Environmental Science and Pollution Research最新文献

Understanding the distribution and abundance of wildlife populations is key to successful oil spill response planning. Fur seals are difficult to rehabilitate if oiled, and many common spill response techniques may be limited in the high-energy rocky shore habitats they prefer. Preventing oil from reaching colonies, and hazing or deterring animals away from oil are high-priority response options for pinnipeds during spills. To do this, local knowledge of pinniped distribution and abundance is required, as well as knowledge of effective and safe hazing and deterrence mechanisms. From pup production assessments, we estimated that a population of 13,147–17,675 New Zealand fur seal (NZFS: Arctocephalus forsteri) currently inhabits Banks Peninsula. This area contains the largest port on New Zealand’s South Island and a secondary port that is popular with cruise ships, elevating its oil spill risk profile. From the knowledge gained regarding NZFS distribution and abundance, we evaluated mitigation methods which could protect fur seals during oil spills, wherever these species occur, and make suggestions to managers on how to mount an effective pinniped response.

Landfilling is a common method for disposing of municipal solid waste, but it generates landfill leachate, a significant environmental concern due to its potential ecotoxicity. Effective treatment of landfill leachate is essential to minimize environmental pollution. This study analysed 421 leachate samples from 257 disposal sites across 27 countries in Asia, examining the concentration and pollution potential of leachate pollutants in relation to site characteristics such as age, type, operational status, climatic conditions, mean annual temperature, and precipitation. The revised leachate pollution index (r-LPI) was used to quantify pollution potential, and statistical analyses were conducted to determine the influence of these factors on pollutant concentrations. The results indicated that the age of disposal sites is a significant factor, with older sites showing reduced concentrations of organic pollutants and heavy metals, while inorganic pollutant levels remained stable. Climatic conditions also significantly impacted leachate characteristics; arid regions produced more concentrated leachate with higher r-LPI values, while regions with higher rainfall produced more diluted leachate with lower r-LPI values. This study also gives the recommendation of treating leachate aiming to inform policy and regulatory frameworks for sustainable landfill management, contributing to the protection of environmental and public health.

Transportation of petroleum-based products is a complex and hazardous logistics process. Selecting the appropriate transportation vehicles for this process is crucial for ensuring safety and efficiency. Therefore, prioritizing selection criteria and choosing the most suitable fuel tanker is essential in reducing potential risks and improving overall fleet operations. Given the many types of tankers available for petroleum product transportation, decision-makers should employ a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach to identify the best option for their specific needs. This study introduces a novel MCDM approach that combines the Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) and the Criteria Importance through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) in a Fermatean fuzzy (FF) environment, addressing five main criteria and evaluating five fuel tanker alternatives. Using this approach, the research identified and prioritized key criteria for selecting an appropriate tanker model by providing insights into 24 sub-criteria. The results reveal that tanker price emerges as the most important sub-criterion, leading us to determine the M3 tanker model as the most suitable fuel tanker after carefully evaluating all 24 different sub-criteria. The findings can significantly assist petroleum firms in making informed decisions when choosing fuel tankers by considering various technical, operational, comfort, environmental, and economic factors. The results can also be used to inform policy on fuel distribution.

The aim of this study is to accurately predict the water quality at these points over a decade through the combined use of statistical tools and artificial intelligence. This study brings the innovative use of neural networks implemented with the GRNN package of the R statistical software to predict the water quality of nine points on the Paraíba do Sul River with their appropriate metrics. After choosing the points to be studied, specific information about the river was taken from the INEA database and treated statistically using tools such as ANOVA, multiple regression, and artificial intelligence using the R software. After processing the historical data, the results were discussed, interpreted, and critically analyzed, which led to a conclusive analysis of the data. As a result, the predictive model for water quality using artificial neural networks was developed and showed high accuracy when validated with precise data, as indicated by the metrics presented. The results of this study not only improve understanding of the factors that influence water quality, but also offer practical guidelines for management and intervention policies, contributing to the preservation and recovery of water resources in the region.

