Journal of hazardous materials最新文献

The settling velocity of atmospheric particles in seawater is a key determinant of the ecological impact of atmospheric deposition on marine ecosystems, as it regulates particle residence time and bioavailability in the upper ocean. Settling velocity is primarily governed by particle diameter, shape, and density, however, accurate prediction remains challenging because of the heterogeneous morphology and composition of atmospheric particles. To address this challenge, we developed an interpretable Random Forest model trained on laboratory settling experiments. The model predicts particle settling velocity based on dimensionless diameter (D*), organic matter content (OM), and Corey shape factor (csf), achieving high accuracy (R² > 0.86) relative to theoretical formulations. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis indicates that particle diameter is the dominant factor influencing dimensionless settling velocity (W*), contributing over 80 %. However, D* exerts weak, stable negative marginal impacts on W* when D* < 0.30 (salinity 0, 10) or D* < 0.25 (salinity 20, 30). Beyond these thresholds, its positive marginal contribution to W* increases markedly. Particle shape exerts a significant influence on W* only when D* exceeds the above thresholds across all four salinity conditions. Organic matter exerts a significant effect under high-salinity conditions. Building on the results, we refined the existing empirical formulation by re-fitting drag coefficient (C_D)-Reynolds number (R_e) relationships separately for low and high-salinity waters, reducing mean squared error (MSE) by 43-58 % while maintaining a high R² of 0.83-0.85. This refinement enables more accurate prediction of atmospheric particle residence time in the upper ocean.

Background: Diabetes and hypertension are major chronic diseases with growing public health significance. Ozone (O₃) pollution has increased in recent years, yet its long-term impact on these outcomes remains unclear.

Methods: This 8-year prospective cohort study included 71,784 middle-aged and older adults in the Tianjin Binhai New Area who were followed up annually. Warm-season (May-October) O₃ exposure was estimated using a satellite-based model. Time-varying Cox proportional hazard models were applied to examine the risk of diabetes and hypertension associated with O₃ exposure. Exposure-response (E-R) relationships, stratified analyses and population attributable fractions (PAFs) under counterfactual scenarios were conducted. Mediation analyses were further conducted for white blood cells (WBC), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and total bilirubin (TBIL).

Results: During follow-up, 8662 diabetes and 15,396 hypertension new-onset cases occurred. Each 10 μg/m³ increase of warm-season O₃ exposure was positively associated with higher incidence of diabetes (HR = 1.124, 95 % CI: 1.053-1.199) and hypertension (HR = 1.128, 95 % CI: 1.056-1.204). E-R relationships curve linear associations. O₃-related hypertension risk was great among adults < 65 and diabetes risk was higher in overweight individuals. The PAFs were 22.51 % for diabetes and 19.08 % for hypertension. Inflammatory (WBC, PLR) and metabolic (TG) markers mediated part of the effects, and TBil (oxidative stress) showed a minimal contribution.

Conclusion: Long-term O₃ exposure was associated with increased risks of diabetes and hypertension, partially mediated through inflammatory and metabolic pathways. These findings support stringent O₃ control and biomarker-based risk assessments in chronic disease prevention.

Background: The prevalence of myopia has risen sharply among children in East Asia, emerging as a major public health concern. While genetic and behavioral factors are established contributors, accumulating evidence indicates that air pollution may also play a role in myopia development.

Methods: This nationwide longitudinal cohort study utilized data from South Korea's National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort (NHIS-NSC). A total of 94,830 children aged 6-12 years without major ocular disorders were followed from 2003 to 2019. Myopia onset was defined as the first hospital visit with a primary diagnosis code for myopia. Time-varying two-year moving averages of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentrations were assigned as exposures and analyzed using a Cox regression model, adjusting for individual- and district-level covariates.

Results: Over 784,349 person-years of follow-up, 35,918 children developed myopia. Each 5 µg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 and 5 ppb increase in NO₂ was associated with hazard ratios (HRs) of 1.030 (95 % CI: 1.003-1.058) and 1.031 (95 % CI: 1.010-1.052), respectively. Greater susceptibility to air pollution-related myopia was observed among boys, younger children, and urban residents compared with girls, older children, and rural residents, although the difference by sex was not statistically significant. These associations remained robust across multiple sensitivity analyses.

