Leather manufacturing is the process of transforming animal skin into high value-added commodity. As a crucial step in the leather producing process, conventional chrome tanning could lead to discharge of chromium contaminant due to the low efficiency of chromium uptake. In this paper, a series of polyethylene glycol triazine derivatives’ tanning agent (PT) with different molecule weight was synthesized with one-step method and applied in the main tanning of hide. The chemical structure of the PT was detected by FT-IR and ¹H-NMR. The application experimental results indicated that after 16% of PT tanning at pH of 6, the wet-white was endowed with shrinkage temperature over 80°C and thickening rate over 108%. The experimental results indicated that the PT tanning leather not only have a better physical and mechanical properties than commercial triazine derivatives tanning agent, but also the leather is endowed with the effects of outstanding thermal properties. Considering that the pickling process became unnecessary, a large number of neutral salts could be avoided, the chromium load in spent liquor decreased from 1288 mg/L to 0, and the total dissolved chlorine in spent liquor decreased from 15,360 to 9581 mg/L; no toxic and harmful substances such as chromium and aldehyde are introduced into the tanning process. Compared with the leather tanned with commercial triazine derivatives’ tanning agent, the leather tanned with PT showed a similar overall tanning properties and better environmental friendliness, which makes PT matches the integral requirements of the modern sustainable leather industry.

A new generation of a green polymeric matrix, chitosan/alginate-polyethyleniminemethylene phosphonic acid (CHIT/ALG-PEIMPA) was examined in comparative study of adsorption and preconcentration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), diclofenac and ibuprofen. The influences of experimental parameters like pH, time reaction, initial concentration, ionic strength were investigated. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed heterogeneous morphology with different particle sizes of agglomerates from few micrometers to a hundred micrometers and irregular particles shape, before pharmaceuticals products adsorption. However, after adsorption, SEM micrograph reveals a smooth surface structure of agglomerate, and even in this smaller magnification, it was possible to observe the formation of homogenous and regular surface of CHIT/ALG-PEIMPA. Elementary analysis (EDX) reveals that the phosphonic acid (PEIMPA) was successfully cross-linked onto chitosan/alginate. The maximal adsorption capacity was found to be 222 mg.g⁻¹, and 122 mg.g⁻¹ under optimum conditions for diclofenac and ibuprofen respectively. The kinetic modeling followed the pseudo-second-order rate expression for both pharmaceutical drugs. Thermodynamics data leads to an exothermic and spontaneous adsorption processes (∆H = −34.32 KJ mol⁻¹; ∆H =−21.59 KJ mol⁻¹), respectively for diclofenac and ibuprofen.

Although much has been discussed about the link between renewable energy, globalisation and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, yet the impact of total factor productivity (TFP) on CO₂ emissions is less known in the existing literature. Therefore, the present study considers TFP as one of the determinants of CO₂ as it is believed that technological enhancement plays an essential role in improving the environmental quality by raising efficiency in energy use and pollution treatment. In contrast, it may also have unfavourable impacts. In particular, this study analyses how TFP along with renewable energy and globalisation affect the aggregate and source of CO₂ emissions (oil, coal and gas) in the case of top ten carbon emitters from the developing economies over the period 1980–2018. To achieve the above objective, we use the second-generation panel unit root, cointegration and causality tests. We also implement a cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag model (CS-ARDL) to find the long-run and short-run coefficients. Findings from panel cointegration tests show that there exists a significant long-run relationship between renewable energy, non-renewable energy, globalisation, total factor productivity and CO₂. Moreover, findings show that renewable energy consumption has a negative and significant impact on CO₂ emissions while non-renewable energy consumption significantly increases the CO₂ at aggregate and disaggregated levels. Further, our results confirm that TFP increases the CO₂ emissions whereas globalisation decreases CO₂. From the policy point of view, TFP growth needs to be accelerated to a higher level so that it enables low carbon growth. The slower TFP growth may enhance output which requires more energy and produces more emissions. Thus, there should be a promotion of emissions’ reducing technology along with better TFP growth. Also, our findings recommend that CO₂ in sample countries can be reduced through promoting low carbon technology, and globalisation.

