In the last decades, high concentrations of flame retardants (PBDE) in marine organisms have caused increasing concern among scientists with regards to their biomagnification potential and to human health. Poly-Brominated Diphenyl Ethers have been widely used in the past as flame retardants in various industrial sectors, and their presence in the biota has been associated with different toxicological

This research investigates the drivers of consumption-based carbon emissions in Brazil by using a dataset covering the period between 1990 and 2018. These dynamics were examined by employing the ARDL bounds, DOLS, and gradual shift causality tests. The ARDL long- and short-run estimation outcomes reveal that: (a) renewable energy use stimulates the sustainability of the environment; (b) economic growth

Developing economies are suffering to fulfill the sustainable environment’s commitments in fiscal imbalance. This study attempted to highlight the core issue of fiscal imbalance in developing economies and its impact on a sustainable environment. For this purpose, the study utilized generalized least squares (GLS) and quantile autoregressive distributive lag (QARDL) on a 19-year dataset (2000–2018)

Energy efficiency (EE) is an evolving research aspect for researchers, businesses, and policymakers for its undeniable role in meeting increasing energy demand, reducing CO2 emissions, and tackling climate change. This paper provides a review of the current state of EE research by mapping the research landscape in business and economics to understand the socioeconomic dimensions within these research

Cadmium aquatic environmental pollution poses great threats to fish and their would-be consumers. The present work investigated the effects of ethyl acetate extract of Moringa oleifera leaves (EAEMOL), vitamin C, and taurine co-exposures on calcium and metallothionein levels, oxidative stress, and gill histopathological changes in Clarias gariepinus exposed to sub-lethal cadmium (CdCl2) for 28 days

Irgarol 1051 and diuron are photosystem II inhibitors in agricultural activities and antifouling paints in the shipping sector. This study focused on three major ports (western, southern, and eastern) surrounding Peninsular Malaysia to construct the distribution of both biocides on the basis of the seasonal and geographical changes. Surface seawater samples were collected from November 2011 to April

Cyanobacteria Spirulina platensis due to its high biosorption and bioaccumulation capacity toward metal ions can be considered as an excellent candidate for environmental bioremediation. The effect of Zn and in different combinations on the accumulation capacity of Spirulina platensis biomass and its biochemical composition was investigated. Four Zn-containing systems with a different combination of

People around the world are facing water scarcity, and the demand for freshwater is continuously increasing. The purification of water is the only way to satisfy the need for water. Purification can be done in many ways by purifying seawater or by storing rainwater and letting it to the ground. Different types of solar still are there, which are used to increase the output of water produced. Among

The use of recycled glass as a substrate for constructed wetlands was assessed through two studies. The first study examined the dissipation of atenolol, carbamazepine, and sulfamethoxazole in mesocosm-modeled wetlands using glass or limestone gravel as substrates, with or without cattails (Typha spp.). Following pseudo-first-order kinetics, atenolol dissipated the fastest from the water surface of

This study applies data envelopment analysis (DEA) to estimate the technical efficiency (TE) and CO2 emission reduction potential of 1270 coal-fired power plants in 28 Chinese provinces and municipalities. The large dataset used in the study includes 727 combined heat and power (CHP) plants and 543 thermal power plants. Results show an average TE score of 0.57 for the CHP power plants and 0.58 for

Ethylene diaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-functionalized graphene was synthesized from Nigerian coal using a chemical exfoliation method and the graphene was applied for the removal of Congo red dye from aqueous solutions. The synthesized coal graphene and the raw coal were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy

The main aim of this study was to determine the concentration of total mercury (T-Hg) in different tissues, hair, and faeces from a long-lived animal that actively lives in the subalpine and alpine zone within temperate climate zone throughout the year. Levels of T-Hg in samples from naturally deceased Tatra chamois (n = 72) from the Tatra Mountains (Slovakia) were determined using direct mercury analyses

Absorption is an effective way to control volatile organic compound (VOC) industrial air pollution, and the key variable in this process is the selection of suitable liquid absorbents to absorb as many organic pollutants as possible. The objective of this study was to prepare a series of high-efficiency absorbents with different proportions of vegetal oil, mineral oil, and waste engine oil, which can

