Algal blooms (ABs) can affect the migration of phosphorus (P) among sediments, interstitial water and overlying water. It is important to analyze the characteristics of P and their interactions in the three media during ABs. A 5-month field study (June to October in 2016) was conducted in Zhushan Bay of Lake Taihu. P fractions, P adsorption characteristics and P diffusion fluxes at the sediment-water interface (SWI) were investigated. During the outbreak period of ABs from June to August, labile P concentrations in the sediment measured by diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT-labile P) and its diffusion fluxes across the SWI increased significantly. The equilibrium P concentration (EPC₀) of the sediment was higher than the PO₄³⁻-P concentration in the overlying water. During the period of decline of ABs from September to October, the concentrations and diffusion fluxes of DGT-labile P sharply decreased. However, the sediment total P (TP), overlying water TP, total dissolved P (TDP) and PO₄³⁻-P concentrations increased. These results show that the ability of sediment solids to supplement interstitial water labile P was significantly enhanced by the outbreak of ABs. Labile P was then intensively released into the overlying water by interstitial water. Degraded algae became a crucial P source during the period of decline of ABs. P from the degraded algae was re-released to the sediment and overlying water. The observed DGT-labile P and DGT-labile Fe coupling in June, September and October confirmed the Fe redox-driven P release mechanism in sediment during these periods. The decoupling of DGT-labile P and DGT-labile Fe was observed in July and August and was probably caused by algal decomposition, labile organic P degradation and/or sulfate reduction in sediment stimulated by the ABs outbreak.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is widely used by manufacturers and in consumer products. Its release in the environment may affect male reproductive function. In this study, we examined the effect of low dose (0.1 mg/kg BW), short term exposure during puberty (PD21-35) on adult rat male reproduction. The results indicated that such exposure reset growth hormone (GH) and follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) homeostasis and resulted in a significantly higher level of serum testosterone without affecting serum luteinizing hormone level. QPCR and Western blot results showed that BPA significantly up-regulated selective genes/proteins in the Leydig cell steroidogenic pathway, including steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, cytochrome P450 11A1, cytochrome P450 17A, and low-density lipoprotein receptor. RNA-Seq analysis of testicular RNAs showed that BPA significantly affected the gene profiles of multiple testicular interstitial populations without affecting germ cells. Also, GO- and KEGG-analysis suggested that IGF1-related PI3K/AKT signaling was activated, which was confirmed by the increased phosphorylation of IRS1, AKT1 and CREB. The results indicated that a low-dose, short-term BPA exposure during puberty affected the adult male rat pituitary (GH and FSH) and testis (testosterone) homeostasis.

Microplastics (<5 mm) are divided into primary and secondary microplastics, which are further degraded into nanoplastics. The microplastic particles are widely distributed in marine environment, terrestrial ecosystem and biological organism, leading to damages to whole environmental system. Microplastics are not only difficult to degrade, but also able to adsorb pollutants. Due to the tiny size and various properties, the separation and characterization of microplastic particles has become more and more challenging. This review introduces the sources and destinations of the microplastic particles and summarizes the general methods for the sorting and characterization of microplastics, especially the manipulation of microplastic particles on microfluidic chip, showing possibility to deal with smaller nanoplastic particles over traditional methods. This review focuses on studies of the size-based separation and property-dependent characterization of microplastics in marine environment by utilizing the microfluidic chip device.

Microplastic (MP) pollution has been a considerable concern due to its ubiquity in the environment and its potential to harm human health. Unfortunately, the exact levels of MP in various species of seafood species have not been established. It is also unclear whether or not consuming seafood contaminated with MPs directly jeopardizes human health. Here, eight popular species of seafood in Dongshan Bay, China were investigated to determine the presence of MP pollution and its implications on human health. The abundance, color, size, shape, type, surface morphology, danger of the MPs extracted from the seafood were analyzed. Results showed that the average MP abundance in the shellfish and fish was 1.88 ± 1.44 and 1.98 ± 1.98 items individual⁻¹, respectively. The heavy presence of fibers may be attributed to the shellfish and fish's feeding behaviors as well as their habitat and environment. The sizes of MPs found were below 1.0 mm. The main types of MP found in the shellfish were PES and PET, whereas the main types found in the fish were PS and PES. Risk assessment suggested that MPs in the shellfish (risk Level V) posed a greater and more direct threat to human health if the shellfish is eaten whole. The MPs in the gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) of fish (risk Level IV) have a relatively limited effect on human health since GITs are seldom consumed by humans unless the fish is heavily processed (canned or dried). MPs-induced health risk is predicted using a technique called molecular docking. The results of this study not only establish levels of MP pollution in popular seafood species but also help understand the implications of consuming MP-contaminated seafood on human health.

