The dyeing industry wastewater has greatly hampered the ecological environment. The carbon quantum dots (CQDs) is a promising catalyst for photocatalytic degradation. To control the specified structure of CQDs, a designable-green deep eutectic solvents (DESs) was targeted as the precursor. In this work, a copper-doped solid-state Cu-CQDs was successfully prepared by combustion method from glycerol/choline chloride/CuCl2·2H2O DESs, and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, XRD, XPS, UV–Vis spectroscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The analysis revealed that the metallic copper-doped Cu-CQDs have better morphological and structural properties and exhibit good optics characteristics. The prepared CQDs were applied to the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine-B (RhB). It was found that the ⋅O2− was the main active specie, and it can efficient degrade RhB up to 95%.

Air pollution is widespread and poses significant health risks, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and even lead to death. Among the strategies to mitigate exhaust gases, biological treatment technology has gained significant attention due to its high treatment efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and environmental friendliness. This technology has become a key area of research. This paper discusses the principles, scope, advantages, and cons of various biological treatment methods, including biofiltration, biotrickling filtration, bioscrubbing, and membrane bioreactors. Noteworthy advantages of current biological treatment for exhaust gases include cost savings, reduced energy consumption, and lower secondary pollution risks. However, limitations exist, such as the treatment of treating low concentration and high flow rate of exhaust gases, and the dependence on specific microbial species and fillers. Combining biological treatments with other technologies could significantly improve effectiveness. The review also explores challenges and future directions, aiming to enhance the application of biological treatments in exhaust gas management towards sustainable development.

The accelerating pace of global industrialization has intensified the prevalence of heavy metals in various environments, presenting a substantial threat to human health. This comprehensive review synthesizes findings from existing studies on human health risk assessments at heavy metal contaminated sites, mainly spanning 2013–2023. It reveals a concentrated focus on specific heavy metals, predominantly Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni, and As, and common exposure pathways, such as soil ingestion, dermal contact, and inhalation. This trend may inadvertently overshadow other significant contaminants and exposure routes, indicating a research bias towards certain metals and pathways. We observe a lack of justification in selecting these metals and pathways in existing research, which raises concerns about potential oversight of other significant contaminants and exposure pathways. This review also sheds light on the varying health risks of different site types, with higher risks observed in e-waste-related areas, mines, landfills, and waste incinerators. By conducting an in-depth analysis of existing literature, this review illuminates the imperative to evolve current risk assessment methods to more accurately mirror the complex and variable nature of environmental contaminants. The findings suggest a need for more diversified and comprehensive approaches in selecting pollutants and exposure pathways in heavy metal risk assessments, aiming to protect vulnerable populations better and inform future research and policy decisions.

A major challenge in utilizing humus soil excavated from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills for landscaping is stabilizing heavy metals while preserving beneficial soil properties. Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) technology offers a promising solution for this. In this study, seven indigenous urease producing bacteria were isolated from humus soil and their effectiveness in stabilizing the soil was evaluated. A comparative analysis was conducted between Bacillus pasteurii (BA) and the seven indigenous strains. All strains thrived and effectively performed MICP in the humus soil leachate environment, contributing to solidification/stabilization. Some strains outperformed BA in specific parameters. Among them, Brucella oryzae (Q2-9) exhibited the best performance, with urease activity reaching 52.38 mmol/L, bacterial concentration (OD600) reaching 2.446, and optimal solidification/stabilization effects on humus soil. Following treatment, the unconfined compressive strength of specimens increased to 2.983 MPa, while average particle size rose to 0.91 mm. The heavy metal fixation rates for Cr, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Ni and Mn were 85.03%, 99.50%, 63.24%, 80.75%, 93.92%, 77.23% and 71.21% respectively, with leaching concentrations all meeting Class IV of the Standard for groundwater quality (GB/T 14848–2017). Consequently, Q2-9 is a preferred strain for MICP-based stabilization of humus soil. This strain has been deposited at the China Center for Type Culture Collection under the accession number CCTCC M 2021810 Q2-9.

