Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts最新文献

{"title":"Antimony mobility in soils: current understanding and future research directions.","authors":"Lara da Costa, Jakob Zopfi, Christine Alewell, Moritz F Lehmann, Markus Lenz","doi":"10.1039/d4em00743c","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4em00743c","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Antimony (Sb) has gained increased attention over the past few decades due to its possible detrimental effects on biota and its potential to leach and disperse from contaminated soils. The fate of Sb in the environment is largely controlled by its chemical speciation, as well as the speciation of solid phases (<i>e.g.</i> Mn/Fe-oxyhydroxides) that interact with Sb in soils. Microbes have the capacity to facilitate a multitude of oxidation and reduction reactions in soils. Therefore, they exert control over the reactivity of Sb in the environment, either directly and/or indirectly, by changing Sb speciation and/or affecting the redox state of soil solid phases. Here, we outline processes that determine the behaviour of Sb in soils. We conclude that based on laboratory studies there is a good theoretical understanding of pure soil components interacting with Sb species. However, comparatively little is known concerning the contribution of these interactions in complex natural systems that are dynamic in terms of biogeochemical conditions and that can hardly be simulated using laboratory incubations. We note that important biochemical foundations of microbially driven Sb conversions (<i>i.e.</i> molecular constraints on organisms, genes and enzymes involved) have emerged recently. Again, these are based on laboratory incubations and investigations in environments high in Sb. In this regard, an important remaining question is which microorganisms actively impact Sb speciation under real-world conditions, in particular where Sb concentrations are low. Multiple dissolved Sb species have been described in the literature. We note that more analytical development is needed to identify and quantify possible key Sb species in natural systems, as well as anthropogenically impacted environments with only moderate Sb concentrations. With these research needs addressed, we believe that the Sb fate in the environment can be more accurately assessed, and remediation options can be developed.</p>","PeriodicalId":74,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143661635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Tiny pollutants, big consequences: investigating the influence of nano- and microplastics on soil properties and plant health with mitigation strategies.","authors":"H Wael, E B Vanessa, N Mantoura, D Elie Antonios","doi":"10.1039/d4em00688g","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4em00688g","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The impact of nanoplastics (NPs) and microplastics (MPs) on ecosystems and human health has recently emerged as a significant challenge within the United Nations Agenda 2030, drawing global attention. This paper provides a critical analysis of the influence of plastic particles on plants and soils, with the majority of data collected from recent studies, primarily over the past five years. The absorption and translocation mechanisms of NPs/MPs in plants are first described, followed by an explanation of their effects-especially particles like PE, PS, PVC, PLA, and PES, as well as those contaminated with heavy metals-on plant growth, physiology, germination, oxidative stress, and nutrient uptake. The study also links the characteristics of plastics (size, shape, concentration, type, degradability) to changes in the physical, chemical, and microbial properties of soils. Various mitigation strategies, including physical, chemical, and biological processes, are explored to understand how they address these changes. However, further research, including both laboratory and field investigations, is urgently needed to address knowledge gaps, particularly regarding the long-term effects of MPs, their underlying mechanisms, ecotoxicological impacts, and the complex interactions between MPs and soil properties. This research is crucial for advancing sustainability from various perspectives and should contribute significantly toward achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs).</p>","PeriodicalId":74,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143668499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Investigating the adsorption of organic compounds onto microplastics <i>via</i> experimental, simulation, and prediction methods.","authors":"Ya Wang, Peng Zhao, Honghong Yi, Xiaolong Tang","doi":"10.1039/d4em00586d","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4em00586d","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Exploring the adsorption of organic compounds onto microplastics (MPs) is of great significance for understanding their environmental fate and evaluating their ecological risks. To date, various techniques, <i>e.g.