Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) which contain diverse organic groups, such as antibiotics, hormones, antimicrobial agents, synthetic musks, etc., have raised significant concerns ...in recently years for their persistent input and potential threat to ecological environment and human health. China is a large country with high production and consumption of PPCPs for its economic development and population growth in recent years. This may result in PPCP contamination in different environmental media of China. This review summarizes the current contamination status of different environment media, including sewage, surface water, sludge, sediments, soil, and wild animals, in China by PPCPs. The human body burden and adverse effects derived from PPCPs are also evaluated. Based on this review, it has been concluded that more contamination information of aquatic environment and wildlife as well as human body burden of PPCPs in different areas of China is urgent. Studies about their environmental behavior and control technologies need to be conducted, and acute and chronic toxicities of different PPCP groups should be investigated for assessing their potential ecological and health risks.
•Contamination status of pharmaceuticals & personal care products in China reviewed.•PPCPs in sewage, surface water, sludge, soil, sediments, and wild animals reviewed.•Human body burden of PPCPs also evaluated.
•Microplastic-induced changes affect soil function and soil microbial communities.•The effects of microplastics on soil or soil organisms depend on particle types, concentration and exposure ...time.•Consumption of microplastics can cause mechanical damage, chemical responses and disrupt gut microbial communities.•Microplastics have potential effects on plant growth and may accumulate and transport in plants.•Some bacteria biodegrade microplastics could be used for soil bioremediation.
Microplastics are emerging contaminants and their presence in water and soil ecosystems has recently drawn considerable attention because they pose a great threat to entire ecosystems. Recent researches have focused on the detection, occurrence, characterization, and toxicology of microplastics in marine and freshwater ecosystems; however, our understanding of the ecological effects of microplastics in soil ecosystems is still limited compared with that in aquatic ecosystems. Here, we have compiled literature, studying the sources, migration of microplastics in soil, negative impacts on soil health and function, trophic transfer in food chains, and the corresponding adverse effects on soil organisms in order to address the potential ecological and human health risks caused by microplastics in soil. This review aims to address gaps in knowledge, shed light on the ecological effects of microplastics in soil, and propose future studies on microplastic pollution and the resultant soil ecotoxicity. Furthermore, this review is focused on limiting microplastics in soil and establishing management and remediation measures to mitigate the risks posed by microplastic pollution.
Phthalates (PAEs) are extensively used as plasticizers and constitute one of the most frequently detected organic contaminants in the environment. With the deterioration of eco-environment in China ...during the past three decades, many studies on PAE occurrence in soils and their risk assessments have been conducted which allow us to carry out a fairly comprehensive assessment of soil PAE contamination on a nation-wide scale. This review combines the updated information available associated with PAE current levels, distribution patterns (including urban soil, rural or agricultural soil, seasonal and vertical variations), potential sources, and human health exposure. The levels of PAEs in soils of China are generally at the high end of the global range, and higher than the grade II limits of the Environmental Quality Standard for soil in China. The most abundant compounds, di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), display obvious spatial distribution in different provinces. It is noted that urbanization and industrialization, application of plastic film (especially plastic film mulching in agricultural soil) and fertilizer are the major sources of PAEs in soil. Uptake of PAEs by crops, and human exposure to PAEs via ingestion of soil and vegetables are reviewed, with scientific gaps highlighted.
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•PAE levels in soils of China were generally higher than the other countries.•DBP and DEHP are the dominant compounds in soil with obvious spatial distribution.•Urbanization and industrialization, application of plastic film and fertilizer are the major sources of PAEs in soil.•Uptake of PAEs by crops and human exposure to PAEs are reviewed.
Soil pollution with organic contaminants is one of the most intractable environmental problems today, posing serious threats to humans and the environment. Innovative strategies for remediating ...organic-contaminated soils are critically needed. Phytoremediation, based on the synergistic actions of plants and their associated microorganisms, has been recognized as a powerful in situ approach to soil remediation. Suitable combinations of plants and their associated endophytes can improve plant growth and enhance the biodegradation of organic contaminants in the rhizosphere and/or endosphere, dramatically expediting the removal of organic pollutants from soils. However, for phytoremediation to become a more widely accepted and predictable alternative, a thorough understanding of plant–endophyte interactions is needed. Many studies have recently been conducted on the mechanisms of endophyte-assisted phytoremediation of organic contaminants in soils. In this review, we highlight the superiority of organic pollutant-degrading endophytes for practical applications in phytoremediation, summarize alternative strategies for improving phytoremediation, discuss the fundamental mechanisms of endophyte-assisted phytoremediation, and present updated information regarding the advances, challenges, and new directions in the field of endophyte-assisted phytoremediation technology.