Legacy effects of P in agricultural soils have been highlighted in recent literature. However, co-accumulation and release of organic P (Po) have often been ignored in current agro-environmental assessments. The mineralizable Po fraction has a potential to increase the activity of phosphate in pore water, increasing fertility or degrading water quality. In this study, the effects of agricultural management practices (fertilizer applied corn-soybean rotation cropland and dairy manure applied pasture) on the Po/phosphate ratio were investigated in P-rich (290–1232 mg kg⁻¹) agricultural soils and adjacent ditchwater using experimental soil–water chemistry. The effect of agricultural management was significant on both Po and the Po/phosphate ratio in soil and adjacent ditchwater. The Pₒ content, dominated by orthophosphate monoesters, in the manure-amended pasture (average ~ 245 mg kg⁻¹) was significantly greater than that in the fertilizer-applied cropland (average 103 mg kg⁻¹). The Po/phosphate ratio was also significantly greater in the manure-amended pasture (0.54) than in the fertilizer-applied cropland (0.42). Similarly, water quality data also showed that ditchwater near the pasture had a significantly greater flux of dissolved non-reactive P and a greater Po/phosphate ratio compared to the water near the fertilizer-applied sites. Furthermore, a greater Po/phosphate ratio in ditchwater was often observed during wet periods, and the ratio was positively correlated to the discharge (r = 0.42, p = 0.003). The study showed the agricultural management-specific Po accumulation and release and − Po/phosphate ratio that might affect the fate of P in agroecosystems.

Surface water used as an irrigation source can be a significant source of viral contamination of fresh produce. Enteric viruses such as hepatitis A virus (HAV) and human norovirus genogroup I (HNoV GI) and genogroup II (HNoV GII) can be transmitted to human via fresh produce when irrigated with contaminated water or when prepared by infected food handlers. In the current study, we investigated the presence of HAV, HNoV GI and GII in fresh produce and surface water used in cultivation of this produce using real-time PCR. Samples were collected from six different points in the Mansoura and Giza regions, Egypt. Our analysis showed that at least one virus was found in 41.6% (30/72) of surface water samples and 27% (13/48) of fresh produce samples. HAV (23/72) with a mean viral concentration = 4 × 10⁶ genome copies/litre (GC/L) was the most frequently identified virus in surface water samples, followed by human norovirus genogroup II (HNoV GII) (15/72, with a mean concentration = 1.2 × 10⁶ GC/L, and human noroviruses genogroup I (HNoV GI) (12/72, with a mean concentration = 1.4 × 10⁴ GC/L). Additionally, HAV (10/48) with a mean concentration = 5.2 × 10⁵ genome copies/gram (GC/g) was also the most frequently detected virus in the fresh produce samples, followed by HNoV GII (8/48, with a mean concentration = 1.7 × 10⁴ GC/g); meanwhile, HNoV GI (6/48) was less detected virus with a mean concentration = 3 × 10³ GC/g. This work suggests a wide prevalence of human enteric viruses in surface waters and fresh produce, which is of concern when the fresh produce is eaten raw. Thus, additional monitoring for viral pathogens in irrigation water and food is needed to increase the awareness of this issue to rise the control measures to reduce illness from contaminated food.

Environmental sustainability is increasing emphasis on global environmental concerns at the forefront of public policy debate. This paper investigates the relationship between energy investments and environmental sustainability in China from 1980 to 2018 while considering the moderating effect of international trade and economic growth under the environment Kuznets curve (EKC) framework. We apply advanced econometric modeling for empirical analysis. Our findings show that energy investment and economic growth are positive, while international trade is negatively associated with ecological footprints. Moreover, economic growth and energy investment deteriorate, while international trade improves environmental sustainability. This empirical evidence suggests the improvements in cleaner energy infrastructure with the participation of the private sector to promote clean energy investment. We argue that policymakers should ensure environmental provisions in the regional and bilateral trade agreements to harmonize the environmental regulations, and develop crucial trade and ecological policy indicators to monitor policy consistency.

