These findings suggest the rapid growth of species stimulated by the bioremediation treatment and strong selection for bacteria capable of degrading petroleum hydrocarbons during necrophytoremediation. Graphical abstract