In this study, we backward traced and controlled the pollution of organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) in aquaculture areas from the standpoints of terminal treatment, migration and transformation resistance, and source molecular substitution technology. A regulatory plan to considerably reduce the combined biotoxicity of fish exposed to OPFRs in aquaculture areas and significantly improves the biodegradation of sewage treatment and the efficiency of soil plant-microorganism combined remediation was formulated. Environmentally friendly alternatives of OPFRs were designed. The supplementation scheme of aquatic feed significantly alleviates the toxicity risk of fish exposure to OPFRs in aquafarm (reduced by 121.02%). The regulatory scheme of external stimulus to enhance the biodegradation of OPFRs in wastewater treatment process included an H₂O₂ concentration of 400 mg/L, voltage gradient of 1.5 V/m, and pH of 6.5 can improve the degradation capacity of OPFRs molecules by 88.86%. The degradation of OPFRs can be enhanced by plant-microorganism combined remediation (up to 98.64%) by growing plants whose primary function is phytoextraction in soils dominated by Sphingopyxis sp. and Rhodococcus sp. A 3D-QSAR pharmacophore model based on apoptosis toxicity, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress response, reproductive, neurotoxicity, gill-inhalation combined toxicity of fish exposed to OPFRs in aquafarm was fabricated. The recommended aquatic feed scheme and the control scheme of enhanced degradation of OPFRs by sewage treatment and soil environment had better applicability for the new-designed OPFRs substitution molecules (the maximum combined toxicity/degradation is reduced/increased by 75.46% and 63.24%, respectively). In this paper, a technical scheme of OPFRs terminal treatment, process regulation, and source control was applied as a cradle-to-grave approach to reduce the ecological toxicity risk of fish exposed to OPFRs in aquaculture areas providing theoretical support for the realization of OPFRs environmental pollution control.

Soil protists are key in regulating soil microbial communities. However, our understanding on the role of soil protists in shaping antibiotic resistome is limited. Here, we considered the diversity and composition of bacteria, fungi and protists in arable soils collected from a long-term field experiment with multiple fertilization treatments. We explored the effects of soil protists on antibiotic resistome using high-throughput qPCR. Our results showed that long term fertilization had stronger effect on the composition of protists than those of bacteria and fungi. The detected number and relative abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were elevated in soils amended with organic fertilizer. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that changes in protists may contribute to the changes in ARGs composition, and the application of different fertilizers altered the communities of protistan consumers, suggesting that effects of protistan communities on ARGs might be altered by the top-down impact on bacterial composition. This study demonstrates soil protists as promising agents in monitoring and regulating ecological risk of antibiotic resistome associated with organic fertilizers.

The influences of weather and air pollutants on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been well-studied. However, the heterogeneous effects of different influenza viral infections, air pollution and weather on COPD admissions and re-admissions have not been thoroughly examined. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the relationships between meteorological variables, air pollutants, seasonal influenza, and hospital admissions and re-admissions due to COPD in Hong Kong, a non-industrial influenza epicenter. A total number of 507703 hospital admissions (i.e., index admissions) and 301728 re-admission episodes (i.e., episodes within 30 days after the previous discharge) for COPD over 14 years (1998–2011) were obtained from all public hospitals. The aggregated weekly numbers were matched with meteorological records and outdoor air pollutant concentrations. Type-specific and all-type influenza-like illness positive (ILI+) rates were used as proxies for influenza activity. Generalized additive models were used in conjunction with distributed-lag non-linear models to estimate the associations of interest. According to the results, high concentrations of fine particulate matter, oxidant gases, and cold weather were strong independent risk factors of COPD outcomes. The cumulative adjusted relative risks exhibited a monotone increasing trend except for ILI+ B, and the numbers were statistically significant over the entire observed range of ILI+ total and ILI+ A/H3N2 when the reference rate was zero. COPD hospitalization risk from influenza infection was higher in the elderly than that in the general population. In conclusion, our results suggest that health administrators should impose clean air policies, such as strengthening emissions control on petrol vehicles, to reduce pollution from oxidant gases and particulates. An extension of the influenza vaccination program for patients with COPD may need to be encouraged: for example, vaccination may be included in hospital discharge planning, particularly before the winter epidemic.

