This study investigates the effect of energy utilization, greenhouses gasses emissions, and economic activities on health risks such as mortality rate and incidence of respiratory diseases in emerging Asian economies. The study analyzes a panel data from 1995 to 2018 to examine the long-run and short-run influence of environmental pollution on health issues. The empirical findings highlight that greenhouse gasses emissions, fossil fuel consumption, and natural resources depletion in the region are key factors to increasing health risks in the long-run period, while the use of clean energy and improvement in per capita economic growth is helping to improve the health status of the households. In a short period, greenhouse gasses emission is the only significant factor responsible for the high mortality rate and occurrence of respiratory diseases in the emerging economies of Asia. According to the results, there is a need for government intervention programs to rescue the region from the negative effects of environmental pollution and the utilization of nonrenewable energy. In emerging Asian countries, the combustion of fossil fuels, environmental pollution, and limited access to clean energy are such factors responsible for high mortality rate and stimulating incidence of respiratory diseases in the individuals. The study suggests that alternative green energy can prove helpful to control greenhouse gasses emissions and to control health issues by improving environmental quality. The study further suggests that the use of clean energy from water, wind, and sunlight may prove helpful to meet the energy requirement at the domestic level and improve the health status of the individuals by reducing the incidence of respiratory diseases in emerging countries of Asia.

The main aim of this study is to simulate the concentrations of three major air pollutants, namely carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and particulate matter of diameter less or equal to 10 μm (PM₁₀), commonly emitted from base station of telecommunication masts powered by a generator running on diesel and evaluated the simulated pollutants in terms of health risks they pose to people living at close proximity to the telecommunication masts. In this study, we engaged the AERMOD model to simulate the concentrations of pollutants emanating from the use of generators in powering telecommunication base stations around a major busy market place in Akure, Nigeria, a tropical location. The simulation of pollutants was carried out for both dry months (January, February, and March) and wet months (June, July, and August) of 2018. Results showed that CO has the 1-h highest simulated concentration of 1013.4 μg/m³, and it was found during wet seasons, while NOx has 1-h highest concentration of 78.8 μg/m³, and the corresponding value of PM₁₀ was 58.7 μg/m³. While highest concentrations of CO and NOx occurred during the wet season, PM₁₀ highest concentration occurred during the dry season. Measured concentrations of the pollutants also showed similar pattern; however, the measured concentrations are higher than their corresponding simulated values. This difference between measured and simulated is accounted for as background concentration from other sources of pollution. The risks posed to human health by these pollutants were evaluated using hazard quotient (HQ) against some air quality related such as asthma, aggravated asthma, eye irritation, and reproductive and developmental toxicity. CO posed greater human health risks in both wet and dry seasons having HQ greater unity, while PM₁₀ human health risk is noticeable during the dry season. NOx do not pose a human health risk due to very minor content of nitrogen compound emitted by the generators. It is has been demonstrated that the use of a generator to power electrical need of telecommunication base stations has a high impact on air quality within the vicinity of these stations. The hazard could be escalated where many base stations are co-located close public places. Renewable sources of energy could be used in place of generators in the base stations to reduce the impact on air quality and safeguard human health.

The vulnerability of aquatic ecosystems due to the entry of cadmium (Cd) is a concern of public and environmental health. This work explores the ability of tissues and symbiotic corpuscles of Pomacea canaliculata to concentrate and depurate Cd. From hatching to adulthood (4 months), snails were cultured in reconstituted water, which was a saline solution in ASTM Type I water. Then, adult snails were exposed for 8 weeks (exposure phase) to Cd (5 μg/L) and then returned to reconstituted water for other 8 weeks (depuration phase). Cadmium concentration in the digestive gland, kidney, head/foot and viscera (remaining of the snail body), symbiotic corpuscles, and particulate excreta was determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. After exposure, the digestive gland showed the highest concentration of Cd (BCF = 5335). Symbiotic corpuscles bioaccumulated Cd at a concentration higher than that present in the water (BCF = 231 for C symbiotic corpuscles, BCF = 8 for K symbiotic corpuscles). No tissues or symbiotic corpuscles showed a significant change in the Cd levels at different time points of the depuration phase (weeks 8, 9, 10, 12, and 16). The symbiotic depuration through particulate excreta was faster between weeks 8 and 10, and then slower after on. Our findings show that epithelial cells of the digestive gland of P. canaliculata and their symbiotic C corpuscles are sensitive places for the bioindication of Cd in freshwater bodies.

