Environmental Quality Management最新文献

{"title":"Utilization of Thermally Modified Water Treatment Plant Sludge as an Adsorbent for Fluoride Removal","authors":"Kellen Cristina da Silva Almeida,&nbsp;Renata Medici Frayne Cuba,&nbsp;Francisco Javier Cuba Teran,&nbsp;Paulo Sérgio Scalize","doi":"10.1002/tqem.70381","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.70381","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The presence of fluoride (F⁻) at high concentrations in drinking water is a global concern due to its adverse health effects. This study evaluated the removal of F⁻ ions by adsorption using an adsorbent produced from thermally modified water treatment plant sludge (TWTPS), providing an efficient and low-cost alternative for contaminated water treatment and residue valorization. Initially, the physical and chemical changes in the sludge after thermal treatment were characterized. Subsequently, batch adsorption tests were conducted at 24°C ± 1°C to investigate the effects of pH, F⁻ concentration, and adsorbent dosage, as well as to determine the adsorption kinetics and capacity of the produced material. An equilibrium contact time of 24 h was adopted for the pH, dosage, and isotherm experiments. Characterization analyses, including surface area, pore size distribution, and functional group identification, confirmed the suitability of the thermally treated sludge as an adsorbent for F⁻ removal. Optimal conditions were obtained at pH 4.0–6.0 and 2 g L⁻¹ adsorbent dosage, yielding adsorption capacities of 0.600–0.634 mg g⁻¹. Kinetic data followed the pseudo-second-order and Elovich models, suggesting chemisorption through substitution of surface –OH groups by F⁻ ions. Equilibrium data fitted both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms, indicating adsorption on a heterogeneous surface (0 &lt; <i>n</i>⁻¹ &lt; 1) and a favorable process (0 &lt; <i>R</i>_L &lt; 1), with a maximum adsorption capacity (<i>q</i>_max) of 3.19 mg g⁻¹. Thermodynamic parameters confirmed that F⁻ adsorption onto the modified sludge was spontaneous and endothermic.</p>","PeriodicalId":35327,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Quality Management","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/tqem.70381","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148282568","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}

{"title":"Toward Resilient Mangrove Coasts: Integrating Ecological Pressures, Community Participation, and Policy Coherence in Segara Anakan Lagoon, Indonesia","authors":"Muhammad Faisal Rachmansyah,&nbsp;Diah Permata Wijayanti,&nbsp;Rudhi Pribadi,&nbsp; Suyadi,&nbsp;Yulizar Ihrami Rahmila,&nbsp;Sheila B. Pramita,&nbsp;Satria Putra Kanoko,&nbsp;Aris Ismanto","doi":"10.1002/tqem.70391","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.70391","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Segara Anakan Lagoon in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia features a vital mangrove ecosystem that plays a crucial role in maintaining coastal stability, protecting biodiversity, and supporting the livelihoods of local communities. Besides its ecological and economic significance, this ecosystem faces strong pressure from environmental changes and destructive activities, especially land conversion like uncontrolled conversion of mangrove land into shrimp ponds and resource exploitation that ignore sustainability. This study contributes by developing an integrative socio-ecological framework that links ecological pressures, governance systems, and community participation, while quantitatively identifying governance–community mismatches using a Guttman scaling approach. Additionally, a gap exists between existing legal frameworks and the actual needs of local stakeholders, which hampers effective mangrove management. Strengthening the resilient of the Segara Anakan mangrove ecosystem requires more strategic and integrated approaches to assure long-term sustainability and bridge ecological dynamics with governance and community capacity. Specifically, enhance community empowerment, achieving conservation goals, and strengthening institutions are critical to addressing disparities and ensuring sustainable management.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":35327,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Quality Management","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148282629","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":"Environmental and Biological Risks of Micro and Nanoplastics: A Systematic Review of Key Mechanisms","authors":"Anshika Kushwaha,&nbsp;Anuj Kumar Tomar,&nbsp;Eepsita Priyadarshini,&nbsp;Paulraj Rajamani","doi":"10.1002/tqem.70398","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.70398","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Plastic pollution is a systemic environmental challenge of the modern era. Micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) are the most insidious that have emerged as the most pervasive environmental contaminants, requiring a systematic analysis of their persistence, chemical stability, and global prevalence. Their environmental ramifications