Environmental Science and Pollution Research最新文献

As it is commonly known, the full-scale conflict between Russia and Ukraine started on February 24th, 2022. It has not only caused various geopolitical, strategic, and humanitarian challenges, shortages of basic goods, and infrastructural disruptions but also had significant consequences for the natural environment of the Ukrainian territory. This review article contains the comprehensive analysis of the multifaceted environmental challenges arising from the ongoing war, examining the instant and long-term impacts on air and water quality, soil health, biodiversity, and discusses possible measures on remediation of affected areas. The consequences of contamination of natural resources through military activities, the disruption of critical ecosystems, and the subsequent threats for human health in living and future generations, are described in this review. Through an in-depth analysis of scientific literature, governmental reports, and various international assessments, this review aims to emphasize the impact of the armed conflict in Ukraine on environmental degradation and its selected consequences.

Microplastic (MP) contamination in fish may occur via their feeding behavior and ingestion of contaminated prey. This study investigated the presence of MPs in the predator Lutjanus russellii (Russell's snapper) and its prey along the Chumphon coast of the Central Gulf of Thailand. Stomach contents of L. russellii were analyzed to identify its prey species. Prey species were then sampled from the same geographical area as the predator specimens for subsequent MP analysis. The dietary habits of L. russellii classify it as a generalist carnivore, consuming a diverse range of food items, including zooplankton, crustaceans, and small fish. No significant correlation was observed between MP abundance and the weight or length of the predator fish (general linear model, p > 0.05). Black and red fibers were the predominant MP types in both predator and prey, though MP sizes varied among the sampled species. In predator stomachs, the most common polymers were acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS; 26.32%), polyethylene terephthalate (PET; 21.05%), and polyester (PES; 10.53%). Conversely, prey samples were dominated by PES (17.58%), PET (15.38%), and ABS (13.19%). Notably, similarities in MP characteristics (shape, color, average size, and certain polymer types) were observed between L. russellii and Portunus sp. The detection of smaller PET fibers in L. russellii compared to Portunus sp. (Mann-Whitney U-test, p ≤ 0.05) suggests the transfer of MPs to L. russellii through the ingestion of hard-shelled crustacean prey. This study underscores the importance of examining predator-prey interactions to better understand MP contamination pathways in marine ecosystems, particularly in regions like the Gulf of Thailand, where plastic pollution is prevalent. Further research is required to assess the long-term ecological implications of MP transfer within marine food chains.

The imbalance between groundwater recharge and exploitation has led to water scarcity. The Eastern Mitidja aquifer is facing the problem of groundwater depletion and deteriorating quality. This work aims to study the spatiotemporal evolution of the groundwater quality, based on statistical trend tests and the water quality index (WQI). The statistical analysis reveals that the WQI varies from 44.404 to 496.7 and from 28.24 to 398.666 for the wet and dry seasons, respectively. The results allow groundwater to be classified as "good" to "very poor" water quality. The prediction maps show that the highest WQI values (for both seasons) are located in the extreme east of the plain, while it deteriorates in the other regions over the years (2005-2020), especially during wet season. The WQI's temporal evolution was examined by two statistical trend tests, namely, the Seasonal Mann-Kendall (SMK) test and the Şen's Innovative Trend Analysis (ITA) method. The results revealed a significant upward trend in more than 50% of the sampled points for both seasons. For comparison purposes, the Seasonal Mann-Kendall test and the Şen's Innovative Trend Analysis method was applied to the same data. As a result, the ITA method could be successfully used for trend analysis of water quality parameters. Groundwater quality in the Mitidja East appears to be poor in general, and will deteriorate more given the upward trend in WQI revealed by the previous methods. Owing to the importance of this resource for agriculture, industry and human consumption, protecting it against various types of contamination and continuous monitoring will be essential.

