Air pollution represents one of the major concerns worldwide, fueled by the increasing urbanization and related PM production worsening air quality in open air as well as in confined environments. In the present work, exposure to atmospheric metal pollution was investigated in 20 paired indoor (I)-outdoor (O) sites located in two urban areas of Italy and Belgium, by chemical (ICP-MS) and magnetic (saturation isothermal remanent magnetization, SIRM) analyses of Hypnum cupressiforme moss exposed in bags. After 12 weeks, the elemental profiles of the moss material exposed in the two countries largely overlapped, except for some elements which specifically accumulated in Belgium (Ag, As, Cd, Mo, Pb and Sb) and in Italy (Ca, Mg, Co, Cr, Sr, Ti and U). Element concentrations were higher in moss exposed outdoors, with the Italian sites mostly showing a terrigenous footprint, and the Belgian sites mostly affected by elements of environmental concern (e.g., As, Pb, Sb). The Indoor/Outdoor ratios (mostly lower than 0.75) indicated indoor pollution as strongly affected by outdoor pollution, although specific elements could be of indoor origin or magnified in indoor environments (e.g., Al, Ag, Cd and Co). In line with the chemical analysis, the SIRM signal was significantly higher in outdoor than indoor moss material. A positive, significant correlation was observed between SIRM and several accumulated elements indicating SIRM analysis as a powerful tool to predict the level of metal pollution. Moss bags were confirmed as a useful and versatile tool to highlight metal contamination even in confined environments, an essential prerogative in the perspective of the evaluation of the total exposure risk for humans to these pollutants.

In modern society the night sky is lit up not only by the moon but also by artificial light devices. Both of these light sources can have a major impact on wildlife physiology and behaviour. For example, a number of bird species were found to sleep several hours less under full moon compared to new moon and a similar sleep-suppressing effect has been reported for artificial light at night (ALAN). Cloud cover at night can modulate the light levels perceived by wildlife, yet, in opposite directions for ALAN and moon. While clouds will block moon light, it may reflect and amplify ALAN levels and increases the night glow in urbanized areas. As a consequence, cloud cover may also modulate the sleep-suppressing effects of moon and ALAN in different directions. In this study we therefore measured sleep in barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) under semi-natural conditions in relation to moon phase, ALAN and cloud cover. Our analysis shows that, during new moon nights stronger cloud cover was indeed associated with increased ALAN levels at our study site. In contrast, light levels during full moon nights were fairly constant, presumably because of moonlight on clear nights or because of reflected artificial light on cloudy nights. Importantly, cloud cover caused an estimated 24.8% reduction in the amount of night-time NREM sleep from nights with medium to full cloud cover, particularly during new moon when sleep was unaffected by moon light. In conclusion, our findings suggest that cloud cover can, in a rather dramatic way, amplify the immediate effects of ALAN on wildlife. Sleep appears to be highly sensitive to ALAN and may therefore be a good indicator of its biological effects.

The spatial distributions, possible sources of C₉–C₁₇ chlorinated paraffins (CPs), and the ecological risks posed in mangrove sediment in Dongzhai Harbor (Hainan Island, China) were investigated. Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography combined with electron capture negative ionization mass spectrometry was used to determine 50 C₉–C₁₇ CP congener groups. The concentrations of C₉-CPs, short-chain CPs (SCCPs), and medium-chain CPs (MCCPs) in the mangrove sediment samples were 8.28–79.7, 89.2–931, and 58.8–834 ng g⁻¹ dry weight, respectively. The CPs concentrations in the mangrove sediment samples were moderate compared with those found in other regions worldwide. The spatial distributions and congener patterns of the CPs indicated that the CP concentrations were mainly controlled by local emissions and that wastewater discharged from livestock and shrimp breeding facilities and domestic sewage were the main sources of CPs in mangrove sediment in Dongzhai Harbor. C₁₀Cl₆–₇ and C₁₄Cl₇–₈ were the dominant SCCP and MCCP congener groups, respectively. The MCCP concentrations and total organic carbon contents significantly correlated (R² = 0.607, P < 0.05). Hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis indicated that the SCCP and MCCP congeners were from different commercial CP formulations and sources. Risk assessments suggested that SCCPs and MCCPs in mangrove sediment in Dongzhai Harbor do not currently pose marked risks to sediment-dwelling organisms.

