Recent studies have indicated that Galleria mellonella larvae ingest polyethylene films and the degradation mechanism could inspire biotechnological exploitation for degrading plastic to eliminate global pollution from plastic waste. In this study, we tested the chemical compositions of masticated and ingested different plastic types by G. mellonella. High throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene was used to characterize the alteration of the microbial communities derived from salivary glands, gut contents and whole G. mellonella larvae. Our results indicated that G. mellonella is able to masticate polyethylene (PE), expanded polystyrene (EPS) and polypropylene (PP) and convert it to small particles with very large and chemically modified surfaces. The characteristics of the polymer affect the rate of damage. Formation of functional carbonyl groups on the appearance of oxidized metabolic intermediates of polyolefins in the frass samples observed. We found that the mastication of EPS, PP or PE could significantly alter the microbial composition in the gut content while it did not appear to influence the salivary glands microbial community. Representatives of Desulfovibrio vulgaris and Enterobacter grew with the PE diet while mastication of polystyrene and polypropylene increased the abundance of Enterococcus. The evaluation of bacterial communities in whole larvae confirmed the obtained result and additionally showed that the abundance of Paenibacillus, Corynebacterium and Commamonadaceae increased by Styrofoam (EPS) consumption.

The on-going and extensive use of neonicotinoids occur in orchards. However, it is still unknown whether and how orchard management affects soil properties, especially the contents and structure of soil organic matter during orchard development, and their further influences on neonicotinoid persistence. Here, surface soil samples were collected from the citrus orchards with different cultivation ages (1, 10, 14, and 20 years), and their physicochemical properties were determined. Changes in the chemical structure of soil organic matter (SOM) were furtherly examined using solid-state CP/TOSS ¹³C NMR. Then, the sorption isotherms of imidacloprid in these soils were investigated. The sorption coefficient (Kd) of imidacloprid at Cₑ of 0.05 mg/L in the orchard soils increased by 19.4–23.3%, along a 20-year chronosequence of cultivation, which should be mainly ascribed to the increase of SOM. However, the organic carbon-normalized sorption coefficient (Kₒc, sorption per unit mass of OM) of imidacloprid declined with increasing cultivation ages. Moreover, the polar and aliphatic domains of SOM had a significantly positive relation to the Kₒc of imidacloprid, suggesting its key role in governing imidacloprid sorption. The results highlighted that reasonable management measures could be adopted to control the occurrence and fate of neonicotinoids in soils, mainly by affecting the content and quality of SOM.

Cresyl diphenyl phosphate (CDP), as a kind of aryl substituted organophosphate esters (OPEs), is commonly used as emerging flame retardants and plasticizers detected in environmental media. Due to the accumulation of CDP in organisms, it is very important to discover the toxicological mechanism and metabolic process of CDP. Hence, liver microsomes of crucian carps (Carassius carassius) were prepared for in vitro metabolism kinetics assay to estimate metabolism rates of CDP. After 140 min incubation, the depletion of CDP accounted for 58.1%–77.1% (expect 0.5 and 2 μM) of the administrated concentrations. The depletion rates were best fitted to the Michaelis-Menten model (R² = 0.995), where maximum velocity (Vₘₐₓ) and Michaelis-Menten constant (Kₘ) were 12,700 ± 2120 pmol min⁻¹·mg⁻¹ protein and 1030 ± 212 μM, respectively. Moreover, the in vitro hepatic clearance (CLᵢₙₜ) of CDP was 12.3 μL min⁻¹·mg⁻¹ protein. Log Kₒw and bioconcentration factor (BCF) of aryl-OPEs were both higher than those of alkyl- and chlorinated-OPEs, indicating that CDP may easily accumulate in aquatic organisms. The results made clear that the metabolism rate of CDP was greater than those of other OPEs detected in liver microsomes in previous research. This paper was first of its kind to comprehensively investigate the in vitro metabolic kinetics of CDP in fish liver microsomes. The present study might provide useful information to understand the environmental fate and metabolic processes of these kinds of substances, and also provide a theoretical basis for the ecological risk assessment of emerging contaminants.