</i>, experiments, simulations, and prediction models, have been utilized for exploring the adsorption of different organic compounds onto MPs. In this review, we systematically introduce the sources of MPs, the interactions between MPs and organic compounds, the factors influencing the adsorption of organic compounds onto MPs, and research advances in investigating the adsorption of organic compounds by microplastics with different techniques. We also point out that the structures of MPs and environmental factors can have distinct effects on the adsorption mechanisms, and the adsorption mechanisms for numerous organic compounds onto MPs are still unclear. Besides, there is a paucity of multi-dimensional models for predicting the adsorption of organic compounds by MPs under different environmental conditions with a single click. We hope that our review can provide insights into the environmental behavior and fate of organic compounds and microplastics, as well as also guiding future research on the adsorption of organic compounds onto microplastics.</p>","PeriodicalId":74,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143661637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Effects of urban particulate matter on the secondary structure of albumin.","authors":"Samal Kaumbekova, Naoya Sakaguchi, Yuto Miyamoto, Atsuto Onoda, Yasuhiro Ishihara, Masakazu Umezawa","doi":"10.1039/d4em00766b","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4em00766b","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Particulate air pollution is an environmental problem recognized as a global public health issue. Although the toxicological effects of environmental particle matter (PM) have been reported, the mechanism underlying the effect of PM on protein conformational changes, which are associated with the development of various diseases, has yet to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated the effect of urban PM on the secondary structure of proteins using bovine serum albumin (BSA). An urban aerosol (CRM28) was used as the original PM (PMO) and washed with acetone to investigate the effect of PM with two different chemical compositions. After washing with acetone, the remaining PM fraction contained decreased amounts of ions and carbon, while the metallic concentration was increased; thus, this PM fraction was labeled as PMM. After incubation of BSA with PM, the samples were subjected to Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to investigate the changes in the absorption peak of the amide I band. BSA incubated with PMO and PMM showed an increase in the β-sheet ratio to the total secondary structure. Furthermore, the β-sheet content was more significantly increased when mixed with PMM (by 22.6%), indicating a more significant effect of the metallic fraction on the formation of β-sheets. In comparison, the lowest total amount of α-helix and β-sheets (with a decrease of 8.5%) was observed after incubation with PMO, associated with the protein partial unfolding in the presence of ions and carbonaceous PM constituents. The potential of a long-term effect of PM composition on protein structure would be of future interest in <i>in vivo</i> time-course studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":74,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143655662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Yearlong study of indoor VOC variability: insights into spatial, temporal, and contextual dynamics of indoor VOC exposure.","authors":"Thomas Warburton, Jacqueline F Hamilton, Nicola Carslaw, Rosemary R C McEachan, Tiffany C Yang, James R Hopkins, Stephen J Andrews, Alastair C Lewis","doi":"10.1039/d4em00756e","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d4em00756e","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are released from many sources indoors, with ingress of outdoor air being an additional source of these species indoors. We report indoor VOC concentrations for 124 homes in Bradford in the UK, collected between March 2023 and April 2024. Whole air samples were collected over 72 hours in the main living area of the home. Total VOC (TVOC) concentrations in the homes were highly variable, ranging from 100 μg m^-3 to >8000 μg m^-3 (median concentration ∼1000 μg m^-3). Acetaldehyde and 1,3-butadiene concentrations in >75% of homes were found to be in exceedance of the 1 in 1 000 000 lifetime cancer risk threshold. Higher concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) as well as trimethylbenzenes were found in urban houses (summed xylene median 2.35 μg m^-3) compared to rural homes (summed xylene median 1.22 μg m^-3, <i>p</i>-value = 0.02), driven by ingress of elevated outdoor BTEX and trimethylbenzenes (outdoor urban BTEX median 1.69 μg m^-3, outdoor rural BTEX median 0.78 μg m^-3). Inferred air change rate (ACR) exhibited a degree of seasonality, with average ACR varying between median values of 1.2 h^-1 in the summer and 0.70 h^-1 in winter. Time-averaged emission rate data provided additional insight compared to measured concentrations, such as seasonal variability, with highest total VOC time-averaged emission rates occurring in summer months (median 51 953 μg h^-1), potentially a product of both increased occupancy times during school holidays as well as off-gassing of VOCs from surfaces. This comprehensive analysis underscores the critical role of seasonal, spatial, and contextual factors in shaping indoor VOC exposure, as well as potential health risks associated with consistently elevated concentrations of specific VOCs.