are multifaceted, affecting aquatic life and terrestrial organisms via bio-accumulation, which poses documented risks to biodiversity and human health. Emerging evidence suggests MNP exposure leads to cytotoxicity, metabolic alterations, immunological reactions, and translocation into the human placenta. This review critically examines the sources, classification, and release pathways of MNPs. Further, it explores the current detection and removal strategies, highlighting advanced filtration techniques, such as membrane filtration, electrocoagulation, nanotechnology-based approaches, and biological remediation. By amalgamating findings from contemporary research and technological advancements, we aimed at providing a comprehensive understanding of the ecotoxicological risks posed by MNPs and the feasible and emerging solutions to mitigate their environmental footprint. Nonetheless, significant disparity remains between detection sensitivity and ecological risk assessment. While the conventional analytical techniques fail to capture the smallest and most toxic fractions of nanoplastics, resultantly leading to under estimations of environmental risks. Further research needs to prioritize highly sensitive detection protocols as well as long-term ecotoxicological modeling to bridge this gap.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":35327,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Quality Management","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148282567","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":"Contributions to Carbon Neutrality Through Broader Approaches in Environmental Quality Management","authors":"Jega Jegatheesan","doi":"10.1002/tqem.70384","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.70384","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35327,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Quality Management","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148268958","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":"Strategic Roadmap for Addressing Microplastic Pollution in the Global South: Bridging Monitoring Gaps, Harmonizing Methods, and Building Analytical Capacity","authors":"Guilherme Malafaia,&nbsp;Thiarlen Marinho da Luz","doi":"10.1002/tqem.70346","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.70346","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Microplastic (MP) pollution represents a growing environmental challenge, especially in tropical and subtropical coastal regions of the Global South, where methodological fragmentation, funding discontinuity, and dependence on external analytical infrastructure limit the production of comparable data and the formulation of evidence-based public policies. In this critical review we propose, we propose a strategic roadmap structured around five complementary pillars: (1) implementation of continuous and standardized monitoring programs; (2) methodological harmonization adapted to regional ecological and institutional realities; (3) priority assessment of ecological impacts on sensitive coastal ecosystems; (4) improved understanding of dispersal sources and processes through integrated source-sink approaches; and (5) strengthening scientific and institutional capacity, reducing dependence on international laboratories. The framework articulates scientific production, regulatory instruments, territorialized funding strategies, and reconfiguration of international cooperation, focusing on technical symmetry and capacity transfer. By integrating technical, institutional, and financial dimensions into a scalable and adaptable model, we offer an operational pathway to territorialize global commitments, including the Global Plastics Treaty, and consolidate analytical autonomy and sustainable governance of plastics in the Global South.</p>","PeriodicalId":35327,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Quality Management","volume":"35 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/tqem.70346","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147685940","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}

{"title":"An Alternative 2D Shape Descriptor Index for Rapid Prediction of Microplastics Morphology Using Deep Feature Embeddings and Machine Learning","authors":"Aan Priyanto,&nbsp;Kamilah Nada Maisa,&nbsp;Eka Sentia Ayu Listari,&nbsp;Dian Ahmad Hapidin,&nbsp;Khairurrijal Khairurrijal","doi":"10.1002/tqem.70342","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.70342","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Microplastic morphology influences particle behavior, environmental fate, and ecological risk, yet commonly used two-dimensional (2D) shape descriptors often struggle to represent complex and irregular geometries. This study introduces the Shape Descriptor Index (SDI), a composite metric integrating area, length, and circularity, designed as an alternative and machine-compatible proxy for microplastic morphology. Using deep feature embeddings extracted from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images with Inception V3, we evaluated the predictability of SDI relative to classical descriptors across multiple machine learning models. SDI demonstrated the strongest performance, particularly with the AdaBoost model, achieving an R² of 0.919 along with reduced root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) compared to the other descriptors. These findings indicate that SDI aligns well with deep visual representations and offers a robust, scalable metric for rapid morphology assessment. The approach supports high-throughput and objective analysis, making SDI particularly suitable for large-scale environmental monitoring and automated microplastic characterization.