Microbial responses to Cu pollution as a function of Cu sources (Cu salts and commercial Cu fungicides) were assessed in a soil using basal soil respiration, and bacterial and fungal community growth, as endpoints. The soil was amended with different concentrations (0–32 mmol Cu kg⁻¹) of Cu nitrate, Cu sulfate, Bordeaux mixture and 3 types of Cu oxychloride. Cu salts decreased soil pH, while this was not found with the other Cu sources. This difference in soil pH effects caused differences in the respiration, bacterial growth and fungal growth response. Basal soil respiration was negatively affected by Cu addition when the soil was spiked with Cu salts, but almost unaffected by commercial Cu fungicides. Bacterial growth was significantly and negatively affected by Cu addition for all the Cu sources, but Cu toxicity was higher for Cu salts than for commercial Cu fungicides. Fungal growth response was also different for Cu salts and commercial Cu fungicides, but only in the long-term. High Cu amendments using Cu salts stimulated fungal growth, whereas for commercial Cu fungicides, these concentrations inhibited fungal growth. Thus, the use of products similar to those used in commercial fungicides is a recommended practice for Cu risk assessments in soil.

The aim of this study was to assess the soil contamination caused by potentially toxic elements (Al, As, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Se, V, and Zn) using various indices and the associated risk of human health for adults and children in selected soils from Germany (Calcic Luvisols, Tidalic Fluvisols, Haplic Gleysols, and Eutric Fluvisols) and Egypt (Haplic Calcisols, Sodic Fluvisols, and Eutric Fluvisols). Soil contamination degree has been assessed using indices such as contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), geo-accumulation index (Igₑₒ), and enrichment factor. We also assessed the health risk for children and for male and female adults. Chromium, Cu, As, Mo, Ni, Se, and Zn in the German Fluvisols had high CF of >6, while in the Egyptian Fluvisols Se, Mo, As, and Al revealed a high CF. The PLI (1.1–5.2) was higher than unity in most soils (except for Tidalic Fluvisols), while the most important contributor was Se, followed by Mo and As in the Egyptian Fluvisols, and by Cr, Cu, and Zn in the German Fluvisols. The median value of hazard index (HI) for children in the studied soils indicated an elevated health risk (higher than one), especially in the German Fluvisols (HI = 4.0–29.0) and in the Egyptian Fluvisols (HI = 2.2–5.2). For adults, median HIs in all soils were lower than unity for both males and females. The key contributor to HI was As in the whole soil profiles, accounting for about 59% of the total HIs in all three person groupings. Our findings show that in the studied multi-element contaminated soils the risk for children’s health is higher than for adults; while mainly As (and Al, Cr, Cu, and Fe) contributed significantly to soil-derived health risk.

Early-life exposure to toxicants may have lasting effects that adversely impact later development. Thus, although the production and use of a toxicant have been banned, the risk to previously exposed individuals may continue. BDE-47, a component of commercial penta-BDEs, is a persistent organic pollutant with demonstrated neurotoxicity. To investigate the persistent effects of BDE-47 and the mechanisms thereof, we employed a metabolomics approach to analyze the brain, blood and urine of mice exposed to BDE-47 for 28 days and then 3 months post-exposure. In the brain, BDE-47 was detectable just after exposure but was below the limit of detection (LOD) 3 months later. However, the metabolomic alterations caused by early-life exposure to BDE-47 persisted. Potential biomarkers related to these alterations included phosphatidylcholine, lysophosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin and several amino acids and biogenic amines. The metabolic pathways involved in the response to BDE-47 in the brain were mainly those related to glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingomyelin metabolism and neurotransmitter regulation. Thus, our study demonstrates the utility of metabolomics, as the omics most closely reflecting the phenotype, in exploring the mechanisms underlying the lasting effects induced by early-life BDE-47 exposure.