</p>","PeriodicalId":74,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11921335/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143655664","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":"Enhanced residual risk of abamectin induced by 6PPD: in water, soil, and vegetables.","authors":"Jiawen Ji, Siyue Zhu, Xinping Hu, Jianhui Zhu, Sen Pang, Yongqiang Ma, Xuefeng Li","doi":"10.1039/d5em00053j","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5em00053j","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Abamectin, one of the most widely used pesticides globally, is known for its effectiveness in protecting crops and animal health. However, the residual risk of abamectin in agricultural products and the environment may be exacerbated by other pollutants, posing greater potential hazards. One such emerging environmental pollutant is <i>N</i>-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-<i>N</i>'-phenyl-<i>p</i>-phenylenediamine (6PPD), a common tire antioxidant found in various environments, including agricultural products and human urine. Our study is the first to reveal the co-existence of 6PPD and abamectin in water and soil, and it demonstrated that 6PPD significantly enhances the residual persistence of abamectin in environmental media and vegetables. Specifically, 6PPD extended the half-life of abamectin by 79% in pak choi and by 70% in cabbage. Additionally, 6PPD increased the photolysis half-life of abamectin by 191% in water and by 50% on soil surfaces. Furthermore, 6PPD also prolonged the photolysis half-life of four other macrolides in water. This study reveals the mechanism through which 6PPD extends the half-life of abamectin: by scavenging free radicals and inhibiting hydroxylation and oxidation, thus slowing its degradation. And this paper highlights that 6PPD significantly exacerbates the environmental risks and food safety issue associated with abamectin. Moreover, it provides valuable insights for studying the safe use of pesticides in complex environments with multiple contaminants.</p>","PeriodicalId":74,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143655663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Effect of hydrothermal treatment on plutonium retention in deep liquid radioactive waste disposal.","authors":"Tolganay B Egorova, Anna Yu Romanchuk, Alexander V Egorov, Alexander L Trigub, Elena V Zakharova, Anna G Volkova, Andrey A Zubkov, Irina E Vlasova, Stepan N Kalmykov","doi":"10.1039/d4em00516c","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4em00516c","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Plutonium (Pu)-containing acidic liquid radioactive waste was injected into a deep sandy aquifer disposal (314-386 m) at the Seversk site, Tomsk Region, Russia, over several decades. Herein, laboratory simulation of the near-field conditions of the injection well was conducted, including the waste zone (acetic acid, hydrothermal conditions at 150 °C, pH 2.4), the zone of displacement solutions (nitric acid, pH 1.9, low-level waste, decreasing temperature) and the remote zone with unaltered disposal sands and neutral pH. A study of Pu behavior in the waste zone during 1 and 3 injection cycles (for 50 h) and an additional 3 months of hydrothermal conditioning revealed Pu(IV) sorption on the surface of secondary precipitates, emphasizing the main role of pH in Pu retention and mobility. X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) were used to determine Pu speciation and preferential phases responsible for Pu retention. Long-term leaching of sorbed Pu proved effective but slow reversible Pu sorption, while multiple injection cycles and additional hydrothermal conditioning reduced the mobility of dissolved Pu species by stabilizing solids containing Pu. Pu(V), partly flowing from the nitric acid zone, is largely retained in the remote zone with neutral pH and fresh sands, serving as a natural migration barrier.</p>","PeriodicalId":74,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143646706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Neonicotinoid insecticide sulfoxaflor in the environment: a critical review of environmental fate, degradation mechanism, and toxic effects.","authors":"Yun-Xiu Zhao, Yue Shen, Li-Wen Chen, Jing Li, Ju Yang","doi":"10.1039/d4em00798k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4em00798k","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In recent decades, neonicotinoids (NEOs) have become widely adopted in agriculture for the control of crop pests and plant pathogens, leading to improved crop yields and enhanced agricultural productivity. However, the prolonged and widespread use of NEOs has raised significant concerns regarding their environmental persistence, food safety, and public health risks. These pesticides have been shown to contaminate various environmental compartments, including soil, surface water, and groundwater, posing potential hazards to ecosystems and human health. Microbes play a crucial role in mitigating the environmental impact of toxic pesticides, with microbial degradation emerging as a promising, cost-effective strategy for degrading pesticide residues. Several sulfoxaflor (SUL)-degrading microbes have been isolated and characterized, yet the identification of microbes, genes, and enzymes responsible for the degradation of NEOs remains an area requiring further investigation. Despite some progress, few reviews have comprehensively addressed the underlying mechanisms of NEOs degradation. This paper provides a detailed review of research on the environmental distribution, exposure risks, and ecotoxicological effects of NEOs, with a particular focus on the environmental fate of SUL. It aims to offer a novel perspective on the fate of NEOs in the environment, their potential toxicological effects, and the role of microbes in mitigating their impact.