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":35327,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Quality Management","volume":"35 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147686812","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":"Harnessing Mushrooms as Bioindicators to Monitor Heavy Metal Pollution","authors":"Germina Neenu,&nbsp;Stanislaus Antony Ceasar,&nbsp;Neenthamadathil Mohandas Krishnakumar","doi":"10.1002/tqem.70348","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.70348","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Mushrooms are spore-bearing eukaryotic organisms that are capable of accumulating heavy metals. They are considered bioexcluders or hyperaccumulators of heavy metals since they can grow in the metal-contaminated areas. Industrialization, urbanization, and other anthropogenic activities cause the release of heavy metals into the environment. The heavy metal contamination in the environment causes various toxic effects on the organisms. Traditional methods of finding heavy metal contamination are costly and cause various disruptions in the environment. Therefore, detection of heavy metal contamination using bioindicators such as mushrooms offers a quick and sustainable solution. Since mushrooms can be simply grown in natural soils contaminated by the heavy metals, further research on optimizing mushrooms can greatly help to monitor the prevalence of heavy metals at the polluted site. Analytical methods such as inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS), and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) are used to determine heavy metal concentrations in the mushroom samples. Various omics tools can be used for understanding gene-level expression of mushrooms during the metal stress condition. Advances in molecular biology, synthetic biology, and gene-editing technologies have significantly enhanced the utility of mushrooms for monitoring and remediating heavy metal pollution. CRISPR/Cas technology can also be used in mushrooms to engineer strains with enhanced heavy metal uptake and tolerance for improved monitoring.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":35327,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Quality Management","volume":"35 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147687023","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":"Development of an Enhanced Microbial Consortium Immobilized on Coconut Coir for Efficient Greywater Treatment Optimized via RSM and ANN","authors":"Nikita Rajpal,&nbsp;J. K. Ratan,&nbsp;Neetu Divya,&nbsp;Venkata Ratnam Myneni","doi":"10.1002/tqem.70347","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.70347","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study reports the development of an augmented microbial consortium for the efficient bioremediation of laundry and kitchen greywater. An indigenous consortium isolated from kitchen sludge was enhanced with <i>Micrococcus luteus</i>, <i>Rhodococcus equi</i>, and <i>Aspergillus niger</i>, resulting in significantly improved pollutant removal. Process optimization using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) identified optimal conditions at 33.2°C, pH 8.0, an inoculum size of 198 µL, and a C/N ratio of 1.9. Under these conditions, maximum removal efficiency of 83.5% (COD), 81.5% (oil and grease), and 87.8% (sulphate) were achieved within 96 hrs. The Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model demonstrated high predictive performance across training (R² = 0.992), validation (R² = 0.893), and testing (R² = 0.816) phases, with an overall R² of 0.964. The RSM model provided robust individual response predictions (R² for COD = 0.966, oil and grease = 0.997, and sulphate = 0.984). These results indicate that ANN captured the nonlinear relationships among operating variables with acceptable predictive capability under the limited dataset conditions, while RSM effectively described individual parameter interactions. Growth kinetic analysis indicated substrate inhibition at higher concentrations, with the Haldane model providing the best fit (R² = 0.977). The use of coconut coir as a support matrix provides a promising foundation for future pilot-scale investigations into decentralized treatment systems.