Conclusions: Long-term exposure to PM_2.5 and NO₂ was significantly associated with an increased risk of myopia in children. By combining a nationwide longitudinal design with high-resolution machine learning-based exposure estimates, this study provides novel evidence linking chronic air pollution exposure to pediatric visual health.

Hydroxyl radicals (^•OH) is one of the prime reactive species for abiotic transformations of pollutants during redox oscillation in paddy wetland‌. However, the effect of O₂ diffusion rates in wetland on ^•OH generation, as well as its subsequent effects on pollutant removal, remains largely uninvestigated. This study reveals a significant promotion of ^•OH generation and nonphotochemical transformations of organic pollutants by controlling O₂ permeability rates combining in-situ experiments. Batch experiments confirmed that air supply rates determined the generation rates of ^•OH (7.7 ± 0.48-58.04 ± 5.01 μM h^-1), but did not alter the cumulative concentration of ^•OH upon complete oxidation of soil. Interestingly, despite no significant difference in cumulative ^•OH concentration among different air supply rates, higher air supply rates resulted in more efficient pollutant degradation. The presence of soil organic matter, especially dissolved organic matter (DOM), is a key cause of the hindered imidacloprid removal under low air supply rates. Coupled with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, we found that the lability of DOM increased during the oxidation period, which proved the potential reaction between DOM and ^•OH. In summary, our study links two previously isolated factors (O₂ supply and soil fractions) and enriches the understanding of multi-factor regulatory mechanisms of the contaminant fates in paddy fields. Importantly, increasing O₂ supply and transfer is low-cost and sustainable strategies for soil remediation in subsurface environments with frequent redox fluctuations.

Nitrogen oxides (NO_x), primarily NO from high-temperature fuel combustion, pose serious threats to ecological and human health. Photocatalysis offers a solar-driven approach for NO oxidation, but often leads to toxic NO₂ byproduct due to insufficient active sites and reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, the tri-synergetic photocatalyst was developed that integrated the internal electric field (IEF) of AgCl/ZnSn(OH)₆ heterojunction, the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of Ag nanoparticles and the spin polarization effect of Co clusters to realize the rapid separation and transport of photogenerated charges. Experimental and theoretical calculations confirmed that IEF promotes the directional migration of electrons, Ag nanoparticles extends visible light absorption and increases charge density through the SPR effect, and Co clusters acts as electron trap facilitating interfacial transfer after illumination. The Co clusters also caused spin polarization effect to promote exciton separation and became an activation center that enhanced the adsorption and activation of O₂ and H₂O to promote the generation of ROS, and also promote the adsorption and activation of NO to become the intermediate NO^-, which could quickly react with ROS to generate NO₃^- by one step, suppressing the release of NO₂ toxic byproducts. The charge transport mechanism and activation mechanism of the tri-synergistic photocatalyst have important reference significance for the design of photocatalyst for efficient removal of air pollutants.

The effects of exposure to air pollution on epigenetic age acceleration remain unclear. This study investigated the associations between exposure to six air pollutants (PM_2.5, PM₁₀, CO, NO₂, SO₂, and O₃) and DNA methylation age using multiple epigenetic clocks, including Horvath (353 CpGs), Best Linear Unbiased Predictor (BLUP, 319,607 CpGs), and Elastic Net (EN, 514 CpGs) among 2462 participants from the Taiwan Biobank. Both PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ exposure showed significant associations with all three epigenetic clocks. In multi-pollutant models combining PM_2.5 with other pollutants, the associations remained significant. The weighted sum of all air pollutants showed significant associations with all three epigenetic clocks. Weight distribution analyses identified PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ as the predominant contributors across all clock models. These results underscore the importance of air pollution control as a key component of public health strategies aimed at promoting healthy aging.

Pesticides have traditionally been detected based on the inhibition of natural acetylcholinesterase enzyme activity by pesticides. This approach was costly, offered limited detection coverage for pesticides, and suffered from the inherent instability of natural enzymes. To address the instability issue in sensor arrays, artificially synthesized nanozymes with enzyme-like activities were constructed in the sensor array. The diverse enzyme-like activities of nanozymes provide an excellent foundation for developing multi-channel sensor arrays. A four-channel sensor array was constructed based on multienzyme-like activities for the identification and discrimination of nine pesticides. An accurate distinction was achieved for 5 categories of pesticides using the constructed multienzyme-like sensor array method. In addition, a concentration-independent identification model of pesticides based on machine learning was constructed to simulate the detection situation in real environments, with an accuracy of 99.20 %. The proposed sensor array has great practical application prospects to be widely used for the detection of pesticides on food surfaces and in the water environment due to its excellent anti-interference capability.