Monitoring and predicting the environmental quality of watersheds is essential for understanding and managing water pollution. Current prediction models often suffer from limitations, including the need for excessive information, complex architectures, and extensive computational resources. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a water pollution prediction system using artificial neural network trained by the back-propagation algorithm with a 2–6-2 structure. The model was developed using chemical oxygen demand and NH₄⁺ concentration data collected from the catchment areas of Kaihua and Anji counties in Zhejiang Province between November 2020 and October 2021. The average relative errors of the neural network training for chemical oxygen demand and NH4+ were -4.59% and -2.65%, the correlation coefficients were 100% and 98%, and the root-mean-square errors were 7.83% and 0.14%, which confirmed the effectiveness of the back-propagation neural network training. The average relative errors between the predicted and observed values of chemical oxygen demand and NH4+ by the neural network were -4.46% and 2.34%, respectively, with correlation coefficients of 100% and 88%, coefficient of determination of 0.94, and root-mean-square errors of 7.72% and 0.11%, which indicated that the predicted values of the back-propagation neural network on the quality of the water were highly significant correlated with the measured values. This study highlights the potential of artificial neural network models to offer efficient, accurate, and computationally streamlined solutions for water pollution monitoring.

The environment and human health are seriously threatened by the highly hazardous and continuously accumulating pollutant known as hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)]. Therefore, research on more affordable and ecologically friendly remediation agents is desperately needed. This study employed bamboo as a carbon source to produce nZVI-loaded BC materials (nZVI@BC), which would be then used to mimic the remediation of wastewater contaminated with Cr(VI). The morphological structure, chemical composition, functional group, and electron transfer characteristics of the materials were analyzed using SEM, TEM, EDS, Mapping, FTIR, XRD, XPS, and Tafel. The outcomes demonstrated that nZVI was successfully loaded onto BC, which reduced nZVI agglomeration and oxidation, and improved its reactivity and electron transfer rate. The optimal synthesis conditions for nZVI@BC were determined to be a BC pyrolysis temperature of 700 °C and a Fe/C mass ratio of 1:1. The nZVI@BC achieved a removal of 99.80% for Cr(VI), representing a 46.31% improvement compared to nZVI alone. The pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models were more consistent with the adsorption of material. The thermodynamic analysis revealed that the elimination of Cr(VI) was a spontaneous endothermic reaction. The potential removal techniques employed by nZVI@BC include adsorption, reduction, and co-precipitation. Overall, these findings suggest that the synthesized nZVI@BC material shows great potential for effectively treating Cr(VI) in contaminated water.

Water pollution is a growing concern, particularly hexavalent chromium, a toxic pollutant that poses serious environmental and health risks due to its persistence and bioaccumulation. In this study, zeolite A–X was synthesized using an ultrasonic-alkali fusion hydrothermal method, with coal fly ash serving as the source of silica and aluminum, to treat chromium-containing wastewater. The zeolite A–X was successfully synthesized at an alkali-to-ash ratio of 1.5, a hydrothermal temperature of 90 °C, and a hydrothermal time of 12 h. Batch adsorption experiments showed that zeolite A–X achieved optimal adsorption of Cr (VI) at 13.73 mg g−1 under a pH of 3.

Due to the problems of high difficulty and cost of sludge treatment and disposal, the residual sludge with high water content was treated by lysis to realize the reduction. The sludge lysis was conducted by ultravio-sonication (UVS). The effects of wavelength and power of ultraviolet (UV), and sludge concentration and alkali treatment were investigated. The results found that the power of the UV impacted the sludge lysis degree (DDCOD) more strongly than the wavelength, which could increase the amount of TP, PO43−-P, TN, NH4+-N, protein and polysaccharides in the supernatant but reduce the percentage of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. During the lysis by UV-ultrasound, DDCOD increased slightly as the sludge concentration increased, and alkali treatment was more conducive to the dissolution of substances. Under the conditions of ultrasonic power 400 W and frequency 40 kHz, UV power 16 W and wavelength 185 nm, sludge concentration 12,000 mg·L−1, pH = 11 (alkali treatment), the contents of TP, PO43−-P, TN, NH4+-N were 297.1 mg·L−1, 183.9 mg·L−1, 522.3 mg·L−1, and 58.9 mg·L−1, respectively, with DDCOD reaching up to 63.02%. The improvement of sludge lysis degree was conducive to the release of substances and the reduction the moisture content, which facilitated the subsequent sludge disposal and resource utilization.