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":35327,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Quality Management","volume":"35 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147686813","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 Multi-Criteria Decision Approach for Composting of Food Waste in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry","authors":"Şennur Merve Yakut,&nbsp;Burcu Şimşek Yağlı","doi":"10.1002/tqem.70344","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.70344","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Considering the importance of Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG-12) and circular economy principles, this study proposes an integrated experimental and decision support framework for evaluating the composting suitability of selected food waste generated in the hospitality and tourism (H&amp;T) industry. In the first stage, a controlled small-scale composting experiment was conducted using pineapple peel, carrot peel, banana peel, coffee waste, and tea waste, and key operational parameters namely temperature, pH, and moisture content. These were systematically monitored over a 20-day period. The temperature dropped to room temperature from day 5 and remained constant thereafter. Moisture dropped below 20% in the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th samples and even to zero in the 7th sample. In the second stage, the Comprehensive Normalization Technique with Mixed Collection (MACONT) method, one of the Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods, was applied to rank food waste based on their composting performance. To validate the robustness of the result, a comprehensive sensitivity analysis was performed. The findings indicate that pineapple peel and tea waste exhibit superior composting performance under the specific experimental conditions, while coffee waste demonstrates limited suitability and may require alternative valorization pathways. The proposed framework offers a practical decision support tool for environmental managers and practitioners in the H&amp;T industry, enabling evidence-based selection of food streams for composting applications and contributing to sustainable waste management strategies.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":35327,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Quality Management","volume":"35 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147686382","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":"Assessing the Impact of Wastewater Flow Rates on SARS-CoV-2 RNA Detection: Insights for Environmental Surveillance and Policymaking","authors":"André Felipe Bendix,&nbsp;Alex Batista Trentin,&nbsp;Deborah Catharine De Assis Leite,&nbsp;Betty Cristiane Kuhn,&nbsp;Felipe Beijamini,&nbsp;Simone Wendt,&nbsp;Flavia Regina Oliveira de Barros,&nbsp;Naiana Cristine Gabiatti,&nbsp;Juliana Morini Küpper Cardoso,&nbsp;Nédia de Castilhos Ghisi","doi":"10.1002/tqem.70341","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.70341","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been widely applied for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance. Yet, operational parameters such as influent flow rate and sewer system characteristics may reflect underlying hydraulic variability relevant to detection performance, raising questions about the representativeness of results from small and medium-sized plants. We conducted a systematic meta-analysis of 10 published studies assessing SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection across wastewater treatment plants of different sizes and flow ranges. Data were extracted into 2 × 2 tables and analyzed in R using the meta and metafor packages. Odds ratios (ORs) were pooled with Mantel–Haenszel random-effects models and DerSimonian–Laird τ² estimation. Subgroup analyses compared studies from developed versus emerging economies, meta-regression tested population size as a moderator, and publication bias was evaluated with funnel plots and Egger's test. The overall pooled OR was 2.08 (95% CI: 0.99–4.37, <i>p</i> = 0.053; <i>I</i>² = 82.3%), indicating a non-significant trend toward higher detection at higher flow rates. Subgroup analyses showed similar pooled effects across developed and emerging economies, though heterogeneity was lower in emerging settings. Meta-regression revealed no significant association between population size and detection (slope = 0.29, <i>p</i> = 0.52). Funnel plots were relatively symmetric, and Egger's test did not indicate significant publication bias (<i>p</i> = 0.169). Overall, these findings suggest that influent flow rate is not significantly associated with the probability of SARS-CoV-2 detection in WBE studies, supporting the inclusion of small and medium-sized treatment plants in surveillance networks. At the same time, the concentration of studies in high-income countries highlights inequities in the global WBE literature and in site deployment, with vulnerable populations often underrepresented. Expanding WBE infrastructure in underserved regions is necessary to ensure equitable and representative surveillance capacity.</p>","PeriodicalId":35327,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Quality Management","volume":"35 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/tqem.70341","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147615302","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}