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•Endophytes are valuable bio-resources for enhancing phytoremediation efficiency.•The superiority of endophyte-assisted phytoremediation is assessed.•Mechanisms adopted by plant and endophyte for xenobiotic removal are summarized.•Cometabolism of plant and endophyte serves a main route for xenobiotic degradation.•“Omcs” techniques open up new perspectives for plant-endophyte interactions.
•China's aquacultural industry dominates global aquaculture production•Omnivorous and herbivorous fish are the major species cultured in China•Conventional ingredients could be partially replaced by ...food waste•Currently no laws or standards regulate the use of food waste in fish feed
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China's aquaculture industry is growing dramatically in recent years and now accounts for 60.5% of global aquaculture production. Fish protein is expected to play an important role in China's food security. Formulated feed has become the main diet of farmed fish. The species farmed have been diversified, and a large amount of ‘trash fish’ is directly used as feed or is processed into fishmeal for fish feed. The use of locally available food waste as an alternative protein source for producing fish feed has been suggested as a means of tackling the problem of sourcing safe and sustainable feed. This paper reviews the feasibility of using locally available waste materials, including fish waste, okara and food waste. Although the fishmeal derived from fish waste, okara or food waste is less nutritious than fishmeal from whole fish or soybean meal, most fish species farmed in China, such as tilapia and various Chinese carp, grow well on diets with minimal amounts of fishmeal and 40% digestible carbohydrate. It can be concluded that food waste is suitable as a component of the diet of farmed fish. However, it will be necessary to revise regulations on feed and feed ingredients to facilitate the use of food waste in the manufacture of fish feed.
•Disposal of municipal sewage sludge containing HMs poses a high environmental risk.•Disposal of biochar derived from sludge pyrolysis poses a low environmental risk.•The effect of pyrolysis ...temperature on immobilization of HMs in biochar was studied.•Fractionation and bioavailability of heavy metals in sludge and biochar was analyzed.•The influence of pyrolysis temperature on properties of biochar was studied.
Dried raw sludge was pyrolyzed at temperatures ranging from 400 to 600°C at the increase of 50°C intervals to investigate the influence of pyrolysis temperature on properties and environmental safety of heavy metals in biochar derived from municipal sewage sludge. The sludge biochar yield decreased significantly with increasing pyrolysis temperature but the pH, ash content and specific surface area increased. Conversion of sludge to biochar markedly decreased the H/C and N/C ratios. FT-IR analysis confirmed a dramatic depletion of H and N and a higher degree of aromatic condensation in process of biochar formation at higher temperatures. The total concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr, Mn, and Ni increased with conversion of sludge to biochar and increasing pyrolysis temperature. However, using BCR sequential extraction and analysis, it was found that most of the heavy metals existed in the oxizable and residual forms after pyrolysis, especially at 600°C, resulting in a significant reduction in their bioavailability, leading to a very low environmental risk of the biochar. The present study indicates pyrolysis is a promising sludge treatment method for heavy metals immobilization in biochar, and highlights the potential to minimize the harmful effects of biochar by controlling pyrolysis temperature.
Plastic debris in the global biosphere is an increasing concern, and nanoplastic (NPs) toxicity in humans is far from being understood. Studies have indicated that NPs can affect mitochondria, but ...the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The liver and lungs have important metabolic functions and are vulnerable to NP exposure. In this study, we investigated the effects of 80 nm NPs on mitochondrial functions and metabolic pathways in normal human hepatic (L02) cells and lung (BEAS-2B) cells. NP exposure did not induce mass cell death; however, transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that the NPs could enter the cells and cause mitochondrial damage, as evidenced by overproduction of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species, alterations in the mitochondrial membrane potential, and suppression of mitochondrial respiration. These alterations were observed at NP concentrations as low as 0.0125 mg/mL, which might be comparable to the environmental levels. Nontarget metabolomics confirmed that the most significantly impacted processes were mitochondrial-related. The metabolic function of L02 cells was more vulnerable to NP exposure than that of BEAS-2B cells, especially at low NP concentrations. This study identifies NP-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and metabolic toxicity pathways in target human cells, providing insight into the possibility of adverse outcomes in human health.