Compared with a single pollutant, the comprehensive pollution index can reflect the degree of urban pollution more comprehensively. This article introduces the tax weighting method to calculate the comprehensive pollution index in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). Based on the panel data of cities in the YRD from 2005 to 2017, the Spatial Durbin Model is utilized to empirically analyze the influencing factors and spatial spillover effects of the comprehensive pollution index. The results show: (1) The pollution of the cities in the YRD is unevenly distributed, and the eastern coastal areas are facing more serious pollution emissions than the western areas. (2) Changes in the urban industrial structure show an N-shaped curve impact on local industrial pollution emissions. The spatial spillover effect of the changes in industrial structure on the pollution emissions of surrounding cities presents an inverted N-shaped curve characteristic. (3) Economic openness and GDP per capita have a positive impact on pollution emissions. Government control can reduce pollution emissions. The impact of human capital and foreign direct investment on pollution emissions shows uncertainty over time and space. (4) The research results under the tax weighting method which can be proved to be applicable are consistent with the existing conclusions.

Radioactive waste liquids and their derivatives have gradually become a potential threat to mankind. In this study, the FA-Fe-illite was prepared by using fulvic acid to modify the material for the adsorption of Eu(III) after with illite as the matrix and via ferric nitrate as the iron-based donor source. The results showed that the adsorption efficiency of FA-Fe-illite for Eu(III) was significantly better than that of raw illite and iron-column supported illite(Fe-illite). When the pH was 6 , the temperature was 298 K, the time was 60 minutes, and the dosage was 1.2 g/L, the removal rate of europium the removal rate of FA-Fe-illite reached 88.13%. The adsorption process followed the quasi-secondary kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm. Moreover, the thermodynamic parameters also indicated that the adsorption of Eu(III) was an entropy-increasing process with spontaneous heat absorption. Ion exchange, electrostatic adsorption, and surface functional group trapping (-COOH, -OH) played important roles in the adsorption of Eu(III) by FA-Fe-illite. Even after five adsorption-desorption cycles, the removal rate still maintained at 75%. These findings provide insights for the removal of Eu(III) in radioactive pollution control.

Large amounts of volatile organic compounds are released into the environment, and most have been shown to be harmful to humans. Dongting Lake is one of the important freshwater lakes in China, but there are few studies on the existence, distribution and risk assessment of volatile organic compounds in its water. This study investigated the emergence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) within the surface water of Dongting Lake. A total of 15 different VOCs concentrations were measured in water samples from 21 sampling points. Fifteen kinds of VOCs have been detected; the one with the highest mean concentration is 1, 2-dichlorobenzene (1.039 μg/L), and the lowest is 1, 3, 5-trimethylbenzene (0.0034 μg/L). Of these, seven VOCs had a detection frequency of 100%. The total concentration of volatile organic compounds in the Nanzui waters was the highest among all the test sites. The Risk quotients (RQ) model has been adopted for evaluating the VOCs ecological risk, the RQtotal values of five sampling sites were higher than 1.0, indicating that the target compounds were at high risk or medium risk for related sensitive aquatic organisms. In addition, the carcinogenic risk of benzene is 2.45 × 10–6, and the environmental exposure of benzene has a certain risk to human body but is within an acceptable range.The non-carcinogenic risks of toluene, benzene, ethylbenzene as well as xylene (BTEX) have been all less than 1.0, so it can be considered that there is no non-carcinogenic risk of BTEX to human body. Therefore, VOCs in Dongting Lake will not cause serious impact on human body, but it will pose a threat to aquatic organisms in some water areas.

The advanced peracetic acid (PAA) oxidation technology has a wide application prospect in the field of wastewater treatment for its high efficiency, environmental protection and wide application. In this work, cobalt tetraferrote (CoFe2O4) was used to activate PAA to degrade acid red B. The effects of CoFe2O4 catalyst dosage, PAA concentration, initial pH value and anion on the decolorization efficiency of acid red B were investigated by intermittent single factor experiments. The optimal reaction conditions for the degradation of 0.1 mM acid red B in the CoFe2O4/PAA system were as follows: catalyst dosage of 0.008 g, PAA concentration of 1 mM, and initial pH = 7. After 30 min of reaction, the degradation rate of acid red B reached was as high as 99.5%. The coexistence of CoFe2O4/PAA with low concentrations of anions and humic acid (HA) had negligible effects on the catalysis of acid red B, while the coexistence with higher concentrations of HCO3−, H2PO4− and HA inhibited the degradation behaviors. Quenching experiments confirmed that there were a large amount of R-O• and a small amount of •OH in the CoFe2O4/PAA system, and 1O2 played an important role in the degradation process. After 6 cycles, the catalytic performance of CoFe2O4 remained above 98.6%, showing stable catalytic performance, which were also confirmed by FTIR and XPS. This work provided a new way for effectively treating azo dye containing waste water.

