Current Pollution Reports最新文献

Purpose of the Review

This paper is devoted to the review of the most popular literature Road Traffic Noise Models (RTNMs) frameworks, from the oldest ones to the recent machine learning techniques. A dedicated section is reserved to the review of Noise Emission Models (NEMs), with specific focus on approaches that allow the assessment of single vehicles’ emissions. Finally, some propagation models are also briefly presented, along with the assessment of the impact on the population of road traffic noise, in terms of time-averaged indicators and exposure descriptors.

Recent Findings

In recent years, many efforts have been devoted to developing methods and models to assess the impact of environmental noise. Considering the primary role of road traffic as a noise source, estimating its impact is fundamental when evaluating the acoustic environment of a specific urban area. The scope of RTNMs is to provide an assessment of the noise emitted by the source in terms of traffic flows, propagate it at any desired point, including possible corrective factors, assess the impact at the receiver, and use this information to provide maps and other useful outputs.

Summary

This review summarizes the so-far developed approaches for road traffic noise evaluation and furthermore underscores the ongoing necessity for research to develop more precise tools useful for managing road traffic noise’s adverse effects on urban environments and public well-being. Challenges and limitations of such models are discussed in the conclusions, highlighting the need for providing high quality input data and avoiding site-dependent approaches.

Purpose of Review

Shortage of resources and waste-related problems have been exacerbated in recent years due to the growing population and bustling commercial and industrial development. In this research, the production of volatile fatty acids (VFA) from organic waste streams has been reviewed, focusing on current issues and challenges in promoting the hydrolysis of biopolymers in the organic feedstocks, controlling impacting factors of the fermentation processes, and extraction and purification techniques of these valuable products.

Recent Findings

Development of high sludge concentration systems under acidogenic conditions can be among the key approaches to high VFA productivity systems. An example of comparing VFA platforms with methane versus conventional aerobic treatment of two types of organic-rich wastewater generated in Vietnam shows the potential opportunities for maximizing resource recovery from organic-rich waste streams.

Summary

The main current issues and challenges are the increase in VFA yields, selective VFA product spectrums, and effective harvest of VFA from the fermentation broth. This review presents directive opportunities for the development of waste treatment technology to produce valuable chemicals and materials.

Purpose of Review

An increase in the generation of waste within cities is unavoidable due to the increasing global population growth, particularly in urban areas. Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in these urban areas are being pushed to their design limits resulting in issues with WWTP residual management. This paper reviews potential applications of transitioning a municipal WWTP into an urban biorefinery for converting wastes into various value-added chemicals and energy.

Recent Findings

Primary WWTP-based residuals produced are waste-activated sludge, biosolids, grit, and effluent. These components are becoming viable feedstocks for producing many potential products and can be recovered for commercial purposes as opposed to simple disposal. Example products include chemicals, energy, and transportable biofuels. An advantage to biorefinery operations composed of WWTPs is that they provide greener solutions while posing little to no threat to the environment. There has also been an increasing interest in co-feedstocks to WWTPs, such as municipal solids, food wastes, agriculture wastes, and lignocellulosic biomass, which can enhance product yields while providing sustainable management solutions to these additional waste streams.

Summary

Municipal wastewater influents generated within the USA have a chemical energy potential of 1.3 MJ/person/day which represents about 4% of the total daily electricity consumed globally. The cost of waste management is expected to rise by 5.5% by 2027 which can be significantly lowered by having WWTPs integrated into biorefineries. This review found that there is great potential for converting WWTPs into true biorefineries that can effectively produce numerous value-added chemicals. Often, minor process changes can be applied which will yield the envisoned products. This paper provides the framework towards both commercialization opportunities and needed research.

Purpose of Review

The increasing frequency, magnitude, and duration of cyanobacterial blooms (CyBs) in coastal and inland waters globally are causing serious concern because of the infiltration of cyanotoxins into water reservoirs and their negative effects on aquatic ecosystems and human health. This worrying trend is further exacerbated by the elevated levels of nutrient release in aquatic ecosystems, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations, and increasing temperature associated with climate change, which have significantly exacerbated the issue of CyBs.

Recent Findings

Recent advancements in targeting key cyanobacterial traits have resulted in the development and implementation of next-generation physical methods that combine biological and chemical methodologies to effectively control CyBs. This comprehensive strategy successfully reduces the impact of secondary pollutants on aquatic ecosystems. Furthermore, by controlling nutrient concentrations and the composition of phytoplankton communities, this tailored approach provides an avenue for addressing CyBs’ negative impacts on water quality.