Phytoextraction using hyperaccumulator, Pteris vittata, to extract arsenic (As) from soil has been applied to large areas to achieve an As removal rate of 18% per year. However, remarkable difference among different studies and field practices has led to difficulties in the standardization of phytoextraction technology. In this study, data on As concentration in P. vittata and related environmental conditions were collected through literature search. A conceptual framework was proposed to guide the improvement of phytoextraction efficiency in the field. The following influencing factors of As concentration in this hyperaccumulator were identified: total As concentration in soil, soil available As, organic matter in soil, total potassium (K) concentration in soil, and annual rainfall. The geodetection results show that the main factors that affect As concentration in P. vittata include soil organic matter (q = 0.75), soil available As (q = 0.67), total K (q = 0.54), and rainfall (q = 0.42). The predictive models of As concentration in P. vittata were established separately for greenhouse and field conditions through multivariate linear stepwise regression method. Under greenhouse condition, soil available As was the most important influencing factor and could explain 41.4% of As concentration in P. vittata. Two dominant factors were detected in the field: soil available As concentration and average annual rainfall. The combination of these two factors gave better prediction results with R² = 0.762. The establishment of the model might help predict phytoextraction efficiency and contribute to technological standardization. The strategies that were used to promote As removal from soil by P. vittata were summarized and analyzed. Intercropping with suitable plants or a combination of different measures (e.g., phosphate fertilizer and water retention) was recommended in practice to increase As concentration in P. vittata.

Climate change has become one of the greatest concerns of the past few decades. In particular, global warming is a growing threat to the Canadian high Arctic and other polar regions. By the middle of this century, an increase in the annual mean temperature of 1.8 °C–2.7 °C for the Canadian North is predicted. Rising temperatures lead to a significant decrease of the sea ice area covered in the Northwest Passage. As a consequence, a surge of maritime activity in that region increases the risk of hydrocarbon pollution due to accidental fuel spills. In this review, we focus on bioremediation approaches on Arctic shorelines. We summarize historical experimental spill studies conducted at Svalbard, Baffin Island, and the Kerguelen Archipelago, and review contemporary studies that used modern omics techniques in various environments. We discuss how omics approaches can facilitate our understanding of Arctic shoreline bioremediation and identify promising research areas that should be further explored. We conclude that specific environmental conditions strongly alter bioremediation outcomes in Arctic environments and future studies must therefore focus on correlating these diverse parameters with the efficacy of hydrocarbon biodegradation.

Facing the challenge of global microplastics (MPs) pollution, full characterization of MPs biohazards is urgent. Recent intensive studies revealed that the toxicity depends on the material, size, and exposure concentration of MP. To better elucidate MPs biohazards, we investigated the impact of polystyrene-MPs of size 0.1 μm at a low dose of 50 μg/L on the neuromuscular, retinal, and reproductive phenotypes of fruit fly model, by voltage-clamped electrophysiology, electroretinogram, and reproductive assay, respectively. We found that MPs decreased the frequency of spontaneous junction currents of synapse and altered the receptor potential amplitude of the retina. Furthermore, MPs lowered the rate of embryo-laying of fruit flies. The differential gene expression of ligand-receptor interaction, endocytosis, phototransduction, and Toll/Imd signaling pathways might underlie these MPs-induced phenotypes. These findings call for further investigation on the potential biohazards of low-dose MPs.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous in aquatic environments and a recent shift toward emerging PFAS is calling for new data on their occurrence and fate. In particular, understanding the determinants of their bioaccumulation is fundamental for risk assessment purposes. However, very few studies have addressed the combined influence of potential ecological drivers of PFAS bioaccumulation in fish such as age, sex or trophic ecology. Thus, this work aimed to fill these knowledge gaps by performing a field study in the Seine River basin (France). Composite sediment and fish (European chub, Squalius Cephalus) samples were collected from four sites along a longitudinal transect to investigate the occurrence of 36 PFAS. Sediment molecular patterns were dominated by fluorotelomer sulfonamidoalkyl betaines (i.e. 6:2 and 8:2 FTAB, 46% of ∑PFAS on average), highlighting the non-negligible contribution of PFAS of emerging concern. C₉–C₁₄ perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctane sulfonamide (FOSA) and 10:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (10:2 FTSA) were detected in all fish samples. Conversely, 8:2 FTAB was detected in a few fish from the furthest downstream station only, suggesting the low bioaccessibility or the biotransformation of FTABs. ∑PFAS in fish was in the range 0.22–3.8 ng g⁻¹ wet weight (ww) and 11–140 ng g⁻¹ ww for muscle and liver, respectively. Fish collected upstream of Paris were significantly less contaminated than those collected downstream, pointing to urban and industrial inputs. The influence of trophic ecology and biometry on the interindividual variability of PFAS burden in fish was examined through analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs), with sampling site considered as a categorical variable. While the latter was highly significant, diet was also influential; carbon sources and trophic level (i.e. estimated using C and N stable isotope ratios, respectively) equally explained the variability of PFAS levels in fish.

