Spirulina platensis (SP) is one of the most commonly used dietary supplements in human and many animal species, including fish. Recently, it has gained more attention in fish not only for its growth-promoting and immunomodulatory effects but also for its antioxidant potential. The present study was conducted to investigate the protective role of two different dietary levels of SP on freshwater Nile tilapia; Oreochromis niloticus exposed to subacute deltamethrin (DLM) intoxication. Spirulina was supplemented at levels of 0.5 and 1 % in the diet along with DLM at a concentration of 1.46 μg/l for 28 days. Serum biochemical parameters, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein, albumin, cholesterol, urea, uric acid and creatinine, were estimated. In addition, the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) was analysed as a lipid peroxidation marker. Reduced glutathione (GSH) content and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were analysed as antioxidant biomarkers in liver, kidney and gills. The results revealed that DLM intoxication increased serum AST, ALT, ALP, cholesterol, urea, uric acid, creatinine and tissue MDA, while decreased serum total protein and albumin as well as tissue GSH level and GSH-Px, SOD and CAT activities. SP supplementation at the two tested levels enhanced all altered serum biochemical parameters as well as tissue lipid peroxidation and antioxidant biomarkers. Therefore, it could be concluded that SP administration could minimize DLM-induced toxic effects by its free radical scavenging and potent antioxidant activity.

Traffic-related sources have been recognized as a significant contributor of particulate matter particularly within major cities. Exhaust and non-exhaust traffic-related sources are estimated to contribute almost equally to traffic-related PM₁₀emissions. Non-exhaust particles can be generated either from non-exhaust sources such as brake, tyre, clutch and road surface wear or already exist in the form of deposited material at the roadside and become resuspended due to traffic-induced turbulence. Among non-exhaust sources, brake wear can be a significant particulate matter (PM) contributor, particularly within areas with high traffic density and braking frequency. Studies mention that in urban environments, brake wear can contribute up to 55 % by mass to total non-exhaust traffic-related PM₁₀emissions and up to 21 % by mass to total traffic-related PM₁₀emissions, while in freeways, this contribution is lower due to lower braking frequency. As exhaust emissions control become stricter, relative contributions of non-exhaust sources—and therefore brake wear—to traffic-related emissions will become more significant and will raise discussions on possible regulatory needs. The aim of the present literature review study is to present the state-of-the-art of the different aspects regarding PM resulting from brake wear and provide all the necessary information in terms of importance, physicochemical characteristics, emission factors and possible health effects.

The objective of this study was to establish relationship between manganese-induced toxicity and antioxidant system response in Brassica juncea plants and also to investigate whether brassinosteroids activate antioxidant system to confer tolerance to the plants affected with manganese induced oxidative stress. Brassica juncea plants were administered with 3, 6, or 9 mM manganese at 10-day stage for 3 days. At 31-day stage, the seedlings were sprayed with deionized water (control) or 10⁻⁸ M of 24-epibrassinolide, and plants were harvested at 45-day stage to assess growth, leaf gas-exchange traits, and biochemical parameters. The manganese treatments diminished growth along with photosynthetic attributes and carbonic anhydrase activity in the concentration-dependent manner, whereas it enhanced lipid peroxidation, electrolyte leakage, accumulation of H₂O₂ as well as proline, and various antioxidant enzymes in the leaves of Brassica juncea which were more pronounced at higher concentrations of manganese. However, the follow-up application of 24-epibrassinolide to the manganese stressed plants improved growth, water relations, and photosynthesis and further enhanced the various antioxidant enzymes viz. catalase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase and content of proline. The elevated level of antioxidant enzymes as well as proline could have conferred tolerance to the manganese-stressed plants resulting in improved growth and photosynthetic attributes.

