Climate change is irreversibly changing the water cycle, yet existing environmental flow assessment methods often fail to recognize the non-stationarity of hydro-climatic systems. Failure to do so ...will lead to the inability of environmental water management to achieve its ecological targets. Australia has undergone major reform over the past 12 years to recover water from consumptive use for environmental benefit and this paper examines how government agencies responsible for planning and delivery of environmental water establish ecological objectives, and whether there are any barriers to including climate adaptations. We used semi-structured interviews and an online survey of environmental water staff throughout Australia, focusing on southeast Australia, to gather information on methods and perceptions regarding these key issues. The results show water managers perceive current ecological objectives as unachievable and are frustrated by using outdated, government-recommended flow assessment methods. There are many general and industry-specific barriers to climate adaptation that are not insurmountable, yet the current lack of legislative and policy guidance provides little assistance on the best way to respond. We conclude that environmental water planning needs to more formally incorporate climate change considerations along with modelling approaches that can evaluate outcomes under a range of possible future hydro-climatic scenarios to ensure proactive decision making can occur. As the industry currently exists in Australia, it is ill prepared for the challenge of meeting legislated ecological targets under future climates.
Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are widely used for their excellent antimicrobial properties, yet their release into aquatic environments pose risks to ecosystems and public health. The accurate monitoring ...and analysis of FQs present challenges due to their low concentrations and the complex matrices found in actual environmental samples. To address the need for auto-pretreatment and on-line instrumental analysis, developing new microextraction materials and protocols is crucial. Such advancements will provide better analytical assurance for the effective extraction and determination of FQs at trace levels, which is of great significance to environmental protection and human health.
In this work, we presented a Co2+ mediated paper-based molecularly imprinted polymer chip (CMC@Co-MIP), combined with UPLC analysis, to develop an effective analytical method for identifying and quantifying trace amounts of ciprofloxacin (CIP) and enrofloxacin (ENR) in water samples. Notably, the addition of Co2+ in CMC@Co-MIP helped to capture the template molecule CIP through coordination before imprinting, which significantly improved the ordering of the imprinted cavities. CMC@Co-MIP exhibited a maximum adsorption capacity up to 500.20 mg g−1 with an imprinting factor of 4.12, surpassing previous reports by a significant margin. Furthermore, the enrichment mechanism was extensively analyzed by various characterization techniques. The developed method showed excellent repeatability and reproducibility (RSD < 13.0 %) with detection limits ranging from 0.15 to 0.21 μg L−1 and recoveries ranging from 64.9 % to 102.3 % in real spiked water samples.
We developed a novel microextraction paper-based chip based on Co2+ mediation, which effectively improved the selectivity and convenience of extracting FQs. This breakthrough allowed the chip to have a high enrichment efficiency as well as provide a robust on-line instrumental program. It also confirms that the imprinting scheme based on metal ion coordination is a high-performance strategy.
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•A novel paper-based molecularly imprinted polymer chip (CMC@Co-MIP) was synthesized.•The imprinting protocol based on metal coordination was a high-performance strategy.•The chip showed excellent adsorption of fluoroquinolones, reaching 500.20 mg g−1.•The chip exhibited potentiality for environmental water samples pretreatment.
Continued population growth, and climate change are placing stress on many of the world's water sources and this often manifests in environmental damage to rivers and wetlands. Most of the published ...literature around allocating more water to the environment considers trade-offs with agriculture. In contrast this study focusses on scenarios for different potable water supplies in cities and thus adds a novel perspective on the value of riverine restoration. This study sheds light on urban households' willingness to pay for more water to be allocated to the environment where it directly competes with their own water demands. The study uses two stated preference techniques (choice modelling and best-worst scaling) to establish the value of environmental water and the motivations for households paying for an increase in environmental water reserves. The study is set in Australia's fastest growing city, Melbourne, although the approach and method have implications for other developed-world settings. The paper also offers practical advice on the management of water allocated for different uses. Overall, the results indicate a positive and significant willingness to pay by households for additional water entitlements. Importantly, this provides a benchmark for contemplating the costs and benefits of activating alternative water supplies, such as desalination, to free up rainwater for environmental purposes.
