Diquat dibromide (DB) is the active ingredient in several herbicide products used around the world for industrial and recreational control of terrestrial and aquatic pest plants. This study aimed to assess the adverse effects of the commercial formulation of the aquatic herbicide, Reward®, on the Pacific Northwest amphibian species, the northwestern salamander (Ambystoma gracile). Larvae were exposed to the Reward® herbicide in a 96-h acute bioassay (0.37–151.7 mg/L DB) and a continuous 21-day exposure (0.37–94.7 mg/L DB). The 96-h LC₅₀ was 71.5 mg/L and the 21-day LC₅₀ was 1.56 mg/L. Collectively, the results of this study demonstrate that early life stage A. gracile larvae appear largely insensitive to acute Reward® exposures compared to early life stage fish. However, A. gracile larvae are considerably more sensitive during sub-chronic exposure (21 days) with lethal and sub-lethal effects on growth occurring in the 1–2 mg/L range, which more closely resembles the larval fish lethal sensitivity to this active ingredient. This is the first study examining the toxicity of the aquatic herbicide formulation Reward® on A. gracile under acute and sub-chronic exposure scenarios.

The preparation of carbons in virgin and Ti-modified forms under controlled conditions at low temperature from plantain pseudo-stem (Musa paradisiaca) was achieved. These prepared carbons were characterized for instrumental studies such as BET, FTIR, XRD, SEM with EDS and TGA to understand the chemistry and modification. The determination of IEP and pHZPC established the presence of positive surface sites on the virgin (VMPC) and Ti-modified (TiMPC) carbons to facilitate the sorption of fluoride. The fluoride removal efficiency as a function of time, pH, dose, initial fluoride concentration, temperature, and co-ion intervention was studied. The maximum fluoride removal of about 81.2 and 97.7% was achievable with VMPC and TiMPC, respectively, after 20 min at the pH of 2.04 and continued for the equilibrium of 60 min. Temperature was found to be influential both by way of initial increase followed by a decrease in the fluoride uptake of MPCs. Regeneration was very consistent up to 7 cycles with the residual fluoride concentration below the WHO guide line of 1.5 mg L⁻¹. Highest intervention due to hydrogen carbonate ions was observed during the fluoride removal process. Kinetic (pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intra-particle diffusion) and isotherm models (Langmuir, Freundlich, and DKR) were checked for their compliance with the present sorption system. These low temperature synthesized MPCs are found to be effective candidates in the process of fluoride abatement in water.

When food waste (FW) undergoes anaerobic digestion, the hydrolysis rate is rapid, and thus causes system instability. Sophora flavescens residues (SFRs) are rich in complex hydrolysed substances, such as lignocellulosic material. When combined FW and SFRs can effectively improve the stability of digestion systems and increase biogas yields. In this work, batch anaerobic experiments were conducted at different co-substrate ratios to investigate the performance of co-digestion and the synergistic effect of FW and SFRs. The co-digestion of the two substrates exerted synergistic effects on biogas production and the highest synergy was 120.8%. After digestion, the ratio of hydrolysed chemical oxygen demand (COD) to the entire COD (RCODH) of the co-digestion group was 1.08 times that of the single FW group, which indicated the co-digestion promoted the hydrolysis of substrates. Moreover, the hydrolysis rate constant (kₕ) of co-digestion group increased by 4.10 times in comparison with that of the single FW group, which indicated the co-digestion increased the hydrolysis rate. In other words, the synergistic effect mainly occurred in the hydrolysis acidification process.

The aim of this paper is to explore the environmental effects of fiscal decentralisation from theoretical and empirical perspectives. We first analyse the dynamic relationship between fiscal decentralisation and the environment using an endogenous growth model. Our findings demonstrate that fiscal decentralisation and environmental pollution display an inverted U-shaped relationship. We then use provincial panel data from 1998 to 2015 in the empirical investigation of CO₂ emissions in China. Our findings show that empirical results verify the correctness of the theoretical results. The results obtained are robust using different methods. The findings of this work may help China’s central government and local governments in addressing the problem of CO₂ emissions by using a reasonable degree of fiscal decentralisation.

Human health risks of five different heavy metals were assessed in nine typical areas in Asia, Europe, and Africa. The geoaccumulation index (Igₑₒ) of arsenic (As) in Hyderabad (HB), cadmium (Cd) in Veles (VL), and lead (Pb) in Murcia (MC) were found to be 5, indicating extreme contamination. This is related to their high concentrations in soil. The concentration of As in wheat in Niger Delta (ND) and European Union (EU) areas were 3.3 and 2.55 mg/kg, which were 22 and 17 times respectively of the World Health Organization (WHO)/Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) criteria. In general, the concentrations of heavy metals in wheats were higher than those in corns, indicating that heavy metals were easier to accumulate in wheats than in corns. The human risks induced by the carcinogenic metals As and Cd were much higher than those induced by noncarcinogenic metals in different exposure ways. The human health risks of heavy metals in different exposure ways were Rw₋ᵢₙg > Rc₋ᵢₙg > Rₛ₋ᵢₙg > Rₛ₋dₑᵣ > Rₛ₋ᵢₙₕ. The human health risks induced by wheat ingestion for adults and children accounted for 67.75–97.52% and 69.52–98.04%, respectively, of the total human health risks. The total human health risks in the VL and MC areas were 1.58 × 10⁻⁴ a⁻¹ and 1.3 × 10⁻⁴ a⁻¹ for adults and 1.14 × 10⁻⁴ a⁻¹ and 9.47 × 10⁻⁵ a⁻¹ for children, respectively, which were significantly high according to the Environmental Protection Agency and International Commission on Radiological Protection. The ranking of the total human health risks in different areas were RVL > RMC > RND > REU > RHB > RKY > RTB > RMLV > RNHM. The total human health risks of adults were higher than those of children.

