Lung cancer as one of the major causes of cancer mortality has been demonstrated to be closely related to the ambient atmospheric environment, but little has been done in the synthetic evaluation of the linkage between cancer mortality and combined impact of ambient air pollution and meteorological conditions. The present study determined the environmental suitability for female lung cancer mortality associated with air contaminants and meteorological variables. A novel fuzzy matter–element method was applied to identify the spatial distribution and regions for the environmental suitability for the female lung cancer mortality across China in 2013. The membership functions between the cancer mortality and 6 environmental factors, including PM₂.₅, NO₂, SO₂, PM₁₀, the annual mean wind speed, and mean temperature, were generated and the weights of each of the environmental factors were established by the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model. We categorized the environmental suitability combined with GIS spatial analysis into three zones, including low-suitable, medium-suitable, and high-suitable region where the cancer mortality ranging from low to high rate was identified. These three zones were quantified by the MaxEnt model taking different air pollutants and meteorological variables into consideration. We identified that NO₂ was a most significant factor among the 6 environmental factors with the weight of 24.88%, followed by the annual mean wind speed, SO₂, and PM₂.₅. The high-suitable area, mainly in the North China Plain which is a most heavily contaminated region by air pollution in China, covers 1.6195 million square kilometers, accounting for 17.85% of the total area investigated in this study. Identification of the impact of various environmental factors on cancer mortality in the different suitable area provides a scientific basis for the environmental management, risk assessment, and lung cancer control.

The entire Laguna Madre of Tamaulipas is a natural protected area and a Priority Marine Region of Mexico. However, its important biodiversity and high levels of endemism are threatened by the discharge of different pollutants and activities related to the ocean oil and gas industry. Therefore, the assessment of these effects on this marine ecosystem is of paramount importance. At present, the joint approach of monitoring chemical contaminant levels, alongside the use of pollution biomarkers as surrogate measures of biological impact within the environment, provides the better evaluation of the environmental hazard. Within this context, a biomonitoring study using native Chione elevata mussels sampled from four locations along the Mexican Laguna Madre coasts evaluated whether a battery of select biomarkers was suitable for identifying and quantifying pollution-induced stress in mussels. The levels of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), carboxylesterase (CaE), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), glutathione s-transferase (GST), and the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) were measured in soft tissues samples. Different metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Fe) as well as total heavy hydrocarbons were also determined in sediments. Higher concentrations of metals were observed in sampling localities with marine influence possibly related to the presence of marine grass. The concentration of total heavy hydrocarbons, as expected, was higher in sites with intensive fishing activity. The integrated biomarker response (IBR) and the condition index of mussels allowed discriminating between localities of continental and marine influence, revealing that the sampling stations with continental influence were subjected to a greater stress as a result of anthropogenic effects.

Epoxiconazole is a broad-spectrum fungicide described as highly persistent in soil and as such can be considered as an abiotic agent like other problematic agrochemicals. Furthermore, the plant phenotyping tool involving non-invasive monitoring of plant-emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may be useful in the identification of metabolic markers for abiotic stress. We therefore decided to profile the VOCs from secondary metabolism of oilseed rape through a dose-response experiment under several epoxiconazole concentrations (0, 0.01, 0.1 and 1 mg L⁻¹). VOC collections of 35-day-old whole plantlets were performed through a dynamic headspace sampling technique under defined and controlled conditions. The plantlets grew freely within a home-made, laboratory and high-throughput glass chamber without any disturbance. Putative metabolic markers were analysed using a targeted metabolomic approach based on TD-GC-MS method coupled with data acquisition in SIM mode in order to focus on terpenes and sulphur-containing volatiles. Chromatograms of emitted terpenes were achieved accurately for the 35-day-old oilseed rape plantlets. We also analysed the presence of sulphur-containing volatiles in samples of shoot and root tissues using an innovative DHS-TD-GC-MS method, but no difference was found between qualitative profiles. Nevertheless, we demonstrated through this experiment that sesquiterpenes such as β-elemene and (E,E)-α-farnesene are involved in epoxiconazole dose-response. In particular, (E,E)-α-farnesene could serve as a metabolic marker of fungicide exposure for oilseed rape plantlets.

