Mountain Goc is one of the regions with the highest water potential in Central Serbia (Yugoslavia), with specific annual runoff of 12-17 l/s per square km. Upper part of the catchment area of the Gvozdacka River has 111 springs, on the surface of 13.3 square km. 33 springs has volume yield from 0.5 to 2.5 l/s, with physical and chemical parameters of high water quality. These springs never dry up, even during years with low amount of precipitation. The upper part of the catchment area of the Gvozdacka River is under association Abieti-Fagetum, which is one of the worthiest in Serbia (Yugoslavia). Besides annual amount of precipitation, characteristics of soil, hydro-geological attributes of rock masses, influence of vegetation on processes of interception and evapotranspiration, which are very important factors for preservation of springs and their volume yield, also the system of forest ecosystems management. Not adequate measures in exploitation of forests lead to decreasing of volume yield of springs, and often to their disappearing.

It has been done the analysis of the physical and chemical characteristics of the water from two households in the village Berkovac in the foot of the mountain Maljen, Serbia (Yugoslavia). These households are supplying from two different springs. The water from the spring "Dobracinovica izvor" is contaminated and it is not for use, but the quality of the water from the hill Kulica is satisfactory. Both of them belong to the group of cold mineral waters.

During the summer 1998 the second phase of Cadastre of Water Objects on the Teaching Base Goc, on the Goc mountain, in central Serbia (Yugoslavia) was done. Investigation was carried out on the territory of 20 square km, with serpentine as parent rock. Serpentine is decomposed in the surface layer, with sceletal soil up to 50 cm deep, insignificant retention attributes. Dominate surfaces under bare lands, meadows, pastures and degraded forest stands. 35 springs were registered, small volume yield (up to 0.29 l*/s), with pH=7.5 to pH8.5, electrical conductivity from 80 up to 800 microS*/cm, temperature 7.0-17.0 deg C. Springs are permanent, but on the higher parts could dry up. Water level in the serpentine has small hydraulic gradient, with slope to the zones of out flow, in other words, to the local erosion base. Hydrogeological characteristics of serpentine were analyzed detailed.

In April 1997 and 1998 investigations of algae, Rotatoria, Cladocera, Copepoda and Hydracarina were conducted. The investigated localities were 8 small water bodies at around 800 m a.s.l., at Mali Krs, in the surrounding of Bor, Serbia (Yugoslavia). The aim was to examine composition of these groups and to give the evaluation of the quality of water. Among algae, according to the number of taxons, the dominant group was Bacillariophyta (45), then Chlorophyta (17), Cyanophyta (3), Euglenophyta (4), Xanthophyta (1) and Pyrrophyta (1). Rotatoria were present with the highest number of taxons among microfauna. In these investigations 48 taxons were present. The highest number of taxons was among Cephalodella, Corurella, and Trichocerca. Among Cladocera 4 taxons were present, and among Copepoda 9 taxons, and all the present species were found in our previous investigations. Hydracarina were present with 3 species, also with high diversity. Around two thirds of all taxons are oligosaprobionts, which indicates to the good quality of the water.

There has been an increasing interest in the pollution caused by meso- and microplastics (MMPs) in terrestrial ecosystems. Mulch film was once considered to be the most important source of MMPs in the mulching cultivated soil. However, the academic community has not given sufficient scientific evidence. In this study, stratified random sampling method was used to selectively interview households in Hebei province, China (400 households, 20 villages, 5 counties). Finally, household characteristics and mulch film use behavior of 41 households were collected, and corresponding soil samples were sampled. The results showed that 1) the abundance of MMPs was 29.3 ± 33.1 items·kg⁻¹ (DW) and the particle size of MMPs was 2.95 × 10³±1.75 × 10³ μm, and the proportion of MMPs derived from Polyethylene (PE) was only 18.8%; 2) the mass of MMPs was 2.90 ± 3.72 mg kg⁻¹ (DW) and the proportion of PE MMPs was 43.75%, which has the highest mass percentage; 3) After controlling the endogenous and dummy variables, the use history of mulch film (HistMF) was found to be positively correlated to the abundance of MMPs and inversely correlated to the particle size, but nor with the mass of MMPs; 4) Regarding the heterogeneous characteristics of MMPs, including particle size, color, shape, and type, the findings found the absence of a significant correlation between HistMF and the abundance and mass of PE. In summary, mulch-derived MMPs are not the primary source of MMPs in the mulching cultivated soil in terms of abundance but probably be in terms of mass.

Many studies revealed the rapid decline of atmospheric PM₂.₅ in Beijing due to the emission control measures. The variation of particle number concentration (PN) which has important influences on regional climate and human health, however, was rarely reported. This study measured the particle number size distributions (PNSD) in 3–700 nm in winter of Beijing during 2013–2019. It was found that PN decreased by 58% from 2013 to 2017, but increased by 29% from 2017 to 2019. By Positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis, five source factors of PNSD were identified as Nucleation, Fresh traffic, Aged traffic + Diesel, Coal + biomass burning and Secondary. Overall, factors associated with primary emissions were found to decrease continuously. Coal + biomass burning dominated the reduction (65%) among the three primary sources during 2013–2017, which resulted from the great efforts on emission control of coal combustion and biomass burning. Fresh traffic and Aged traffic + Diesel decreased by 43% and 66%, respectively, from 2013 to 2019, as a result of the upgrade of the vehicle emission standards in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area. On the other hand, the contribution from Nucleation and Secondary decreased with the reduction of gaseous precursors in 2013–2017, but due to the increased intensity of new particle formation (NPF) and secondary oxidation, they increased by 56% and 70%, respectively, from 2017 to 2019, which led to the simultaneously increase of PN and particle volume concentration. This study indicated that NPF may play an important role in urban atmosphere under continuous air quality improvement.