High-speed rail (HSR) is one of the essential innovations in the field of transportation in the latter half of the twentieth century. In China, the rapid development of HSR has received increasing attention and resulted in a boost of tourism, with significant impact on the development of cities that operates HSR. To accurately comprehend how will the operation of HSR influence the regional CO₂ emissions, this paper applies the modified STIRPAT model, combining with real data on high-speed rail passenger flow volume of the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed rail Hunan section. The results show that (1) the high-speed rail operation is also a significant impact factor for regional CO₂ emissions. (2) Considering the operation of HSR, the ranking of contribution rate of driving factors for regional CO₂ emissions is as follows: GDP per capita, energy consumption per unit of GDP, arrival volume of high-speed rail, originated volume of high-speed rail, the proportion of coal in the energy mix, proportion of the tertiary industry, and population. (3) Surprisingly, the numerical research result shows that the operation of HSR for the cities may promote regional CO₂ emissions, while the increase in urban population and the optimization of energy structure have a reducing effect on regional carbon emissions. There is a transfer effect of the operation of HSR and region development, which results in the rising of regional CO₂ emissions. Thus, it is urgent to research on the decoupling of economic growth from CO₂ emissions. The findings could be conducive for the government and railway company to evaluate and administrate the operation of high-speed rail and adequately deal with the relationships between the high-speed railway and regional development.

Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE), a derivative of bisphenol A (BPA), is widely used in the manufacture of epoxy resins as well as a coating on food containers. Recent studies have demonstrated the adverse effects of BADGE on reproduction and development in rodents and amphibians, but how BADGE affects biological activity is not understood. To gain a better understanding of the biological effects of BADGE exposure during development, we used the model organism Drosophila melanogaster and performed whole transcriptome sequencing. Interestingly, when Drosophila are raised on food containing BADGE, genes having significantly increased transcript numbers are enriched for those involved in regulating cell proliferation, including DNA replication and cell cycle control. Furthermore, raising larvae on BADGE-containing food induces hemocyte (blood cell) over-proliferation. This effect can be stimulated with even lower concentrations of BADGE if the hemocytes are already primed for cell proliferation by the expression of dominant active Ras GTPase. We conclude that chronic exposure to the xenobiotic BADGE throughout development can induce cell proliferation.

The preparation, characterization, and uranium (VI) adsorption properties of tri-amidoxime modified marine fungus material (ZZF51-GPTS-EDA-AM/ZGEA) were investigated in this study. ZGEA was synthesized by four steps of condensation, nucleophilic substitution, electrophilic addition, and nitrile amidoxime and characterized by a series of methods containing FT-IR, TGA, SEM, and BET. Contrasted with uranium (VI) adsorption capacity of original fungus mycelium (15.46 mg g⁻¹) that of the functional material (584.60 mg g⁻¹) was great under the optimal factors such as uranium (VI) ion concentration 40 mg L⁻¹, solid-liquid ratio 50 mg L⁻¹, pH of solution 5.5, and reaction time 120 min. The above data were obtained by the orthogonal method. The cyclic tests showed that ZGEA had good regeneration performance, and it could be recycled at least five adsorption-desorption processes. The thermodynamic experimental adsorption result fitted Langmuir and Freundlich models, which explored monolayer and double layers of uranium (VI) adsorption mechanism, and the kinetic adsorption results were in better consistent with the pseudo-second-order and pseudo-first-order dynamic models (R² > 0.999).