</p>","PeriodicalId":74,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143646716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"A global review of long-range transported lead concentration and isotopic ratio records in snow and ice.","authors":"Hanna L Brooks, Kimberley R Miner, Karl J Kreutz, Dominic A Winski","doi":"10.1039/d4em00526k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4em00526k","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lead (Pb) has been used for centuries in currency, transportation, building materials, cookware, makeup, and medicine. Mining of Pb in the Roman era matched the ever-increasing demand for metallurgy, transportation, and industry, resulting in a marked deposition of human activity in the geologic record. Researchers use global snowpacks and ice cores to study the historic anthropogenic use of Pb and subsequent deposition into the environment. As the cryosphere resources erode with climate warming, there is an increased urgency to map the content and source of Pb distribution in the environment. In this systematic literature review, we examine studies of long-traveled background atmospheric lead signals in natural, undisturbed snowpacks and ice cores globally. After a systematic review of the literature, we have synthesized 165 published papers to contextualize current data availability and examine spatial and temporal coverage of existing long-range transported Pb records. Cumulatively, these papers contain 560 records for individual and transect sample sites. Of these site records, 147 are ice core analyses, 389 are from snowpits, and 24 span the snow to ice transition. The records are globally distributed, with a high concentration of records at the poles and fewer records at low latitude alpine sites. Long timescale records are available from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets (>100 000 years). Shorter timescale records are available for alpine glaciers (>15 000 years) and persistent snowpacks (generally <5 years). To illustrate the research potential of these records, we selected key global records to analyze and contextualize the Pb pollution record from the North Pacific, noting its unique record of China's industrial revolution and the subsequent explosion of industrial output from China over the last 45 years. Finally, we provide recommendations for future studies aimed at reducing current temporal and spatial gaps in the records. We suggest analyzing archived ice cores never before analyzed for Pb, focused proposals on regions with critical data gaps, continuous resampling of sites to include modern Pb emission sources, and use of analysis techniques which have low sample preparation requirements, high sensitivity, and capability for ultra-trace concentration Pb analysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":74,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143584022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Hybrid intelligence for environmental pollution: biodegradability assessment of organic compounds through multimodal integration of graph attention networks and QSAR models.","authors":"Abbas Salimi, Jin Yong Lee","doi":"10.1039/d4em00594e","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4em00594e","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Computational methods are crucial for assessing chemical biodegradability, given their significant impact on both environmental and human health. Organic compounds that are not biodegradable can persist in the environment, contributing to pollution. Our novel approach leverages graph attention networks (GATs) and incorporates node and edge attributes for biodegradability prediction. Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) models using two-dimensional descriptors alongside weighted average and stacking approaches were employed to generate ensemble models. The GAT models demonstrated a stable function and generally higher specificity on the validation set compared to a graph convolutional network, although definitive superiority is challenging to establish owing to overlapping standard deviations. However, the sensitivities tended to decrease with potential performance overlap owing to the interval intersection. Ensemble learning enhanced several performance metrics compared with individual models and base models, with the combination of extreme Gradient Boosting and GAT achieving the highest precision and specificity. Combining GAT with random forest and Gradient Boosting may be preferable for accurately predicting biodegradable molecules, whereas the stacking approach may be suitable for prioritizing the correct classification of nonbiodegradable substances. Important descriptors, such as SpMax1_Bh(m) and SAscore, were identified in at least two QSAR models. Despite inherent complexities, the ease of implementation depends on factors such as data availability, and domain knowledge. Assessing the biodegradability of organic compounds is essential for reducing their environmental impact, assessing risks, ensuring regulatory compliance, promoting sustainable development, and supporting effective pollution remediation. It assists in making informed decisions about chemical use, waste management, and environmental protection.</p>","PeriodicalId":74,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143571587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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}