A substantial increase in the usage of organophosphate esters (OPEs) as flame retardants and plasticizers in rubbers, textiles, upholstered furniture, lacquers, plastics, building materials and electronic equipment has resulted in their increasing concentrations in the environment over time. However, little is known about the concentrations and fate of OPEs and their metabolites (mOPEs) in biota, including chicken eggs. The aim of this study was to understand the spatial variation in the concentrations in chicken eggs and the partitioning between yolk and albumin. In total, 153 chicken eggs were purchased across Australia and analysed for 9 OPEs and 11 mOPE. Most of the compounds were found to be deposited in egg yolk, where diphenyl phosphate (DPHP, 3.8 ng/g wet weight, median) and tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP, 1.8 ng/g wet weight, median) were predominant mOPE and OPE, respectively. Moreover, no spatial differences in concentrations of OPEs and mOPEs in eggs purchased from different locations were found in this study. Although comparable levels of ∑OPEs were detected in egg yolk and albumin, much higher concentrations of ∑mOPEs were found in yolk than albumin. Meanwhile, a negative correlation (R² = 0.964, p = 0.018) was found between the molecular mass of analytes and partitioning coefficient of Cyₒₗₖ/Cyₒₗₖ₊ₐₗbᵤₘᵢₙ (defined as chemical concentration in egg yolk divided by the sum of chemical concentrations in both yolk and albumin). These results indicate that n-octanol/water partition coefficients (log KOW) may not be a crucial factor in the distribution of OPEs and mOPEs between egg yolk and albumin, which is important in understanding distribution of emerging organic contaminants in biota.

Fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) concentrations exhibit distinct spatiotemporal heterogeneity, mainly due to the natural environment and human activities. Yunnan Province of China was selected as the research area, and a real-time measured PM₂.₅ concentration dataset was acquired from 41 monitoring stations in 16 major cities from February 2013 to December 2018. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and data on four meteorological variables from 2000 to 2018 were employed. A novel hybrid model was constructed to estimate the historical missing PM₂.₅ values from 2000 to 2012, calculate the missing PM₂.₅ concentrations from 2012 to 2014 in some major cities, and analyze the driving factors of the PM₂.₅ concentration changes and causes of key pollution events in Yunnan Province over the past 19 years. The temporal analysis results indicate that the annual mean PM₂.₅ concentration in Yunnan Province exhibited three stages: continuous stability, a rapid increase and a rapid decrease. The year 2013 was an important breakpoint in the trend of the concentration change. The spatial analysis results reveal that the annual mean PM₂.₅ concentration in the north was lower than that in the south, and there was a significant difference between the east and the west. In addition, springtime biomass burning in Southeast Asia was found to be the main cause of PM₂.₅ pollution in Yunnan Province in spring.

Numerous studies have focused on assessing the risk of human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in indoor dust via dermal contact. However, the dermal bioaccessibility and dermal absorption of PAHs in indoor dust have seldom been reported. In the present study, the effects of temperature, sweat ratio, solid-liquid ratio and incubation time on the dermal bioaccessibility of PAHs were examined. Naphthalene, phenanthrene, pyrene and benzo[a]pyrenewere selected for examination in an absorption assay with keratinocyte cells. The results showed the release of PAHs from indoor dust fitted a first-order one-compartment model. Naphthalene had the highest rate of release, which was consistent with the bioaccessibility assay results. In addition, the absorption rate of naphthalene and phenanthrene by keratinocytes was higher than that of pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene, with the latter being of higher molecular weight. These results indicated that low molecular weight PAHs were much more easily absorbed via dermal contact than were high molecular weight PAHs. The dermal bioavailability of PAHs in indoor dust was estimated by multiplying the bioaccessibility of PAHs in indoor dust by the ratio of dermal absorption by skin cells, and ranged from 0.12 to 51.0%. These data will be useful in risk assessments.

In the present work, low-cost and efficient iron oxide nanoparticle incorporated on mesoporous biochar was prepared from effluent treatment plant (ETP) sludge collected from the textile industry. This sludge contains a higher amount of Fe due to the use of ferric chloride as a coagulant in the treatment of wastewater generated during the process. The raw sludge and prepared biochar was extensively examined by various sophisticated techniques like XRF, XRD, BET, TGA, XPS, RAMAN, FTIR, FESEM, TEM, and VSM. TEM and XRD analysis confirms the presence of iron oxide nanoparticles on mesoporous biochar. The prepared biochar was found to possess BET surface area of 91 m² g⁻¹. Several parameters like pH, dose, initial concentration, temperature and time were optimized for the adsorptive removal of ofloxacin (OFL) from aqueous solution. Biochar (named as BTSFe) achieved ≈96% removal efficiency of OFL with a maximum adsorption capacity (qₘ) of 19.74 mg g⁻¹ at optimum condition. π-π electron–donor-acceptor and H bonding were the major mechanisms responsible for the OFL adsorption. Kinetic and equilibrium thermodynamic study of showed that the adsorption of OFL was represented by the pseudo-second-order kinetics model, and the process was exothermic and spontaneous. Additionally, Redlich-Peterson and Freundlich isotherms best fitted the experimental data indicating multilayer adsorption phenomenon. Biochar was magnetically separated and thermally regenerated after each cycle for five times with a nominal overall decrease of ≈8% in removal efficiency. Leaching of iron during the adsorption process was also checked and found to be within the permissible limit. This study provides an alternative application of the textile industry sludge as an efficient, low-cost biochar for the removal of emerging pharmaceutical compounds.