H2S treatment is a potential method to remove As from smelting wastewater. However, it was difficult to achieve the high concentration As containing wastewater to standard through H2S one-step treatment. Meanwhile, the sulfide-abundant conditions after H2S treatment changed the As species and the pH condition, which put forward challenges for removing As deeply. In this study, we developed an H2S-modification method to prepare sulfide nanoscale zero-valent iron (S-nZVI) to improve the acid resistance and the adsorption performance of adsorbents for As in sulfide-abundant conditions. The results showed that the H2S-modification method expanded the pH windows with excellent As(III) removal efficiency from 3 to 7, and at pH value of 3, the As(III) removal efficiency reached 99%. Under pH = 3, the concentration of iron released from nanomaterials decreased from 200 to 20 mg/L, which is attributed to the protection of the surface by the FeSx layer. Moreover, through H2S-sulfidation, H3AsO3 (As-O species) transformed to As-S species, which were more challenging to remove than As-O species. In As(III)-S(-II) solution, S-nZVI adsorbed 95% of As(III) in the range of pH 1–5, and the excessive S(-II) could react with Fe(III) to accelerate the cycle of Fe(III)/Fe(II). This improved the efficiency of the Fenton reaction to enhance the oxidation of As(III). Furthermore, consumption of the S(-II) could promote the transformation from As-S species to As-O species. Thus, excellent acid resistance and the synergy with S(-II) made S-nZVI holds great potential to be applied in As(III) removal.

Pb2+, as a heavy metal ion, has been recognized for its strong toxicity and imperative removal from industrial wastewater. In pursuit of resource efficiency, this study employed biochars preparate by limited-oxygen pyrolysis at elevated temperatures, using Solidago canadensis L. (SC) and discarded crab shells (CS) as raw materials. The objective was to investigate the adsorption behaviors and capacities of the resultant biochars for Pb2+. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was utilized to optimize the environmental conditions for the adsorption of Pb2+ by the biochars. Adsorption kinetics indicated that Pb2+ primarily adhered to the biochar via chemical bonding. Isotherm analysis revealed that Pb2+ was fixed by biochar through monolayer adsorption, with the CS-700 demonstrating superior adsorption capacity (93.29 mg/g). The adsorption mechanisms of Pb2+ by SC biochar and CS biochar involved complexation, precipitation, electrostatic attraction, and pore filling. Moreover, the solution pH influenced the adsorption efficiency by altering the speciation of Pb2+, while the concentration of dissolved organic carbon showed a biphasic effect, initially enhancing and then diminishing the adsorption capacity of CS-700 for Pb2+. RSM can accurately predict the removal rate of Pb2+by CS-700 under different environmental conditions. For the given adsorption system, the optimal conditions for the removal of Pb2+ by CS-700 were achieved at a solution pH of 8.65, with an adsorbent dosage of 0.019 g, and a dissolved organic carbon concentration of 11.85 mg/L. This research provides a valuable approach for the recycling of waste materials and the remediation of heavy metals in contaminated water.

An analytical model is presented for assessing the coupled processes that govern water flow and volatile organic compound (VOC) transport from the saturated zone through the vadose region and into the atmosphere. The model is verified by a finite element solution. The sensitivity analyses are performed to evaluate the influence of key parameters, such as bubble upward velocity, water flow, atmospheric conditions on VOC transport and emissions from subsoil environments. VOC transport is sensitive to soil texture, which significantly impacts the capillary fringe in the vadose zone. Higher VOC concentrations are observed in sandy soils compared to silt loam, as the larger volumetric water content observed in the silt loam reduces effective VOC diffusivity. Traditional diffusion-limited models show a sharp concentration decrease in the saturated zone due to low diffusion coefficients of VOC in water, while bubble-facilitated transport maintains higher VOC concentrations in the saturated zone. The relative VOC concentration for diffusion-limited models can be around four orders magnitude lower than the calculated value for bubble-facilitated VOC transport model. Increased bubble transport velocity or reduced saturated zone thickness enhances the VOC concentration gradient, resulting in significantly higher emission fluxes. The atmospheric boundary layer also significantly impacts VOC concentrations and emissions. Ignoring the effects of the atmospheric boundary layer can lead to underestimations of VOC emission flux by a factor of 1.2. These findings highlight the significance of coupled bubble and water flow for the transport of VOCs in the saturated–unsaturated-atmospheric system.

