Current Opinion in Environmental Science and Health最新文献

Wildfires, exacerbated by climate change and human activities, threaten global ecosystems and societies. Urgent soil restoration strategies are needed to combat the resulting land degradation. Nature-based solutions (NBS) are emerging as sustainable methods to revitalize fire-affected soils and improve ecosystem recovery and resilience. Herein we provide an overview of key NBS strategies, namely microbial soil remediation, biochar application, mulching, seeding, and erosion control. Challenges in scaling and standardizing NBS remain and require robust evaluation frameworks. Further research should quantify the effectiveness of NBS, facilitate its integration into policy and mitigation strategies, and promote public and scientific acceptance. NBS offers a proactive approach to address escalating wildfire risks and harness nature's resilience to restore fire-affected landscapes and maintain the delicate balance between communities and ecosystems in the face of growing environmental challenges.

Socio-economic activities in a territory entail an environmental impact on the ecosystems. This impact is usually negative on the land and biodiversity since food production replaces the original land covered by pastures and crops, while mineral extraction goes further by completely eliminating the soil and subsoil layers. In many countries, the intensive use of land for agriculture and livestock, as well as mining, has left great environmental liabilities, represented in eroded lands that can no longer sustain a minimum profitable production and also lack the sufficient capacity for spontaneous natural regeneration. Therefore, high expenses for engineering solutions are needed in order to restore the land to an optimal ecological condition. Nature-based solutions (NBS) have become a hot topic in the last few years and seem to be a more sustainable strategy for the reclamation of degraded lands. The main feature of NBS is that it mimics the natural reparation processes that take place in disturbed environments, leading to a progressive improvement of ecological function. In this short review, we present applications and perspectives for land restoration through NBS.

Toxic gases including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), industrial inorganic gases (H₂S, NO_x, SO_x, etc.) and pesticides show great harm to the environment and high risk to human health. Effective nanomaterials play a key role in real-time sensitive identification of the concentration of toxic gases and removing the toxic gases. Atomic layer deposition has emerged as a powerful and precise technique to design effective nanomaterials for sensing and removing toxic gases. Therefore, in this review, we first present the sensing mechanism and removing mechanism of nanomaterials to understand the structure–performance relationship. Then, we review the application of state-of-the-art ALD in the design and fabrication of high sensing and removing materials in recent years. Finally, we provide perspectives and opportunities about the design of effective materials and directions of ALD for sensing/removing toxic gases in the future.

Ammonia is currently widely used for fertilizers, and it continues to grow as a potential green fuel source or hydrogen carrier which may result in growing ammonia emissions. Increasing anthropogenic ammonia emissions raises concerns such as disrupting the global nitrogen cycle and negating greenhouse gas reduction. This review article outlines and compiles recent studies on gaseous ammonia detecting and absorption/adsorption, which could alert or reduce rogue emissions, i.e., unintended releases of ammonia. Different sensors and their characteristics are outlined with a focus on the more popular chemoresistive technologies. Several absorption/adsorption methods for ammonia capture using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are described and certain research highlighted.

The emerging environmental concerns and the subsequent surge in microplastic (MP) research can be linked to their extensive presence and the subsequent adverse impact on the ecosystem, necessitating the identification of efficacious, environmentally conscious and economically feasible MP mitigating technologies. In this veneration, different technological approaches are compared based on removal efficiencies, environmental impacts and economic feasibility. Critical comparison of existing technologies by using life cycle assessment, techno-economic and strength-weakness-opportunity-threat analysis showed that the chemical methods exhibit better removal efficiencies, whereas the hybrid methods exhibited better environmental and economic feasibility. The secondary pollution caused by the existing physical and biological treatment methods is also highlighted along with the focus on the need for further research in developing sustainable and efficient MP removal technology.

Water shortages in arid and semi-arid ecosystems can cause changes to the structures and functions of landscapes and respective ecosystem services. A useful framework for understanding the effects of land use changes at the watershed scale and, therefore, allowing us to provide efficient management strategies to decision-makers is hydrological connectivity. In the context of sustainable development, the implementation of vegetation and engineering strategies for watershed management is crucial, particularly in the Loess Plateau region of China. Here, we briefly review the application of hydrological connectivity in integrated watershed management, specifically applied to the Chinese ones. A case study is presented to put forward a potential way to optimize the current environmental patterns with connectivity situations. Our proposal posits that hydrological connectivity can serve as a nature-based solution to meet the growing need for scientifically informed integrated watershed management in water-scarce ecosystems, particularly in light of the escalating effects of climate change.

Currently, there are more than 350,000 chemicals in use, while their ecological effects are not fully understood. In this review, we focus on pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products and discuss their potential impact on aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem functions. We critically reflect on strategies to reduce their environmental release and mitigate potential effects. Various mitigation strategies are available to reduce contaminant concentrations in surface waters, but their efficiency varies under the current procedures. Intervening at the start of chemicals' life cycles or reducing their diversity and production amounts holds promise for reducing surface water exposure. This approach could facilitate appropriate environmental risk assessments for each authorized chemical.

Airborne particulate matter pollution has become a significant global health concern due to its detrimental effects on human health, including cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Mitochondrial epigenetics hold enormous potential for developing biomarkers that discern the effects of air pollution–associated CVDs risk and emergence. A reliable approach to characterize mtDNA is essential as omics-based tools to profile cell-free circulating mtDNA copy number, heteroplasmic mutations, and methylation. Investigating regulatory mechanisms for methylated mtDNA in CVDs patients requires unique molecular epidemiological insights. With a focus on the negative effects of PM exposure on mitochondrial dynamics, protein expression, and metabolomic profiles that underlie the molecular mechanisms, this article aims to provide an in-depth assessment of the current knowledge on mitochondrial biomarkers as potential indicators of PM-associated CVDs. Furthermore, we examine the potential of cell-free circulating mtDNA and cellular entities detected in circulation as a predictive biomarker to mitigate the more severe effects of ambient air pollution on cardiovascular disorders.

Air pollution implies significant threats for the human health and the surrounding environment. In recent years, a great deal of research has been carried out on the detection and removal of air pollutants through the development of novel multifunctional nanomaterials. In this paper, such emerging nanomaterials (e.g. metal oxide, metal–organic framework, graphene, MXenes, quantum dots, plasmonic, etc. based nanostructures) with high stability, sensitivity down to parts-per-billion level and excellent removal efficiency for air pollutants have been discussed. The focus is on specific strategies and recent highlights of the development of emerging nanomaterials for environmental and health monitoring. Furthermore, the challenges and future prospects are discussed.