Environmental Sciences Europe最新文献

Following the decision of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) to start negotiations for a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, discussions and reflections are ongoing on why and how plastic chemicals and polymers of concern should be integrated into the global plastics treaty. One of the points that has been identified as requiring attention is the reduction of the complexity of the composition of plastic objects. This article, addressed to decision-makers and other stake-holders involved in the negotiations, illustrates in a practical and graphical way what complexity means in the case of the presence of inorganic additives.

The so-called EPT taxa have been shown to be highly sensitive to various environmental pollutants. However, there are only few published studies on toxicity testing with EPT representatives and there is a particular lack of protocols for chronic toxicity testing, e.g., for integration into species sensitivity distribution (SSD) approaches. To address this gap, we performed a long-term 38-day semi-static toxicity test with the European mayfly species Cloeon dipterum using the insecticide fipronil as model substance. The functionality of the test system was confirmed by the high emergence rate of 85% in the control condition. We found a high sensitivity with regard to larval development with an EC₅₀ of 180 ng/L and a NOEC of 38.0 ng/L after 7 days exposure. After 38 days, an LC₅₀ value of 185 ng/L and an EC₅₀ value of 160 ng/L for emergence (both: NOEC = 38.0 ng/L) were calculated. In a short-term 7-day toxicity test, we found a similar effect on larval development. In addition to the physiological endpoints, we examined fipronil-induced gene expression changes at the transcriptome level in this test. Our results revealed a concentration-dependent increase in the number of differentially expressed genes, as well as observed effects on larval development. Notably, we identified marker gene candidates involved in nervous system development, mirroring the known mode-of-action of fipronil in C. dipterum. The affected genes primarily play crucial roles in neurological processes. Concluding, within this two-step approach we were able to identify fipronil effects on the sublethal physiological endpoint larval development and to complement these effects at the molecular level by gene expression changes in the transcriptome. Thus, this assay proved to be suitable to assess sublethal effects as well as the mode-of-action of substances in the non-standard organism C. dipterum already after a short-term exposure of 7 days. However, further testing is required to validate the procedure.

Green development is the main theme of modern development in China and even the world. Green development depends on green technology innovation (GTI). Therefore, for developing countries like China in the stage of economic transition, it is urgent to accelerate GTI to gain sustained advantages in the new round of international competition. As an important representative of contemporary rapid transportation, high-speed railway (HSR) can not only alleviate the rapidly growing transportation demand of the public, but also have potential benefits to the energy consumption structure and environmental quality. Whether and how HSR affects GTI has become the focus of this paper. Hence, by employing the panel data of 286 cities in China from 2007 to 2018 with the time-varying DID model, this paper verifies that HSR development can contribute to GTI. The main findings of this paper are as follows: (1) The operation of HSR can not only make the incremental development of GTI, but also improve the quality of GTI simultaneously. Moreover, the quality improvement effect of HSR is greater than the quantity increment effect. (2) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the positive effect of HSR on GTI is more significant for cities that have implemented LCCP. (3) This paper verifies the mediating effect of high-quality human capital. The opening of HSR further stimulates GTI by improving the level of high-quality human capital in cities and increasing the opportunities for knowledge exchange and diffusion. Based on the above findings, this paper proposes some policy recommendations to help developing countries achieve GTI with positive externalities.

Background

The insatiable demand for rock supplies has enticed numerous building and construction enterprises to participate in stone quarrying. However, this has had an environmental impact on air quality. This paper examines the environmental impact of quarrying on air quality in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. To achieve the main aim of the study, an objective was set to detect air pollutants at the quarry sites. A total of 220 air samples were measured from six points around the quarry locations and recorded in situ for analysis. The samples were measured three times a day (morning, afternoon, and evening) for three days. Gas monitors were used to monitor air pollutants. The generated data were subjected to completely random design (CRD) sampling techniques. The separation of means and tests was performed using Fisher’s Least Significant Difference (FLSD) at a significance probability level of 5%.

Results

Based on statistical analysis, the findings detected significantly higher concentration levels of particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, chlorine, volatile organic compounds, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide in the quarry areas than the value detected in the control area. The findings also confirmed higher noise levels in the locations. It was also observed that the concentration levels of the parameters differed from point to point and at different times of the day. This really means the occurrence of a high rate of air pollution in the study locations.

Conclusions

Based on the above findings, it is highly recommended that, (i) if situation is not timely addressed, it will lead to a severe environmental disaster or hazard, as nobody selects the air he or she breathes; (ii) air pollution control equipment be installed in-situ at quarry sites where free air flow is available in order to reduce gaseous (pollutant) emissions, and (iii) the seasonal effects, meteorological parameters and time that were influenced by the activities of quarry should be put in check.