The industrial and agricultural activities based on phosphorous can increase the F content in the surrounding area, causing a widespread adverse effect on the organisms. However, the current information on the superposed health risk posed by the multi-exposure to the F contamination in an area jointly affected by agricultural and industrial activities (DA) is limited. Herein, the F distribution in multi-environmental media and the exposure risk to humans by ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact pathways are studied in an DA. The content of soil water-soluble fluorine (WF) was higher in the DA than in the area individually affected by agricultural activities (SA). This indicated a superposed contribution of the industrial and agricultural activities to increase the F toxicity in the soil. The correlation of the soil pH and the organic matter content with the soil WF concentration in DA suggested an inter-relationship between the soil physicochemical properties and the toxicity of F in the soil by industrial and agricultural activities. Irrigation water was not a major anthropogenic source of the cropland soil F. The large variation in F concentration in the crops (101.8–195.6%) might have originated from the discrepancies in the soil F content and air F concentration. The air F pollution (0.6–1.6 μg dm⁻² d⁻¹) in the area particularly influenced by intensive industrial activities should be important. The exposure of residents to F was mainly from the ingestion of F-enriched crops. The higher exposure of adults to F than that of children could be attributed to more industrial and agricultural outdoor activities, larger exposure area of the skin, and more daily ingestion of F-enriched food by adults. Overall, present insights into the distribution of and the multi-exposure to F may be beneficial for decreasing the adverse F effects on the residents in DAs worldwide.

We present here spectroscopic compositional analysis of brown carbon (BrC) and humic-like substances (HULIS) in the Indian context under varying conditions of source emissions and atmospheric processing. To this end, we study bulk water-soluble organic matter (WSOM), neutral- and acidic-HULIS (HULIS-n and HULIS-a), and high-polarity (HP)-WSOM collected in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) with respect to UV–Vis, fluorescence, FT-IR, ¹H NMR and ¹³C characteristics under three aerosol regimes: photochemistry-dominated summer, aged biomass burning (BB)-dominated post-monsoon, and fresh BB-dominated winter. Absorption coefficients (bₐbₛ_₃₆₅ ₙₘ; Mm⁻¹) of WSOM and HULIS fractions increase by a factor of 2–9 during winter as compared to summer, with HULIS-n dominating total HULIS + HP-WSOM absorption (73–81%). Fluorophores in HULIS-n appear to contain near-similar levels of aromatic and unsaturated aliphatic conjugation across seasons, while HULIS-a exhibits distinctively smaller-chain structures in summer and post-monsoon. FT-IR spectra reveals, among others, strong signatures of aromatic phenols in winter WSOM suggesting a BB-related origin. ¹H NMR-based source attribution coupled with back trajectory analysis indicate the presence of secondary and BB-related organic aerosol (SOA and BBOA) in the post-monsoon and winter, and marine-derived OA (MOA) in the summer, which is supported by ¹³C measurements. Overall, these observations uncover a complex interplay of emissions and atmospheric processing of carbonaceous aerosols in the IGP.

In recent years, with the expansion of the Weining county in the northeast of Caohai wetland, the construction of a new port in the north, and the large-scale development of cultivated land in the east, land use patterns in lakeshore areas have changed. These changes have affected the state of lake shores water bodies in complex ways, resulting in varying degrees of local water pollution. To explore the distribution and transformation characteristics of water chemistry and heavy metals in different areas of a water body under the influence of different land uses, especially the interactions between water chemical factors and heavy metals in different areas of a water body, this study used Circos diagrams, originally used in biological genetic analysis, to visualize these interactions. This is the first time that the Circos diagram has been applied to the analysis of environmental interactions. The results showed that there are significant differences in the distribution of water chemical factors and heavy metals in different areas of the Caohai wetland. In particular, Cd is affected by anthropogenic sources. The Cd content is higher in the NCL and UL areas, which are at greater risk from pollution. The factors controlling heavy metal levels in water bodies were different in the different regions. The NCL region was mainly affected by construction excavation ore, UL was mainly affected by man-made industrial inputs, CL was mainly affected by pesticide and fertilizer inputs, and ML and FL were mainly affected by Eh and DO. The PCA results showed that the sources of heavy metals in different types of water bodies in the lakeshore zone were both natural and anthropogenic. Therefore, controlling pollutants, reducing environmental pollution inputs to the lakeshore zone, and strengthening supervision and management near wetlands may be of great significance for handling heavy metal pollution.