Mosquitoes, particularly Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex species, are significant carriers of vector-borne diseases and pose a global public health problem. The use of insecticides for vector control has detrimental effects on the environment and human health. So, in the current study, Streptomyces microflavus extract was used for the synthesis of Se-NPs through a biological and eco-friendly method and to evaluate the larvicidal, pupicidal, and larval pupal duration against A. aegypti, A. stephensi, and C. quinquefasciatus. The biosynthesized Se-NPs were characterized using UV–Vis, TEM, SEM, EDX, XRD, FTIR, Zeta, and DLS analysis. The Se-NPs showed potential larvicidal activity with a mortality percentage of 74.4% (A. aegypti), 90.4% (A. stephensi), and 95.2% (C. quinquefasciatus) respectively. The study also investigated the morphological changes in mosquito larvae treated with Se-NPs and found significant alterations in size, intestinal disruption, and damage to the anal papillae and cuticular membrane. Additionally, the Se-NPs exhibited pupicidal activity (77.33%, 66.67%, and 65.30% against C. quinquefasciatus, A. stephensi, and A. aegypti respectively) and affected the larval and pupal durations of the mosquitoes. The enzymatic antioxidant analysis showed increased levels of SOD and GPx enzymes, while the detoxified enzyme analysis showed decreased levels of AChE and GST enzymes in the treated mosquito larvae. Histopathological analysis revealed damaged epithelial cell layers, rupture of the midgut, and muscle and adipose tissue damage in the treated larvae. The toxicity of the Se-NPs on non-target organisms, such as Artemia salina, was also evaluated, and the nanoparticles showed low toxicity. Overall, the study suggests that S. microflavus–synthesized Se-NPs have potential as larvicidal agents and offer a more environmentally friendly alternative to chemical insecticides. Further research is needed to explore their mechanisms of action and effects on other organisms.

Graphical abstract

Graphene has gained a lot of attention over the last two decades due to its novel physiochemical properties. Commonly exfoliation, chemical vapor deposition, epitaxial growth, reduction of graphene oxide, etc. are used to synthesize graphene. In addition to these, many sustainable methods of graphene production have been proposed recently that use waste materials as the starting feedstock. In this study, we quantify the environmental impact of some of these sustainable production routes and compare them using life cycle assessment (LCA) tools. We study four different processes of graphene production using a gate-to-gate LCA: with industrial coal tar pitch, rice husk, plastic waste and paper waste as the feedstock. The assessment is done keeping in mind bulk production of graphene at an industrial scale. We find that energy for converting the feedstocks into carbon-rich precursors can have dominating effects on the results. Thus, we present a separate scenario where the environmental impact is calculated without including the energy from fossil fuels in the assessment to simulate the effects of using non-renewable energy sources in the production processes.

Despite their superior efficiency, chemical flocculants introduce foreign chemicals, such as metals, into harvested microalgae, posing downstream application challenges. To overcome this, a simple direct current (DC) initiated flocculation technology is proposed for microalgal harvesting. This method applies a DC electric field across titanium plate electrodes to promote microalgal cell aggregation by polarizing their electrical double layer. Scenedesmus dimorphus cultivated in Bold’s Basal Medium was tested under various voltage gradients (58, 116, 174, and 233 V/m) and energizing times (20, 40, and 60 min with DC applied), resulting in up to 94% flocculation efficiency based on dry algal biomass, significantly higher than controls. Microbubbles formed due to water electrolysis, but their impact on algal cell separation was minimal. Unlike electrocoagulation, DC-initiated flocculation uses inert electrodes and, thus, introduces fewer Fe or Al ions. This study is anticipated to facilitate research on electrochemically assisted algae harvesting and processing technologies.

Toxicology-related experts are on a daily basis working with the safety assessment of chemicals for human health and the environment, providing knowledge applied for management and regulation of chemicals. The field of toxicology is undergoing continuous transition away from traditional safety evaluation studies in experimental animals to application of new approach methodologies (NAMs), the use of omics-related technologies, and concepts like next-generation risk assessment. This requires expertise in the new technologies but does not dismiss the need of knowledge for interpretation of in vivo studies and full understanding of chemical exposure data. A survey was initiated in 2022 in the Nordic countries to assess current and future needs for competences in risk analysis. In total, 40 replies were received from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, while an expert assessment was performed in Iceland. The responses primarily (87.5%) came from national authorities, research institutes, industry/business, and consultants, less from the hospital system, NGOs, and others. The survey shows obvious difficulties in finding competent and trained personnel in all areas in risk analysis. Since the individual Nordic countries lack critical mass, a Nordic initiative for training and education is recommended to counteract loss of competences within chemical risk analysis in the future.

In the past 20 years, consensus has been reached regarding the conception and practice of urban development driven by innovative resources. Researchers have presented complex and colorful research findings related to the basic theory and practical experience of innovative cities, but there remains a lack of scientometric analyses and systematic reviews in this field. Based on the bibliometric and theory-context-characteristics-methodology (TCCM) framework, this paper makes comprehensive use of visualization tools to map knowledge regarding innovative city research from multiple perspectives. This paper presents an overview of the field and its intellectual structure, including deeply analyzing the annual distribution of published works, core sources, leading researchers, country collaboration networks, hotspots, theme evolution, and the knowledge base. This paper provides a method to comprehensively describe the valuable information concerning innovative city research, enriches the previous literature on innovative cities, and provides the direction and path of innovative city construction for urban planners and administrators.