With the high production and consumption of antibiotics in recent years due to increasing economic development and improving population health, China is facing serious antibiotic pollution in the environment, and it is becoming a significant threat to ecology and human health. This study explores the spatial distribution patterns of 65 antibiotics in soil, surface water and coastal water based on a systematic review. Potential emission sources of antibiotics are also analyzed using data extracted from the reviewed literature. The results suggest that China has very high antibiotic detection rates of 100%, 98.0% and 96.4% for soil, surface water and coastal water, respectively. Regions with high antibiotic levels are mainly located in Bohai Bay, including the Beijing‒Tianjin‒Hebei region, Liaoning and Shandong Provinces, and Yangtze River. Tetracyclines (TCs) and quinolones (QNs) are the dominant antibiotics observed in soil and are mainly attributed to the use of manure as fertilizer and the reuse of domestic wastewater. Sulfonamides (SAs), macrolides (MLs), TCs and QNs are the dominant antibiotics observed in surface water and are mainly attributed to aquaculture and the emission of domestic sewage. QNs are the dominant antibiotics observed in coastal water and are mainly attributed to marine cultivation. The detection frequencies and concentrations of TCs, QNs, SAs and MLs in both soil and water are much higher than those in other developed countries. Suggestions including restricting antibiotic usages in livestock farming and aquaculture, innovation of wastewater treatment technology to improve antibiotic removal rate, and establishing guidelines on antibiotic concentration for wastewater discharge and organic fertilizer are provided.

Cadmium (Cd) contamination in soils has become a serious and widespread environmental problem, especially in areas with high natural background Cd values, but the mechanism of Cd enrichment in these areas is still unclear. This study uses the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Guangxi), a typical area with a high background Cd level and Cd pollution related to mining activities, as an example to explore the source and predict areas with high Cd risk in soils based on the geographical detector method. The areas with high Cd in Guangxi soils were classified into non-mining areas and mining areas according to their potential Cd sources. The results show that the rich Cd content in the soils from the non-mining area of Guangxi was mainly derived from the soil type (q = 0.34), geological age (q = 0.27), rock type (q = 0.26) and geomorphic type (q = 0.20). Specifically, the Cd content was derived from the weathering and deposition processes of carbonatite from the Carboniferous system in the karst area. The high Cd content in the soils of the mining area of Guangxi was mainly derived from the area mined for mineral resources (q = 0.08) and rock type (q = 0.05). Specifically, the Cd content was derived from the mining of lead-zinc ores. The areas in Guangxi with a high risk of Cd soil pollution are mostly concentrated in karst areas, such as Hechi, Laibin, Chongzuo, southern Liuzhou and Baise, northern Nanning city and northeastern Guilin city, and some mining areas. These results indicated that the high Cd concentration in the soils of large areas of Guangxi is probably due to natural sources, while the high Cd concentration around mining areas is due to anthropogenic sources. The results will be useful for soil restoration and locating and controlling contaminated agricultural land.

Severe pollution caused by atmospheric particulate matter (PM) has become a global environmental issue. Samples of atmospheric PM were collected before and during the Chinese Spring Festival in Xiamen, a coastal city in Southeast China, to investigate their chemical characteristics, sources, and formation mechanisms. The results indicated that PM₂.₅ mass concentrations comprised 53.60% and 56.31% of total suspended particulates before and during the Spring Festival, respectively. Due to the halt of factory production and construction and the reduction of vehicle flow during the Spring Festival, the concentrations of organic carbon, elemental carbon and water soluble ions in PM₂.₅ decreased by 78.56%, 84.19% and 27.53%, respectively, compared with those before the Spring Festival. However, the concentrations of K⁺, Mg²⁺, Al, Sr, and Ba increased by 3121.76%, 571.67%, 183.71%, 180.15%, and 137.58%, respectively, resulting from the display of fireworks and firecrackers during the Spring Festival. Analysis of backward air mass trajectory indicated that the concentrations of PM₂.₅ and its components were dominated by local pollution sources before and during the Spring Festival. The relationships between meteorological conditions and pollutant concentrations showed that the secondary organic aerosol was generated from the heterogeneous reaction before the Spring Festival, and the secondary inorganic aerosol was formed by the photochemical reaction during the Spring Festival.

Lead (Pb) contaminated soil is of particular concern for infants and children due to their susceptibility to exposure, fast metabolic rates and rapidly developing neuronal systems. Determining the bioaccessibility of Pb in soils is critical in human health risk assessments, which can vary due to different soil properties and sources of Pb contamination. In this study, the potential relationships between soil properties and Pb bioaccessibility from various Pb sources including Pb contamination from mining (specifically, Broken Hill), three shooting ranges, a smelter and two industry sites (pottery and battery), were investigated using the Relative Bioavailability Leaching Procedure (RBALP). We found the following: (1) CEC, TOC, sand and silt content, and total Pb were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the two particle size fractions of < 2 mm and < 250 μm; (2) EC, CEC and total Pb were significantly correlated to Pb bioaccessibility (p < 0.05); and (3) soil analyses based on source of Pb demonstrated a strongly significant relationship between Pb bioaccessibility and soil properties (CEC, EC, clay content and total Pb) for mining soils from Broken Hill (r² = 0.86, p < 0.05, n = 18). These results demonstrated the influences of Pb contamination sources, soil properties and particle size fractions on Pb bioaccessibility as well as the prediction of Pb bioaccessibility using soil properties. The findings documented here will help in developing a predictive tool for human health risk assessment and the remediation of Pb contaminated soils.