Heavy metal(loid)s accumulation in soil-crop systems is associated with lithologies weathering (black shales) a high geological background. To explore the heavy metal(loid)s pollution in areas with high geological background of black shale, pollution of As, Cd, Cr, Se, Hg and Pb in the soil-crop system in areas of typical black shale was investigated. The results showed that the soil-crop system was heavily contaminated with Se and Cd, with Se concentrations exceeding the environmental standard limit by a factor of 5.2. The bioaccumulation coefficients (BCFs) indicated that the crops had a high uptake capacity for Se and Cd. The BCF of cabbage for Se reached 14.7, followed by elemental Cd at 2.57, and that of maize for Cd was 2.95.The results of health risk showed that cabbage and rice were the main crops constituting the health risk in the study area, and the HI values of rice for elements other than Pb were greater than 10, which meets the criteria for toxicity, and elemental As was the high contributor to the HI value of rice, which reached 36.6. This study is crucial for understanding heavy metals (loids) in soil crop systems in black shale areas under high geological backgrounds.

Nansi Lake, China, has an economically valuable aquaculture industry but fish kills caused by heavy metal pollution have been problematic in recent years. Freshwater supply is critical for centers of industrial activity, commerce, and residences, but growing urban populations pollute the water they rely on. In the case of Nansi Lake, China, there are concerns that continuing urban growth is contributing to heavy metal pollution of the lake water, with potential economic and health impacts, but the extent of this pollution is unclear. To thoroughly understand the spatiotemporal characteristics of heavy metal pollution in Nansi Lake, China, we measured the concentrations of six heavy metals in upper water from 18 sites distributed across four sub-lakes of Nansi Lake and performed a health risk assessment over four seasons. The average concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Hg exceeded those of tertiary water quality standards and were 3.18-, 4.16-, and 14-fold higher than the values listed in the national surface water quality standard of China (GB3838-2002), respectively. Meanwhile, Cu, Mn, and Zn concentrations did not exceed the values in these standards. The heavy metals generally had consistent seasonal distribution patterns in different lake areas, but these patterns differed among the heavy metals, indicating that the metals may have different sources or transformation patterns. The full-year risk value of non-carcinogens in Nansi Lake was 2.32 × 10–6 a−1, which was lower than the maximum acceptable risk level (5 × 10–5 a−1) specified by the International Commission on Radiological Protection, implying that these was no harm to human health from these carcinogens. However, the full-year risk value of the carcinogen Cd was 22.54 × 10–5 a−1, which was much higher than the maximum acceptable level; this risk value contributed to 98.98% of the total risk and requires further attention.

Irrigation from the Yellow River plays a vital role in supporting agricultural production within the Yellow River Basin in China. Nevertheless, few studies have focused on the impact of Yellow River water irrigation on agricultural soil around the hanging section of the river. This study surveyed the characteristics of the agricultural soil along the aboveground segment of the Yellow River spanning from Huayuankou (Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, P.R.China)—Jiahetan (Kaifeng City, Henan Province, P.R.China) section in Henan province. The soil irrigated with Yellow River water (YS), the soil irrigated with groundwater in the irrigation area (GS), and the soil outside the irrigation area (control soil, CS) were sampled and the contents and spatial variations of nutrients (involving the alkaline hydrolytic nitrogen (ASN), NH4+-N, TP, and soil organic matter (SOM), etc.), heavy metal distributions (involving Cu and Zn), and physicochemical properties (involving pH, the total water-soluble salts (Tsalts) and CEC) of the sampled soils were measured and evaluated. While collecting soil samples, the irrigation water used in soil samples was collected, including Yellow River water (YW), groundwater (GW) in the Yellow River irrigation area, and control point-groundwater (CW) at the control soil collection site, and the TN, NO3−-N, NH4+-N, TP, total salt content (TDS) and suspended matter (SS) of water samples were measured. The results indicated that the ASN, NH4+-N, TP, and SOM levels in YS were significantly higher than GS, increasing from 44.3% to 45.8%, 17.4% to 45.8%, 40.1% to 44.6%, and 7.6% to 13.6%, respectively, while the contents of Cu and Zn in YS increased from 29.3% to 34.7% and 13% to 13.5%, respectively, and the Tsalts in soil samples increased from 39.8% to 66.7%. Additionally, the pH of soil within the irrigation zone (YS and GS) was 1.8%-2.6% and 4.4%-2.6% higher than CS, respectively, which might be attributed to lateral seepage of the Yellow River. Spearman correlation analysis between soil environmental factors revealed significant associations between SOM and ASN, NH4+-N, NO3−-N, and AP (p < 0.01). Water quality analysis results indicated that the levels of TN, NH4+-N, and NO3−-N in Yellow River water were 73.5%, 15.4%, and 233% higher than the groundwater in the irrigation area, respectively. Thus, the richer N nutrition in YS soil may be related to the higher N content in Yellow River water. The results underscored the effectiveness of long-term direct irrigation with Yellow River water in enhancing nitrogen and phosphorus nutrition levels as well as organic matter content in soil. However, this practice also poses potential risks, including heightened soil heavy metal pollution (particularly Cu and Zn) and the risk of soil salinization.

