Environmental Sciences Europe最新文献

{"title":"Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and immune system-related diseases: results from the Flemish Environment and Health Study (FLEHS) 2008–2014","authors":"Nicolas van Larebeke,&nbsp;Gudrun Koppen,&nbsp;Sam De Craemer,&nbsp;Ann Colles,&nbsp;Liesbeth Bruckers,&nbsp;Elly Den Hond,&nbsp;Eva Govarts,&nbsp;Bert Morrens,&nbsp;Thomas Schettgen,&nbsp;Sylvie Remy,&nbsp;Dries Coertjens,&nbsp;Tim Nawrot,&nbsp;Vera Nelen,&nbsp;Willy Baeyens,&nbsp;Greet Schoeters","doi":"10.1186/s12302-023-00731-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12302-023-00731-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>The successive FLEHS campaigns assess internal exposure to pollutants and associated early biological and health effects in participants of different age groups.</p><h3>Materials and methods</h3><p>Mother–newborn pairs (<i>N</i> = 220 in 2008–2009, age 18–42 years; <i>N</i> = 269 in 2013–2014, age 18–44 years), 197 adolescents 14–15 years (2010–2011), 201 adults 20–40 years (2008–2009) and 205 adults 50–65 years (2014) were recruited. For the various groups of subjects different sets of PFAS were assessed. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) were determined in cord plasma and peripheral serum as these were the PFAS compounds for which we had access to high quality measurements and which were expected to be present in the highest concentrations. Participants filled out a questionnaire based on the European Community Respiratory Health Survey questionnaire on asthma and allergy. In these cross-sectional studies associations were assessed using stepwise multiple logistic regression, with confounders (including smoking and familial occurrence of the disease) and potential covariates selected on the basis of experience in our previous studies and a literature search. Forest plots of odds ratios summarize the associations between the various PFAS on the one hand and the different immune outcomes on the other hand.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>For several self-reported immune system-related diseases inverse associations with PFAS serum concentrations were observed. These inverse associations were more pronounced in mothers and adults than in adolescents. A significant inverse association was observed in adults and mothers (for mothers based on measurements on cord plasma) between PFNA, PFOS, and PFHxS and asthma (for mothers also for PFOA), in mothers between PFHxS, PFNA and PFOS and allergic rhinitis, in mothers and adults between PFHxS and PFOS and some forms of allergy (for mothers also for PFOA), in adults between PFOA and eczema, and in adolescents between PFOS and systemic allergy.</p><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Internal exposure to PFAS was associated with changes in immunological processes consistent with what has been reported in the literature. Whereas these changes were observed in many publications to be associated with adverse health effects, our findings suggest that they can also lead to inverse associations with certain immune system-related diseases.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":54293,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Sciences Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://enveurope.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12302-023-00731-6","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"5112098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"The need for assessment of risks arising from interactions between NGT organisms from an EU perspective","authors":"Franziska Koller,&nbsp;Meike Schulz,&nbsp;Matthias Juhas,&nbsp;Andreas Bauer-Panskus,&nbsp;Christoph Then","doi":"10.1186/s12302-023-00734-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12302-023-00734-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>New genomic techniques (NGTs) allow new genotypes and traits to be developed in different ways and with different outcomes compared to previous genetic engineering methods or conventional breeding (including non-targeted mutagenesis). EU GMO regulation requires an assessment of their direct and indirect effects that may be immediate, delayed or cumulative. Such effects may also result from the interactions of NGT organisms simultaneously present in a shared receiving environment or emerge from a combination of their traits. This review elaborates such potential interactions based on a literature review and reasoned scenarios to identify possible pathways to harm.</p><h3>Main findings</h3><p>NGT organisms might be introduced into the environment and food chains on a large-scale, involving many traits, across a broad range of species and within short periods of time. Unavoidably, this would increase the likelihood that direct or indirect effects will occur through interactions between NGT organisms that are, for example simultaneously present within a shared environment. It has to be assumed that the cumulative effects of these NGT organisms may exceed the sum of risks identified in the distinct ‘events’. Consequently, risk assessors and risk managers not only need to consider the risks associated with individual NGT organisms (‘events’), but should also take account of risks resulting from their potential interactions and combinatorial effects. In addition, a prospective technology assessment could help the risk manager in defining criteria to minimize potential unintended interactions between NGT organisms through limiting the scale of releases.