Lead pollution was evaluated in 17 urban soils from parks and gardens in the city of Vigo (NW Spain). The Pb isotope ratios (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb,²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb,²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb) were determined after being measured by MC-ICP-MS. The association of the isotopes (²⁰⁴Pb,²⁰⁶Pb,²⁰⁷Pb and²⁰⁸Pb) with the different components of the soil was studied using TOF-SIMS. The isotopic ranges obtained for the samples were between 1.116 and 1.203 (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb), 2.044–2.143 (²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb), 37.206–38.608 (²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb), 15.5482–15.6569 (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb) and 17.357–18.826 (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb). The application of the three-end-member model indicates that the Pb derived from petrol is the main source of Pb in the soils (43.51 % on average), followed by natural or geogenic Pb (39.12 %) and industrial emissions (17.37 %). The emissions derived from coal combustion do not appear to influence the content of Pb in the soil. TOF-SIMS images show that the Pb mainly interacts with organic matter. This technique contributes to the understanding of the association of anthropogenic Pb with the components of the soil, as well as the particle size of these associations, thus allowing the possible sources of Pb to be identified.

Nitrogen heterocyclic compounds, especially carbazole, quinolone, and pyridine are common types of environmental pollutants. Carbazole has a toxic influence on living organisms, and the knowledge of its persistence and bioconversion in ecosystems is still not complete. There is an increasing interest in detoxification of hazardous xenobiotics by microorganisms. In this study, the ability of three filamentous fungi of the Cunninghamella species to eliminate carbazole was evaluated. The Cunninghamella elegans IM 1785/21Gp and Cunninghamella echinulata IM 2611 strains efficiently removed carbazole. The IM 1785/21Gp and IM 2611 strains converted 93 and 82 % of the initial concentration of the xenobiotic (200 mg L⁻¹) after 120 h incubation. 2-Hydroxycarbazole was for the first time identified as a carbazole metabolite formed by the filamentous fungi of the Cunninghamella species. There was no increase in the toxicity of the postculture extracts toward Artemia franciscana. Moreover, we showed an influence of carbazole on the phospholipid composition of the cells of the tested filamentous fungi, which indicated its harmful effect on the fungal cell membrane. The most significant modification of phospholipid levels after the cultivation of filamentous fungi with the addition of carbazole was showed for IM 1785/21Gp strain.

Bisphenol A (BPA), as an emerging environmental pollutant, is potentially harmful to plant growth. Chlorophyll (Chl) is critical in photosynthesis that provides matter and energy for plant growth. How BPA affects the chlorophyll content remains largely unknown. Here, the effects of BPA on Chl synthesis in soybean seedlings were investigated. Exposure to 1.5 mg/L BPA decreased the 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) content and increased protoporphyrin IX (Proto IX), magnesium protoporphyrin, and protochlorophyll contents and 5-aminolaevulinic acid dehydratase, porphobilinogen deaminase, uroporphyrinogen III synthase, uroporphyrinogen III decarboxylase, and protoporphyrinogen oxidase activities. Exposure to 17.2 and 50.0 mg/L BPA exerted the opposite effects on these four intermediates and five enzymes. Following the withdrawal of BPA exposure, the aforementioned parameters gradually recovered, except magnesium protoporphyrin content in exposure to 50.0 mg/L BPA. Our findings revealed that exposure to low-concentration BPA increased the Chl content in soybean seedlings through improving Chl synthesis, especially the conversion from ALA to Proto IX, whereas exposure to high-concentration BPA decreased the Chl content through inhibiting Chl synthesis, especially the conversion from ALA to Proto IX. The dual effects of BPA were largely reversed following the withdrawal of BPA exposure.

The paper production is material intensive and generates enormous quantity of wastewater containing organic pollutants and heavy metals. Present study demonstrates the feasibility of constructed wetlands (CWs) to treat the heavy metals from pulp and paper industry effluent by using vertical flow constructed wetlands planted with commonly available macrophytes such as Typha angustifolia, Erianthus arundinaceus, and Phragmites australis. Results indicate that the removal efficiencies of the planted CWs for iron, copper, manganese, zinc, nickel, and cadmium were 74, 80, 60, 70, 71, and 70 %, respectively. On the other hand, the removal efficiency of the unplanted system was significantly lower ranging between 31 and 55 %. Among the macrophytes, T. angustifolia and E. arundinaceus exhibited comparatively higher bioconcentration factor (10² to 10³) than P. australis.