Summary

Extensive researches were conducted recently on cyanobacterial succession in eutrophic aquatic ecosystems to investigate the factors influencing bloom formation and to establish mitigation strategies for controlling and preventing CyBs in water bodies. Despite these advancements, there remain substantial challenges in comprehensively understanding the complex interplay between hydrological patterns, biological diversity, and chemical compositions within aquatic environments. To ensure the long-term sustainability of water resources, it is essential to implement a comprehensive management plan that addresses all aspects of CyB prevention. The review will assess recent advancements in strategies for preventing, controlling, and mitigating CyBs and evaluate their effectiveness and importance in the field, while also providing recommendations for future research in CyB control to further enhance our understanding and management of CyBs.

Purpose of Review

This review provides a comprehensive overview of the technological developments in polarized laser single particle measurement technology (PLSMT), as well as the results and findings obtained by PLSMT in field observations and laboratory studies. This overview of the measurement methods, theoretical simulations, and data mining emphasizes the importance of exploring future prospects for the application of PLSMT in atmospheric research.

Recent Findings

In recent years, the advancement of theoretical simulation methods and instrument measurement techniques has led to the application of PLSMT in the study of dust aerosols, anthropogenic pollution aerosols, atmospheric ice crystals, and bioaerosols. Moreover, researchers have achieved promising results in areas such as air quality modeling and forecasting, large-scale dust transport processes, cloud microphysical processes, and fine aerosol identification using observation data obtained from PLSMT. PLSMT enhances our understanding of the physical and chemical characteristics of atmospheric aerosols.

Summary

Atmospheric aerosols play a crucial role in various physical and chemical processes, and their properties are influenced by their morphology and chemical composition. The optical scattering method is a classical approach for determining the size of atmospheric aerosols, and the morphology of particulate matter can be determined based on the polarization distribution of backscattered light (90–180°). PLSMT, which was developed based on the optical scattering method, is an efficient in situ detection technique for determining the particle size and mixing state of aerosols.

Purpose of Review

Antibiotic resistance has become a significant challenge around the world, and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have also been recognized as emerging pollutants because of their wide distribution and adverse impacts on human health. Several approaches have been proposed to alleviate ARGs. However, limited knowledge exists on the summary of various strategies and their differences. To resolve these issues, we reviewed the elimination effects of ARGs in different ways and clarified the main molecular mechanisms.

Recent Findings

ARGs resistant to tetracyclines (tet) and sulfonamides (sul) have been found in many locations. In addition, various environmental factors, such as temperature, pH, and salinity may influence the removal of ARGs. Various traditional, emerging, and combined approaches have been used to eliminate ARGs, mainly associated with DNA damage, decrease in reactive oxygen species levels, and downregulated expression of ARGs-related function genes.

Summary

Collectively, this review systematically summarizes the environmental factors and strategies for ARGs removal. A comparison among these methods is made with a focus on performance and efficiency. Furthermore, we elucidate the main molecular mechanisms to eliminate ARGs. Ultimately, in terms of current studies, several advisable suggestions are proposed for further work.

Graphical Abstract

Purpose of Review

This review aims to critically assess contemporary challenges and prospective avenues in the sustainable handling and management of organic waste (OW), elucidating its environmental ramifications and exploring techno-economic perspectives. Reviewing current knowledge is synthesized to provide insights that will help develop innovative strategies and policies. These strategies and policies foster a holistic approach to mitigating the environmental impacts associated with OW while also addressing economic issues.

Recent Findings

The imperative of integrating advanced technologies and holistic environmental considerations into OW management is underscored by recent findings. Environmental footprints can be minimized through innovations such as decentralized processing systems. Further, understanding techno-economic dynamics reveals the potential for sustainable practices, indicating a shift towards circular economies. By integrating environmental and economic aspects of OW management, we can enhance waste management strategies.

Summary

The focus of this review is the significance of OW generation and management, including agricultural, municipal, and green sources, as well as microbial treatment platforms as a critical factor. The report discusses the benefits of anaerobic digestion and composting in OW treatment and the advantages of biotransformation in sustainable waste management through biofuel and biofertilizer (BioF) production. To maximize OW potential as a valuable resource for sustainable development, the review integrates environmental concerns with techno-economic perspectives. To unlock the full potential of OW as a valuable resource in sustainable development, this review addresses barriers. It advances future directions in OW handling and management by integrating environmental considerations with techno-economic perspectives.