An in-depth study was conducted to quantify and characterize VOC emissions from a petroleum refinery located in Shandong, China. The VOC emission inventory established in this study showed that storage tanks were the largest emission source, accounting for 56.4% of total emissions, followed by loading operations, wastewater collection and treatment system, process vents, and equipment leaks. Meanwhile, the localization factors for refining, storage tanks and loading operations were calculated, which were 1.33, 0.75 and 0.31g VOCs/kg crude oil refined. Furthermore, the characteristics of fugitive and organized emissions were determined for various processes and emission sources using a gas chromatography–mass spectrometry/flame ionization detection (GC-MS/FID) system. Most samples contained mainly alkanes, but the total VOC concentrations and key species varied greatly among processes. The source profile of the refinery, synthesized using the weighted average method, indicated that cis-2-butene (14.5%), n-pentane (10.2%), n-butane (7.4%), isopentane (6.5%) and MTBE (5.9%) were the major species released by this refinery. Assessment of O₃ and secondary organic aerosol formation potentials were completed, and the results indicated that cis-2-butene, m/p-xylene, toluene, n-pentane, isopentane, benzene, o-xylene and ethylbenzene were the active species for which treatment should be prioritized.

Only a few prospective studies have investigated the relationship between solid fuel use and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality, and they have reported inconsistent conclusions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of solid fuel heating on the risk of CVD events and all-cause mortality among non-smokers. Data of this sub-study were obtained from the China Hypertension Survey (CHS), and 13,528 non-smoking participants aged 35 or above without self-reported medical history of CVD were enrolled between October 2012 and December 2015. CVD events and all-cause mortality were followed up in 2018 and 2019. The type of primary heating fuel was categorized as clean fuel (natural gas and electricity) and solid fuel (coal, wood, and straw). Cox regression was applied to evaluate the relationship between solid fuel use and CVD events and all-cause mortality. Of the 13,528 non-smoking participants, the mean age was 55.4 ± 13.1 years. During the median follow-up of 4.93 years, 424 participants developed fatal or nonfatal CVD (stroke, 273; coronary heart disease, 119; and other cardiovascular events, 32) and 288 died from all causes. The cumulative incidence of fatal and nonfatal CVD and all-cause mortality were 6.78 and 4.62 per 1000 person-years, respectively. Solid fuel heating was independently associated with an increased risk of fatal or nonfatal stroke and all-cause mortality compared with the use of clean fuels, the fully adjusted hazard ratios (HRs), and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were 1.44 (1.00–2.08) and 1.55 (1.10–2.17), respectively. The relationship between solid fuel heating and fatal and nonfatal CVD events was non-significant (HR = 1.19; 95% CI: 0.89–1.59). Solid fuel heating is longitudinally associated with a higher risk of stroke and all-cause mortality in non-smoking Chinese. Switching to cleaner energy sources for heating may be important for reducing the risk of CVD and mortality.

Although the occurrence and distribution of various chemicals on microplastics (MPs) has been widely studied, little was known about the concentrations of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) on MPs. In this study, MPs from eight rivers draining into Pearl River Estuary (PRE) region were collected and analyzed. Higher concentrations of PFASs on MPs (105–9.07 × 10³ ng g⁻¹) were found in the drain outlets receiving wastewater from most urbanized cities with large population densities. On the other hand, lower concentrations of PFASs on MPs (10.3–227.8 ng g⁻¹) were found in the drain outlets receiving wastewater mostly from agricultural and forested areas. Specially, 8:2 disubstituted polyfluoroalkyl phosphates (8:2 diPAP) was detected with the highest frequency, in 92.5% of the samples. Furthermore, a positive Spearman correlation was found between 6:2 disubstituted polyfluoroalkyl phosphates (6:2 diPAP) and perfluorotetradecanoic acid (PFTeDA) (rₛ = 0.621, p = 0.012), indicating they might share similar sources. PFASs on MPs were found to vary significantly with different seasons. Higher concentrations of PFASs on MPs were found in dry seasons, while lower concentrations were observed in wet seasons. The results of this study should be important for the understanding of PFAS occurrence and distribution on MPs and the partitioning mechanism of PFASs on MPs in estuary systems.