Frequent cyanobacterial blooms in the eutrophic waters produce a variety of toxins such as the monocyclic heptapeptide microcystins, greatly harming aquatic ecosystems and human health. However, ...little information of microcystins in agricultural fields is known. This field study of three common microcystin variants (MC-LR, MC-RR, and MC-YR) in vegetables (n = 161), soils (n = 161) and irrigation water samples (n = 23) collected from southern China regions affected by cyanobacteria blooms, shows their prevalence with total concentrations up to 514 μg/L water, 187 μg/kg soil (dry weight) and 382 μg/kg vegetable (fresh weight). MC-RR was the primary variant in all types of samples, accounting for 51.3–100% of total microcystin concentrations. Significant concentration-dependent correlations (p < 0.05) demonstrated that microcystin-contained irrigation waters were the major source of microcystin accumulation in both vegetables and soils. Meanwhile, intracellular-microcystins in irrigation water was found to play an important role in microcystins bioaccumulation in vegetables for the first time. Most vegetable samples (≥60%), particularly celery posed moderate or high human health risk via diet based on toxicity equivalents of the microcystins and reference dose for MC-LR (0.04 μg/kg/d), showing high food safety hidden dangers. Soil microcystins, especially MC-RR in 46.4–88.3% of soils could pose high ecological risks. This study highlights the potential high ecological and human health risks of microcystins in the real soil-vegetable systems of areas affected by cyanobacteria blooms, implying the profound significance and urgent need of investigation on microcystins in terrestrial ecosystems.
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•MCs are prevalent in actual soil-crop systems affected by cyanobacterial blooms.•MC-RR was the primary variant in all types of the samples.•Intracellular-MCs could play an important role in vegetable MCs accumulation.•Most vegetable samples posed moderate or high human health risk via diet.•Soil MCs, especially MC-RR could pose high ecological risks.
Tremendous amounts of food wastes are produced in China, and the conventional treatment by landfilling and incineration approaches poses serious environmental and social threats. Carbonization of ...food waste into value-added bio-solid is a feasible and potential alternative method for its sustainably recycle. Very limited information is available on the variation in biochar and hydrochar produced from food waste. In this study, five typical food waste types (eggshell, fish residue, breadcrumb, cooked rice and mixed food waste) and seven temperatures (200, 300, 400, and 500 °C for pyrolysis and 200, 250, and 300 °C for hydrothermal carbonization) were used, and physicochemical characteristics of the biochars and hydrochars were characterized. The main mass loss occurred centering at the temperatures of 270–320 °C, and 400 °C was a critical temperature for a complete decomposition. Physically, hydrochars showed spherically shaped morphological features in comparison with the pore and crack structures of biochars. Specific surface areas were generally low (<2 m2/g) for biochar and hydrochars produced from food wastes, except for biochar produced from mixed food waste at 500 °C (18 m2/g) and hydrochars produced from cooked rice at 300 °C (54 m2/g). In terms of chemical properties, hydrochars differed in pH, functional groups, elemental composition, proximate analysis compared with biochars. Hydrochars showed similar functional group types to that of biochars at low peak temperatures (≤300 °C), but the functional groups for biochars nearly disappeared at higher temperatures (≥400 °C). Hydrochars showed lower polarity and aromaticity than that of biochars. Hydrochars showed a lower pH and ash content than biochars due to the washout of inorganic components during hydrothermal carbonization. The results from this study proved the feasibility of recycling food wastes through pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization, and provided basic information for their potential utilization.
•Food wastes were converted into biochars and hydrochars through pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization.•Biochars and hydrochars produced from food wastes showed comparable properties compared with conventional biochars.•Na concentrations in biochar and hydrochars produced from food wastes were limited.
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•Sludge was pyrolyzed with bamboo sawdust for metal immobilization.•Metals were transformed from highly available to stable forms after pyrolysis.•Addition of bamboo sawdust in sludge ...co-pyrolysis minimizes the risk from metals.•Co-pyrolysis with bamboo sawdust at 600°C is suitable for sludge metal stabilization.
A novel type of biochar was produced by mixing bamboo sawdust with sewage sludge (1:1, w/w) via a co-pyrolysis process at 400–600°C. Changes in physico-chemical properties and the intrinsic speciation of metals were investigated before and after pyrolysis. Co-pyrolysis resulted in a lower biochar yield but a higher C content in the end product compared with use of sludge alone as the raw material. FT-IR analysis indicates that phosphine derivatives containing PH bonds were formed in the co-pyrolyzed biochars. In addition, co-pyrolysis of sludge with bamboo sawdust transformed the potentially toxic metals in the sludge into more stable fractions, leading to a considerable decrease in their direct toxicity and bioavailability in the co-pyrolyzed biochar. In conclusion, the co-pyrolysis technology provides a feasible method for the safe disposal of metal-contaminated sewage sludge in an attempt to minimize the environmental risk from potentially toxic metals after land application.
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