Although the green synthesis of nanometals is eco-friendly, the toxicity or safety of these biosynthesized nanoparticles in living organisms is not fully studied. This study aimed to evaluate the potential protective role of encapsulated thyme oil (ETO) against zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs). ETO was prepared using a mixture of whey protein isolate, maltodextrin, and gum Arabic, and ZnO-NPs were

The current study investigated the putative role of salicylic acid (SA) in modulating Pb2+-induced DNA and oxidative damage in Allium cepa roots. Pb2+ exposure enhanced free radical generation and reduced DNA integrity and antioxidant machinery after 24 h; however, SA pre-treatment (for 24 h) ameliorated Pb2+ toxicity. Pb2+ exposure led to an increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental persistent chemicals, produced by the incomplete combustion of solid fuels, found in smoke. PAHs are considered carcinogenic, teratogenic, and genotoxic. Children are susceptible to environmental pollutants, particularly those living in high-exposure settings. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the exposure to PAHs through

Cadmium (Cd) pollution has attracted global concern. In the present study, the biochemical mechanisms underlying the amelioration of 24-epibrassinolide (eBL) and abscisic acid (ABA) on Cd tolerance of roots, stems, and leaves in mung bean seedlings were comparatively analyzed. Foliar application of eBL markedly ameliorated the growth of mung bean seedling exposed to 100 μM Cd. eBL alone had no significant

Many studies in the literature confirm the validity of the technique effect, which improves the quality of the environment by investigating whether an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between environmental pollution and economic growth. Ignoring the role of the technological obsolescence effect, which may also exert influence on an economy, these studies reach an optimistic conclusion for growth

The occurrence of heavy metals in the natural aquatic systems arising from anthropogenic sources is an issue of global and environmental concern because of their extremely harmful effects to living beings even in rather low concentrations. The synthesis and ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of novel norbornene dicarboximides bearing highly aromatic pendant groups, specifically, N-4-tri

Coal mining provides energy to support the development of society. However, mining affects the environment. Thus, substantial attention has been placed on environmental change in mining areas. Research assessing the environmental change in arid and semiarid mining areas has mainly been conducted by analyzing the variation in a single factor. However, the impact of coal mining on the environment is

This research aims to reveal the premature deaths caused by long-term exposure to PM2.5 in 2018 in Turkey utilizing the AirQ+ program developed by the World Health Organization. Calculation of yearly average PM2.5 concentration in provinces, acreage of provinces, and the mortality rate of the at-risk population was the data required for the operation of the AirQ+ program. With the help of the AirQ+

Scientific evidence suggests that Saharan dust intrusions in Southern Europe contribute to the worsening of multiple pathologies and increase the concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and other pollutants. However, few studies have examined whether Saharan dust intrusions influence the incidence and severity of COVID-19 cases. To address this question, in this study we carried out generalized linear

Herbicides reduce the unsafe effects of weeds, but they are likely to have negative impact on essential and secondary metabolism in crops. However, the combined effect of different herbicides on chemical constituents of different varieties of wheat is still not fully obvious. The current investigation was carried out to determine the effects of three post-emergence herbicides (pinoxaden, tribenuron-methyl

China is the largest carbon emitter in the world. Understanding carbon emissions of China, especially at the provincial level, will help identify the critical factors behind carbon emissions and effectively implement carbon emission reduction measures. There are significant achievements in the study of carbon emissions of China’s provinces. However, there is a gap for improvement in the study from

Prefabrication is a promising method for minimizing construction waste since it is conducted in a controlled environment. This paper develops a simulation model for quantitatively evaluating the potential of prefabrication on construction waste reduction by considering interaction behaviors among factors influencing the application of prefabrication and construction waste reduction during the design

The residue derived from the alginate extraction from S. filipendula was applied for the biosorption of aluminum from aqueous medium. The adsorptive capacity of the residue (RES) was completely evaluated in batch mode. The effect of pH, contact time, initial concentration, and temperature was assessed through kinetic, equilibrium, and thermodynamic studies. The biosorbent was characterized prior and