Waste residues and acidic effluents (post-processing of E-waste) released into the local surroundings cause perilous environmental threats and potential risks to human health. Only limited research and information are available toward the sustainable management of waste residues generated post resource recovery of E-waste components. In the present study, the manual processing of obsolete computer (keyboard, monitor, CPU, and mouse) and chemical leaching of waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) (motherboard, hard drive, DVD drive, and power supply) were performed for urban mining. The toxicity characteristics of typical pollutants in the residues of the WPCBs (post chemical leaching) were studied by toxicity characteristics leaching procedure (TCLP) test. Manual dismantling techniques resulted in an efficient urban mining concept with an overall average profit estimation of INR 2513.73/US$ 34.59. The chemical leaching of WPCBs showed a high concentration of metal leaching like Cu (229662 ± 575.3 mg/kg) and Pb (36785.67 ± 13.07 mg/kg) in the motherboard after stripping epoxy coating. The toxicity test revealed that the concentration of Cu (245.746 ± 0.016 mg/l) in the treated waste residue and Cu (430.746 ± 0.0015 mg/l) and Pb (182.09 ± 0.0035 mg/l) in the non-treated waste residue exceeded the threshold limit. The concentrations of other elements As, Cd, Co, Cr, Ag, Mn, Zn, Ni, Fe, Se, and In were within the permissible limit. Hence, the waste residue stands non-hazardous except Cu and Pb. Stripping out the epoxy coating of WPCBs enhances the metal leaching concentrations. The study highlighted that efficient and appropriate E-waste urban mining has immense potential in tracing the waste scrap into secondary resources. This study also emphasized that the final processed waste residue (left unattended or discarded due to lack of appropriate skill and technology) can be taken into consideration and exploited for value-added materials.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are an emerging class of materials which have garnered increasing attention for their utility as adsorbents and photocatalysts in water treatment. Nevertheless, the environmental risks of MOFs, especially their underlying impacts on aquatic organisms, are not fully explored. Herein, the toxicity of multiple representative MOFs was systematically assessed using a freshwater green alga (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) model. Six typical MOFs with different metal nodes or organic linkers, including four transition metal incorporated aluminum-based porphyrin MOFs [pristine Al-PMOF, Al-PMOF (Cu), Al-PMOF (Ni), and Al-PMOF (Co)], one amine-functionalized MOF NH₂-MIL-125 (Ti), and one bimetallic Hofmann MOF (NiCo-PYZ), were successfully synthesized and characterized. All the tested MOFs significantly reduced the chlorophyll content and inhibited the algal growth, with the most toxic materials being NiCo-PYZ and Al-PMOF (Cu). Distinct toxic mechanisms were observed for the tested MOFs. Metal ion release was the primary cause for algal toxicity induced by NiCo-PYZ. The algal toxicity induced by porphyrin MOFs could be explained by the combined effects of metal ion release and nutrient adsorption, agglomeration and physical interactions, and reactive oxygen species generation. NH₂-MIL-125 (Ti) showed higher stability and more biocompatibility than the other tested MOFs. MOFs concentrations with no harmful effects to algae can be taken as the threshold values for safe use and discharge of MOFs. The ecotoxicological risks of MOFs should be considered as the applied concentrations of MOFs at mg/mL levels in environmental remediation were much higher than the no harmful effect thresholds.

Glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH) is the most widely used herbicide worldwide and has long been considered to have significantly low toxicity to non-target soil invertebrates based on short-term toxicity tests (<56 d). However, long-term GBH toxicity assessment is necessary as GBH is repeatedly applied in the same field annually because of the advent of glyphosate-resistant crops. In this study, a multigeneration test was conducted where Allonychiurus kimi (Collembola) was exposed to GBH for three generations (referred to as F₀, F₁, and F₂) to evaluate the long-term toxic effect. The endpoints used were adult survival and juvenile production for the individual level toxicity assessment. Phospholipid profile and population age structure were the endpoints used for sub-individual and population levels, respectively. GBH was observed to have no negative effects on adult survivals of all generations, but juvenile production was found to decrease in a concentration-dependent manner, with EC₅₀s being estimated as 572.5, 274.8, and 59.8 mg a.i. kg⁻¹ in the F₀, F₁, and F₂ generations, respectively. The age structure of A. kimi population produced in the test of all generations was altered by GBH exposure, mainly because of the decrease in the number of young juveniles. Further, differences between the phospholipid profiles of the control and GBH treatments became apparent over generations, with PA 16:0, PA 12:0, and PS 42:0 lipids not being detected at the highest concentration of 741 mg kg⁻¹ in F₂. Considering all our findings from sub-individual to population levels, repeated and long-term use of GBH could have significantly higher negative impacts on non-target soil organisms than expected.