Weather system is a relative complex dynamic system, the factors of the system are mutually influenced P M₂.₅concentration. In this paper, a new method is proposed to quantify the influence on P M₂.₅by other factors in the weather system and identify the most important factors for P M₂.₅with limited resources. The relation map (RM) is used to figure out the direct relation matrix of 14 factors in P M₂.₅. The decision making trial and evaluation laboratory(DEMATEL) is applied to calculate the causal relationship and extent to a mutual influence of 14 factors in P M₂.₅. According to the ranking results of our proposed method, the most important key factors is sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO X). In addition, the other factors, the ambient maximum temperature (Tₘₐₓ), concentration of P M₁₀, and wind direction (W d ᵢ ᵣ), are important factors for P M₂.₅. The proposed method can also be applied to other environment management systems to identify key factors.

Among the phytotechnologies used for the reclamation of degraded mining sites, phytoextraction aims to diminish the concentration of polluting elements in contaminated soils. However, the biomass resulting from the phytoextraction processes (highly enriched in polluting elements) is too often considered as a problematic waste. The manganese-enriched biomass derived from native Mn-hyperaccumulating plants of New Caledonia was presented here as a valuable source of metallic elements of high interest in chemical catalysis. The preparation of the catalyst Eco-Mn₁and reagent Eco-Mn₂derived from Grevillea exul exul and Grevillea exul rubiginosa was investigated. Their unusual polymetallic compositions allowed to explore new reactivity of low oxidative state of manganese—Mn(II) for Eco-Mn₁and Mn(IV) for Eco-Mn₂. Eco-Mn₁was used as a Lewis acid to catalyze the acetalization/elimination of aldehydes into enol ethers with high yields; a new green and stereoselective synthesis of (−)-isopulegol via the carbonyl-ene cyclization of (+)-citronellal was also performed with Eco-Mn₁. Eco-Mn₂was used as a mild oxidative reagent and controlled the oxidation of aliphatic alcohols into aldehydes with quantitative yields. Oxidative cleavage was interestingly noticed when Eco-Mn₂was used in the presence of a polyol. Eco-Mn₂allowed direct oxidative iodination of ketones without using iodine, which is strongly discouraged by new environmental legislations. Finally, the combination of the properties in the Eco-Mn catalysts and reagents gave them an unprecedented potential to perform sequential tandem oxidation processes through new green syntheses of p-cymene from (−)-isopulegol and (+)-citronellal; and a new green synthesis of functionalized pyridines by in situ oxidation of 1,4-dihydropyridines.

Office devices can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) partly generated by toners and inks, as well as particles of paper. The aim of the presented study is to identify indoor emissions of volatile halogenated organic compounds into the office workspace environment. Mixtures of organic pollutants emitted by seven office devices, i.e. printers and copiers, were analyzed by taking samples in laboratory conditions during the operation of these appliances. Tests of volatile organic compound emissions from selected office devices were conducted in a simulated environment (test chamber). Samples of VOCs were collected using three-layered thermal desorption tubes. Separation and identification of organic pollutant emissions were made using thermal desorption combined with gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Test chamber studies indicated that operation of the office printer and copier would contribute to the significant concentration level of VOCs in typical office indoor air. Among the determined volatile halogenated compounds, only chlorinated organic compounds were identified, inter alia: trichloroethylene — carcinogenic — and tetrachloroethylene — possibly carcinogenic to human. The results show that daily exposure of an office worker to chemical factors released by the tested printing and copying units can be variable in terms of concentrations of VOCs. The highest emissions in the test chamber during printing were measured for ethylbenzene up to 41.3 μg m⁻³, xylenes up to 40.5 μg m⁻³and in case of halogenated compounds the highest concentration for chlorobenzene was 6.48 μg m⁻³. The study included the comparison of chamber concentrations and unit-specific emission rates of selected VOCs and the identified halogenated compounds. The highest amount of total VOCs was emitted while copying with device D and was rated above 1235 μg m⁻³and 8400 μg unit⁻¹ h⁻¹on average.