Plastic pollution is a serious problem in the global marine environment because it can produce negative effects at the biological and ecological levels. Due to large surface-area-to-volume ratio and inherent hydrophobicity, nanoplastics can serve as carriers of contaminants, and may affect their fate and toxicity in marine environments. However, the combined effects of nanoplastics and mercury (Hg) in marine organisms have not been well characterized. In this study, after verifying the ingestion of polystyrene nano-size plastics (PS NPs, 50 nm) by the copepod Tigriopus japonicus and adsorption of Hg to PS NPs, we investigated the effects of PS NPs and Hg exposure (alone or in combination) for 48 h on the copepods. Specifically, a 72-h depuration was performed after 48 h exposure. The results showed that after 48 h exposure, the copepod's Hg concentration was significantly increased in the combined exposure group compared to that in the Hg treatment group, but these differences did not persist following 24 h of depuration. Therefore, PS NPs transported Hg into the copepods but did not promote Hg bioaccumulation. Treatment with PS NPs alone did not induce toxicity in T. japonicus, but co-exposure to PS NPs and Hg resulted in elevated transcription of genes related to energy production, antioxidant response, and detoxification/stress defense when compared with Hg treatment alone, demonstrating the synergistic interaction between PS NPs and Hg. Our findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding about the combined toxicity of nanoplastics and metals and the potential ecological risks of associated with these effects in marine environments.

Groundwater nitrate (NO₃⁻) pollution is a worldwide environmental problem. Therefore, identification and partitioning of its potential sources are of great importance for effective control of groundwater quality. The current study was carried out to identify the potential sources of groundwater NO₃⁻ pollution and determine their apportionment in different land use/land cover (LULC) types in a traditional agricultural area, Weining Plain, in Northwest China. Multiple hydrochemical indices, as well as dual NO₃⁻ isotopes (δ¹⁵N–NO₃ and δ¹⁸O–NO₃), were used to investigate the groundwater quality and its influencing factors. LULC patterns of the study area were first determined by interpreting remote sensing image data collected from the Sentinel-2 satellite, then the Bayesian stable isotope mixing model (MixSIAR) was used to estimate proportional contributions of the potential sources to groundwater NO₃⁻ concentrations. Groundwater quality in the study area was influenced by both natural and anthropogenic factors, with anthropological impact being more important. The results of LULC revealed that the irrigated land is the dominant LULC type in the plain, covering an area of 576.6 km² (57.18% of the total surface study area of the plain). On the other hand, the results of the NO₃⁻ isotopes suggested that manure and sewage (M&S), as well as soil nitrogen (SN), were the major contributors to groundwater NO₃⁻. Moreover, the results obtained from the MixSIAR model showed that the mean proportional contributions of M&S to groundwater NO₃⁻ were 55.5, 43.4, 21.4, and 78.7% in the forest, irrigated, paddy, and urban lands, respectively. While SN showed mean proportional contributions of 29.9, 43.4, 61.5, and 12.7% in the forest, irrigated, paddy, and urban lands, respectively. The current study provides valuable information for local authorities to support sustainable groundwater management in the study region.