Artificial light is transforming the nighttime environment and quickly becoming one of the most pervasive pollutants on earth. Across taxa, light entrains endogenous circadian clocks that function to synchronize behavioral and physiological rhythms with natural photoperiod. Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts these photoperiodic cues and has consequences for humans and wildlife including sleep disruption, physiological stress and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the mechanisms underlying organismal responses to dim ALAN, resembling light pollution, remain elusive. Light pollution exists in the environment at lower levels (<5 lux) than tested in many laboratory studies that link ALAN to circadian rhythm disruption. Few studies have linked dim ALAN to both the upstream regulators of circadian rhythms and downstream behavioral and physiological consequences. We exposed zebra finches (Taeniopygia gutatta) to dim ALAN (1.5 lux) and measured circadian expression of five pacemaker genes in central and peripheral tissues, plasma melatonin, locomotor activity, and biomarkers of cardiovascular health. ALAN caused an increase in nighttime activity and, for males, cardiac hypertrophy. Moreover, downstream effects were detectable after just short duration exposure (10 days) and at dim levels that mimic the intensity of environmental light pollution. However, ALAN did not affect circulating melatonin nor oscillations of circadian gene expression in the central clock (brain) or liver. These findings suggest that dim ALAN can alter behavior and physiology without strong shifts in the rhythmic expression of molecular circadian pacemakers. Approaches that focus on ecologically-relevant ALAN and link complex biological pathways are necessary to understand the mechanisms underlying vertebrate responses to light pollution.

In this study, wasted mask is chosen as a pyrolysis feedstock whose generation has incredibly increased these days due to COVID-19. We suggest a way to produce value-added chemicals (e.g., aromatic compounds) from the mask with high amounts through catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP). To this end, the effects of zeolite catalyst properties on the upgradation efficiency of pyrolytic products produced from pyrolysis of wasted mask were investigated. The compositions and yields of pyrolytic gases and oils were characterized as functions of pyrolysis temperature and the type of zeolite catalyst (HBeta, HY, and HZSM-5), including the mesoporous catalyst of Al-MCM-41. The mask was pyrolyzed in a fixed bed reactor, and the pyrolysis gases evolved in the reactor was routed to a secondary reactor inside which the zeolite catalyst was loaded. It was chosen 550 °C as the CFP temperature to compare the catalyst performance for the production of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) because this temperature gave the highest oil yield (80.7 wt%) during the non-catalytic pyrolysis process. The large pore zeolite group of HBeta and HY led to 134% and 67% higher BTEX concentrations than HZSM-5, respectively, likely because they had larger pores, higher surface areas, and higher acid site density than the HZSM-5. This is the first report of the effect of zeolite characteristics on BTEX production via CFP.

Organic fraction municipal solid waste (OFMSW) has a high potential for energy and value-added product recovery due to its carbon- and nutrient-rich composition; however, traditional value chains have treated OFMSW as an undesired by-product. This study focuses on value chain optimisation to assist the transition to resource recovery value chains. To achieve this, this work combined two stage stochastic mathematical optimisation with geographical spatial analysis and time series waste generation analysis. Existing infrastructure in England, including anaerobic digestion plants and road transportation networks, were included in the model. To account for uncertainty in waste generation, multiple scenarios and their associated probabilities were developed based on environmental variables. The optimisation problem was solved to further advance the understanding of economically optimal waste-to-resource value chains under waste generation variability. The pertinent decision variables included sizing, technology selection, waste flows and location of thermochemical treatment sites. The model highlights the potential reduction in system profitability as a result of different operating constraints, such as minimum plant operating capacity factors and landfill taxation. The latter was shown to have the largest impact on profitability as overconservative systems designs were implemented to hedge against the waste variability. Such computer-aided models offer opportunities to overcome the challenges posed by waste generation variability and waste to resource value chain transformation.

To better understand the real-world emissions of rural vehicles (RVs) in China, 8 China II RVs and 18 China III RVs were tested on a provincial road, rural road and farm road using a portable emissions measurement system. The results are illustrated in contour maps of the speed, acceleration and emission rates and show that CO, HC, NOx and PM emissions differ for the three road types; however, the peak emission points all occur on the provincial road. The average CO, HC, NOx and PM emission factors based on distance for the China II RVs are 9.21, 4.05, 1.68 and 2.58 times higher, respectively, than those of the China III RVs. However, the average NOx emission factors of the China II and III RVs are 2.21 and 1.65 times higher than the corresponding recommended values of national emission inventory guideline, resulting in underestimation of overall RVs’ emissions. Distance-based emission factors of four pollutants ranked from high to low are farm road > rural road > provincial road. In contrast to the average emission factors of the China II RVs on the three road types, those of the China III RVs are significantly less in terms of distance and fuel consumption. The results of other researchers differ from those in this study: the CO emission factor of the China II RVs is 2.12 times higher than that of the China II light-duty diesel vehicles (LDDVs). The PM emission factor of the China III RVs is 2.67 times higher than that of the China III LDDVs. The NOx emission factors of the China II and III RVs are similar to those of the corresponding China II and III LDDVs. Our research increases the understanding of real-world emissions of RVs and can act as great references for policy makers developing RV emission baselines.

