This study examined the short-term effects of temperature on cardiovascular hospital admissions (CHA) in the largest tropical city in Southern Vietnam. We applied Poisson time-series regression models with Distributed Lag Non-Linear Model (DLNM) to examine the temperature-CHA association while adjusting for seasonal and long-term trends, day of the week, holidays, and humidity. The threshold temperature and added effects of heat waves were also evaluated. The exposure-response curve of temperature-CHA reveals a J-shape relationship with a threshold temperature of 29.6 °C. The delayed effects temperature-CHA lasted for a week (0–5 days). The overall risk of CHA increased 12.9% (RR, 1.129; 95%CI, 0.972–1.311) during heatwave events, which were defined as temperature ≥ the 99th percentile for ≥2 consecutive days. The modification roles of gender and age were inconsistent and non-significant in this study. An additional prevention program that reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in relation to high temperatures should be developed.

Cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) is an enzyme involved in the metabolic activation of certain carcinogens, and inducible by toxic substrates. To date, few studies have investigated in vivo CYP1A2 induction in humans and its relationship to polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) like benzo(a)pyrene (BaP). Non-smoking healthy male coke-oven workers (n = 30) were recruited as ‘exposure’ group, and non-smoking healthy office workers in the same city (n = 10) were selected as ‘control’ group, to test whether high inhalation exposure to PAHs can induce CYP1A2 activity in human livers. Significantly higher inhalation exposure of PAHs were found among the exposure group compared to the control. Inhalation BaP exposure concentration in the exposure group was more than 30 times higher than the control group (p < 0.001). However, the exposure group did not exhale significant higher levels of ¹³CO2/¹²CO2 in breath samples (p = 0.81), and no significant relationship was found between the inhaled BaP concentration and the ¹³CO2/¹²CO2 ratio (p = 0.91). A significant association was found between the ¹³CO2/¹²CO2 exhalation and dietary BaP intake level. Hepatic CYP1A2 activity/induction level was not effected by inhaled BaP but was altered by ingestion of BaP.

In the shallow lakes, the partitioning of organic contaminants into the water phase from the solid phase might pose a potential hazard to both benthic and planktonic organisms, which would further damage aquatic ecosystems. This study determined the concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and phthalate esters (PAEs) in both the sediment and the pore water from Lake Chaohu and calculated the sediment – pore water partition coefficient (KD) and the organic carbon normalized sediment – pore water partition coefficient (KOC), and explored the effects of particle size, organic matter content, and parallel factor fluorescent organic matter (PARAFAC-FOM) on KD. The results showed that log KD values of PAHs (2.61–3.94) and OCPs (1.75–3.05) were significantly lower than that of PAEs (4.13–5.05) (p < 0.05). The chemicals were ranked by log KOC as follows: PAEs (6.05–6.94) > PAHs (4.61–5.86) > OCPs (3.62–4.97). A modified MCI model can predict KOC values in a range of log 1.5 at a higher frequency, especially for PAEs. The significantly positive correlation between KOC and the octanol – water partition coefficient (KOW) were observed for PAHs and OCPs. However, significant correlation was found for PAEs only when excluding PAEs with lower KOW. Sediments with smaller particle sizes (clay and silt) and their organic matter would affect distributions of PAHs and OCPs between the sediment and the pore water. Protein-like fluorescent organic matter (C2) was associated with the KD of PAEs. Furthermore, the partitioning of PARAFAC-FOM between the sediment and the pore water could potentially affect the distribution of organic pollutants. The partitioning mechanism of PAEs between the sediment and the pore water might be different from that of PAHs and OCPs, as indicated by their associations with influencing factors and KOW.

The dissolved phase compound and congener specific distribution characteristics of three widely used brominated flame retardants (BFRs) comprising 27 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), 12 hydroxylated and methoxylated metabolites (OH- and MeO-BDEs), 3 hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) were investigated in influents and effluents of various kinds of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), with varying source of wastewater and type of treatment, and nearby rivers in Korea. The concentration of total BFRs were the highest in industrial WWTPs nearby large industrial complexes specialized in heavy chemicals. The distribution of BFRs was differed according to composition of wastewater, with predominance of TBBPA in WWTPs with higher portion of inflowing industrial wastewater. Among HBCD diastereomers, γ-HBCD was dominant in industrial wastewater as consistent to the previous reports, however, similar contribution of α- and γ-HBCD was found in sewage and human wastewater. Through treatment process, PBDEs were the most effectively removed with a mean removal efficiency of 68.3%. HBCDs and TBBPA had removal efficiencies of 41.3% and 48.7%, respectively. The lowest removal efficiency (10.3%) was observed for PBDE metabolites and their concentration in effluent of human wastewater was even increased at maximum 1.9 fold compared with influent, implying the possibility of transformation during treatment. The estimated dissolved phase daily load of PBDEs was highest in sewage while that of TBBPA was highest in industrial wastewater.

