As a driving factor of global changes, microplastics have gradually attracted widespread attention. Although MPs are extensively studied in aquatic systems, their presence and fate in terrestrial systems and soil are not fully understood. In China, construction-land must be mulched by dust-proof nets to prevent and control fine particulate pollution, which may cause MPs pollution and increase ecological risks. In order to understand the pollution characteristics and sources of MP in the soil covered by dust nets, we conducted a case study in Beijing. Our results revealed that the abundance of MPs in soil mulched by dust-proof nets ranged from 272 to 13,752 items/kg. Large-sized particles (>1000 μm) made up a significant proportion (49.83%) of MPs in the study area. The dominant MP polymer types were polyethylene (50.12%) and polypropylene (41.25%). The accumulation of MPs in construction-site soil mulched by dust-proof nets (average, 4910.2 items/kg) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that in unmulched soil (average, 840.8 items/kg), which indicates a dust-proof nets as an essential source of microplastics in the soil of construction land. We applied a remote-sensing data analysis technique based on remote imagery acquired from a high-resolution remote-sensing satellite combined with deep-learning convolutional neural networks to automatically detect and segment dust-proof nets. Based on high-resolution remote sensing images and using a U-net convolutional neural network, we extract the coverage area of Beijing’s dust-proof nets (18.6 km²). Combined the abundance of MPs and the dust-proof nets’ coverage area, we roughly estimate that 7.616 × 10⁹ to 3.581 × 10¹¹ MPs accumulated in the soil mulched by the dust-proof nets in Beijing. Such a large amount of MPs may cause a series of environmental problems. This study will highlight the understanding of soil MPs pollution and its potential environmental impacts for scientists and policymakers. It provides suggestions for decision-makers to formulate effective legislation and policies, so as to protect human health and protect the soil and the wider environment.

Vehicle emissions are an important source of particulate matter (PM) in urban areas and have well-known adverse health effects on human health. Oxidative potential (OP) is used as a quantification metric for indexing PM toxicity. In this study, by using a liquid spot sampler (LSS) and the dithiothreitol (DTT) assay, the diurnal OP variation was assessed at a ground-level urban monitoring station. Besides, since the monitoring station was adjacent to the main road, the correlation between OP and traffic volume was also evaluated. PM components, including metals, water-soluble inorganic aerosols (WSIAs), black carbon (BC), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), were also simultaneously monitored. The daytime and evening mean ± std volume-normalized OP (OPv) were 0.46 ± 0.27 and 0.48 ± 0.26 nmol/min/m³, and exhibited good correlations with PM₁.₀ and BC; however, these concentrations were only weakly correlated with mass-normalized OP (OPm). The mean ± std OPm was higher in the daytime (41.3 ± 13.8 pmol/min/μg) than in the evening (36.1 ± 11.5 pmol/min/μg). According to the PMF analysis, traffic emissions dominated the diurnal OP contribution. Organic matter and individual metals associated with non-exhaust traffic emissions, such as Mn, Fe, and Cu, contributed substantially to OP. Diurnal variations of PAH concentrations suggest that photochemical reactions could enhance OP, highlighting the importance of atmospheric aging on PM toxicity.

A graphite felt (GF) cathode was firstly modified by Fe–Mn binary oxide (FMBO), active carbon (AC), carbon black (CB), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which exhibits satisfactory ciprofloxacin (CIP) removal efficiency at neutral pH value in electro-Fenton (EF) system. Morphological data showed that modified cathodes have larger surface area and volume pore as well as more active sites. And electrochemical properties have proved stronger current response after modification. In compassion to the unmodified GF, the FMBO/AC/CB modified GF (FMBO-GF) has wider pH range and higher CIP removal efficiency due to its unique nanoparticles structure. The CIP removal efficiency achieved 95.40% in 30 min, and the removal efficiency of total organic carbon (TOC) achieved 93.77% in 2 h when conditions were optimal (25 mg/L initial CIP concentration, 2 mA/cm² current density, FMBO/AC: CB: PTFE of 1:1:5, and 7 initial pH value) in this study. The results of great degradation and mineralization of CIP in this study indicate that the FMBO-GF cathode has huge potential on antibiotics removals in neutral environment.

