{"title":"Geochemistry of vegetation fires using levoglucosan: a review","authors":"Chao You, Jing Wang, Xiao Dong, Chao Xu","doi":"10.1007/s10311-025-01826-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10311-025-01826-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events such as vegetation fires. Vegetation fires emissions contain numerous organic compounds that impact the Earth system and human health. Here, we review the sources, stability, transport, degradation and geochemical records of levoglucosan, a dehydration monosaccharide produced by the pyrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose. Levoglucosan has been detected in aerosols, water, snow and ice, and lake or marine sediments. Analysis of levoglucosan in environmental and geological samples enable the identification of temporal rhythms and detailed features of changes in vegetation fire patterns, ranging from individual events to seasonal to annual scales, up to glacial-interglacial cycles.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":541,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry Letters","volume":"23 3","pages":"865 - 877"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143125433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bioenergy production from wastewater using cost-effective ceramic membranes: a review","authors":"Syed Taufiq Ahmad, Rizwan Ahmad, Hamna Shaukat, Prangya Ranjan Rout, Tahir Fazal, Alexander Dumfort","doi":"10.1007/s10311-025-01822-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10311-025-01822-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Water scarcity and wastewater pollution are major health issues, yet traditional wastewater treatment technologies are limited by high operational costs and energy demands, and membrane fouling. Here we review low-cost ceramic membranes for wastewater treatment and bioenergy production, with emphasis on bioreactors, and microbial fuel cells to generate electricity. Ceramic membranes display high filtration performance and resistance to harsh conditions, achieving water flux rates up to 250 L/m<sup>2</sup> per h, significantly outperforming polymeric membranes. Ceramic membranes are now affordable due to recent advances in as clay-based ceramics, extrusion and electrospinning. Ceramic membranes integrated into microbial fuel cells and anaerobic bioreactors could enhance power generation by 20% and biogas yield by 15–30%. Surface modifications and nanomaterial use have reduced fouling by up to 60%, yet issues of biofouling and high fabrication costs persist.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":541,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry Letters","volume":"23 2","pages":"463 - 490"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143125446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ahmed E. Mansy, Samuel Daniel, Cedric Karel Fonzeu Monguen, Hao Wang, Ahmed I. Osman, Zhen-Yu Tian
{"title":"Catalytic production of aviation jet biofuels from biomass: a review","authors":"Ahmed E. Mansy, Samuel Daniel, Cedric Karel Fonzeu Monguen, Hao Wang, Ahmed I. Osman, Zhen-Yu Tian","doi":"10.1007/s10311-024-01806-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10311-024-01806-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The aviation sector is a major emitter of fossil fuel-derived carbon dioxide contributing to global warming. For instance, jet fuel consumed by the aviation industry is 1.5–1.7 billion barrels per year, resulting in 705 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Aircraft manufacturers have set ambitious goals, aiming for carbon-free growth post-2020 and a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. This issue can be solved by replacing fossil fuels with biofuels produced from modern biomass, thus meeting the carbon neutral objective. Here, we review the technologies to convert biomass into jet biofuel with focus on reactants, catalysts, and the chemistry of combustion. Reactants include alcohols, oil, esters, fatty acids, gas and sugars. Catalysts include Fischer–Tropsch catalysts, palladium, platinum, ruthenium, nickel, and molybdenum. The utilization of jet biofuels could potentially reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%. We also discuss economic implications.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":541,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry Letters","volume":"23 2","pages":"419 - 461"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10311-024-01806-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143083306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sadia Mim, Mamun Jamal, Thuhin Kumar Dey, Mika Sillanpää
{"title":"Microbioplastics sources, mobility, impact, and management: a review","authors":"Sadia Mim, Mamun Jamal, Thuhin Kumar Dey, Mika Sillanpää","doi":"10.1007/s10311-025-01823-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10311-025-01823-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Biodegradable plastics have been developed as an alternative to fossil fuel-derived plastics, yet knowledge on pollution by microbioplastics has not been summarized. Here, we review microbioplastics with focus on their formation from biodegradable plastics, their mobility, distribution, impact on soils and aquatic organisms, and their management by recycling, incineration, composting, anaerobic digestion, and landfill disposal. We observe that incorporating carbon–oxygen ester linkages into the molecular backbone of biodegradable plastics, together with plant-derived additives, should enhance the usability of biodegradable plastics by augmenting thermal stability and barrier properties. Separation, recycling, and anaerobic digestion of biodegradable plastic materials should generate methane and biofertilizer.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":541,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry Letters","volume":"23 2","pages":"579 - 609"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143083368","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Julia Regnery, Birgit Snelinski, Julia Bachtin, Christel Möhlenkamp, Erik Schmolz, Anton Friesen