How exposure to contaminants may interfere with the widespread poleward range expansions under global warming is largely unknown. Pesticide exposure may negatively affect traits shaping the speed of range expansion, including traits related to population growth rate and dispersal-related traits. Moreover, rapid evolution of growth rates during poleward range expansions may come at a cost of a reduced investment in detoxification and repair thereby increasing the vulnerability to contaminants at expanding range fronts. We tested effects of a sublethal concentration of the widespread pesticide chlorpyrifos on traits related to range expansion in replicated edge and core populations of the poleward moving damselfly Coenagrion scitulum reared at low and high food levels in a common garden experiment. Food limitation in the larval stage had strong negative effects both in the larval stage and across metamorphosis in the adult stage. Exposure to chlorpyrifos during the larval stage did not affect larval traits but caused delayed effects across metamorphosis by increasing the incidence of wing malformations during metamorphosis and by reducing a key component of the adult immune response. There was some support for an evolutionary trade-off scenario as the faster growing edge larvae suffered a higher mortality during metamorphosis. Instead, there was no clear support for the faster growing edge larvae being more vulnerable to chlorpyrifos. Our data indicate that sublethal delayed effects of pesticide exposure, partly in association with the rapid evolution of faster growth rates, may slow down range expansions.

Indoor environments contribute a significant portion of human exposure to brominated flame retardants (BFRs) because of their extensive use in various household products. This study investigates the occurrence of a number of BFRs in the indoor and outdoor air in a megacity in southern China, in which little information on indoor BFRs contamination is available. The estimated total PBDE concentrations ranged from 1.43 to 57 pg/m3 indoors and from 1.21 to 1522 pg/m3 outdoors. The indoor concentrations of lower brominated PBDEs that are mainly derived from the technical penta- and octa-BDE mixtures were higher than or comparable to the outdoors, while the indoor levels of DecaBDEs and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) were apparently lower than the outdoors. The seasonal variations of BFR concentrations indicated that evaporation from old indoor products is the primary source of Penta- and OctaBDEs in the air, whereas most DecaBDEs and DBDPE concentrations showing weak temperature-dependence are largely released from industrial activities. The PBDE congener profiles in the air were generally similar, which were dominated by BDE209, 28, and 47; whereas the appreciable indoor–outdoor differences in the compositions are possibly due to emission sources, photochemical degradation, or congener-specific transport of BFRs in the indoor and outdoor air. Significant correlations between the indoor and outdoor BFRs were observed suggesting the exchange of BFRs between the two compartments, which are more noticeable for PentaBDEs and DecaBDEs with strong indoor and outdoor emission sources, respectively. This study provides significant insights into the sources of BFRs in urban air in China.

Microplastic has been confirmed as an emerging pollutant in marine environments. One of the primary environmental risks of microplastics is their bioavailability for aquatic organisms. Bivalves are of particular interest because their extensive filter-feeding activity exposes them directly to microplastics present in the water column. In the present study, we investigated microplastic pollution in mussels (Mytilus edulis) from 22 sites along 12,400 mile coastlines of China in 2015. The number of total microplastics varied from 0.9 to 4.6 items/g and from 1.5 to 7.6 items/individual. M. edulis contained more microplastics (2.7 items/g) in wild groups than that (1.6 items/g) in farmed groups. The abundance of microplastics was 3.3 items/g in mussels from the areas with intensive human activities and significantly higher than that (1.6 items/g) with less human activities. The most common microplastics were fibers, followed by fragments. The proportion of microplastics less than 250 μm in size arranged from 17% to 79% of the total microplastics. Diatom was distinguished from microplastics in mussels for the first time using Scanning Electron Microscope. Our results suggested that the numbers of microplastic kept within a relatively narrow range in mussels and were closely related to the contamination of the environments. We proposed that mussels could be used as a potential bioindicator of microplastic pollution of the coastal environment.