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>If genetically engineered (GE) organisms derived from NGTs are released into the environment, their potentially negative impacts need to be minimized. As with all GE organisms, it is, therefore, crucial to not only assess the risks of the individual events, but also their potential interactions which can trigger direct and indirect effects with adverse impacts. It is necessary to develop hypotheses and specific scenarios to explore interactions between NGT organisms and possible pathways to harm from the perspective of the precautionary principle. In addition, the introduction prospective technology assessment could provide an instrument for the risk manager to control the scale of releases of NGT organisms.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":54293,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Sciences Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://enveurope.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12302-023-00734-3","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"4783124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Parametric modelling and analysis to optimize adsorption of Atrazine by MgO/Fe3O4-synthesized porous carbons in water environment","authors":"Lartey-Young George,&nbsp;Limin Ma,&nbsp;Weiwei Zhang,&nbsp;Guodong Yao","doi":"10.1186/s12302-023-00725-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12302-023-00725-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Pesticide contamination to water, continues to raise ecotoxicological and human concerns. Studying the application of green adsorbents for removing pesticides from water can significantly reduce ecotoxicological impacts and sustain reclamation of water bodies.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>The current study investigated the adsorption capacity of MgO/Fe₃O₄ modified coconut shell biochar (MCSB) towards Atrazine removal in water. The prepared adsorbents were structurally constricted and obtained relative amount of mesopore spaces filled by nanoparticles which equally provided active occupancy/binding sites for Atrazine molecule deposition. Equilibrium isotherm studies under temperature regimes of 300 K, 318 K and 328 K were best described by the Freundlich isotherm (<i>R</i>² = 0.95–0.97) with highest adsorption capacity corresponding to the highest temperature range (328 K) at (<i>K</i>_F = 9.60 L mg⁻¹). The kinetics modelling was best fitted to the pseudo second-order kinetic (<i>R</i>² = 0.90–0.98) reaction pathways revealing that Atrazine uptake and removal occurred majorly over non-homogenous surfaces and high influence of surface functional groups in the process. Atrazine uptake by the adsorbent were mostly efficient within pH ranges of 2–6. Thermodynamics values of free energy Δ<i>G</i>° were negative ranging (Δ<i>G</i>° = − 27.50 to − 29.77 kJ mol⁻¹) across the varying reaction temperature indicating an exothermic reaction, while enthalpy (Δ<i>H</i>°) (34.59 kJ mol) and entropy (Δ<i>S</i>°) (90.88 JK⁻¹/mol) values were positive revealing a degree of spontaneity which facilitated Atrazine uptake. The adsorbents regeneration capacities over five cycles were observed to decrease proportionally with maximum yields up to 50–60%. Optimization of the adsorption condition by response surface modelling (RSM) and Central Composite Design (CCD) could reveal optimum conditions for Atrazine removal through interaction of different variables at pH = 12, adsorbate initial concentration at 12 mg L⁻¹, adsorbate dosage at 0.5 g and reaction temperature at 54 °C. The overall mechanisms of the adsorption could be contributed by availability of surface functional groups on the MCSB surface through increase in hydrophilicity facilitating easy Atrazine molecule attachment via hydrogen bonding and improved surface complexation.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The as-synthesized MCSB adsorbent could uptake and remove Atrazine in water. A high pH, low concentration, low adsorbent dosage and high reaction temperature could be optimized conditions to attain highest Atrazine removal by the synthesized adsorbent.</p><h3>Graphical Abstract</h3>\u0000 <figure><div><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></div></figure>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":54293,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Sciences Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://enveurope.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12302-023-00725-4","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"5163520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"PFAS: forever chemicals—persistent, bioaccumulative and mobile. Reviewing the status and the need for their phase out and remediation of contaminated sites","authors":"Hubertus Brunn,&nbsp;Gottfried Arnold,&nbsp;Wolfgang Körner,&nbsp;Gerd Rippen,&nbsp;Klaus Günter Steinhäuser,&nbsp;Ingo Valentin","doi":"10.1186/s12302-023-00721-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12302-023-00721-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) have received increasing scientific and political attention in recent years. Several thousand commercially produced compounds are used in numerous products and technical processes. Due to their extreme persistence in the environment, humans and all other life forms are, therefore, increasingly exposed to these substances. In the following review, PFAS will be examined comprehensively.