Li₂CuO₂ and different iron-containing Li₂CuO₂ samples were synthesized by solid state reaction. On iron-containing samples, atomic sites of copper are substituted by iron ions in the lattice (XRD and Rietveld analyses). Iron addition induces copper release from Li₂CuO₂, which produce cationic vacancies and CuO, due to copper (Cu²⁺) and iron (Fe³⁺) valence differences. Two different physicochemical conditions were used for analyzing CO₂ capture on these samples; (i) high temperature and (ii) low temperature in presence of water vapor. At high temperatures, iron addition increased CO₂ chemisorption, due to structural and chemical variations on Li₂CuO₂. Kinetic analysis performed by first order reaction and Eyring models evidenced that iron addition on Li₂CuO₂ induced a faster CO₂ chemisorption but a higher thermal dependence. Conversely, CO₂ chemisorption at low temperature in water vapor presence practically did not vary by iron addition, although hydration and hydroxylation processes were enhanced. Moreover, under these physicochemical conditions the whole sorption process became slower on iron-containing samples, due to metal oxides presence.

Effluents form the swine livestock industry contain a high concentration of pollutants and require complex treatment systems. The most recurrent form to treat Swine wastewater is by a conventional anaerobic–aerobic treatment. For example, an up-flow anaerobic blanket sludge reactor followed by an activated sludge reactor. However, in many countries, a high percentage of producers are small or medium-sized farms that can afford neither complex treatment systems nor specialized operations. The present study assessed the performance of a novel and different combinations of treatment processes, based on changing the anaerobic systems that require a specialized operation for one very simple to operate for farm owners. The assessed system is composed by a septic tank in combination with an up-flow anaerobic filter packed with volcanic rocks and an aerobic biofilter packed with waste wood chips. The effect of the hydraulic residence time and the volumetric organic loading in the septic tank and up-flow anaerobic filter and the effect of surface hydraulic loading in the aerobic biofilter were also evaluated. The system efficiently removed chemical oxygen demand (86–93%), total suspended solids (91–97%), volatile suspended solids (86–97%), and ammoniacal nitrogen (86–87%), showing a constant removal efficiency under a VOL of between 5 and 14.6 kg COD m⁻³ d⁻¹in the up-flow anaerobic filter. The advantages of this system are that the packing materials can be available in rural zones and are sustainable; the whole system is cost-effective and easy to handle; thus, farmers can operate and maintain it with their own means.

Evaluation of the human exposure risk to semivolatile organic compound (SVOC) levels in soil from automobile workshops in Awka was investigated. Soil samples were collected in both dry and rainy seasons. Solvent extraction of the soil samples was carried out using n-hexane: acetone mixture (1:1). Concentrations of SVOCs were determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. There were higher concentrations of SVOCs in the dry season than in the rainy season. The concentrations of the SVOCs were compared with standards for industrial soils. Concentrations of pentachlorophenol in the samples for dry and rainy seasons were below the Canadian Council of Ministers of Environment (CCME) acceptable limit of 7.6 mg/kg. Eighty percent of soil samples for the dry season and all the soil samples for the rainy season had benzo(a)pyrene concentrations lower than the CCME acceptable limit of 0.7 mg/kg. However, incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCRdₑᵣ) of PAHs and pentachlorophenol for dry seasons exceeded 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ WHO acceptable limit in all the sampling stations, which indicates potential risk via dermal contact. ILCRs of pentachlorophenol were above 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ in 60% of the samples for soil ingestion and all the samples for dermal contact. Hazard quotient of phenolics, phthalates, 1,3-dichlorobenzene and 1,4-dichlorobenzene for soil samples were less than 1 for both seasons, which indicates no non-cancer risk. Results suggest that the SVOCs were highest at the centre of the automobile workshop and the main route of exposure was dermal contact with the soil.

