{"title":"Emerging flame retardants in the marine environment: A comprehensive review of occurrence, fate and analytical challenges","authors":"Muhammad Zeshan , Menghao Gao , Yuan Gao , Haijun Zhang , Jiping Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100186","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100186","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Emerging flame retardant (EFR) pollutants are ubiquitous in marine environment due to their extensive applications, and capacity for persistence and long-range atmospheric transport. The accurate analysis of EFRs in marine matrices remains challenging due to the inherently low sensitivity and selectivity in complex matrices, matrix-induced signal suppression, limited analytical throughput, and the lack of robust non-target screening protocols. This review provides an integration of recent methodological breakthroughs, encompassing sensitive instrumental approaches and innovative extraction and purification techniques for EFR detection in marine multi-matrix. The environmental occurrence and process of EFRs highlight that the roles of particle-mediated transport, plastic debris leaching, and photochemical degradation co-govern the fate of EFRs in marine environments. Furthermore, the review critically examines the ecological risks of EFRs, focusing on their bioaccumulation-driven toxicity, trophic magnification in marine food webs, and the potential for ecosystem destabilization. Mechanistic insights into photochemical transformation pathways are summarized, highlighting the formation of persistent and more toxic products that raise risks of chronic exposure and ecological disruption in marine environment. It provides a scientific foundation for regulatory agencies to assess marine environmental risks and implement targeted mitigation strategies. Future research should focus on quantifying the ecological impacts of EFRs to support a more effective monitoring and management framework.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":29813,"journal":{"name":"Eco-Environment & Health","volume":"4 4","pages":"Article 100186"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145332931","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yu Wang , Fang Wang , Leilei Xiang , Maoyuan Liao , Mingyi Wang , Yongrong Bian , Xin Jiang , Ravi Naidu , Matthias C. Rillig , Wulf Amelung
{"title":"Co-exposure of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) decreased the submicron plastic stress in soil–plant system","authors":"Yu Wang , Fang Wang , Leilei Xiang , Maoyuan Liao , Mingyi Wang , Yongrong Bian , Xin Jiang , Ravi Naidu , Matthias C. Rillig , Wulf Amelung","doi":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100184","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100184","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The widespread use of agricultural plastic films has made micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) and phthalate esters (PAEs) contaminants of emerging concern in agroecosystems. However, the interactive mechanisms underlying their combined pollution in soil–plant systems remain elusive. To fill this gap, this study investigated the interaction between submicron plastics (SMPs, 0.01% and 0.1% w/w) and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in soil–lettuce systems. Contrary to the anticipated synergistic toxicity, DEHP significantly reduced SMP uptake into and by cracked surface cells of lettuce roots (with root concentration factors decreasing by 19%–64%), i.e., DEHP alleviated SMP-induced oxidative stress, as evidenced by reduced levels of reactive oxygen species (−26.8% and −66.7%) and antioxidant enzyme activities (−118% and −128%). Metabolomic profiling revealed that SMP exposure significantly dysregulated multiple metabolic pathways (amino acid, carbohydrate, energy, glycan, lipid, and nucleotide metabolism), while SMP + DEHP co-exposure selectively attenuated these metabolic disturbances, showing enrichment only in glycan biosynthesis/metabolism and suppressing SMP-induced perturbations in other pathways (biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, energy metabolism, and signal transduction). Microbial community analysis showed that high-level SMP exposure significantly diminished bacterial α-diversity and amplicon sequence variant (ASV) richness, whereas DEHP supplementation enhanced those of <em>Myxococcota</em> in the soil, potentially counterbalancing SMP-induced microbial dysbiosis. These findings collectively demonstrate that co-contamination by MNPs and plastic additives may produce antagonistic interactions rather than uniformly synergistic effects, and provide a more comprehensive evaluation of the risks of PAEs and MNPs to food security, human health, and ecological environment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":29813,"journal":{"name":"Eco-Environment & Health","volume":"4 4","pages":"Article 100184"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145227171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shiyang Zhang , Xu Cheng , Chengyong Jia , Jun An , Xin Zhang , Youbing Guan , Yan Yan , Zhuoya Zhao , Yuenan Liu , Tao Jing , Meian He