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>The best studied PFAS are carboxylic and sulfonic acids with chain lengths of C4 to C14, particularly perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). These substances are harmful to aquatic fauna, insects, and amphibians at concentrations of a few µg/L or less, accumulate in organisms, and biomagnify in food webs. Humans, as the final link in numerous food chains, are subjected to PFAS uptake primarily through food and drinking water. Several PFAS have multiple toxic effects, particularly affecting liver, kidney, thyroid, and the immune system. The latter effect is the basis for the establishment of a tolerable weekly dose of only 4.4 ng/kg body weight for the sum of the four representatives PFOA, PFOS, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 2020. Exposure estimates and human biomonitoring show that this value is frequently reached, and in many cases exceeded. PFAS are a major challenge for analysis, especially of products and waste: single-substance analyses capture only a fragment of the large, diverse family of PFAS. As a consequence, sum parameters have gained increasing importance. The high mobility of per and polyfluorinated carboxylic and sulfonic acids makes soil and groundwater pollution at contaminated sites a problem. In general, short-chain PFAS are more mobile than long-chain ones. Processes for soil and groundwater purification and drinking water treatment are often ineffective and expensive. Recycling of PFAS-containing products such as paper and food packaging leads to carryover of the contaminants. Incineration requires high temperatures to completely destroy PFAS. After PFOA, PFOS and a few other perfluorinated carboxylic and sulfonic acids were regulated internationally, many manufacturers and users switched to other PFAS: short-chain representatives, per- and polyfluorinated oxo carboxylic acids, telomeric alcohols and acids. Analytical studies show an increase in environmental concentrations of these chemicals. Ultra-short PFAS (chain length C1–C3) have not been well studied. Among others, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) is present globally in rapidly increasing concentrations.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The substitution of individual PFAS recognized as hazardous by other possibly equally hazardous PFAS with virtually unknown chronic toxicity can, therefore, not be a solution. The only answer is a switch to fluorine-free alternatives for all applicatio","PeriodicalId":54293,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Sciences Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://enveurope.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12302-023-00721-8","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"4901901","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Determination of aerobic and anaerobic biological degradability of waste tyres","authors":"Dagmar Samešová,&nbsp;Juraj Poništ,&nbsp;Helena Hybská,&nbsp;Adam Pochyba,&nbsp;Marián Schwarz,&nbsp;Jozef Salva","doi":"10.1186/s12302-023-00723-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12302-023-00723-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Environmental contamination of rubber from waste tyres poses a risk to the environment. Rubber particles from tyres enter the environment due to the abrasiveness of the road surface. The aim of the scientific work was to observe the biological degradability of waste tyres in aquatic environment and its ecotoxicity. Biodegradability was observed under aerobic and anaerobic conditions that simulate both aerobic and anaerobic conditions in the aquatic natural environment. Aerobic conditions in the aquatic environment take place in flowing fresh water, sea water, lakes. Leachate was prepared to simulate the behaviour of tyres in an aqueous environment. Aerobic degradability was evaluated through complete biodegradability using a 301 F manometric respirometry test. Anaerobic biodegradability was evaluated by measuring biogas production using OECD 311 Anaerobic Biodegradability of Organic Compounds in Digested Sludge. For a better simulation of the natural environment, the pH of the leachates from the tyres was adjusted to a neutral range. It should be noted that standard degradability tests were extended by 7 days due to low biodegradability. Adjusting the pH during the biodegradability test is also a modification of the original test. This modification was used to better simulate biodegradability when the pH of tyres in the natural environment is reduced by acid rain. An essential part of monitoring the behaviour of waste tyres was the assessment of ecotoxicity using standard tests. The contribution of the scientific article lies in the evaluation of the course of decomposition in aerobic and anaerobic conditions with and without pH adjustment and in the use of modified biodegradability tests. The benefit of the scientific work is in the determination of the biodegradability of waste tyres with and without pH treatment, which simulate a comparison of the degradability