Current Opinion in Environmental Science and Health最新文献

This works examines the entire spectrum of ‘Environmental Surveillance (EnvSurv)’ of SARS-CoV-2 fragments i.e. the questions, quests, and conquests of the technology since early year 2020. The prime focus of the present work to document the journey with achieved objectives and remaining ambitions associated with the technology. Despite the EnvSurv may be regarded as the techniques, which rather achieved more than expected, will it win the struggle for its existence or lose its way once the pandemic and fear associated with it completely fades. Pertaining to this discussions, major researched topics were investigated, followed by enlisting of ten bullets of the past experiences along with corresponding challenges, and finally key targets for the techniques are enlisted. The article targets to be a simple guide of the journey of EnvSur in terms of its effectiveness for treatment, infectivity, monitoring & estimation (TIME) till date.

The persistent, mobile, and toxic ether 1,4-dioxane poses a risk to German drinking water production. Even though groundwater provides the largest share of German drinking water supply, regionally, these resources have to be complemented by surface waters, which are locally exceeding the German drinking water guidance value of 5 μg/L. Contamination predominantly originates from wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents as major point sources. Case studies show that commonly applied raw water extraction methods such as river bank filtration (RBF) do not act as sufficient barriers against source water contamination with 1,4-dioxane, consequently, drinking water concentrations of up to > 2 μg/L were determined. Emission mitigation measures as advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) were assessed and resulted in a reduction of surface and drinking water concentrations. Since 1,4-dioxane has also been proven to be a contaminant in German groundwater in concentrations of up to 152 μg/L at selected sites, drinking water relevant groundwater should be increasingly monitored.

Environmental pollution is a major global public health problem, which has been extensively associated with several adverse health outcomes in both developed and undeveloped countries. In this review, we aimed at summarizing the most recent epidemiological evidence on the association between environmental pollutants intake and possible adverse health effects in children. What emerged is that several contaminants negatively affect children's health. In particular, exposure to heavy metals, plastic-derived chemicals, pesticides, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have been associated with developmental disorders, cancers, allergies, and obesity in children.

Increasing consumers’ demand for foods with a lower environmental impact requires the introduction of effective traceability technologies ensuring the integrity of the information provided. Blockchain technology (BCT) has been the most used for this purpose. However, to effectively implement a BCT system, it is important to map the determinants that influence its consumers’ acceptance. For these reasons, we conducted a mini-narrative review summarizing the factors that impact on BCT acceptance. The results showed that the aspects related to technology/product features are the most studied, while individual and social variables are less explored. Moreover, the relationships between the acceptability of BCT, the type of foods tracked, and the socio-economic characteristics of countries in which this technology is implemented were not deep.

Nanomaterials are widely used for enzyme immobilization purposes to impart desired functionality, including superior catalytic features, high stability, high specificity, and recyclability to reduce the cost of the bioprocess. The immobilization technology can stabilize the enzymes structures against chemical and/or environmental damage. The enzyme-loaded nanocarriers could be recovered and processed in another cycle that indicates bioprocess's cost-effectiveness. Combining nanostructured materials with biotechnological processes has provided an efficient platform to design state-of-the-art nanostructures for enzyme loading inducing desired characteristics. This review aimed to summarize different nanomaterials (including silica-based, metal-based, polymer-based, and carbon-based) for their enzyme immobilization potentialities. Furthermore, the applications of these enzyme-loaded nanomaterials in environmental remediation, i.e., the removal of pharmaceutical compounds and textile dyes, have been described in detail.

Microplastics (MPs) and Nanoplastics (NPs) are ubiquitous pollutants which have been widely recognized as a threat to soil ecosystems. Soil fauna includes many different organisms such as earthworms, Collembola, mites, and nematodes and its activity is essential for maintaining a correct level of soil productivity and health. Once MNPs are ingested by terrestrial animals, they can cause several negative physiological effects including gut dysbiosis. MNPs driven changes in gut microbiota are often overlooked but could result in significant ecosystemic risks. Our current opinion is that gut dysbiosis can have repercussions on soil microbial community composition, functioning and on ecosystemic services. Furthermore, the current number of studies on the effects of MNPs on soil fauna gut microbiome is still very limited. Future research should thus further investigate the effects of MNPs on gut microbiota. Moreover, the relationship between terrestrial fauna intestinal microbiome and soil functionality needs to be considered and more in-depth researched.

Detection of 1,4-dioxane has been reported in shallow groundwater in neighborhoods of the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan has a voluntary 1,4-dioxane shallow groundwater screening level based on its potential for vapor intrusion. Calculations show that if 1,4-dioxane-contaminated water were to enter a basement and evaporate, potentially unhealthy concentrations of 1,4-dioxane could arise in homes with damp basements under certain conditions. Potential residential risk is suggested if: 1) shallow groundwater is within 3 m of the surface, 2) groundwater 1,4-dioxane concentration exceeds 150 μg/L, and 3) a basement has higher humidity than the upper floors. Different from vapor intrusion, this suggests that liquid water intrusion with subsequent volatilization within a structure may be a novel exposure pathway for 1,4-dioxane.

Food production contributes to 21–37% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, 70% of water withdrawals and occupies more than 40% of lands. Despite one third of the food produced is wasted, access to food and healthy diets are not guaranteed to all. Sustainable nutrition investigates how to transition to healthy and sustainable food consumption. This review provides the most updated findings on sustainable diets by summarizing the most recent studies on its dimensions, the metrics used to determine and describe it and the shortcomings in this field. The literature reports the higher value of greenhouse gas emissions and land use for animal-source diets, either for self-selected diets or recommended dietary patterns. Water footprint of diets can vary a lot across countries and dietary patterns and is dependent on trading and food origin. The environmental impacts of diets have been merged to nutrient density indexes and morality rate, but indicators are not yet standardized and the literature presents a research gap in this field.

Livestock and their productions are indicated among the activities with the highest impact on the environment. This short review reports a brief description of the latest research on the sustainability of livestock farming assessed both as climate-altering emissions, including the adequacy of methane metrics, the carbon stock balances, and water consumption. This review also describes the reductions in impacts by using agroecology to develop nutrient recycling, carbon-neutral livestock systems, and sustainable food with the adoption of sustainable diets and attention to food waste. This knowledge can be useful in better evaluating these issues from both scientific and policy perspectives.

Toys and children's jewelry may contain potentially toxic elements (PTEs), among which Pb and Cd pose the highest risks due to their toxicity and abundance. Metallic toys and jewelry form the most problematic category. Children's exposure scenarios to contaminated items include ingestion, mouthing, and dermal contact (in order of severity). Using PTE bioaccessibility (migratable fraction in physiological fluids) in risk characterization helps assessing risks more accurately than using total PTE concentrations. Key research challenges with bioaccessibility include test improvements, standardization, and in vivo validation. Legal limits should be ideally implemented on migratable (instead of total) PTE concentrations for toys, children's jewelry, and other children's goods. Furthermore, jewelry testing for legal limits should be conducted on damaged items (simulating mouthing behavior) as damage to metallic items could cause drastic increases in PTE bioaccessibility. Utilizing recycled materials for production is promising for sustainability, but contaminant bioavailability must be thoroughly investigated.