{"title":"Indirect contamination of cockroaches by anticoagulant rodenticides","authors":"Julia Regnery, Birgit Snelinski, Julia Bachtin, Christel Möhlenkamp, Erik Schmolz, Anton Friesen","doi":"10.1007/s10311-025-01821-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10311-025-01821-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The wide use of anticoagulant rodenticides for rat control has led to indirect poisoning of non-target birds, mammals, and vertebrates by anticoagulant rodenticides, yet contamination of insects is poorly known. We studied the behavior of two cockroach species feeding on commercial rodenticide bait formulations under laboratory conditions. Rodenticides comprised brodifacoum, difenacoum, and bromadiolone. We measured bait uptake by cockroaches, mortality, and their anticoagulant rodenticide body burden after 21 days of exposure. Results show that rodenticide residue levels in cockroaches ranged between 0.01 and 1.32 ± 0.15 µg/g dry weight. No mortality associated with rodenticide bait consumption was observed over a 21 days exposure period. Cockroaches consumed up to 50% of offered bait when attracted by this formulation, otherwise close to none. Overall, insects such as cockroaches may contribute to the environmental spread of anticoagulant rodenticides.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":541,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry Letters","volume":"23 3","pages":"759 - 764"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10311-025-01821-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143031151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Influence of prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances under gestational diabetes mellitus on birth and child growth","authors":"Qiang Li, Yabin Hu, Pengpeng Wang, Liyi Zhang, Hang Wang, Yuyan Gui, Yaqi Xu, Yue Zhao, Weizhao Cao, Minghao Wang, Huijing Shi, Yingya Zhao, Yunhui Zhang","doi":"10.1007/s10311-025-01820-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10311-025-01820-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been recently identified as contaminants of concern for human health, yet their influence of birth and child growth is not well understood, notably under gestational diabetes mellitus. Here we measured PFAS concentrations in cord blood serum of 532 mother–child pairs under gestational diabetes mellitus and in 532 pairs without gestational diabetes mellitus, by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry. We analyzed birth outcomes and child growth up to two years of age using generalized linear models, generalized estimation equations, and quantile g-computation models. Results show that PFAS, including perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, perfluorohexanesulfonic acid, perfluorodecanoic acid, and 6:2 chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonate, adversely affected birth outcomes. Both individual and mixed PFAS exposure delayed early child growth. Under gestational diabetes mellitus, prenatal PFAS exposure was highly associated with weight-for-length Z-scores and body mass index-for-age Z-scores.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":541,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry Letters","volume":"23 3","pages":"765 - 770"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143026915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tonni Agustiono Kurniawan, Pow-Seng Yap, Zhonghao Chen
{"title":"Techniques for pollutant removal, nutrient recovery, and energy production from landfill leachates: a review","authors":"Tonni Agustiono Kurniawan, Pow-Seng Yap, Zhonghao Chen","doi":"10.1007/s10311-024-01805-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10311-024-01805-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Landfill leachate is a highly polluted wastewater resulting from the decomposition of organic waste in landfills. It contains high levels of organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, heavy metals, and other contaminants of environmental and health concerns, but landfill leachate could also be used to produce nutrient and energy. Here we review physical, chemical, and biological methods to treat landfill leachates. Methods include adsorption, membrane separation, coagulation and flocculation, ion exchange, air stripping, chemical precipitation, electrochemical oxidation, Fenton oxidation, ozonation, photocatalysis, activated sludge process, sequential batch reactor, rotating biological contactors, nitrification and denitrification, upflow anaerobic sludge blanket, phytoremediation, and bioremediation. We discuss the technical, social, economic and environmental benefits of removing contaminants, and of recovering nutrient and energy. Physicochemical methods remove 12–95% of chemical oxygen demand, 1–100% of ammonia nitrogen, 40–96% of metals, and 44–99% of color. Advanced oxidation processes remove 19–98% of the chemical oxygen demand, 12–85% of ammonia nitrogen, and 74–98% of total organic carbon. Biological methods remove 15–93% of the chemical oxygen demand, 43–97% of the biochemical oxygen demand, 14–100% of ammonia nitrogen, and 42–98% of phosphates. Optimized leachate treatment technology can recover 10–80% of nutrients and 0.1–7 kWh/m<sup>3</sup> of energy.