Air pollution has become a major issue in China, especially for traffic-related pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). Current studies in China at the national scale were less focused on NO₂ exposure and consequent health effects than fine particulate exposure, mainly due to a lack of high-quality exposure models for accurate NO₂ predictions over a long period. We developed an advanced modeling framework that incorporated multisource, high-quality predictor data (e.g., satellite observations [Ozone Monitoring Instrument NO₂, TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument NO₂, and Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction aerosol optical depth], chemical transport model simulations, high-resolution geographical variables) and three independent machine learning algorithms into an ensemble model. The model contains three stages: (1) filling missing satellite data; (2) building an ensemble model and predicting daily NO₂ concentrations from 2013 to 2019 across China at 1×1 km² resolution; (3) downscaling the predictions to finer resolution (100 m) at the urban scale. Our model achieves a high performance in terms of cross-validation to assess the agreement of the overall (R² = 0.72) and the spatial (R² = 0.85) variations of the NO₂ predictions over the observations. The model performance remains moderately good when the predictions are extrapolated to the previous years without any monitoring data (CV R² > 0.68) or regions far away from monitors (CV R² > 0.63). We identified a clear decreasing trend of NO₂ exposure from 2013 to 2019 across the country with the largest reduction in suburban and rural areas. Our downscaled model further improved the prediction ability by 4%–14% in some megacities and captured substantial NO₂ variations within 1-km grids in the urban areas, especially near major roads. Our model provides flexibility at both temporal and spatial scales and can be applied to exposure assessment and epidemiological studies with various study domains (e.g., national or citywide) and settings (e.g., long-term and short-term).

The aim of this study was to recover Sc as the main product and Fe as a by-product from Hungarian bauxite residue/red mud (RM) waste material by solvent extraction (SX). Moreover, a new technique was developed for the selective separation of Sc and Fe from real RM leachates. The presence of high Fe content (∼38%) in RM makes it difficult to recover Sc because of the similarity of their physicochemical properties. Pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical methods were applied to remove the Fe prior to SX. Two protocols based on organophosphorus compounds (OPCs) were proposed, and the main extractants were evaluated: bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA/P204) and tributyl phosphate (TBP). The results showed that SX using diethyl ether and tri-n-octylamine (N₂₃₅) was efficient in extracting Fe(III) from the HCl leachate as HFeC1₄. Over 97% of Sc was extracted by D2EHPA extractant under the following conditions; 0.05 mol/L of D2EHPA concentration, A/O phase ratio of 3:1, pH 0–1, 10 min of shaking time, and a temperature of 25 °C. Sc(OH)₃ as a precipitate was efficiently obtained by stripping from the D2EHPA organic phase by 2.5 mol/L of NaOH with a stripping efficiency of 95%. In the TBP system, 99% of Sc was extracted under the following conditions: 12.5% vol of TBP, an A/O phase ratio of 3:1, 10 min of shaking time, and a temperature of 25 °C. The Sc contained in the TBP organic phase could be efficiently stripped by 1 mol/L of HCl with a stripping efficiency of 92.85%.

The widespread use of nano-enabled agrochemicals in agriculture for remediating soil and improving nutrient use efficiency of organic and chemical fertilizers is increasing continuously with limited understanding on their potential risks. Recent studies suggested that nanoparticles (NPs) are harmful to soil organisms and their stimulated nutrient cycling in agriculture. However, their toxic effects under natural input farming systems are just at its infancy. Here, we aimed to examine the harmful effects of nano-agrochemical zinc oxide (ZnONPs) to poultry (PM) and farmyard manure (FYM) C and N cycling in soil-plant systems. These manures enhanced microbial counts, CO₂ emission, N mineralization, spinach yield and N recovery than control (unfertilized). Soil applied ZnONPs increased labile Zn in microbial biomass, conferring its consumption and thereby reduced the colony-forming bacterial and fungal units. Such effects resulted in decreasing CO₂ emitted from PM and FYM by 39 and 43%, respectively. Further, mineralization of organic N was reduced from FYM by 32%, and PM by 26%. This process has considerably decreased the soil mineral N content from both manure types and thereby spinach yield and plant N recoveries. In the ZnONPs amended soil, only about 23% of the applied total N from FYM and 31% from PM was ended up in plants, whereas the respective fractions in the absence of ZnONPs were 33 and 53%. Hence, toxicity of ZnONPs should be taken into account when recommending its use in agriculture for enhancing nutrient utilization efficiency of fertilizers or soil remediation purposes.