Background

To ensure a high level of public health and environmental protection, authorities that deliver scientific expertise to inform decision-makers and the public at large need to be independent from external stakeholders and free of conflicts of interest. This independence requires effective rules for managing links of interest (LoIs) and a high level of transparency, including publication of declarations of interest (DoIs) where appropriate. In the particular case of plant protection products (PPPs) within the European Union, these requirements should apply to all Competent Authorities contributing to the marketing authorization processes.

Methods

A comparative analysis of LoIs management procedures was performed on a selection of ten National Competent Authorities from different member states (NCAs). This analysis was based on (i) the identification of 17 criteria aiming at characterizing good practices for LoIs management; (ii) a survey of ten NCAs, based on an analysis of their institutional websites and their responses to official mail requests.

Results

The comparative analysis showed: (i) a frequent lack of transparency of NCAs regarding their procedures for managing LoIs; (ii) a significant heterogeneity between the NCAs’ LoIs management rules, even though they are in charge of comparable missions regarding the marketing of PPPs; (iii) substantial gaps between the LoIs management procedures adopted by several NCAs and the good practices that are promoted by EFSA.

Current limits on their practices regarding LoIs management might open ways for undue external influences on scientific expertise, and ultimately impact negatively the risk management options adopted by national or European authorities. Limitations of this study and its extension for a more thorough overview of the current LoIs management practices are also discussed.

Conclusions

LoIs management and transparency rules need to be improved across NCAs, given their contribution as (co-)rapporteurs or peer reviews participants to the health and environmental risk assessment steps of the EFSA processes. To this end, a common minimum set of rules should be defined by EFSA; recommendations are proposed, based on the best practices implemented by the investigated NCAs. Such progress would contribute promoting high-quality unbiased scientific expertise and enhance EU citizens’ trust.

Olive Mill Wastewater (OMWW) is produced in large quantities and contains high levels of nutrients that can be reused for irrigation, reducing the demand for freshwater resources. However, OMWW is phytotoxic and expensive to treat, making it important to develop more cost-effective treatment methods. This study aims to investigate an integrated detoxification treatment sequence consisting of acid precipitation, Fenton oxidation, and electrical coagulation to safely reuse OMWW for barley germination. Raw, treated and diluted OMWW (25% and 50% OMWW) were tested. The results showed that raw and diluted OMWW suppressed seed germination at all concentrations, while diluted treated OMWW enhanced seed germination and plant growth. In addition, treated OMWW (acid precipitation treatment) at 25% dilution reported 0% phytotoxicity significantly improved plant growth, where plant fresh weight (FW) reached 123.33 mg. Moreover, α-amylase, lipase, and protease enzyme activity confirmed the superior enhancement of barley growth parameters, where the highest enzyme activity value recoded 0.870 mg maltose/g FW. The integrated treatments reduced detoxification by 97.90% for total phenolic, 98.37% for total flavonoids, and 99.18% for total tannins. Reductions of around 95.78%, 60.00%, and 78.90% in total organic carbon, electric conductivity, and total solids, respectively, were achieved. A significant decrease in heavy metals was observed with removal ratios 98.64%, 94.80%, 96.88%, and 95.72% for Fe, Cu, Mn, and Zn, respectively. Seedling Vigor Index as an indicator of crop productivity was successfully predicted using neural network modeling. Therefore, the applied method can be used as a fertilizer to support plant growth and reduce fertilization costs.

Background

Non-target screening of surface water samples collected over an extended period can reveal interesting temporal patterns in exposome-related pollutants. Additionally, geographical data on pollution sources close to the sampling sites, chemical classification data and the consideration of flow paths can provide valuable information on the origins and potential threat of tentatively identified chemical compounds. In this study, 271 surface water samples from 20 sampling sites across Luxembourg were analysed using high-resolution mass spectrometry, complementing routine target monitoring efforts in 2019–2022. Data analysis was performed using the open source R-package patRoon, which offers a customizable non-target workflow. By employing open source workflows featuring scoring terms, like spectral match and applying identification levels, tentative identifications can be prioritized, e.g. based on spectral similarity. Furthermore, by utilizing supplementary database information such as PubChemLite annotation categories and classification software such as classyFire, an overall assessment of the potential threats posed by the tentatively identified chemicals was conducted, enabling the prioritization of chemicals for future confirmation through targeted approaches.