Mine tailings sites are considered as a continuous source of discharged metal(loid)s and residual organic flotation reagents. They are extremely toxic environments representing unique ecological niches for microbial communities. Mine tailings as a source of multi-resistance genes have been poorly investigated. Metagenomic analysis for four active nonferrous metal(loid) tailings sites with different environmental parameters was conducted. The abundance of Thiobacillus, able to tolerate acidity and showing iron- and sulfur/sulfide oxidation capacities, was significantly different (p < 0.05) between acid and neutral tailings sites. Correlation analyses showed that Zn, Pb, TP, Cd, and Cu were the main drivers influencing the bacterial compositions. Multi-metal resistance genes (MRGs) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), such as baca and copA, were found to be co-selected by high concentrations of metal(loid)s tailings. The main contributors to different distributions of MRGs were Thiobacillus and Nocardioides genus, while genera with low abundance (<0.1%) were the main contributors for ARGs. Functional metabolic pathways related to Fe–S metabolism, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) degradation and acid stress were largely from Altererythrobacter, Lysobacter, and Thiobacillus, respectively. Such information provides new insights on active tailings with highly toxic contaminants. Short-term metal(loid) exposure of microorganism in active nonferrous metal(loid) tailings contribute to the co-occurrence of ARGs and MRGs, and aggravation of tailings acidification. Our results recommend that the management of microorganisms involved in acid tolerance and metal/antibiotic resistance is of key importance for in-suit treatment of the continuous discharge of tailings with multiple metal(loid) contaminants into impoundments.

When the total ambient PM₂.₅ levels are several-fold higher than the recommended limit, it may be important to study the distributions of different sizes of particulate matter (PM). Here, we assess the distributions of various sizes of total PM₂.₅ for 12 months (on a monthly basis) in New Delhi, India. Importantly, we found that ultrafine particles (i.e., particles <0.5 μm) contribute significantly to total PM₂.₅. PM<₀.₂₅ were the most cytotoxic particles to human lung epithelial cells in all the 12 months. In addition, PM<₀.₂₅ were associated with significantly higher cytotoxicity per unit mass compared to other size fractions constituting PM₂.₅. For any given size of PM, the amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated per unit mass is higher for the month of March as compared to that for the rest of the months in the year. The higher ROS generations for all sizes of PM collected in the month of March was not explained by differences in their metal content values. Our data suggests the lack of correlation between total PM₂.₅ levels and the highly cytotoxic PM<₀.₂₅. In summary, this work establishes the need for policy changes to routinely monitor PM<₀.₂₅ and the necessity to establish exposure limits for PM<₀.₂₅, especially when the total PM₂.₅ levels are breached.

On 15th April 2019, Parisians watched in shock as Notre-Dame de Paris, the iconic cathedral that has towered over their city for almost 900 years, was engulfed in flames. Although flames destroyed the spire and considerably weakened the structure, no human lives were lost. However, as some amounts of lead volatilized and deposited in the surrounding areas, fears of potential intoxication began to rise. We investigated the impact of this fire on the blood lead levels of adults in Paris according to the distance between the cathedral and where they live or work. The geometric mean of blood lead levels of the study population was 1.49μg/dl (95% CI [1.38–1.62]) with a prevalence of blood lead levels≥5.0μg/dL of 5.0%. Despite the early legitimate fears of intoxication, the fire that destroyed a significant part of the Notre-Dame cathedral did not increase the blood lead levels of adults living and working in the vicinity.

Excess of water irrigation and fertilizer consumption by crops has resulted in high soil nitrogen (N) losses and underground water contamination not only in China but worldwide. This study explored the effects of soil N input, soil N output, as well as the effect of different irrigation and N- fertilizer managements on residual N. For this, two consecutive years of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) –summer maize (Zea mays L.) rotation was conducted with: N applied at 0 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, 420 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ and 600 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ under fertigation (DN0, DN420, DN600), and N applied at 0 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ and 600 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ under flood irrigation (FN0, FN600). The results demonstrated that low irrigation water consumption resulted in a 57.2% lower of irrigation-N input (p < 0.05) in DN600 when compared to FN600, especially in a rainy year like 2015–2016. For N output, no significant difference was found with all N treatments. Soil gaseous N losses were highly correlated with fertilization (p < 0.001) and were reduced by 23.6%–41.7% when fertilizer N was decreased by 30%. Soil N leaching was highly affected by irrigation and a higher reduction was observed under saving irrigation (reduced by 33.9%–57.3%) than under optimized fertilization (reduced by 23.6%–50.7%). The net N surplus was significantly increased with N application rate but was not affected by irrigation treatments. Under the same N level (600 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), fertigation increased the Total Nitrogen (TN) stock by 17.5% (0–100 cm) as compared to flood irrigation. These results highlighted the importance to further reduction of soil N losses under optimized fertilization and irrigation combined with N stabilizers or balanced- N fertilization for future agriculture development.