Over the past twenty years microplastic pollution has been recorded in all major marine habitats, and is now considered to be of high environmental concern. Correspondingly, the number of reports of microplastic ingestion by marine species is increasing. Despite this, there are still relatively few studies which address the uptake and retention of microplastic in wild populations. Langoustine, Nephrops norvegicus, sampled from the Clyde Sea Area, have previously been seen to contain large aggregations of microplastic fibres. The large proportion of contaminated individuals and size of the microplastic aggregations observed suggests that Nephrops are at high risk of microplastic ingestion. In this study the levels of ingested microplastic in populations of N. norvegicus from the Clyde Sea Area, North Minch and North Sea are examined. Animals in the near-shore, Clyde Sea population showed both a higher percentage of microplastic containing individuals and much greater weights of microplastic retained in the gut. N. norvegicus revealed that only a small percentage of individuals from the North Sea and Minch contained microplastic, predominantly single strands. An expanded sample from the Clyde Sea Area was examined to identify the factors influencing microplastic retention. This revealed that males, larger individuals, and animals that had recently moulted contained lower levels of microplastic. The presence of identified food items in the gut was not seen to correlate with microplastic loads. Observations of microplastic in the shed stomach lining of recently moulted individuals and the lack of aggregations in wild-caught individuals suggests that ecdysis is the primary route of microplastic loss by N. norvegicus. Therefore the large aggregations observed in wild-caught animals are believed to build up over extended periods as a result of the complex gut structure of N. norvegicus.

High molecular weight organic compounds (HMW-OCs), formed as secondary organic aerosols (SOA), have been reported in many laboratory studies. However, little evidence of HMW-OCs formation, in particular during winter season in the real atmosphere, has been reported. In January 2013, Beijing faced historically severe haze pollution, in which the hourly PM2.5 concentration reached as high as 974 μg m−3. Four typical haze events (HE1 to HE4) were identified, and HE2 (Jan. 9–16) was the most serious of these. Based on the hourly observed chemical composition of PM2.5 and the daily organic composition analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), we found that abundant ion peaks in m/z 200–850 appeared on heavy haze days, whereas these were negligible on a clear day, indicating the existence of HMW-OCs in the wintertime haze. A negative nonlinear correlation between HMW-OCs and O3 suggested that gas oxidation was not likely to be the dominant mechanism for HMW-OCs formation. During the heavy haze events, the relative humidity and mass ratio of H2O/PM2.5 reached as high as 80% and 0.2, respectively. The high water content and its good positive correlation with HMW-OCs indicated that an aqueous-phase process may be a significant pathway in wintertime. The evidence that acidity was much higher during HE2 (0.37 μg m−3) than on other days, as well as its strong correlation with HMW-OCs, indicated that acid-catalyzed reactions likely resulted in HMW-OCs formation during the heavy winter haze in Beijing.

Atlantic old sessile oak woodlands are of high conservation importance in Europe, listed in the European Union (EU) Habitats Directive Annex I, and known for their rich bryophyte communities. Their conservation status ranges from unfavourable to bad across their known distribution, which is predominantly within the UK and Ireland, but also extends into Iberia and Brittany. The objectives of this study were to determine if nitrogen (N) deposition, a known driver of terrestrial biodiversity loss, was a significant predictor of community composition in old sessile oak woodlands (i.e., EU Habitats Directive Annex I class: 91A0), and to identify significant changes in individual plant species and community-level abundance (i.e., change points) along an N deposition gradient. Relevé data from 260 Irish oak woodland plots were evaluated using Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) and Threshold Indicator Taxa ANalysis (TITAN). Nitrogen deposition accounted for 14% of the explainable variation in the dataset (inertia = 0.069, p < 0.005). A community scale change point of 13.2 kg N ha−1 yr−1 was indicated by TITAN, which falls within the current recommended critical load (CL) range for acidophilous Quercus-dominated (oak) woodlands (10–15 kg N ha−1 yr−1). The results suggest that the current CL is sufficient for maintaining a core group of indicator species in old sessile oak woodlands, but many nutrient sensitive species may disappear even at the CL range minimum.