of tyres in an acid rain environment. Another benefit of the scientific work is the depiction of biodegradation using 3D modelling with calculations of 100% degradability at different input concentrations of waste tyres. Modelling was used for the time for the absolute decomposition of tyres without pH adjustment (outside the acid rain environment) and with pH adjustment (in the acid rain environment). By monitoring, it is possible to determine whether acid rain as an anthropogenic activity influences the degradability of waste tyres in the natural environment. Biodegradability tests confirmed the low biological degradability of waste tyres. The highest average rate of biological degradability—15% was recorded at the input concentration of waste tyres of 350 mg/L. The aerobic degradability test confirmed the improvement of tyre decomposition when adjusting the pH to the level of 6.5–7.5. On the contrary, the anaerobic degradability test confirmed the improvement of the decomposition in the alkaline region compared to the neutral pH values of the mixture. By mathematical–statisti","PeriodicalId":54293,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Sciences Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://enveurope.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12302-023-00723-6","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"4620394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Similarities and differences in the rhizosphere biota among different ephemeral desert plants in Gurbantünggüt Desert","authors":"Yang Yang,&nbsp;Weiguo Liu,&nbsp;Tingwen Huang,&nbsp;Yaru Yang","doi":"10.1186/s12302-023-00724-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12302-023-00724-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>The interactions between rhizosphere microbial community and ephemeral desert plants strongly affect the ecological protection, restoration and reconstruction in deserts. Ephemeral desert plants as the pioneer plants in the succession are widely distributed in deserts. However, how the ephemeral desert plants assemble their rhizosphere microbiota to adapt to arid and semi-arid environments has been little explored. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing techniques to compare rhizosphere bacterial communities and functions with different ephemeral desert plants composition from Gurbantünggüt Desert in western China.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>These plants had the same dominant bacterial phyla, which approximately counted 98% of the total bacterial communities. But the bacterial communities had significant differences (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.05) in the composition, structure, diversity and functions of all groups. When comparing every two groups, similarities appeared in the composition, structure and functions of rhizosphere microbiota, and within each group, it is more likely that the rhizosphere bacterial communities of closely related ephemeral desert plants tend to be consistent. Additionally, the rhizosphere bacterial taxa had more similarities in predicted functions. And the predicted functions were correlated with the dominant bacterial phyla.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Overall, to adapt to the arid and semi-arid environments, the rhizosphere bacterial communities of ephemeral desert plants appear similarities based on having differences. This finding will help to understand the importance of how plants and soil microorganisms cooperate in the process of adaption to arid and semi-arid environments.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":54293,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Sciences Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://enveurope.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12302-023-00724-5","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"4429369","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Integration of omics analyses into GMO risk assessment in Europe: a case study from soybean field trials","authors":"Rafael Fonseca Benevenuto,&nbsp;Caroline Bedin Zanatta,&nbsp;Friedrich Waßmann,&nbsp;Michael F. Eckerstorfer,&nbsp;Sarah Zanon Agapito-Tenfen","doi":"10.1186/s12302-023-00715-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12302-023-00715-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In Europe, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are subject to an authorization process including a mandatory risk assessment. According to the respective guidance by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), one of the pillars of this GMO risk assessment is a comparative analysis of the compositional and agronomic characteristics. This targeted approach has been criticized for its limitations, as it only considers pre-determined compounds, being insufficient to assess a comprehensive range of relevant compounds, including toxins and anti-nutrients, on a case-specific basis. Strategies based on advanced untargeted omics technologies have been proposed as a potential broader approach to be implemented into the initial step of the risk assessment framework. Here, we provide an example of a step-by-step omics analysis based on systems biology approach to fit into the context of European GMO regulation. We have performed field trial experiments with genetically modified (GM) Intacta™ Roundup Ready™ 2 Pro soybean containing both cry1Ac and cp4epsps transgenic inserts and analyzed its proteomic profile against the non-GM counterpart and reference varieties. Based on EFSA’s comparative endpoint-by-endpoint approach, the proteomics analysis revealed six proteins from the GMO outside the 99% tolerance intervals of reference varieties (RVs) in the equivalence test. Interestingly, from the near-isogenic (non-GM) comparator we found as many as ten proteins to be outside of the said RVs’ equivalence limits. According to EFSA’s statistical guidelines, differences found in metabolite abundance between a GMO and its non-GM comparator would not be considered biologically relevant as all compounds of concern remained within the equivalence limits of commercial RVs. By assessing the proteomic and metabolomic data through our proposed systems biology approach, we found 70 proteins, and the metabolite xylobiose as differentially expressed between the GMO and its non-GM comparator. Biological relevance of such results was revealed through a functional biological network analysis, where we found alterations in several metabolic pathways related to protein synthesis and protein processing. Moreover, the allergenicity analysis identified 43 proteins with allergenic potential being differentially expressed in the GM soybean variety. Our results demonstrate that implementation of advanced untargeted omics technologies in the risk assessment of GMOs will enable early and holistic assessment of possible adverse effects. The proposed approach can provide a better understanding of the specific unintended effects of the genetic modification on the plant’s metabolism, the involved biological networks, and their interactions, and allows to formulate and investigate dedicated risk hypotheses in the first place. We draw conclusions on a detailed comparison with the comparative assessment according to EFSA and provide scientific arguments and examples on how the current co","PeriodicalId":54293,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Sciences Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://enveurope.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12302-023-00715-6","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"4819902","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Plastic contamination in agricultural soils: a review","authors":"Ibrahim Sa’adu,&nbsp;Andrea Farsang","doi":"10.1186/s12302-023-00720-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12302-023-00720-9","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Researchers are focused on the global issue of plastic contamination in agricultural soils because of the known effects of plastics on the soil ecosystem. Previous reviews did not pay attention to plastic sources, standardized extraction methods, soil characterization, and the abundance of plastics in agricultural soils. This study aims to review up-to-the-minute knowledge about plastic contamination studies, suggest the best method for microplastic studies, and propose future research areas. The research about plastic contamination in agricultural soils published from January 2018 to March 2022 was reviewed for this review article. Studies focusing on microplastics in soils other than agricultural soils were not considered in the present review. The data were acquired from several databases, namely Web of Science and Google Scholar. The keywords used to search these databases were \"microplastics AND agricultural soils\" and \"macroplastics AND agricultural soils\". Other literature sources were obtained from the reference lists of downloaded articles, and other pieces of literature that directly dealt with macroplastic and microplastic contamination in agricultural soils were obtained from relevant journals and books. Overall, 120 sources of literature, including 102 original research articles, 13 review articles, and five books, were selected, reviewed, and synthesized. As expected, agricultural soils, including arable lands, paddy lands, uplands, irrigation, and greenhouse soils, receive plastic contaminants. The contaminants of different sizes and forms are distributed spatially and temporally in the surface, subsurface, and profiles of the agricultural soils. Unlike previous studies that reported many studies on sewage sludge, the significant sources of plastic contamination in the agricultural soils included mulching, sludge and compost placement, and greenhouses abandonment. The distribution of plastic contamination studies in the agricultural lands is Asia: 60%; Europe: 29%; Africa: 4%; North America: 4%; Latin America: 3%; and Australia: 0%. After careful analysis of the methods used for the plastics contamination studies, the study concluded that floatations with low-density solutions such as distilled water and NaCl are efficient in separating light-density microplastics. In contrast, ZnCl and NaI are incredibly efficient in separating the heavy-density microplastics. Moreover, this review provides insight for future research in the field.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":54293,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Sciences Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://enveurope.