This study investigates the green synthesis of a silver-manganese oxide (Ag-MnO) nanocomposite using Hibiscus rosa-sinensis leaf extract, focusing on its photocatalytic and antifungal properties. The synthesis employed a co-precipitation method, and the resulting composite was characterized through X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The photocatalytic efficiency was evaluated against three organic dyes: eosin yellow, brilliant green, and malachite green, resulting in degradation rates of 95.65%, 80.70%, and 85.54%, respectively, under sunlight. Further, the Ag-MnO composite exhibited significant antifungal activity, with Candida albicans showing the highest sensitivity (zone of inhibition of 11 mm), followed by Saccharomyces cerevisiae (10 mm) and Aspergillus niger (7 mm). However, it was ineffective against the tested bacterial strains. These findings suggest that the Ag-MnO nanocomposite is a promising multifunctional material for addressing environmental pollution through dye degradation and for potential antifungal applications. The study highlights the advantages of eco-friendly synthesis methods in nanotechnology, paving the way for sustainable solutions in environmental and biomedical fields.

Even though there exist many research efforts trying to develop forecasting models based on machine learning (ML) or statistical techniques, feature selection is not employed in a large majority of the studies. To fill this gap, this study builds prediction models involving feature selection through one-step ahead estimation of climatological parameters (i.e., temperature and evapotranspiration), considering the aforementioned shortcomings. In addition, the best models are used to make estimations for a long horizon of 30 years. The experimental results performed on three stations located at the Van Lake Closed basin of Turkey showed that the Bayesian Ridge regressor (BRR) often outperforms other regressors. The respective best models involving BRR also enabled us to obtain $R^2$ scores ranging from 0.961 to 0.988. On the other hand, feature selection helps us to reach or go beyond the respective baseline performance of any model by using a lower number of features. Finally, the overall evaluation is stated to have a limitation in that it needs non-sparse and complete time series data to produce satisfying results. It will also be a challenging task to employ our regression-based ML pipeline on any sparse time series dataset.

During foraging, stingless bees are at risk of pesticide contamination from treated field crops. Frieseomellita varia workers, for example, frequently visit pepper plants that are often treated with the herbicide clomazone (CLZ), the fungicide difenoconazole (DFZ), and the insecticide abamectin (ABM). These pesticides pose a threat not only to adult bees but also to larvae when the chemicals are brought back to the nest. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of sublethal concentrations of CLZ, DFZ, and ABM on the expression of stress marker proteins (HSP70AB and HSP83), detoxification enzymes (CYP9Q3, CYP6SA4, and CYTP450), and antimicrobial peptides (abaecin and defen-1) genes in F. varia larvae. First instar larvae were incubated for 48 h in ELISA plates, divided into five groups: Naive (control), acetone (acetone control), CLZ (0.014 ng a.i./µL), DFZ (0.0098 ng a.i./µL), and ABM (0.007 ng a.i./µL). After incubation, total RNA was extracted and analyzed by RT-qPCR to quantify transcript levels. While larval survival was unaffected, significant changes in gene expression patterns were observed. ABM exposure increased HSP70AB expression and decreased HSP83 expression. No changes in CYTP6SA4 expression were detected in bees exposed to any of the pesticides. DFZ suppressed CYP9Q3 expression, while ABM upregulated CYTP450 expression. Notably, the antimicrobial peptide gene abaecin was downregulated by all three compounds, whereas defen-1 expression increased in response to ABM. These findings suggest that sublethal concentrations of these pesticides can significantly alter the expression of genes associated with stress response, detoxification, and immunity in F. varia larvae. The disruption caused by herbicides and fungicides, alongside the known effects of insecticides, may impact bee physiology and colony homeostasis, with potentially unknown consequences for the survival of stingless bees in their natural environment.