As reservoirs for pollutants transported via the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the Bohai Sea (BS) and Yellow Sea (YS) play an important role in transporting microplastics (MPs) to the Pacific Ocean. The fate, sources and mass budget of MPs in the BS and the YS were investigated by Pearson correlation, principal component analysis-multilinear regression analysis (PCA-MRLA) and a mass balance model to sedimentary MPs data. Average MP abundances were 137 and 119 items kg⁻¹ in the Bohai and Yellow Seas, respectively. MPs <1000 μm exhibited similar distribution patterns to total organic carbon and fine-grained sediments, while MPs >1000 μm were confined in the BS and exhibited a strong positive correlation with chlorophyll-a and polyethylene terephthalate, suggesting that larger MPs might deposit faster due to biofouling or when comprised of high density polymers. PCA-MLRA analysis indicated land-based inputs (packing materials, textile material and daily commodities) were dominant in the BS, while maritime activities (fishing and mariculture) were the main source of MPs in the YS. The mass balance model revealed that the total MP input and output to the BS and the YS was 3396.92 t yr⁻¹ and 3814.81 t yr⁻¹, respectively. The major input pathway of MPs to the BS and the YS were river discharge and air deposition, respectively. Notably, 94% of MPs in the BS and the YS were deposited to sediments. This study revealed that BS and YS sediments play an important role in preventing MPs from being further transported to the Pacific Ocean, thus more attention should be paid to local ecological risk assessment.

Excessive enrichment of fluoride threatens ecological stability and human health. The high-fluoride groundwater in the Chagan Lake area has existed for a long time. With the land consolidation and irrigation area construction, the distribution and migration process of fluoride have changed. It is urgent to explore the evolution of fluoride under the dual effects of nature and human. Based on 107 groundwater samples collected in different land use periods, hydrogeochemistry and isotope methods were combined to explore the evolution characteristics and hydrogeochemical processes of fluoride in typical high-fluoride background area and elucidate the impact of anthropogenic activities on fluoride migration. The results indicate that large areas of paddy fields are developed from saline-alkali land, and its area has increased by nearly 30%. The proportion of high-fluoride groundwater (>2 mg/L) has increased by nearly 10%, mainly distributed in the new irrigation area. Hydrogeochemical processes such as dissolution of fluorine-containing minerals, precipitation of carbonate minerals and exchange of Na⁺, Ca²⁺ on the water-soil interface control the enrichment of fluoride. The groundwater d-excess has no obvious change with the increase of TDS, and human activities are one of the reasons for the increase of fluoride. The concentration of fluoride is diluted due to years of diversion irrigation in old irrigation area, whereas the enrichment of δ²H, δ¹⁸O and Cl⁻ in new irrigation area indicates that the vertical infiltration of washing alkali and irrigation water brought fluoride and other salts to groundwater. Fertilizer and wastewater discharges also contribute to the accumulation of fluoride, manifesting as co-increasing nitrate and chloride salts. The results of this study provide a new insight into fluoride migration under anthropogenic disturbance in high-fluoride background areas.

Increasing eutrophication poses a considerable threat to freshwater ecosystems, which are closely associated with human well-being. As important functional entities for freshwater ecosystems, submerged macrophytes have suffered rapidly decline with eutrophication. However, it is unclear whether and how submerged macrophytes maintain their ecological functions under increasing eutrophication stress and the underlying patterns in the process. In the current study, we conducted an extensive survey of submerged macrophytes in 49 lakes and reservoirs (67% of them are eutrophic) on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau of southwestern China to reveal the relationship between submerged macrophyte biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) under eutrophication stress. Results showed that submerged macrophytes species richness, functional diversity (FD), and β diversity had positive effects on ecosystem functioning, even under eutrophication. Functional diversity was a stronger predictor of community biomass than species richness and β diversity, while species richness explained higher coverage variability than FD and β diversity. This suggests that species richness was a reliable indicator when valid functional traits cannot be collected in considering specific ecological process. With increasing eutrophication in water bodies, the mechanisms underlying biodiversity-ecosystem functioning evolved from “niche complementarity” to “selection effects”, as evidenced by decreased species turnover and increased nestedness. Furthermore, the relative growth rate, specific leaf area, and ramet size in trade-off of community functional composition became smaller along eutrophication while flowering duration and shoot height became longer. This study contributes to a better understanding of positive BEF in freshwater ecosystems, despite increasing anthropogenic impacts. Protecting the environment remained the effective way to protect biodiversity and corresponding ecological functions and services. We hope focus on specific eco-functioning in future studies so as to effective formulation of management plans.