Plastic particles, which are formed from routinely used plastics and their fragments, have become a new pollutant raising widespread concern about their potential effects. Several studies have been conducted to examine their toxicity, but the effects of nano-sized plastic fragments on freshwater organisms remain largely unclear and need to be further investigated. In this study, larval tilapia were first exposed to 100 nm polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs, 20 mg/L) for seven days and then returned to freshwater without PS-NPs for another seven days in order to determine the toxic effects of PS-NPs at both transcriptomic and metabolomic levels. A total of 203 significantly changed metabolites, and 2,152 differentially expressed unigenes were identified between control and PS-NP treatment groups, control and recovery groups, as well as treatment and recovery groups. Our data suggested that PS-NPs induced abnormal metabolism of glycolipids, energy, and amino acids in tilapia after short-term exposure. Additionally, PS-NPs caused disturbed signaling, as suggested by the transcriptomic results. Different transcriptomic and metabolomic levels between the treatment group and recovery group indicated a persistent impact of PS-NPs on tilapia. The presence of adhesion molecule-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) suggested that PS-NPs might cause early inflammatory responses. Notably, the detection of chemical stimulus involved in the sensory perception of smell was the most severely impacted biological process. Our work systemically studied the ecotoxicity of nano-sized plastics in aquatic creatures at the molecular and genetic levels, serving as a basis for future investigations on the prevention and treatment of such pollutants.

Sex determination is a complex process that can be influenced by environment in various taxa. Disturbed environments can affect population sex ratios and thus threaten their viability. Emerging evidences support a role of epigenetic mechanisms, notably DNA methylation, in environmental sex determination (ESD). In this work, using zebrafish as model and a transgenerational experiment comprising 4 successive generations, we report a strength link between the promotor methylation level of three genes in female gonads and population sex ratio. One generation of zebrafish was exposed throughout its lifetime to cadmium (Cd), a non-essential metal, at an environmentally relevant concentration. The subsequent generations were not exposed. At the first and the third generation a subset of individuals was exposed to an elevated temperature, a well-known masculinizing factor in zebrafish. While heat was associated to an increase in the methylation level of cyp19a1a gene and population masculinization, foxl2a/dmrt1 methylation levels appeared to be influenced by Cd and fish density leading to offspring feminization. Ancestral Cd exposure indeed led to a progressive feminization of the population over generations and affected the sex plastic response of zebrafish in response to heat. The effect of Cd on the methylation level of foxl2a was observed until the third generation, supporting potential transgenerational inheritance. Our results support (i) a key role of cyp19a1a methylation in SD in zebrafish in response to environmental cues and (ii) the fact that the environment experienced by parents, namely mothers in the present case, can affect their offspring sex ratio via environment-induced DNA methylation changes in gonads.

Presently, graphenic nanomaterials are being studied as candidates for wastewater pollutant removal. In this study, two graphite oxides produced from natural graphite with different grain sizes (325 and 10 mesh), their respective reduced graphene oxides and one reduced graphene oxide with nitrogen functional groups were synthesized and tested to remove a surfactant model substrate, Triton X-100, from an aqueous solution. Kinetic experiments were carried out and adjusted to pseudo-first order equation, pseudo-second order equation, Elovich, Chain-Clayton and intra-particle diffusion models. Reduced graphene oxides displayed an instantaneous adsorption due to their accessible and hydrophobic surfaces, while graphite oxides hindered the TX100 adsorption rate due to their highly superficial oxygen content. Results from the adsorption isotherms showed that the Sips model perfectly described the TX100 adsorption behavior of these materials. Higher adsorption capacities were developed with reduced graphene oxides, being maximum for the material produced from the lower graphite grain size (qₑ = 3.55·10⁻⁶ mol/m²), which could be explained by a higher surface area (600 m²/g), a lower amount of superficial oxygen (O/C = 0.04) and a more defected structure (ID/IG = 0.85). Additionally, three commercial high surface area graphites in the range of 100–500 m²/g were evaluated for comparison purposes. In this case, better adsorption results were obtained with a more graphitic material, HSAG100 (qₑ = 1.72·10⁻⁶ mol/m²). However, the best experimental results of this study were obtained using synthesized graphenic materials.