In this study, 24 surface water samples were collected from Dongting Lake, China, in the wet and dry seasons, then the concentrations, composition profiles and spatio-seasonal variations of nine organophosphate triesters (OPEs) and five organophosphate diesters (Di-OPs) were determined. Significantly higher total OPE concentrations (∑OPEs) were observed in the wet season (49.5–148 ng L⁻¹) than in the dry season (5.00–45.7 ng L⁻¹) suggesting higher input via tributaries discharge as well as wet deposition in the studied region. Whereas lower levels of TnBP and (triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) in wet season reflected their possible degradation under solar irradiation. Comparable levels of total Di-OPs (∑Di-OPs) were found in the wet season (3.41–13.9 ng L⁻¹) and dry season (1.01–12.3 ng L⁻¹). Tri(2-chloroethyl) phosphate and tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate were the main OPE components, while diphenyl phosphate, di-n-butyl phosphate and bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate were the main Di-OP components. High levels of OPEs and Di-OPs were found in Datong Lake suggesting possible local emissions potentially related to fishery activity in the land-locked lake. Samples at river mouths to the lake also have higher levels of target OPEs and Di-OPs, the results disclosed obvious discharges from tributaries in Hunan Province. Negligible non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks were determined based on the measured concentrations in source waters. A limited ecological risk aquatic organisms in the Dongting Lake was identified, with most risk from TPHP.

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) pose increasing concerns for their widespread distribution in soil environments and potential threat to human health. In this study, we investigated the occurrence and associated risks of seven OPEs in surface soils and the potential influence of human activities on soil OPE contamination in a heavily urbanized region of the Yangtze River Delta in Eastern China. All target OPEs were detected in the soil samples (100% of samples) reflecting their widespread distribution in the study region. The total OPE concentration (the sum of the seven OPEs) ranged from 162.7 to 986.0 ng/g on a dry weight basis, with a mean value of 469.3 ± 178.6 ng/g. Tris (2-butoxyethyl) phosphate was the main compound, accounting for 67–78% of the total OPE concentration. Ecological risk assessment showed that tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate, tris(2,3-dichloropropyl) phosphate, tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate, and tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate posed a medium potential risk to terrestrial biota (0.1 < risk quotient <1). The human exposure estimation showed insignificant risks to local population. Redundancy analysis revealed that the individual and total OPE contaminations were positively correlated with human activity parameters. The total OPE concentrations were positively correlated to population density (R² = 0.38, P < 0.001), and urban land use percentage (R² = 0.39, P < 0.001), while negatively correlated to forest land use percentage (R² = 0.59, P < 0.001), suggesting a significant contribution of human disturbance to OPE pollution. These results can facilitate OPE contamination control and promote sustainable soil management in urbanized and industrialized regions.

Aquatic hyphomycetes (AHs), a group of saprotrophic fungi adapted to submerged leaf litter, play key functional roles in stream ecosystems as decomposers and food source for higher trophic levels. Fungicides, controlling fungal pathogens, target evolutionary conserved molecular processes in fungi and contaminate streams via their use in agricultural and urban landscapes. Thus fungicides pose a risk to AHs and the functions they provide. To investigate the impacts of fungicide exposure on the composition and functioning of AH communities, we exposed four AH species in monocultures and mixed cultures to increasing fungicide concentrations (0, 5, 50, 500, and 2500 μg/L). We assessed the biomass of each species via quantitative real-time PCR. Moreover, leaf decomposition was investigated. In monocultures, none of the species was affected at environmentally relevant fungicide levels (5 and 50 μg/L). The two most tolerant species were able to colonize and decompose leaves even at very high fungicide levels (≥500 μg/L), although less efficiently. In mixed cultures, changes in leaf decomposition reflected the response pattern of the species most tolerant in monocultures. Accordingly, the decomposition process may be safeguarded by tolerant species in combination with functional redundancy. In all fungicide treatments, however, sensitive species were displaced and interactions between fungi changed from complementarity to competition. As AH community composition determines leaves’ nutritional quality for consumers, the data suggest that fungicide exposures rather induce bottom-up effects in food webs than impairments in leaf decomposition.

This study aimed at elucidating the long-term efficiency of soil remediation where chemical stabilization of arsenic (As) contaminated soil using zerovalent iron (Fe) amendments was applied. A combination of chemical extraction and extended X-Ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy technique was applied on soils collected from five laboratory and field experiments in Sweden and France. All soils were treated with 1 wt% of zerovalent Fe grit 2–15 years prior to the sampling. The results indicate that all studied soils, despite the elapsed time since their amendment with Fe grit, had substantial amounts of ferrihydrite and/or lepidocrocite. These metastable and the most reactive Fe (oxyhydr)oxides (mainly ferrihydrite) were still present in substantial amounts even in the soil that was treated 15 years prior to the sampling and contributed most to the As immobilisation in the amended soils. This increases confidence in the long-term efficiency of As immobilisation using zerovalent Fe amendments. Both applied methods, sequential extraction and EXAFS, were in line for most of the samples in terms of their ability to highlight As immobilisation by poorly crystalline Fe phases.