The widespread usage of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) has led to their ubiquitous co-existence with hydrocarbon surfactants in the subsurface environment. In this study, column experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of an anionic hydrocarbon surfactant (sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, SDBS, 1 and 10 mg/L) on the transport of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in two saturated natural soils under different cation type (Na⁺ and Ca²⁺) conditions. Results showed that SDBS (10 mg/L) significantly enhanced the transport of PFOA in two soils. This was likely because SDBS had a stronger adsorption affinity to the soils than PFOA, and can outcompete PFOA for the finite adsorption sites on the soil surface. The effect of SDBS on PFOA transport varied greatly in the two soils. More negatively charged soil surface and greater soil particle size likely contributed to the more noticeable transport-enhancement of PFOA resulting from the presence of SDBS. Also, the enhancement effect of SDBS (10 mg/L) with Ca²⁺ on PFOA transport was more significantly than that with Na⁺. This was possibly due to the blocking effect of SDBS to the more positively charged soil surface induced by Ca²⁺. Findings of this study point out the importance of anionic hydrocarbon surfactants on PFOA transport when assessing its environmental risks and implementing remediation efforts.

The current investigation focuses on a systematic study of application of two dried algal biomass (i.e., Nostoc sp. and Turbinaria vulgaris) in removal of Cr(VI) from synthetic solution as well as tannery industrial wastewater. The optimized conditions for Cr(VI) removal are nearly same for the both the biosorbents (i.e., pH 2.8, initial Cr(VI) concentration 100 mg L⁻¹, biomass dosage of 1.2g L⁻¹, contact time 120 and 110 min). Nostoc sp. (qₘₐₓ=23.94mg g⁻¹) was observed to possess a superior removal capability when compared to Turbinaria vulgaris (qₘₐₓ=21.8mg g⁻¹). Desorption studies were performed with four different desorbing agents. Application study was conducted using tannery wastewater with Nostoc sp. and 94.20% removal of Cr(VI) was obtained. Hence, this study revealed that Nostoc sp. and T. vulgaris both have great potential to be an environment friendly and economic biosorbent for removal of Cr(VI) containing industrial effluent.

Governance is one of the basic determinants of pollution levels through property rights, the effective judicial system, etc. it is accepted as that bad governance because of inefficient regulatory structures, government bureaucracy, weak law enforcement, etc. support environmental pollution. In this context, in some countries of the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, it will be studied the impacts of governance on environmental pollution over the period of 1996–2018 by the panel quantile and Granger causality methods. The countries were selected by considering two different measurements, EPI (2020) index and governance index (2020). According to EPI (2020), these countries have low scores in terms of environmental quality, and in the governance index (2020), they have bad governance scores. In this study, in which panel quantile regression model is used, control variables are included in the model to prevent omitted-variable bias. The results of the analysis determined that the effect of governance on carbon emissions is positive, as well as that the effects of independent variables on CO₂ emission are heterogeneous across quantities. Panel quantile regression revealed the evidence of the relation among the environmental pollution, two parameters of governance, FDI, financial development, human development index, and trade openness used as the explanatory variable and determined that government has the greatest positive effect on CO₂ emission. On the other hand, by using traditional Granger causality and Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality methods, it was found the evidence of causality among governance and environmental pollution in the context of two parameters of governance. Accordingly, it was determined the evidence of unidirectional causality relation from political governance to environmental pollution and besides from economic governance to environmental pollution. And it was determined the evidence of unidirectional causality from FDI and the other explanatory variables to environmental pollution.

This paper examines the impact of shadow economy and environmental policy stringency on energy consumption and economic growth in the case of China for the period 1993 to 2019. Asymmetric ARDL empirical findings show that positive shocks in shadow economy and environmental policy stringency have a significant and positive impact on energy consumption and economic growth in the long run. However, the negative shocks in shadow economy exert positive and significant impacts on energy consumption and economic growth in the long run, but magnitudes are small compared to positive shocks. The long-run findings report no significant effect of negative shock in environmental policy stringency on energy consumption and economic growth. China should use environmental policy stringency as economic tools to maintain green economic growth and clean energy demand for sustained economic expansion. Policymakers should focus on the inclusion of environmental policy stringency in any future environment strategy.