Although Ahvaz is considered as one of the warmest cities around the world, few epidemiological studies have been conducted on the adverse effects of temperature on human health using thermal indices in this city. This study investigates the relation between physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) and respiratory hospital admissions in Ahvaz. Distributed lag non-linear models (DLNMs) combined

The roles of land scale and household labor allocation have always been a hot button in nitrogen (N) fertilizer use. Rural part-time farming is the main form of household labor allocation in China. This study aimed to quantify the N fertilizer use responses to land-scale expansion and rural part-time farming with different degrees and types in Chinese croplands. Using data on 1159 households extracted

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14449-6

The extensive research on microplastics (MPs) in the last years has shown that it is not just an environmental problem anymore. As it can also be found in human food, it poses a potential risk for human health and food safety. Especially sea salt, which is produced by the evaporation of seawater, including its microplastic contamination, has been reported with different levels of MP contamination.

Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are compounds that are used in the bottle as the main plasticizers. Therefore, the possibility of releasing phthalate esters into beverages is very high and there is a concern to consumer health and monitoring organizations. The aim of this research was to assess the phthalic acid esters (di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP)

The identification of a model organism for investigations of fine dust deposits on moss leaflets was presented. An optical method with SEM enabled the quantitative detection of fine dust particles in two orders of magnitude. Selection criteria were developed with which further moss species can be identified in order to quantify the number of fine dust particles on moss surfaces using the presented

The seven leading industrial countries, called the G7, are becoming a pivotal group to fulfil their emissions-reduction commitments to manage the climate crisis. This paper investigates the relationships between R&D intensity, globalization, and carbon emissions in the context of the G7 countries for the period from 1970 to 2017. Our analysis, which examines these relationships, focuses on the wavelet

The pretreatment of wheat straw has been recognized to be an essential step prior to anaerobic digestion, owing to the high abundance of lignocellulosic materials. In order to choose economical and effective techniques for the disposal of wheat straw, effects of five pretreatment methods including acid, alkali, co-pretreatment of acid and alkali, CaO2, and liquid digestate of municipal sewage sludge

Denitrification in river sediments plays a very important role in removing nitrogen in aquatic ecosystem. To gain insight into the key factors driving denitrification at large spatial scales, a total of 135 sediment samples were collected from Huaihe River and its branches located in the northern of Anhui province. Bacterial community composition and denitrifying functional genes (nirS, nirK, and nosZ)

Flocculation is one of the commonly used sludge conditioning methods in water supply plants, which can improve the sludge dewatering performance by reducing the specific resistance of sludge (SRF), decreasing the amount of sludge, and finally lowering the transportation cost and subsequent disposal cost of sludge. Therefore, it is particularly important to develop new and efficient flocculants. In

Catalytic hydrogen reduction appears to be a promising strategy for nitrate removal. However, the danger and low utilization of H2 are the disadvantages of catalytic hydrogen reduction. Sodium borohydride (NaBH4), considered a potential candidate for hydrogen storage, has been investigated as an electron source for the catalytic reduction of contaminants. However, extensive use of NaBH4 makes commercialization

Disinfectants and sanitizers are essential preventive agents against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; however, the pandemic crisis was marred by undue hype, which led to the indiscriminate use of disinfectants and sanitizers. Despite demonstrating a beneficial role in the control and prevention of COVID-19, there are crucial concerns regarding the large-scale use of disinfectants and

Cadmium (Cd), a toxic heavy metal, produces various forms of environmental contaminations and health problems in human. In this study, we aimed to examine the localization of several apoptotic markers in human placentas from pregnant women who were environmentally exposed to Cd. Twelve pregnant women participated in this analysis and they were divided into 2 groups according to their living areas:

The study represents the seasonal characteristics (carbonaceous aerosols and elements) and the contribution of prominent sources of PM2.5 and PM10 in the high altitude of the eastern Himalaya (Darjeeling) during August 2018–July 2019. Carbonaceous aerosols [organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and water soluble organic carbon (WSOC)] and elements (Al, Fe, Ti, Cu, Zn, Mn, Cr, Ni, Mo, Cl, P, S