The pollution of water resources due to the disposal of industrial wastes that have organic material like phenol is causing worldwide concern because of their toxicity towards aquatic life, human beings and the environment. Phenol causes nervous system damage, renal kidney disease, mental retardation, cancer and anaemia. In this study, magnetic palm kernel biochar is used for removal of phenol from wastewater. The effect of parameters such as pH, agitation speed, contact time and magnetic biochar dosage are validated using design of experiments. The statistical analysis reveals that the optimum conditions for the highest removal (93.39%) of phenol are obtained at pH of 8, magnetic biochar dosage of 0.6 g, agitation speed at 180 rpm and time of 60 min with the initial concentration of 10 mg/L. The maximum adsorption capacities of phenol were found to be 10.84 mg/g and Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models match the experimental data very well and adsorption kinetic obeys a pseudo-second order. Hence, magnetic palm kernel can be a potential candidate for phenol removal from wastewater.

Fruit peels are a rich source of cellulose, hemicellulose, phenolic compounds, and terpenic compounds. Thus, they have the potential to be a novel renewable, sustainable, and low-cost raw material (source) for the production of several value-added products based on framework and concepts such as waste hierarchy that includes biofertilizers, dietary fiber, animal feed, industrial enzymes, substrate for the bioactive compounds production, synthesis of nanomaterials, and clean energy (from residual biomass). With a view of evaluating the environmental burden of biorefinery, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is performed for a representative citrus waste (CW) biorefinery. The functional unit used for LCA was set as 2500 kg of CW processed. The overall GWP was observed to be 937.3 kg CO₂ equivalent per 2500 kg of CW processed. On further analysis of the environmental impact, it was found that different steps contributed significantly, as shown by the various environmental indicator values. Alternative advanced process intensification technologies like microwave and ultrasound-assisted steps replacing the conventional steps when implemented show considerable reduction in environmental indicator values. The variations in the contribution to environmental indicators should be considered during the design and process selection of biorefineries.

Polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogel microsphere was synthesized by UV-assisted reverse emulsion polymerization as an efficient adsorbent for water purification. Optical microscopy and TEM proved its spherical and hollow structure, while XRD pattern proved that it was amorphous with limited crystallinity. Abundant oxygen-containing functional groups such as hydroxyl were detected by FTIR. The hydrogels exhibited low swelling capacities ranging from 0.19 to 0.77 g/g in water and would decrease in salty solutions. The effects of operation parameters on the bisphenol A (BPA) adsorption were studied, including the polymer composition between PEGDA and polyethylene glycol methacrylate (PEGMA), initial concentration of BPA, pH, and operation temperature. The resulting hydrogel, especially for PDM₂ (the ratio between PEGDA and PEGMA is 2), was able to effectively enrich BPA in water. The adsorption capacity was nearly stable below pH 8.0 and decreased when beyond 8.0. Thermodynamic parameters reflected that BPA adsorbed by hydrogel was a spontaneous (ΔG⁰ < 0) and exothermic (ΔH⁰ < 0) progress. The adsorption capacity increased with the increase of the concentration of NaCl, exhibiting salinity-enhanced adsorption capacity driven by hydrophobic force. Excellent results were also achieved by applying hydrogel for spiked real surface waters, which accounted for more than 91% compared to simulated solution. As-prepared hydrogel was expected to be good candidate for treatment of endocrine disruptors with lower solubility in water.

This study focuses to investigate the relationship between globalization and the ecological footprint for Malaysia from 1971 to 2014. The results of the Bayer and Hanck cointegration test and the ARDL bound test show the existence of cointegration among variables. The findings disclose that globalization is not a significant determinant of the ecological footprint; however, it significantly increases the ecological carbon footprint. Energy consumption and economic growth stimulate the ecological footprint and carbon footprint in Malaysia. Population density reduces the ecological footprint and carbon footprint. Further, financial development mitigates the ecological footprint. The causality results disclose the feedback hypothesis between energy consumption and economic growth in the long run and short run.

Drinking water is a main pathway of human exposure to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). These two compounds have been identified in environmental waters worldwide, but little is known about their occurrence in Xinjiang. In this study, 155 water samples were obtained from 37 locations across Ulungur River, Manasi River, and Tarim River in Xinjiang, and were assessed by using liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry. PFOS and PFOA were detected in over 50% of the samples with mean concentrations of 3.194 ng/L for PFOS and 3.460 ng/L for PFOA. Spatial and regional distribution differences do exist among the three analyzed rivers. PFOS and PFOA in Manasi River were observed at the highest levels (especially in M10 and M11), but no aggravation occurred from 2014 to 2017. Seasonal variations of PFOS and PFOA concentrations showed that water samples collected during summer were higher than those in other three seasons. The occurrence, levels, and distribution patterns of PFOS and PFOA were investigated in the present study, which provides useful theory and data support for human health risk assessment. The findings of the present study can be considered for controlling these water pollutants in environmental waters.