{"title":"Serum phthalates and risks of incident cardiovascular disease among individuals with type 2 diabetes in a prospective cohort study","authors":"Shiyang Zhang , Xu Cheng , Chengyong Jia , Jun An , Xin Zhang , Youbing Guan , Yan Yan , Zhuoya Zhao , Yuenan Liu , Tao Jing , Meian He","doi":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100185","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100185","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Prospective epidemiological evidence about the associations between phthalates (PAEs) and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) population has been urgently needed. A total of 2806 participants with T2DM were recruited based on the baseline of the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort study (2008–2010) and followed up to 2018. Serum di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), Σdibutyl phthalate (ΣDBP), and Σlow-molecular-weight phthalate (ΣLMW) levels were associated with incident stroke risk, whether their levels were treated as continuous variables [HR (95%CI): 1.36 (1.02, 1.80), 1.35 (1.01, 1.81), and 1.50 (1.07, 2.10), respectively] or divided by quartiles [HR (95%CI): 1.41 (1.01, 1.98), 1.48 (1.05, 2.08), and 1.53 (1.08, 2.15) in the highest quartile with <em>P</em><sub>trend</sub> = 0.03, 0.02, and 0.02, respectively] after multiple adjustment in Cox proportional hazard models. Meanwhile, linear associations for serum di-iso-butyl phthalate (DiBP), DnBP, ΣDBP, and ΣLMW, and a nonlinear U-shaped dose–response association for serum butyl-benzyl phthalate (BBP) with incident stroke risk were proved by restricted cubic spline regression analyses. Furthermore, a positive correlation between PAE mixture and incident stroke risk was identified in Quantile-based g-computation [HR (95%CI): 1.24 (1.05, 1.46)]. However, serum PAEs, either as individuals or as a mixture, were not associated with incident CVD or coronary heart disease risk. Our study revealed that serum PAEs were positively associated with increased incident stroke risk in the T2DM population. More prospective cohort and mechanism studies are warranted to validate our findings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":29813,"journal":{"name":"Eco-Environment & Health","volume":"4 4","pages":"Article 100185"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145227172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A critical review on temperature-mediated marine plastic biodegradation","authors":"Yuanmei Zhang, Yiqi Cao, Bing Chen, Baiyu Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100177","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100177","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biodegradation offers a promising solution to marine plastic pollution. Temperature plays a significant role in biofilm development and microbial dynamics. However, comprehensive studies on the effects of temperature on marine plastic biodegradation remain limited, as most research focuses on individual and moderate temperatures, overlooking how temperature variations across polar to tropical marine environments interact with other ecological factors to influence plastic biodegradation. This review summarizes current research on temperature-induced biofilm formation, microbial succession, and enzymatic depolymerization of plastics. The findings reveal that higher temperatures generally enhance biofilm growth. Notably, cold-tolerant bacteria stimulate the production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) to stabilize biofilms and adapt to cold conditions. Microbial succession, particularly within the Proteobacteria phylum, is primarily regulated by temperature, driving shifts in microbial diversity and activity. For different types of plastics, the hydrolyzable ones are degraded via enzymes such as cutinases, lipases, and depolymerases, mostly at mild temperatures. In contrast, non-hydrolyzable plastics are relatively recalcitrant to enzymatic breakdown but can be biodeteriorated by enzyme-generated reactive oxygen species (ROS), with minimal temperature influence due to their slow biodegradation. This review emphasizes the critical role of temperature in biodegradation processes and prospects for promising strategies for improving marine plastic management under the changing climate.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":29813,"journal":{"name":"Eco-Environment & Health","volume":"4 3","pages":"Article 100177"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144912187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zihan Fu , Pingfeng Yu , Mengyao Wang , Lu Zhang , Ying Li , Cong Lyu
{"title":"Heterogeneity in susceptibility of viruses with different structures to various reactive oxygen species: Kinetics and biological mechanisms","authors":"Zihan Fu , Pingfeng Yu , Mengyao Wang , Lu Zhang , Ying Li , Cong Lyu","doi":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100178","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100178","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Waterborne viruses have caused outbreaks of related diseases and threaten human health, and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), as clean and efficient technologies, have received widespread attention for their excellent performance in inactivating viruses. However, heterogeneity in susceptibility of structurally distinct viruses to various reactive oxygen species (ROS) is unclear. This study first measured the heterogeneity in inactivation kinetics and biological mechanisms of four typical viral surrogates (MS2, phi6, phix174, and T4) to various ROS by visible light catalysis. Notably, the second-order inactivation rate constants of four viruses by hydroxyl radicals (·OH), singlet oxygen (<sup>1</sup>O<sub>2</sub>), and superoxide radicals (·O<sub>2</sub><sup>−</sup>) were quite different: 10<sup>9</sup>–10<sup>10</sup>, 10<sup>7</sup>–10<sup>8</sup>, and about 10<sup>5</sup> M<sup>−1</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>, respectively. The susceptibility of four viruses to ROS varied significantly, in the order of phi6 > MS2 > phix174 > T4. More importantly, <sup>1</sup>O<sub>2</sub> can better oxidize capsid proteins. ·O<sub>2</sub><sup>−</sup>-induced RNA damage was significantly greater than that to the DNA genome, indicating that RNA viruses are more susceptible. ·OH can strongly inactivate the four structurally distinct viruses. Furthermore, the resistance of the ROS-inactivated virus to environmental interference was assessed in detail. This study advanced the understanding of heterogeneity in susceptibility of structurally distinct viruses to various ROS and provided a valuable theoretical basis for the application of AOPs in water disinfection.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":29813,"journal":{"name":"Eco-Environment & Health","volume":"4 3","pages":"Article 100178"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144917071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xiangyu Kong , Lufeng Chen , Yongguang Yin , Yong Cai , Yanbin Li