The effects of crude ethanol derived leaf extract Trichodesma indicum (Linn) (Ex-Ti) and their chief derivatives were accessed on the survival and development of the dengue mosquito Ae. aegypti also their non-toxic activity against mosquito predator. T. indicum is recognized to be the vital weed plant and a promising herb in the traditional ayurvedic medicine. In this study, the GC-MS chromatogram of Ex-Ti showed higher peak area percentage for cis-10-Heptadecenoic acid (21.83%) followed by cycloheptadecanone (14.32%). The Ex-Ti displayed predominant mortality in larvae with 96.45 and 93.31% at the prominent dosage (200 ppm) against III and IV instar. Correspondingly, sub-lethal dosage against the enzymatic profile of III and IV instar showed downregulation of α,β-carboxylesterase and SOD protein profiles at the maximum concentration of 100 ppm. However, enzyme level of GST as well as CYP450 increased significantly dependent on sub-lethal concentration. Likewise, fecundity and hatchability of egg rate of dengue mosquito decreased to the sub-lethal concentration of Ex-Ti. Repellent assay illustrates that Ex-Ti concentration had greater protection time up to 210 min at 100 ppm. Also, activity of Ex-Ti on adult mosquito displayed 100% mortality at the maximum dosage of 600, 500 and 400 ppm within the period of 50, 60 and 70 min, respectively. Photomicrography screening showed that lethal dosage of Ex-Ti (100 ppm) produced severe morphological changes with dysregulation in their body parts as matched to the control. Effects of Ex-Ti on the Toxorhynchites splendens IV instar larvae showed less mortality (43.47%) even at the maximum dosage of 1500 ppm as matched to the chemical pesticide Temephos. Overall, the present research adds a toxicological valuation on the Ex-Ti and their active constituents as a larvicidal, repellent and adulticidal agents against the global burdening dengue mosquito.

Commercial activated carbon fiber (ACF) has been employed as particle electrodes to degrade aqueous m-cresol in 3-D electrode systems. To enhance the electrooxidation performance, three types of new ACF modification modes (anodic oxidation, cathodic reduction, and aqueous oxidation with concentrated HNO₃) were introduced in this paper. These pretreated samples were characterized by N₂ adsorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), temperature-programmed desorption mass (TPD-MS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). It was revealed that the two new modification methods could efficiently modify the surface morphology as well as the chemical property. Eight types of surface oxygen groups (SOGs) were identified on the surface of ACF, and the types and amount of SOGs might be related to the oxidation effect of ACF on the 3-D electrodes. The effect and mechanism of these SOGs on electrooxidation performance were discussed with the aid of the frontier molecular orbital theory. It was demonstrated that the H₂O₂–·OH reaction mechanism was improved in the 3-D electrode system and the mechanism was elucidated.

The present study was designed to explore the effects of low-intensity microwave radiation on endoplasmic reticulum stress and unfolded protein response. Experiments were performed on male Wistar rats exposed to microwave radiation for 30 days at 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2450 MHz frequencies on four groups of animal: sham-exposed group, 900 MHz exposed (SAR 5.84 × 10⁻⁴ W/kg), 1800 MHz exposed (SAR 5.94 × 10⁻⁴ W/kg), and 2450 MHz exposed (SAR 6.7 × 10⁻⁴ W/kg) groups. Expressions of mRNA were estimated at the end of exposure in rat brain by real-time quantitative PCR. Microwave exposure at 900, 1800, and 2450 MHz with respective SAR values as mentioned above significantly (< 0.05) altered mRNA expression of transcription factors ATF4, CHOP, and XBP1 in accordance with increasing microwave frequency. The result of the present study reveals that low-intensity microwave exposure at frequencies 900, 1800, and 2450 MHz induces endoplasmic reticulum stress and unfolded protein response.

Air emissions from animal feeding operations (AFOs) can affect public health, environment, and quality of life. Although regulations or lawsuits may force AFOs to reduce air emissions, treatment options are limited and expensive. Trapping particulate matter (PM) emitted from AFOs is important for reducing emissions since many odorous and environmentally important gases are also transported on PM. Since PM emitted by AFOs have relatively high particle density and diameter, its partial filtration might be feasible and effective in reducing air emission. A porous windbreak wall made of lumber and mosquito screen, coupled with a vegetative strip of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) covering three fans, was evaluated in a tunnel-ventilated swine finishing barn. The system imposed acceptable pressure on the fan (< 13 Pa) and was readily cleaned by rain. The system reduced total suspended particulate (TSP) emission moderately (average reduction of 28%), while reduction in ammonia emissions was low. Odor 10 m downstream of the fans was reduced greatly by 71%. Soil inside the system and vegetation accumulated appreciable amounts of nitrogen and sulfur; the vegetation also trapped appreciable amounts of PM. Overall, this low-cost, retrofittable, and modular system could be used by swine farmers to reduce their emissions, alone or in combination with other mitigation methods to obtain greater reduction in emissions.