Surfactants, after use, enter the environment through diffuse and point sources such as irrigation with treated and non-treated waste water and urban and industrial wastewater discharges. For the group of non-ionic synthetic surfactant alcohol ethoxylates (AEOs), most of the available information is restricted to the levels and fate in aquatic systems, whereas current knowledge of their behavior in soils is very limited. Here we characterize the behavior of different homologs (C12–C18) and ethoxymers (EO3, EO6, and EO8) of the AEOs through batch experiments and under unsaturated flow conditions during infiltration experiments. Experiments used two different agricultural soils from a region irrigated with reclaimed water (Guadalete River basin, SW Spain). In parallel, water flow and chemical transport were modelled using the HYDRUS-1D software package, calibrated using the infiltration experimental data. Estimates of water flow and reactive transport of all surfactants were in good agreement between infiltration experiments and simulations. The sorption process followed a Freundlich isotherm for most of the target compounds. A systematic comparison between sorption data obtained from batch and infiltration experiments revealed that the sorption coefficient (Kd) was generally lower in infiltration experiments, performed under environmental flow conditions, than in batch experiments in the absence of flow, whereas the exponent (β) did not show significant differences. For the low clay and organic carbon content of the soils used, no clear dependence of Kd on them was observed. Our work thus highlights the need to use reactive transport parameterization inferred under realistic conditions to assess the risk associated with alcohol ethoxylates in subsurface environments.

Existing mutagenicity tests for metazoans lack the direct observation of enhanced germline mutation rates after exposure to anthropogenic substances, therefore being inefficient. Cadmium (Cd) is a metal described as a mutagen in mammalian cells and listed as a group 1 carcinogenic and mutagenic substance. But Cd mutagenesis mechanism is not yet clear. Therefore, in the present study, we propose a method coupling short-term mutation accumulation (MA) lines with subsequent whole genome sequencing (WGS) and a dedicated data analysis pipeline to investigate if chronic Cd exposure on Chironomus riparius can alter the rate at which de novo point mutations appear. Results show that Cd exposure did not affect the basal germline mutation rate nor the mutational spectrum in C. riparius, thereby arguing that exposed organisms might experience a range of other toxic effects before any mutagenic effect may occur. We show that it is possible to establish a practical and easily implemented pipeline to rapidly detect germ cell mutagens in a metazoan test organism. Furthermore, our data implicate that it is questionable to transfer mutagenicity assessments based on in vitro methods to complex metazoans.

Disinfection is considered as a vital step to ensure the supply of clean and safe drinking water. Various approaches are adopted for this purpose; however, chlorination is highly preferred all over the world. This method is opted owing to its several advantages. However, it leads to the formation of certain by-products. These chlorination disinfection by-products (DBPs) are genotoxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic. Still chlorination is being practiced worldwide. Present review gives insights into the occurrence, toxicity and factors affecting the formation of regulated (THMs, HAAs) and emerging DBPs (N-DBPs, HKs, HAs and aromatic DBPs) found in drinking water. Furthermore, remediation techniques used to control DBPs have also been summarized here. Key findings are: (i) concentration of regulated DBPs surpassed the permissible limit in most of the regions, (ii) high chlorine dose, high NOM, more reaction time (up to 3 h) and high temperature (up to 30 °C) enhance the formation of THMs and HAAs, (iii) high pH favors the formation of THMs while low pH is suitable of the formation of HAAs, (iv) high NOM, low temperature, low chlorine dose and moderate pH favors the formation of unstable DBPs (N-DBPs, HKs and HAs), (v) DBPs are toxic not only for humans but for aquatic fauna as well, (vi) membrane technologies, enhanced coagulation and AOPs remove NOM, (vii) adsorption, air stripping and other physical and chemical methods are post-formation approaches (viii) step-wise chlorination is assumed to be an efficient method to reduce DBPs formation without any treatment. Toxicity data revealed that N-DBPs are found to be more toxic than C-DBPs and aromatic DBPs than aliphatic DBPs. In majority of the studies, merely THMs and HAAs have been studied and USEPA has regulated just these two groups. Future studies should focus on emerging DBPs and provide information regarding their regulation.