{"title":"Mitigating eutrophication may elevate neurotoxic mercury risks in global coastal ecosystems","authors":"Xiangyu Kong , Lufeng Chen , Yongguang Yin , Yong Cai , Yanbin Li","doi":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100176","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100176","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":29813,"journal":{"name":"Eco-Environment & Health","volume":"4 4","pages":"Article 100176"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145005356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Liyun Yin , Zhuomiao Liu , Jian Zhao , Shu Chen , Xiaochuan Wang , Zhenyu Wang
{"title":"Trophic transfer of CeO2 nanoparticles from clamworm to juvenile turbot and related changes in fish flesh quality","authors":"Liyun Yin , Zhuomiao Liu , Jian Zhao , Shu Chen , Xiaochuan Wang , Zhenyu Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100174","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100174","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) accumulate in marine sediments and exhibit adverse effects on benthic organisms. However, the effect of ENPs on marine benthic food chains is largely unknown. Herein, we investigated the trophic transfer and transformation of CeO<sub>2</sub> ENPs within a simulated marine benthic food chain from clamworm (<em>Perinereis aibuhitensis</em>) to turbot (<em>Scophthalmus maximus</em>), as well as their effects on fish flesh quality. The results showed that Ce contents in turbot increased with the accumulation of CeO<sub>2</sub> ENPs in clamworm, but no biomagnification of CeO<sub>2</sub> ENPs occurred along this food chain. During trophic transfer, CeO<sub>2</sub> ENPs in turbot experienced transformation from Ce(IV) to Ce(III). Importantly, CeO<sub>2</sub> ENPs accumulated in the muscle of turbot and decreased the crude protein, total amino acid, and delicious amino acid contents, as well as the texture of the muscle. CeO<sub>2</sub> ENPs induced the deterioration of flesh quality, which was mainly related to metabolism in muscle and intestinal disorders caused by oxidative stress. Specifically, CeO<sub>2</sub> ENPs increased the relative abundance of <em>Stenotrophomonas</em> and <em>Vibrio</em> in the turbot intestine<em>,</em> while decreasing those of <em>Lactobacillus</em>, <em>Bacillus</em>, and <em>Acinetobacter</em>. Significant disturbances in purine and amino acid (aspartate, glutamate, glycine, etc.) metabolism in muscle were induced by CeO<sub>2</sub> ENPs. Moreover, correlation analysis showed that microbiota dysbiosis was highly correlated with muscle metabolic dysfunction. Our study provides insights into the transfer and transformation of CeO<sub>2</sub> ENPs and their interference with fish flesh quality via the gut–muscle axis, providing useful information on assessing ecological risk and food safety in marine environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":29813,"journal":{"name":"Eco-Environment & Health","volume":"4 3","pages":"Article 100174"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144908706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Eco-Environment & HealthPub Date : 2025-07-24eCollection Date: 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100171
Shengchun Qi, Shuyan Wang, Yu Xia, Songcan Chen, Huijie Lu
{"title":"Identification of human pathogens in soil by virulence gene-based machine learning method.","authors":"Shengchun Qi, Shuyan Wang, Yu Xia, Songcan Chen, Huijie Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100171","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100171","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Soils are important reservoirs of human pathogenic bacteria that can spread to humans through various pathways. Metagenomics enables high-throughput pathogen identification by mapping sequencing reads to known pathogen genomes. However, this approach has several limitations, e.g., sequence assembly is time-consuming, and reliance on reference databases may overlook potential pathogens lacking close genomic matches. Here, we developed a novel, virulence factor (VF) based machine learning method using the K-Nearest Neighbors model (VF-KNN) for identifying human pathogenic bacteria from soil metagenomes. Through learning the VF features of pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria, VF-KNN could achieve the desired performance in soil pathogen identification (AUC: 0.95, Accuracy: 0.85). Model prediction accuracy (0.95) was further validated using 61 pathogenic strains isolated from soil. For the top 15 most frequent soil pathogens, the prediction accuracy was >0.90 at 0.4X-1.0X genome coverage. VFs contributing significantly to pathogen identification were associated with regulation, effector delivery, motility, etc. By using VF-KNN, the averaged abundance of total potential pathogens in topsoils across China was 0.44% (<i>n</i> = 336), predominantly concentrated in the eastern coastal provinces. Compared with the conventional method based on a predefined pathogen list, VF-KNN identified 28% more potential pathogenic species, including some newly reported but not in the predefined list (e.g., <i>Mycolicibacterium cosmeticum</i>). Agricultural land exhibited significantly higher pathogen abundance and diversity than the other land types. This newly developed VF-KNN method is applicable for pathogen identification in broader environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":29813,"journal":{"name":"Eco-Environment & Health","volume":"4 3","pages":"100171"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12355066/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144875564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}