We investigated mycoremediation potential of endophytic and rhizospheric fungi from Tezpur litchi in lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) contaminated soil. Fungal strains Aspergillus aculeatus, Penicillium citrinum, Fusarium solani, and two Mycelia sterilia documented high Pb (> 95%) and Cd (> 85%) absorption capacities. The consortium developed by using these fungal strains was applied to Pb (75, 100 and 150 mg kg⁻¹) and Cd (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mg kg⁻¹) contaminated soil under tomato cultivation till the flowering stage of the plants. Applied consortium increased fungal colony-forming units (CFUs) by 2-3 folds. It also significantly (p ≤ 0.05) enhanced shoot biomass (upto 132.8% under Pb and 80.1% under Cd) of tomato plants. Consortia reduced the accumulation of Pb in tomato plants upto 64.16%, while Cd uptake decreased (upto 10.31%). Significant (p ≤ 0.05) improvement in photosynthesis rates of tomato plants was noted under Pb exposure (upto 58.8%) than Cd (upto 9.2%) due to application of consortium. The results highlight the potential of the tested endophytic and rhizospheric fungal strains from Tezpur litchi for remediating Pb in contaminated soils. Additionally, the study suggests the possible application of the fungal consortium for Cd phytoextraction using hyperaccumulator plants, thereby paving the way for sustainable heavy metal remediation strategies.

This study investigated the effect and microbial mechanism of microplastics to the N₂O emission in underground and aboveground wastewater treatment plants. The microplastics in the influent of Uwwtp and Awwtp were 4953 ± 558 and 2253 ± 563 particles/L. The microplastics rejection rate were 86.36 ± 0.02% (Awwtp) and 90.56 ± 0.02% (Uwwtp), respectively. The N₂O concentration were 106.40 ± 134.17 nmol/L in Uwwtp and 53.58 ± 32.68 nmol/L in Awwtp. The N₂O/NO₃^- ratio was 0.55% in the aerobic tank of Uwwtp. The N₂O/NH₄⁺ ratio was 0.39% in aerobic tank and 0.52% in secondary sedimentation tank of Awwtp. The microplastics were significantly correlated with NH₄⁺ (p < 0.05) in Awwtp and significantly correlated with NH₄⁺ (p < 0.01) and NO₂^-, NO₃^- (p < 0.01) in Uwwtps. Mental test results indicated that microplastics significantly correlated with the nitrifier and denitrifier in the systems. This suggest that microplastics could affect the nitrification and denitrification process in the two plants and thus affect the N₂O emission. Microplastics in wwtps, i.e., the plastisphere, may be a novel microbial colonization site that could be vital to N₂O emissions.

In Mongolia, the traditional pastoral system has changed by the overuse and degradation of water resources. However, there is a research gap between the socio-economic transition and ecosystem degradation on the existing knowledge. In the present study, a process-based eco-hydrology model, National Integrated Catchment-based Eco-hydrology (NICE), was coupled with inverse method (NICE-INVERSE) and applied to the total of 29 river basins in the entire country to quantify the heterogeneous distribution of livestock water use and its relation to pasture degradation there. The result showed that the livestock water use in entire basins (100-120 million m³/year) was the same order of magnitude as mining and urban water uses and that the total water use estimated by this new model was almost similar to that by constant assumption in the previous study. Nevertheless, the model showed that unit water use of sheep has regional variations between 3.11 and 9.80 l/day in each river basin and that the assumption of a constant value as in existing studies does not hold. In addition, the model estimated that goats' water intake was 10% lower than previous assumptions in comparison to other livestock, reflecting an overpopulation of goats over the past 40 years (about tenfold increase) for high demand for cashmere wool and meat products. Furthermore, the simulation clarified heterogeneous distributions of water uses of five types of typical livestock (sheep, horses, cattle, goats, and camels) are indirectly related to the degradation of natural vegetation in grassland. So, the present study uniquely contributes to filling the gap beyond previous studies. The author also detected hot spots of groundwater degradation by human activity including grazing impact in the national scale. These results imply that the excessive use of livestock water intake can lead to groundwater decline, grassland degradation, and ultimately, a reduction in the amount of water available to each livestock head. This methodology is effective to quantify the spatio-temporal variations of livestock water use, to quantify its relation to pasture degradation, and to propose solutions to unsustainable pastoral land use patterns.