Aquatic ecosystems are increasingly threatened by organophosphate pesticides (OPPs) such as diazinon (DZN) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) like benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), both of which disrupt metabolic, immune, and neural functions in fish. This study investigated the protective efficacy of Spirulina platensis (SP), a natural heat shock protein inducer (HSPi), against DZN- and BaP-induced toxicity in Acipenser stellatus fingerlings. Experimental treatments involved individual and combined exposures to DZN and BaP, with or without SP supplementation, over 1, 3, and 6 days. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis identified methyl palmitate (38.43 %) and γ-linolenic acid methyl ester (GLA; 19.06 %) as the predominant bioactive constituents of SP. Exposure to DZN and BaP significantly increased hepatic cytochrome P450 (CYP450; up to 0.95 ng/mg protein), serum cortisol (to 33 ng/mL), and liver enzyme activities, while reducing acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity by approximately 40 %. In contrast, treatments combining SP with pollutant stress markedly upregulated HSP70 expression, enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities, and elevated immune markers by 25-40 %. Furthermore, SP supplementation reduced cortisol levels by 30-35 % and restored AChE activity to near-baseline values. These findings demonstrate SP's HSP70-mediated cytoprotective effects and support its potential as a dietary strategy to mitigate multi-pollutant stress in aquatic organisms.

Constructed wetlands and other nature-based solutions (NBS) are widely used to mitigate pesticide runoff from agricultural landscapes, but their performance is often limited by short hydraulic retention times and fluctuating environmental conditions. To enhance the pollutant removal capacity of NBS, we developed a biochar-calcium peroxide (CaO₂) composite material designed to combine adsorption with oxidative degradation. The composite was fabricated by embedding biochar and CaO₂ into a cement matrix and achieved up to 76.8 % removal of tebuconazole after 30 days of static incubation, which was 2-6 times higher than CaO₂ alone (10-20 %), depending on biochar loading and solution pH. Notably, under acidic conditions (initial pH ∼5.6), the oxidative degradation contribution of the composite (35-47 %) increased by approximately 20-30 times compared with the composite without biochar (1.9 %). Moreover, incorporating CaO₂ into biochar moderated its consumption and reduced CaO₂ loss by nearly 50 % after 30 days of incubation in water, enabling a more sustained release of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The material maintained stable performance under both acidic and unbuffered conditions, demonstrating applicability under variable field environments. These findings demonstrate the potential of biochar-CaO₂ composites to improve the robustness and effectiveness of NBS for decentralized water treatment of pesticide-contaminated runoff.

As an emerging pollutant, Micro/nano plastics (M/NPs) pose a serious threat to the aquatic ecosystem and human health. Electrochemical oxidation technology has advantages such as high catalytic performance, environmental friendliness, and simple operation, and it has the potential to degrade M/NPs in water. In this work, we proposed a Ti/Sb-SnO₂ anode modified by co-doping with Sm-Mn composite intermediate layer for the electrochemical oxidation degradation of polystyrene nanoplastics (PS NPs) in water. Experimental results showed that the Ti/Sm-Mn-Sb-SnO₂ anode exhibited the best PS NPs removal efficiency (58.75 %) and the longest electrode lifespan (825 h). The doping of composite intermediate layer elements possessed a more uniform and dense crack structure on the anode surface, as well as the formation of a fuller crystal structure, effectively increasing the active sites and specific surface area for electrochemical process. Moreover, material characterization and theoretical calculations confirmed that the synergistic effect of the bimetal facilitates the electron transfer process between Sn and Sb, improves current mass transfer efficiency, and promotes the occurrence of redox reactions. Combined with DFT calculations and the identification of intermediate products, the degradation pathways of PS NPs were analyzed, which mainly included electrophilic substitution (benzene ring hydroxylation), C-C and C-H bond cleavage (chain breakage and ring opening), and hydrogen atom addition reactions. This modification strategy not only provides a new approach for NPs degradation through electrochemical oxidation but also offers theoretical basis and technical support for the future application of M/NPs pollution control in water environments.