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":541,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry Letters","volume":"23 2","pages":"517 - 577"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143020590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bacterial cellulose and composites for the treatment of water pollution: a review","authors":"Giang Thanh Tran, Thuy Thi Thanh Nguyen, Duyen Thi Cam Nguyen, Thuan Van Tran","doi":"10.1007/s10311-025-01818-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10311-025-01818-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Water contamination by organic, inorganic, and microplastic pollutants poses significant threats to ecosystems and public health, emphasizing the need for advanced remediation strategies. Here, we review the water treatment with composites including bacterial cellulose, with focus on synthesis and modification of bacterial cellulose and composites, and application in water treatment. Synthesis of bacterial cellulose can be done in static, agitated and bioreactor cultures. Composite materials include metal oxides, metal organic frameworks, polymers, graphene and magnetic materials. Applications comprise the removal of microplastics, heavy metals, oil, and organic and inorganic pollutants. Bacterial cellulose is biodegradable, biocompatible, and possesses customizable surface chemistry and structure, enabling exceptional pollutant removal. Surface modifications add functional groups such as hydroxyl and carboxylate groups, while reinforcement strategies improve mechanical and chemical properties. Composites exhibit pollutant removal efficiencies of up to 99.9% and oil separation stability of 99% even after 20–50 cycles. Mechanisms including adsorption, photodegradation, flocculation, and biodegradation are discussed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":541,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry Letters","volume":"23 2","pages":"707 - 732"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142990875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sai Praneeth, Ahmed K. Sakr, Preetom K. Roy, Timothy M. Dittrich
{"title":"Efficient recovery of gadolinium from magnetic resonance imaging patient urine using a diglycolamide ligand-functionalized sorbent system","authors":"Sai Praneeth, Ahmed K. Sakr, Preetom K. Roy, Timothy M. Dittrich","doi":"10.1007/s10311-024-01815-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-024-01815-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Gadolinium-based contrast agents are used in more than 30 million magnetic resonance imaging procedures worldwide each year. These gadolinium complexes are excreted in urine and then end up polluting wastewater, leading to gadolinium concentration increase in rivers, known as the ‘gadolinium anomaly.’ Here we studied gadolinium recovery from patient urine using ligand-associated organosilica media impregnated with <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>,<i>N</i>′,<i>N</i>′-tetraoctyl-diglycolamide, a chelating agent traditionally used in separating lanthanides from actinides in nuclear waste applications. Gadolinium-containing urine was acidified with nitric acid and tested in batch and packed bed column experiments. Sorbent media and precipitate solids were analyzed using advanced characterization tools. Results show that more than 85% of the gadolinium was recovered with a 12.8 mg g⁻<sup>1</sup> sorption capacity. A two-cycle column study produced over 99% pure gadolinium through stripping, oxalic acid precipitation, and calcination. A binding mechanism with a 1:3 chelation and matching kinetics for a pseudo-second-order rate model can help design scaled-up systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":541,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry Letters","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142990874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Miriana Kfoury, Céline Alamichel, Sophie Fourmentin
{"title":"Combined supramolecular solvent preparation and solid extraction","authors":"Miriana Kfoury, Céline Alamichel, Sophie Fourmentin","doi":"10.1007/s10311-025-01819-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10311-025-01819-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Classical extraction involves several time-consuming and costly steps using toxic solvents. Here, we combined the preparation of a cyclodextrin-based supramolecular deep eutectic solvent and the extraction of spent coffee grounds by microwave irradiation in a single step. We tested two new solvents, randomly methylated-β-cyclodextrin:propylene glycol and hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin:ethylene glycol, and compared the results with two classical solvents, chloride:urea (1:2) and ethanol/water 80/20 vol%. We also used classical Soxhlet extraction. We calculated the sustainability of the process using ComplexGAPI. Results show that the optimal one-step extraction conditions were 15 min of irradiation at 80 °C with the addition of 10 wt% water. Under these conditions, the two new solvents showed higher extraction yields of antioxidants and polyphenols than choline chloride:urea (1:2) or ethanol/water 80/20 vol%. Similarly, the half maximal effective concentration and gallic acid equivalent of the Soxhlet extracts were 5 and 3 times lower, respectively, than those obtained with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin:ethylene glycol (1:40) 10 wt% water. The composition of the extracts from the one-step process was similar to that of the Soxhlet extract. Sustainability analysis revealed low energy consumption, reduced unitary operations and less waste production.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":541,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry Letters","volume":"23 2","pages":"367 - 372"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142981157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}