Investigating the diffusion characteristics of leaked crude oil in heterogeneous porous media is crucial for accurately predicting the location of oil leaks from buried pipelines, emergency response, and reducing the hazards of pipeline leakage accidents. This study establishes a leakage model for buried pipelines using computational fluid dynamics methods to simulate multiphase flow in porous media, focusing on the effects of different backfill soil porosities and leakage velocity on oil diffusion and temperature field evolution. Results reveal that the diffusion process consists of acceleration, transition, and stabilization phases. At a leakage velocity of 1 m/s, the oil reaches the surface in 169 s, while velocities of 2 m/s and 3 m/s reduce this to 77 s and 48 s, respectively. Higher leakage velocities significantly increase diffusion speed, with the volume fraction of crude oil in backfill soil reaching 75.68%, 91.90%, and 95.99% at 1 m/s, 2 m/s, and 3 m/s, respectively, after 180 s. The temperature field of the soil porous media after leakage is not sensitive to changes in backfill soil porosity, and the leakage rate is one of the main factors driving changes in the temperature field.

A solvothermal route was used to synthesize manganese ferrite/multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MnFe2O4/MWCNT) composite catalyst, which was firstly employed to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to eliminate rhodamine B (RhB) from water. The catalytic activity of the as-obtained MnFe2O4/MWCNT for PMS activation and RhB degradation was higher than that of MnFe2O4 and MWCNT. The optimal MnFe2O4/MWCNT-10 catalyst (0.3 g/L) can remove 98.1% of RhB (20 mg/L) from water by activating PMS (1.0 g/L) after 100 min of reaction, and this catalyst remained stable in the oxidation process. Quenching experiments, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical analysis demonstrated that RhB elimination in the MnFe2O4/MWCNT-PMS system was accomplished by the non-radical (1O2 and electron transfer) and free radical (O2•−, SO4•‒ and •OH) oxidation pathways, and 1O2 played a leading role. The influence of operational factors (PMS dosage, initial solution pH, catalyst dosage, reaction temperature, common inorganic anions and water matrix) on RhB removal by MnFe2O4/MWCNT-10 activated PMS was investigated in detail. The presence of Cl‒ ions significantly boosted RhB degradation due to the production of more 1O2.

The potential risks associated with steroid estrogens (SEs) on both water and human health are significant. Through the utilization of bibliometric analysis methods and visual network graph analysis, this study revealed several key findings: (1) There is a growing interest in research on SEs pollution in water, as evidenced by the increasing annual and cumulative number of publications. Scholars worldwide are particularly focused on studying the environmental behavior, toxicological effects, removal methods, and detection technologies related to SEs in water. (2) Upon entering the environmental medium, free estrogens (FEs) undergo processes such as adsorption, migration, transformation, and degradation. Conjugated estrogens (CEs) can serve as precursors to FEs under specific conditions, with interconversion between the two types of estrogens also observed. (3) The toxic effects of SEs on aquatic animals primarily manifest in reduced fertilized egg and offspring survival rates. In terms of plant growth, SEs exhibit stimulatory effects at low concentrations and inhibitory effects at high concentrations. Furthermore, SEs can impact human health by modulating the expression of genes essential for reproductive and immune functions through epigenetic mechanisms. (4) Currently, various pretreatment technologies for water samples are utilized, such as solid phase extraction, liquid–liquid extraction, and other methods. The removal methods for SEs can be categorized into physical, chemical, and biological techniques. Moving forward, it is crucial to focus on developing efficient and sensitive target sensors, as well as establishing more sensitive, convenient, and accurate detection technologies to support decision-making in managing, controlling, and restoring SEs pollution risks in water.

