Current Opinion in Environmental Science and Health最新文献

The sustainability of human life is intricately tied to a dependable supply of clean water, yet persistent anthropogenic activities have resulted in water contamination. This review focuses on health risks associated with disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in drinking water, emanating primarily from treated wastewater. Emerging nitrogenous, carbonaceous DBPs, and iodine-containing species present health concerns, but regulations predominantly target conventional DBPs. The application of nanotechnology in wastewater treatment holds promise for both enhanced treatment efficiency and potential energy savings. Nanotechnology offers a transformative solution, displaying efficacy in addressing DBP challenges. Applications in adsorption, membrane filtration, and catalytic degradation underscore nanomaterial versatility, holding promise for revolutionizing water treatment. Nanoparticles exhibit remarkable adsorption efficiency, membrane filtration benefits from modified membranes, and catalytic degradation processes employing nanoparticles show promise. This paper provides a concise summary of nanotechnology's application in the removal of DBPs from water, serving as a reference for scientists and environmental experts.

Technological progress and heightened industrialization have brought significant advantages to modern society. This is also reflected in the scientific society, as well as in new screen-printed electrodes for pollutant monitoring. However, disposal sensors have been stirring up environmental concerns. The possible environmental impacts require adopting sustainable practices, shifting to renewable materials and energy sources, implementing conservation measures, and promoting eco-friendly technologies. In this sense, the principles of green chemistry and the circular economy can be applied in the manufacturing and application of these devices. Hence, this review presents how environmentally friendly practices can be a powerful alternative for electrochemical sensor manufacturing and applications.

We investigated possible hypothesis related to arsenic (As) enrichment in the aquifer system of Northeast India, and concluded three governing deductions with explicit evidences, namely: i) the tropical environment facilitated leaching driven As release from the rocks; duly supported by reductive dissolution of clay deposition attributed to the seasonal floods in the region. ii) As-containing quaternary sediments succoured by prevailing plate tectonics in active convergent tectonic settings of the Eastern Himalayas and; iii) high precipitation, tropical climate, and biodiversity richness driven microbial mediated weathering of mineral-rich rock formations, contributing to As enrichment. We emphasized the uniqueness of the aquifer systems of Northeastern India for understanding the dynamics of prevalence and co-contaminations of geogenic contaminations like As-F-U, especially in the context of karst aquifer, and surface-groundwater interactions, implying the presence of immense opportunities of getting several insights on the fate and transport of geogenic contamination enabling the global management.

Arsenic (As) contamination has been extensively recognised as one of the serious pollutants in the environment, which is caused mainly by anthropogenic activities. Numerous organisations, comprising of industries, environmental entities, and the general public, are now concentrating on As toxicity and remediation. It is beyond dispute that treating As pollution is important for lowering biodiversity, human health, and the ecology in which they inhabit. This paper extensively discusses the in situ remediation methods of As toxicity in the environment and the accompanying clean-up methods. This review divides the in situ remediation methods, which are used to treat As-contaminated soils viz., extraction, immobilisation, transformation, and degradation, and this categorization is based upon the remediation goals. The adaptability of various remediation technologies varies, and other novel forms of functional materials are more promising substitutes for removal of arsenic.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) can act as a valuable complement to conventional ‘grey’ infrastructure for stormwater management (e.g. dams and dikes) in reducing flood risks as these ‘green’ solutions are perceived to be more flexible and multifunctional. However, to achieve effective NBS, a multi-actor approach in developing appropriate measures for specific sites is required as NBS occupy more space than ‘grey’ infrastructure and often overlap with private land. NBS also necessitate a multidisciplinary approach, to maximise environmental, social, and economic benefits. Thus, a transdisciplinary approach is needed for the effective implementation of NBS. Viewing NBS as a boundary concept, focusing on the common ground for different disciplines and actors, can facilitate communication and provide a first step towards effective flood risk mitigation.

Agricultural and allied sector constitute one of the greatest plastic consumers/users. Plastic undergoes fragmentation in these setups generating micro-/nanoplastics (MPs/NPs), where they share the environment with many toxic/hazardous chemicals and considerable quantities of antibiotics. MPs are contaminants of high priority and are often accompanied by biological contaminants in the form of antibiotic-resistance (ABR) genes (ARGs). Recent reports confirm that the MPs can carry and enrich the ARGs in the environment. However, the information on the spread and persistence of MPs-driven ARGs in aquatic ecosystems associated with agricultural sectors is limited. Due to the heavy MP-inflow, diverse kinds of ARGs are anticipated to be present in agricultural water resources and may therefore be the cause of the ABR. The ecological and health risks associated with the MPs and the related ARGs require genuine consideration and further in-depth investigations for effective and sustainable solutions.

Having affordable, power-lean, yet highly sensitive and selective gas sensors is essential to enable the widespread and continuous monitoring of air pollutant and toxic gases. In the last years the research community has identified two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides as gas sensitive nanomaterials with high potential for developing a new generation of room-temperature operated devices for trace detection in the ambient. This paper reviews the developments and achievements of the last few years, identifies current shortcomings where breakthroughs are most needed, and discusses aspects where research efforts should be put to overcome the main difficulties experienced. These efforts range from gaining more insight in the gas sensing mechanisms to ameliorating the synthesis of transition metal dichalcogenide nanomaterials for better controlling surface, interface and edge chemistry and defects.

Proper vigilance on the levels of various gases of concern, especially the toxic ones, is vital for reducing the risk of environmental damage. This impels the demand for highly accurate and adequate gas-sensing systems, which are in demand but not in practice. This gap can be filled by fifth-generation nano-enabled gas sensors, which can offer room-temperature sensing, flexibility, high-selectivity, low-cost, self-powered operation, humidity resistance, and portable size. These features are the key requirements for integrating gas sensors into modern Internet-of-things systems. This perspective highlights trends and progressions (2020–2023) in developing tailored nanomaterials to fabricate cutting-edge gas sensors for high performance in the desired manner and conditions, for example, point-of-care, and point-of-location testing. The challenges associated with such materials and the scientific endeavors to address such issues have also been discussed.

Cities are among the areas that emit more carbon to the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. It is urgent to mitigate their impact. Nature-based solutions (NBS), terrestrial and water-based, are an excellent option to reverse this trend. Nevertheless, their effectiveness depends on the natural areas where they are established, the type, and the management practices applied. Also, when subjected to an intense human impact, NBS are in poor condition, and their effectiveness in storing carbon is reduced. Overall, terrestrial-based NBS can be an important carbon sink. On the other hand, water-based NBS carbon storage can be more limited and emit other greenhouse gases (e.g., methane and nitrous oxide). NBS must be designed according to the proposed objective and respect the local conditions. This will help improve their effectiveness in carbon sequestration or other purposes.