Results

The study tentatively identified 378 compounds associated with the exposome including benzenoids, organoheterocyclic compounds, and organic phosphoric acids and derivatives (11 classyFire superclasses, 50 subclasses). The classification analysis not only revealed temporal variations in agrochemicals, with the majority of identifications occurring in May to July, but also highlighted the prevalence of pharmaceuticals such as venlafaxine in surface waters. Furthermore, potential sources of pollutants, like metallurgic industry or household products were explored by considering common uses and geographical information, as commercial uses of almost 100% of the identified chemicals are known. 41 chemicals were suggested for potential inclusion to governmental monitoring lists for further investigation.

Conclusions

The findings of this study complement existing knowledge on the pollution status of surface water in Luxembourg and highlight the usefulness of non-target screening for identifying temporal and spatial trends in pollutant levels. This approach, performed in a complementary manner to routine monitoring, can help to tentatively identify chemicals of concern for potential inclusion in target monitoring methods following additional confirmation and quantification efforts.

This paper reviews the ongoing failure of hybrid transgenic Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton unique to India. The underlying cause for this failure is the high cost of hybrid seed that imposes a suboptimal long-season low plant density system that limits yield potential and has associated elevated levels of late-season pests. Indian hybrid Bt cotton production is further complicated by the development of resistance to Bt toxins in the key pest, the native pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella Saunders, PBW), resulting in increased insecticide use that induces ecological disruption and outbreaks of highly destructive secondary pests. Rainfed cotton production uncertainty is further exacerbated by the variable monsoon rains. While hybrid cotton produces fertile seed, the resulting plant phenotypes are highly variable preventing farmers from replanting saved seed, forcing them to buy seed yearly (i.e., market capture), and effectively protecting industry Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). The lessons gained from the ongoing market failure of hybrid Bt cotton in India are of utmost importance to its proposed introduction to Africa where, similar to India, cotton is grown mainly in poor rainfed smallholder family farms, and hence similar private–corporate conflicts of interest will occur. Holistic field agroecological studies and weather-driven mechanistic analyses are suggested to help foresee ecological and economic challenges in cotton production in Africa.

High-density short-season (HD-SS) non-hybrid non-genetically modified irrigated and rainfed cottons are viable alternatives for India that can potentially produce double the yields of the current low-density hybrid system.

Background

Precisely predicting the water levels of rivers is critical for planning and supporting flood hazard and risk assessments and maintaining navigation, irrigation, and water withdrawal for urban areas and industry. In Hungary, the water level of rivers has been recorded since the early nineteenth century, and various water level prediction methods were developed. The Discrete Linear Cascade Model (DLCM) has been used since 1980s. However, its performance is not always reliable under the current climate-driven hydrological changes. Therefore, we aimed to test machine learning algorithms to make 7-day ahead forecasts, choose the best-performing model, and compare it with the actual DLCM.

Results

According to the results, the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model provided the best results in all time horizons, giving more precise predictions than the Baseline model, the Linear or Multilayer Perceptron Model. Despite underestimating water levels, the validation of the LSTM model revealed that 68.5‒76.1% of predictions fall within the required precision intervals. Predictions were relatively accurate for low (≤ 239 cm) and flood stages (≥ 650 cm), but became less reliable for medium stages (240–649 cm).

Conclusions

The LSTM model provided better results in all hydrological situations than the DLCM. Though, LSTM is not a novel concept, its encoder–decoder architecture is the best option for solving multi-horizon forecasting problems (or “Many-to-Many” problems), and it can be trained effectively on vast volumes of data. Thus, we recommend testing the LSTM model in similar hydrological conditions (e.g., lowland, medium-sized river with low slope and mobile channel) to get reliable water level forecasts under the rapidly changing climate and various human impacts.

Graphical Abstract

The present case study considers fuel base substitution in operation of actual district heating system and in other scenario replacing of district heating system by individual heating system in each apartment building and non-residential building in selected residential zone Zvolen-Sekier, Slovakia. The impact of each heating system was assessed with focus on ambient air quality based on air dispersion modelling of NO₂ and CO pollutans using the AERMOD dispersion model. To identify the exposure level on residents, the magnitude and duration of exposure to the hazard were considered according to human health risk assessment method. Results showed that the individual heating systems released significantly higher NO₂ and CO concentrations directly in the residential zone compared to district heating system. The obtained results were highly variable for individual scenarios and averaged periods of pollutants concentration. Investigated heating systems scenarios showed low (< 1.0) hazard quotient value, however, individual heating systems would lead to adverse health effects, especially in infants and children population.