In this paper, a novel graphene oxide/β-cyclodextrin composite (GO/β-CD) adsorbent was synthesized for the effective simultaneous removal of dyes. GO and GO/β-CD were characterized using BET, SEM, FT-IR, Raman, and XRD techniques. GO/β-CD has a BET specific surface area of 0.25 m2/g. The surface of GO/β-CD contains a significant number of reactive groups, such as carboxyl groups, which enable the effective adsorption of methylene blue (MB). The adsorption of GO/β-CD on methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution was also investigated kinetically and thermodynamically. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the reaction were calculated. Based on the experimental results, the adsorption reaction was determined to be a spontaneous endothermic reaction. The adsorption of MB on GO/β-CD best fit the Langmuir model based on the results of the adsorption isotherm model fitting. The maximum adsorption capacity of the composite was 434.78 mg/g. The GO/β-CD adsorbent was highly efficient at adsorbing cationic dyes, and its performance remained consistently high after six cycles. Thus, GO/β-CD offers the advantages of nontoxicity, excellent adsorption and regeneration properties, and great potential for treating real and simulated wastewater from various industries.

The composition and source analysis of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in sewage outfall into the sea is an effective means of pollutant traceability, which is of great significance to the ecological environment protection in coastal areas. This paper selects Dongguan, an important coastal industrial city in China’s Pearl River, for research. Water samples from 42 sewage outfalls into the sea were measured by three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy (3D-EEM). Combined with fluorescence characteristic parameters, similarity analysis and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), the spectral characteristics, DOM composition and source were analyzed. The average values of fluorescence parameters fluorescence index (FI), biological index (BIX) and humification index (HIX) were 1.80, 0.94 and 0.55, respectively. The overall PARAFAC analysis found that DOM in the sewage outfall of Dongguan was mainly composed of two fluorescent components, namely tyrosine-like (C1) and humus-like (C2), where tyrosine-like fluorescence was higher than humus-like. This indicates that DOM comes from both terrestrial and endogenous biological activities, but endogenous sources are the primary sources. The similarity analysis divided sewage outfalls into four categories, namely urban rainwater drainage characteristics, typical urban sewage, Jiulong paper-related wastewater and aquaculture water in fish ponds. At the same time, in the PARAFAC analysis, the fluorescence components of 14 urban rainwater outfalls were consistent with the overall analysis results. There are 3 effective parallel factor fluorescence components in 23 outfalls most likely to be contaminated by domestic sewage, namely tyrosine (C1) Humus-like (C2) and tryptophan (C3), C3 components in the characterization of the protein fluorescent tryptophan substance region appeared a strong response peak, belonging to the source pollution, consistent with similarity analysis results. This study suggests that the same source sewage outfalls should be classified management, strengthen the source tracing of sewage outfalls into the sea in neighboring cities, and build a collaborative pollution control system for river basins, estuaries and coastal.

Microplastics (MPs) pollution in soil have emerged as a significant environmental concern, infiltrating ecosystems and posing threats to ecological, plants, human, and animal health. We aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of microplastics, exploring their types, sources, pathways, and impacts across different environmental compartments. Begins with an introduction to microplastics, this review offers details on their classification and examines their omnipresence in aquatic and across other environments highlighting their persistent nature and complex pathways. It culminates the urban runoff, industrial discharges, anthropogenic activities, and agricultural inputs as major contributors, underscoring the need for targeted intervention strategies. The review underscores the detrimental effects of microplastics on aquatic life, soil fertility, and food safety, while also addressing the broader societal implications, including economic costs and public health concerns. Sampling and detection methods for microplastics are critically reviewed, covering advanced techniques and technologies that enable accurate identification and quantification of these pollutants. Overall, underscoring the dynamic nature of the microplastic pollution by synthesizing current knowledge and advancements, this review calls for the long-term monitoring and adaptive management strategies for future research, policy-making, and public initiatives towards a sustainable and microplastic-free environment.