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12302-023-00720-9","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"4679319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Sorptive removal of short-chain perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during drinking water treatment using activated carbon and anion exchanger","authors":"Marcel Riegel,&nbsp;Brigitte Haist-Gulde,&nbsp;Frank Sacher","doi":"10.1186/s12302-023-00716-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12302-023-00716-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Laboratory tests and column tests were carried out in a waterwoks to investigate the removal of short- and long-chain PFAS using activated carbon filtration and ion exchange treatment. For all adsorbents, the sorption affinity of short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCA) was significantly lower than that of long-chain PFAS or short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSA). In the PFAS-polluted groundwater matrix, the short-chain PFCA PFBA and PFPeA could only be sufficiently removed with activated carbon over short run times of 6000 and 11,000 bed volumes (BV), respectively. Longer PFCA with a chain length of C6 or more were removed over longer run times.</p><p>The removal of short-chain PFCA using ion exchange media could also only be achieved over relatively short run times of 5000 BV for PFBA, 10,000BV for PFPeA and 18,000 BV for PFHxA. These are sometimes significantly longer than those of activated carbon. Due to the higher material costs for ion exchange media, there are nevertheless no lower operating costs when the ion exchangers are used in single-use mode. However, ion exchangers can be regenerated and then reused which can result in economic advantages compared to activated carbon filtration. However, for the extensive regeneration, especially for the elution of the long-chain PFAS, the additional use of ethanol is needed in the process. In contrast, the short-chain PFBA and PFPeA can be extracted without organic solvent from a weakly basic ion exchanger.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":54293,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Sciences Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://enveurope.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12302-023-00716-5","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"4608220","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Scoring scheme for Comparative Ranking of impact potential of chemical Alternatives (SCoRA)","authors":"Monika Nendza,&nbsp;Stefan Hahn,&nbsp;Michael Klein,&nbsp;Ursula Klaschka,&nbsp;Silke Gabbert","doi":"10.1186/s12302-023-00718-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12302-023-00718-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h2>\u0000 <span>Abstract</span>\u0000 </h2><div><h3>Background</h3><p>Replacing hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives is essential for a toxic-free environment. To avoid regrettable substitution, a comparison of the entire spectrum of potential impacts of the candidate for substitution with those of the available alternatives is required. A particular challenge is to also capture yet unknown long-term impacts of (very) persistent chemicals, including but not limited to PBT and CMR properties.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>For a flexible and transparent comparative ranking of the impact potential of chemical alternatives, we propose a concern-based scoring scheme (Scoring scheme for Comparative Ranking of chemical Alternatives, SCoRA). The approach accounts for hazards due to ecotoxicity in water/sediment and soil, and effects on human health such as CMR properties and endocrine disruption. This is combined with exposure-related information in terms of expected environmental pollution stock levels. The SCoRA approach is illustrated with case study chemicals of very high concern (15 SVHC, mostly PBT, representing different chemical classes with different modes of bioaccumulation and toxicity). A comparison of PBT substances reveals that SCoRA goes well beyond binary screening criteria (PBT: yes/no), showing that PBT substances are all of very high concern, although their impact profiles can be substantially different. Ordinal scores support a detailed characterisation of their potential for long-term impacts. Furthermore, SCoRA enables a coherent comparative assessment of substances with different primary concerns, for example PBTness and endocrine disruption.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>SCoRA complements existing and established tools such as comparative risk assessment. It is particularly useful, when, for example, only limited data are available or when risk assessment is not feasible, as in the case of persistent chemicals. A strength of SCoRA is that the relative contributions of the impact components determining the concern can be visualised with a heatmap and fingerprints. This facilitates communication among scientists, regulators, risk managers, stakeholders and the public.</p></div></div>","PeriodicalId":54293,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Sciences Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://enveurope.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12302-023-00718-3","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"4605681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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}