Graphical Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in the atmosphere, with an average lifetime of 1 week to several weeks. They originate from various sources, including direct emissions from industrial activities, fragmentation of larger plastic debris, and transport from terrestrial and aquatic environments. Atmospheric MPs (AMPs) have been reported to play vital impacts on human health, climate forcing, and air quality. It could absorb and release harmful chemicals, potentially affecting human health through ingestion or inhalation. Additionally, it could contribute to the absorption and scattering of solar radiation, potentially altering the Earth’s radiation balance. However, there is great uncertainty about their health and climate effects, mainly due to MPs undergoing complex physical, chemical, or biological aging in the atmosphere, which results in great changes in their chemical composition and morphonology. Therefore, the transformation mechanisms of AMPs are still poorly understood, hampering our ability to model responses to changes in AMPs.

This review summarizes the current knowledge on AMPs, focusing on their sources, characteristics, and detection methods. The variety of the detection techniques used to measure and characterize the AMPs present in literature makes it complex to compare the results. In addition, previous studies were mainly focused on fiber plastics in atmospheric deposition samples, whereas only few studies have been found in the literature about the identification of other types of plastics. We highlight the challenges associated with assessing the distribution, abundance, and composition of AMPs and discuss the need for standardized sampling and analytical protocols.

Purpose of Review

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) is a complex mixture of various toxic constituents. Compared with abundance of studies on PM_2.5 total mass, limited evidence is available on the health effects of PM_2.5 constituents on human health outcomes. The purpose of this review is to summarize recent publications over five years on the short-term and long-term health effects of PM_2.5 constituents on human mortality, morbidity, and subclinical biomarkers.

Recent Findings

PM_2.5 constituents mainly include organic carbon (OC), black carbon (BC), sulfate (SO₄²⁻), nitrate (NO₃⁻), ammonia (NH₄⁺), and heavy metals, all of which were significantly associated with various mortality and morbidity. Exposure to BC, OC, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, and NH₄⁺ mainly affected mortality and morbidity from cardiovascular diseases and respiratory diseases and might influence subclinical markers such as blood pressure and serum cytokines. NO₃⁻, OC, and BC were reported to be associated with increased risk of diabetes, cancer, and infant mortality.

Summary

This review systematically summarized the study evidence on the effects of the constituents of PM_2.5 on population health in recent years. BC, OC, soil dust, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, and NH₄⁺ were significantly associated with multisystem health outcomes. We found that the majority of studies were investigating the short-term effects, and mainly focusing on mortality and morbidity endpoints, while there were relatively few literatures on subclinical indicators and other endpoints like adverse birth outcomes. Future studies should be supplemented in this area.

Purpose of Review

The air quality in Taiwan is significantly impacted by ambient ozone (O₃) pollution, which poses a challenge in terms of control due to the involvement of precursors and influencing factors in its photochemical process. This review investigates the measures that have been implemented in Taiwan over the past two decades to address this issue and evaluate their effectiveness in reducing O₃ concentrations. Furthermore, it highlights relevant studies that have employed advanced methods to examine the O₃ problem.

Recent Findings

Comprehending the complex formation of O₃ and its driving factors is crucial in efficiently managing O₃ pollution. Nevertheless, accurately quantifying the impacts of these factors can be challenging due to their interconnections. To bridge this gap in knowledge, conducting a robust causality analysis becomes imperative to accurately quantify the causal influence of major factors. Furthermore, eliminating seasonal variations can improve the precision and accuracy of trend analyses concerning long-term changes in O₃ concentrations. Deep learning, in particular, holds significant advantages in predicting O₃ concentrations as it can capture non-linear and long-term memory characteristics effectively.

Summary

In summary, attaining acceptable O₃ levels in Taiwan is challenging due to its geographical location, which makes it susceptible to air pollution from both local sources as well as distant upwind areas. The utilization of advanced methods is essential for comprehensively studying the evolution of O₃ and formulating effective mitigation measures. While there is a necessity to develop new analytical methods, implementing existing robust methodologies can also provide valuable insights into the dynamics and impacts of O₃. By leveraging these approaches, we can enhance our comprehension of O₃ pollution in Taiwan and develop effective strategies to mitigate its harmful effects on air quality.