With the rapid development in nanoscience and nanotechnology, rare earth oxide nanomaterials (REO-NMs) have been increasingly used due to their unique physical and chemical characteristics. Despite the increasing applications of REO NPs, scarce information is available on their detrimental effects. In the current study, we investigate the toxic effect of ytterbium oxide nanoparticles (Yb₂O₃ NPs) in mouse model by using various techniques including inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis over 30 days of exposure. Furthermore, we elucidated lung lavage fluid of mice for biochemical and cytological analysis, and lung tissues for histopathology to interpret the NP side effects. We observed a significant concentration of Yb₂O₃ NPs accumulated in the lung, liver, kidney, and heart tissues. Similarly, increased bioaccumulation of Yb content was found in the olfactory bulb compared to other reigns of brain. The cytological analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) revealed a significant elevation in the percentage of neutrophils and lymphocytes. Biochemical analysis showed an instilled Yb₂O₃ NPs, showing signs of oxidative damage through up-regulation of 60–87% of MDA while down-regulation of 20–40% of GSH-PX and GSH content. The toxicity pattern was more evident from histopathological observations. These interpretations provide enough evidence of bioaccumulation of Yb₂O₃ NPs in mice tissues. Overall, our findings reveal that acute exposure of Yb₂O₃ NPs through intranasal inhalation may cause toxicity via oxidative stress, which leads to a chronic inflammatory response. Graphical abstract Graphical illustrations of experimental findings.

The emission of particulate matter from ships does great harm to human health and atmospheric environment. Sulfur emission regulations also affect particulate matter emissions due to fuel change. Particulate matter (PM) emitted from low-speed, two-stroke, large-power diesel engine were studied in test-bed experiments. Experiments were conducted at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% load with heavy fuel oil (HFO, 3.36%m/m S) and a lighter marine diesel oil (MDO, 0.1%m/m S). The experiments revealed that using MDO could decrease the mass emission factors (EFs) of PM compared to HFO due to the fuel quality and content; however, there was no obvious difference for the number EFs of PM. The main particle when using HFO consists sulfates and bound water, and the hydrate sulfur increased with the increased engine loads. Then, another 21% is organic carbon (OC). Emission factors for inorganic elements were also studied in particles from combustion of HFO and MDO. The EFs of OC and elemental carbon (EC) were affected by engine loads, fuel type, fuel sulfur content (FSC), and combustion conditions. The size distribution of OC was similar to EC, and there were two clearly peaks for every particulate matter sample. The key effect factor for EFs of PM with marine fossil fuels was FSC.

Some studies have shown that exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is a dangerous factor for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to clarify this relationship, and to collect and analyze all the relevant evidences in published reports of epidemiologic studies. PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases were searched through September 31, 2018. The study quality was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Moreover, fixed- and random-effect models were used. The data in this meta-analysis were presented as adjusted odds ratio (AOR). From 959 articles, six articles were included in the systematic review, and for meta-analysis, one study (that was not AOR) was excluded. The participants included in the studies were 2799 with the age range of 5–15 years old, and 93.6% were living in America. Four of the studies were placed in one group, due to having a common author (Perera). Moreover, a significant association was found between PAH exposure and ADHD in these studies (odds ratio = 2.57, 95% CI = 1.75–3.78); however, in all studies, there was no significant association between PAH exposure and ADHD for children (overall odds ratio = 1.99, 95% CI = 0.96–4.11) with low heterogeneity (I² = 28.73%; P value < 0.001). This study provided a systematic review and meta-analytic evidence for the association between PAH exposure and ADHD by a small number of studies. Further research study can be conducted in various countries. Graphical Abstract

Lemna minuta Kunth was used to remove Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions, and some of the mechanisms involved in this process were analyzed. In addition, the cellular signaling mediated by phospholipase D activity as well as antioxidant responses was also evaluated during the process. Cr(VI) removal efficiencies were 40% for 0.5 mg/L, after 24 h, and up to 18% at metal concentrations as high as 5 mg/L. Removal mechanisms displayed by these macrophytes include bioadsorption to cell surfaces and, to a greater extent, Cr internalization and bioaccumulation within cells. Inside of them, Cr(VI) was reduced to Cr(III), a less toxic form of this metal. At the first hours of Cr(VI) exposure, plants were able to sense chromium, activating membrane signal transduction pathways mediated by phospholipase D and phosphatidic acid. Moreover, an increase in the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutases and peroxidases was observed in the same time. These and other components of the antioxidant defense system would help to reduce the stress generated by the metal. The toxicity of the products formed during the removal process was assessed through Lactuca sativa L. and AMPHIAGU test. It was evidenced that Cr(VI) phytoremediation process by L. minuta plants did not generate acute toxicity neither for L. sativa seeds nor for embryos of Rhinella arenarum (Hensel, 1876). Thus, L. minuta plants could be considered as valuable species for the treatment of waters contaminated with Cr(VI).