Lignin hydrothermal silica–carbon material served as a backbone for MgCl2 activation to prepare lignin–based silicon/magnesia biochar (ALB/Si–Mg) for Cd2+, Pb2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+ removal from water and ...soil environment. Characterization studies revealed a 1017.71-fold increase in the specific surface area of ALB/Si–Mg compared to the original lignin biochar (ALB), producing abundant oxygen functional groups (OC–O, Si–O, Mg–O), and mineral matter (Mg2SiO4 and MgO). Crucially, batch adsorption experiments demonstrated that the adsorption capacity of ALB/Si–Mg for Cd2+, Pb2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+ was 848.17, 665.07, 151.84, and 245.78 mg/g, which were 29.09–140.45 times of the ALB. Soil remediation experiments showed that applying ALB/Si–Mg increased soil effective silicon (109.04%–450.2%) and soil exchangeable magnesium (276.41%–878.66%), enhanced plant photosynthesis, and notably reduced the bioavailability of heavy metals in soil as well as the content of heavy metals in Pakchoi, thereby promoting Pakchoi growth and development. The presence of oxygen-containing functional groups on ALB/Si–Mg, along with Mg2SiO4 and MgO nanoparticles, enhanced the adsorption capacity for heavy metals through the promotion of heavy metal precipitation, ion exchange, and complexation mechanisms. This study establishes the groundwork for the coupling of silica and magnesium elements in biochar and the remediation of composite heavy metal environmental pollution.
•Oxygen functional groups (OC–O, Si–O, Mg–O) were produced after modification.•The coupling of silica-magnesium in biochar produced inorganic minerals (Mg2SiO4).•ALB/Si–Mg effectively remediated environmental composite heavy metal pollution.•ALB/Si–Mg improved soil available silicon and exchangeable magnesium.•ALB/Si–Mg promoted growth and reduced heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn) in Pakchoi.
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•Naphthalene appended dipodal anthracene sensor (1) was synthesized via a simple click reaction.•Novel fluorescence sensor (1) demonstrated high sensitivity and selectivity towards ...Fe3+ over other competitive ions.•The spectrofluorimetric determination of iron in real samples was performed with using fluorescence sensor (1).•The developed spectrofluorimetric method showed a good aggrement with ICP-OES analysis and spiked/recovery tests.
A dipodal fluorescence (FL) system based on an anthracene platform was prepared by a general synthetic strategy. The water-miscible receptor was characterized by MALDI-MS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and FT-IR. In order to the illustration of photophysical properties of the synthesized sensor, the excitation–emission matrix (EEM) analysis and 3D-fluorescence measurements were performed. Ultraviolet-Visible (UV–vis) and FL spectroscopies were carried out to evaluate the FL performance of the sensor. Low concentrations of iron ions (Fe3+) could be determined by this sensitive and simple sensor. Due to the quenching effect of Fe3+, a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.314 μM was obtained in the linear range of 0.3–130 μM. This fluorescent sensor was applied for measuring ferric ions in environmental water and tablet samples, which was highly efficient. The proposed strategy could be applied to develop sensors for not only for Fe3+ but also for many various metal ions using a diversity of fluorophores and ionophores.
•Hydrophilic MMIR with enhanced adsorption and recognition ability was fabricated.•The formaldehyde, melamine and resorcinol were condensed on MGO.•Two-step template immobilization strategy was ...integrated with surface imprinting.•The isothermal, selectivity and kinetics adsorption were investigated.•The MMIR was used to separate and detect chlorophenols in environmental water.
Constructing imprinting materials with excellent aqueous-recognition ability is a long-term challenge in imprinting fields. Hydrophilic molecularly imprinted materials have been capturing extensive attentions of material scientists, environmental experts and analytical chemists due to their excellent anti-matrix interference and aqueous-recognition ability. Herein, adopting resorcinol and melamine as double hydrophilic monomers, formaldehyde as hydrophilic crosslinker, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol as template and amino functionalized magnetic graphene oxide as substrate, a hydrophilic magnetic molecularly imprinted resin (MMIR) with enhanced adsorption and recognition performance was fabricated for the first time via integrating two-step template immobilization strategy with surface imprinting. The obtained MMIR was applied as magnetic solid phase extraction adsorbent to targeted separation of trace chlorophenols in complex environmental water samples combined with HPLC-UV detection. The mainly preparation conditions and extraction conditions were investigated in detail. Meanwhile, the physicochemical properties and isotherm/selective/kinetic adsorption were systematically explored. The MMIR exhibits excellent magnetic/hydrophilicity/selectivity/adsorptivity/reusability, and the established method presents low LODs (0.056–0.102 μg L-1), high recoveries (91–100%), wide linearity (0.5–100 μg L-1, R2 ≥ 0.991), excellent precision and accuracy for the five chlorophenols. The research provides a new sight on the development of eminent hydrophilic molecularly imprinted composites and the establishment of more efficient sample separation techniques for control/monitor/detection of target pollution in complex water environment.
Rapid and sensitive detection of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is of great importance for the environmental monitoring. Near-infrared fluorescent probes are recently developed for the sensitive H2S ...detection thanks to their low background interference, while often hampered by relatively long response time (around 30 min). In this work, we reported a fast response (within 5 min), highly sensitive near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe (DCM-OCN) for H2S. The rapid nucleophilic reaction between cyanate moiety and H2S endowed fast response of the NIR probe. The influence of experimental parameters (including CTAB concentration, reaction time, pH value etc.), interference study, and possible mechanism were investigated in detail. The fluorescence increment was linear with H2S concentration in 1–10 μM with a detection limit of 0.28 μM (3σ). The probe was successfully applied to environmental water samples including river water, tap water, lake water, mineral water and artificial wastewater.