Revival of natural colorants in textile dyeing is one of the important strategies to reduce synthetic chemical-based environmental pollution. The study has been conducted to explore the coloring potential of durum (Triticum durum Desf.) and bread (Triticum astivum L.) wheat husk for fabric dyeing. The results showed that both wheat species husk could be an excellent source of natural dye, if extracted

Water is a prime necessity for the survival and sustenance of all living beings. Over the past few years, the water quality of rivers is adversely affected due to harmful wastes and pollutants. This ever-increasing water pollution is a big matter of concern as it deteriorating the water quality, making it unfit for any type of use. Recently, water quality modelling using machine learning techniques

The electric energy mainly comes from thermal power generation fueled by electric coal, and the selection of electric coal supplier is of great practical significance for the development of electric power enterprises. In this paper, the mechanism of supplier selection in electric coal procurement is designed from a perspective of sustainability. Concretely, eleven evaluation indexes from three aspects

Limited epidemiological literature identified the associations between residential greenness and hypertension in low-/middle-income countries. A random sampling strategy was adopted to recruit 39,259 residents, ≥ 18 years, and from 5 counties in central China. Blood pressure was measured based on the protocol of the American Heart Association. Hypertension was defined according to the 2010 Chinese

This study empirically examines the impact of climate change on cereal production in selected lower-middle-income countries with a balanced panel dataset spanning 1971–2016. The study uses average annual temperature and rainfall to measure climate change. Besides this, CO2 emissions, cultivated land under cereal production, and rural population are used as the control variables. Second-generation unit

Since renewable energy has the paramount importance of achieving environmental sustainability, developing countries like Pakistan have been facing numerous renewable energy generation (REG) development challenges. Thus, the REG development in any country can be attributed to its crucial drivers as well as crucial barriers. This work aims to identify crucial influence factors of REG development by conducting

The optimal design and performance monitoring of wind farms depend on the precise assessment of spatial and temporal distribution of wind speed. The aim of this research is to investigate the appropriateness of nine popular probability distribution models (exponential, gamma, generalised extreme value, inverse Gaussian, Kumaraswamy, log-logistic, lognormal, Nakagami, and Weibull) for the assessment

Analyzing the economic value of the damage to human health caused by environmental risks has become an essential research focus, given the increasing necessity for effective decision-making. Since logical and rational analyses such as cost–benefit and cost–utility analyses will likely gain importance in future policymaking, the evaluation of economic costs becomes necessary. Among the various types

Drought is a complex natural disaster affected by multiple climate factors and underlying surface. In recent years, drought monitoring indices of remote sensing have been widely applied to monitor drought in a certain region or global. However, some remote sensing drought monitoring indices do not consider the drought-causing factors enough to reflect the comprehensive drought situation of a region

This study assessed the long-run (LR) and short-run (SR) impacts of climatic and non-climatic factors, i.e., CO2 emissions (CO2e), average level of temperature (ALT), average level of precipitation (ALP), area harvested of wheat and rice crops (AHW and (AHR), domestic credit (DCR), and agricultural labor (ALB) on wheat and rice production (WP and RP) in Turkey by using annual time series data ranging

Wildfires are an environmental concern due to the loss of forest area and biodiversity, but also because their role as drivers of freshwater systems contamination by metals. In this context, the fish Gambusia holbrooki was used as a model, deployed for in situ exposure in watercourses standing within a recently burnt area and further assessment of toxic effects. The fish were exposed during 4 days

Irrigated transplanted flooded rice is a major source of methane (CH4) emission. We carried out experiments for 2 years in irrigated flooded rice to study if interventions like methane-utilizing bacteria, Blue-green algae (BGA), and Azolla could mitigate the emission of CH4 and nitrous oxide (N2O) and lower the yield-scaled global warming potential (GWP). The experiment included nine treatments: T1

In this work, samples of surface snow, surface ice, snow pit and meltwater from the Laohugou Glacier No. 12 on the northern edge of Tibetan Plateau (TP) were collected during the summer of 2015. The average concentration of Hg in surface snow/ice was 22.41 ng L−1, while the percentage of dissolved mercury (HgD) was observed to be around 26%. An altitudinal magnification of Hg was not observed for surface

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14359-7