Combining hydrothermal treatment and composting is an effective method to dispose of penicillin fermentation residue (PFR), but the safety and related mechanism are still unclear. In this study, penicillin solution was hydrothermally treated to decipher its degradation mechanism, and then hydrothermally treated PFR (HT-PFR) was mixed with bulking agents at ratios of 2:0 (CK), 2:1.5 (T1), and 2:5 (T2) to determine the absolute abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and the succession of bacterial community. Results showed that penicillin was degraded to several new compounds without the initial lactam structure after hydrothermal treatment. During composting, temperature and pH of the composts increased with the raising of HT-PFR proportion, except the pH at days 2. After 52 days of composting, the absolute copies of ARGs (blaTEM, blaCMY2, and blaSFO) and the relative abundance of bacteria related to pathogens were reduced significantly (P < 0.05). Especially, the total amount of ARGs in the samples of CK and T1 were decreased to equal level (around 5 log₁₀ copies/g), which indicated that more ARGs were degraded in the latter by the composting process. In the CK samples, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria accounted for ~69.8% of the total bacteria, but they were gradually replaced by Firmicutes with increasing proportions of HT-PFR, which can be caused by the high protein content in PFR. Consisting with bacterial community, more gram-positive bacteria were observed in T1 and T2, and most of them are related to manganese oxidation and chitinolysis. As composting proceeded, bacteria having symbiotic or pathogenic relationships with animals and plants were reduced, but those related to ureolysis and cellulolysis were enriched. Above all, hydrothermal treatment is effective in destroying the lactam structure of penicillin, which makes that most ARGs and pathogenic bacteria are eliminated in the subsequent composting.

Known as a cause of food poisoning, Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) is widespread in nature. Cereulide, the heat-stable and acid-resistant emetic toxin which is produced by some B. cereus strains, is often associated with foodborne outbreaks, and causes acute emetic toxicity at high dosage exposure. However, the toxicological effect and underlying mechanism caused by chronic low-dose cereulide exposure require to be further addressed. In the study, based on mouse model, cereulide exposure (50 μg/kg body weight) for 28 days induced intestinal inflammation, gut microbiota dysbiosis and food intake reduction. According to the cell models, low dose cereulide exposure disrupted the intestinal barrier function and caused intestinal inflammation, which were resulted from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress IRE1/XBP1/CHOP pathway activation to induce cell apoptosis and inflammatory cytokines production. For gut microbiota, cereulide decreased the abundances of Lactobacillus and Oscillospira. Furthermore, cereulide disordered the metabolisms of gut microbiota, which exhibited the inhibitions of butyrate and tryptophan. Interestingly, cereulide exposure also inhibited the tryptophan hydroxylase to produce the serotonin in the gut and brain, which might lead to depression-like food intake reduction. Butyrate supplementation (100 mg/kg body weight) significantly reduced intestinal inflammation and serotonin biosynthesis suppression caused by cereulide in mice. In conclusion, chronic cereulide exposure induced ER stress to cause intestinal inflammation, gut microbiota dysbiosis and serotonin biosynthesis suppression. IRE1 could be the therapeutic target and butyrate supplementation is the potential prevention strategy.

A few studies on volatile organic compound (VOC) emission inventories in coal resource-based cities have been reported, and previous emission inventories lacked verification. Herein, using Yangquan as a case study, emission factor (EF) method and “(tracer ratio) TR - positive matrix factorization (PMF)” combined method based on atmospheric data were used to establish and verify the VOC emission inventory in coal resource-based cities, respectively. The total VOC emissions in Yangquan were 9283.2 t [-40.0%, 62.1%] in 2018, with industrial processes being the major contributors. Alkanes (35.8%), aromatics (25.0%), and alkenes (19.8%) were the main compounds in the emission inventory. The verification results for both species emission and source structure were in agreement, indicating the accuracy of VOC emission inventory based on EF method to a certain extent. However, for some species (ethane, propane, benzene, and acetylene), the EF method indicated emissions lower than those obtained from the TR results. Furthermore, the summer-time emission contribution from fossil fuel combustion indicated by the EF method (23.4%) was lower than that obtained from the PMF results (38.4%). Overall, these discrepancies could be attributed to the absence of a coal gangue source in the EF method. The verification results determined the accuracy of the VOC emission inventory and identified existing problems in the estimation of the VOC emission inventory in coal resource-based cities. In particular, not accounting for the coal gangue emissions may result in an underestimation of VOC emissions in coal resource-based cities. Thus, coal gangue emissions should be considered in future research.