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•A near-infrared DCM-based fluorescent probe for hydrogen sulfide was reported.•The probe was fast-response, highly sensitive and selective toward H2S.•The probe was successfully applied to detect H2S in natural waters.
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•A novel Fe3O4@Zn2Al-LDH@MIL-53(Al) was synthesized by a facile two-step process.•The material was used for the removal of azole fungicides from environmental water.•The equilibrium ...was reaching within 5 min with high adsorption capacity.•The mechanisms were including hydrogen-bonding interaction and π–π interaction.
In this work, a novel Fe3O4@ZnAl-LDH@MIL-53(Al) composite was synthesized by a facile three-step process and utilized as an adsorbent for the removal of azole fungicides from environmental water. The characterization results revealed that double hydroxide (ZnAl-LDH) and metal organic framework (MIL-53) have been successfully tethered to the shell of Fe3O4. The main factors affecting the removal efficiencies were investigated, and results revealed that Fe3O4@ZnAl-LDH@MIL-53(Al) composite possessed high removal efficiencies for azole fungicides. Furthermore, the adsorption mechanism was investigated and including hydrogen-bonding interaction, chemisorption and π–π interaction. The adsorption kinetic was more consistent with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the whole adsorption process could reach the equilibrium within 5 min. Langmuir adsorption isotherm model could describe the adsorption process most accurately, and the maximum adsorption values of azole fungicides were in the range of 43.54–71.79 mg g−1. Meanwhile, the adsorption thermodynamics indicated that the adsorption process was exothermic and spontaneous. Hence, Fe3O4@ZnAl-LDH@MIL-53(Al) composite had a great application potential in the removal of azole fungicides from the environment.
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•Ferricenecarboxylic acid-labeled LPS-binding peptide used as recognition element.•The amplification responses realized using Ru(NH3)62+ / 3+ as the detection probe.•An ...electrochemical method was developed for LPS with sensitivity of 0.117 μA mLpg−1.•The operation of the electrochemical method is simple in practical samples.
Lipopolysaccaride(LPS) is the main structural component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and causes serious harm to people's health. Thus, in-time detection of LPS in environment is required. Herein, a new LPS electrochemical detection method was developed by using ferricenecarboxylic acid (FCA)-labeled LPS-binding peptide as biomolecular recognition element and electrochemical signal. Au nanoparticles were assembled on 1,6-hexanedithiol modified Au electrode through sulfhydryl groups, and FCA labeled the C-terminal cysteine of LPS-binding peptide was assembled on Au nanoparticles to achieve its immobilization on the electrode surface. In presence of hexaammineruthenium(II/III), a mediated process between ferricene and hexaammineruthenium(II) resulted in electrical signal amplification. The addition of LPS and the its binding with peptides will induce more hexaammineruthenium(III) to access electrode, resulting in the reduction peak current of the hexaammineruthenium(III) and oxidation peak current of ferrocene both increased. The increased electrochemical signals are used to indicate the concentration of LPS. As a result, a highly-sensitive electrochemical method was developed for the rapid determination of LPS. The linear range was from 1.25 to 30 pg mL−1, and the detection limit was 0.039 pg mL−1. It was used in detection of LPS in environmental water samples, and the results consisted with that obtained by Limulus method.
Arsenic contamination in environmental water sources poses a significant threat to human health, necessitating the development of sensitive and accessible detection methods. This study presents a ...multidimensional optimization of a bacterial biosensor for the susceptible and deoxyviolacein (DV)-based visual detection of arsenic. The research involved screening six different arsenic resistance (ars) operons and optimizing the genetic circuit to minimize background noise. Introducing an arsenic-specific transport channel enhanced the sensor's sensitivity to 1 nM with a quantitative range from 0.036 to 1.171 μM. The pigment-based biosensor offers a simple colorimetric approach for arsenic detection without complex instrumentation. The preferred biosensor demonstrated characteristics of anti-chelating agent interference, consistently quantified As(III) concentrations ranging from 0.036 to 1.171 μM covering the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water limit. Innovatively, it effectively detects arsenic in seawater within a linear regression range of 0.071 to 1.125 μM. The biosensor's selectivity for arsenic was confirmed, with minimal cross-response to group 15 metals. Our naked-eye biosensor offers a novel approach for the rapid, on-site detection of arsenic in various water sources. Its simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and versatility make it a valuable tool for environmental monitoring and public health initiatives.
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•Novel bacterial biosensor for visually detecting arsenic with high sensitivity.•Sensitivity enhanced to 1 nM, far lower than WHO drinking water standards.•Effective across various environmental waters, including challenging seawater.•Provides a cost-effective solution for on-site arsenic monitoring.