Air and water quality at a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in Eastern North Carolina that uses a covered lagoon and anaerobic digester was evaluated for 2 weeks in August 2020. Real-time PM₂.₅ mass concentrations were determined using a reference ADR-1500 nephelometer and high-frequency measurements of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) were evaluated using autonomously logging sensors. Air and water quality parameters were assessed before, during and after wastewater from the lagoon was irrigated onto adjacent spray fields. Reference measurements were conducted alongside a HOBO weather station to collect real-time wind speed and direction, temperature, and humidity measurements. PM₂.₅ concentrations varied between 0 and 159 μg/m³ with an average concentration of 11 μg/m³, below EPA standard for secondary aerosols of 15 μg/m³. Higher PM₂.₅ concentrations were observed when wind originated from swine barns but not from covered lagoons. Water quality data showed that DIN concentrations downgradient from the CAFO were elevated relative to upstream concentrations. A groundwater seep that drains a spray field contained the highest average DIN concentration (31.0 ± 12.8 mg L⁻¹), which was 25 times greater than upstream DIN concentrations (1.2 ± 0.8 mg L⁻¹). Average DIN concentration at the downstream station was lower than the seep concentration (8.6 ± 16.2 mg L⁻¹), but approximately 8 times greater than upstream. Air quality data show that the lagoon cover was effective at mitigating air quality degradation, whereas DIN concentrations in water were similar to previous studies on CAFOs using open lagoons. In addition, air and water quality parameters were significantly (p < 0.001) higher after irrigation, indicating possible influence due to ammonia and nitrate elevation. Additional research is needed to compare high-frequency data collected from swine CAFOs using capped and uncapped lagoon systems to better understand spatiotemporal air and water quality trends of this practice.

Microplastics receive significant societal and scientific attention due to increasing concerns about their impact on the environment and human health. Marine mammals are considered indicators for marine ecosystem health and many species are of conservation concern due to a multitude of anthropogenic stressors. Marine mammals may be vulnerable to microplastic exposure from the environment, via direct ingestion from sea water, and indirect uptake from their prey. Here we present the first systematic review of literature on microplastics and marine mammals, composing of 30 studies in total. The majority of studies examined the gastrointestinal tracts of beached, bycaught or hunted cetaceans and pinnipeds, and found that microplastics were present in all but one study, and the abundance varied between 0 and 88 particles per animal. Additionally, microplastics in pinniped scats (faeces) were detected in eight out of ten studies, with incidences ranging from 0% of animals to 100%. Our review highlights considerable methodological and reporting deficiencies and differences among papers, making comparisons and extrapolation across studies difficult. We suggest best practices to avoid these issues in future studies. In addition to empirical studies that quantified microplastics in animals and scat, ten studies out of 30 (all focussing on cetaceans) tried to estimate the risk of exposure using two main approaches; i) overlaying microplastic in the environment (water or prey) with cetacean habitat or ii) proposing biological or chemical biomarkers of exposure. We discuss advice and best practices on research into the exposure and impact of microplastics in marine mammals. This work on marine ecosystem health indicator species will provide valuable and comparable information in the future.

Pyrethroids are a class of the most commonly used insecticides. The urinary metabolites are usually used as biomarkers of pyrethroid exposures in humans. In this study, the temporal variability of urinary pyrethroid biomarkers was investigated among 114 Chinese young-aged adults who provided up to 4–11 urine samples over one year. The detection rates of four urinary pyrethroid biomarkers, 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3PBA), 4-fluoro-3-phenoxybenzoic acid (4F-3PBA), trans-2,2-(dichloro)-2-dimethylvinylcyclopropane carboxylic acid (trans-DCCA) and cis-2,2-(dichloro)-2-dimethylvinylcyclopropane carboxylic acid (cis-DCCA) were 100%, 8%, 69% and 44%, respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) estimates for 3PBA indicated poor reproducibility (<0.15) in the spot urine samples of young-aged adults over a week, month and year. Log-transformed 3PBA used the least number of random spot urine samples (≥4) per person, which would provide a reliable biomarker estimate (ICC≥0.40) over a year. As the predictors of the top 33% yearly average 3PBA concentrations, the sensitivity and specificity of 3PBA ranged from 0.25 to 0.89, 0.58 to 0.96, respectively. Based on the results of this study, we recommend at least 4 urine samples collected 3 months apart for prospective assessment of pyrethroid exposure in the epidemiological studies to estimate exposure-response relationships between pyrethroids and health outcomes with relative long-term exposure periods.