Environmental Geochemistry and Health This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Occurrence, transport, and toxicity of microplastics in tropical food chains: perspectives view and way forward
AbstractMicroplastics, which have a diameter of less than 5 mm, are becoming an increasingly prevalent contaminant in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems due to the dramatic increase in plastic production to 390.7 million tonnes in 2021.  Among all the plastics produced since 1950, nearly 80% ended up in the environment or landfills and eventually reached the oceans. Currently, 82–358 trillion plastic particles, equivalent to 1.1–4.9 million tonnes by weight, are floating on the ocean's surface. The interactions between microo rganisms and microplastics have led to the transportation of other associated pollutants to ...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 23, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

A comprehensive investigation of geoenvironmental pollution and health effects from municipal solid waste landfills
This study investigates human health risks associated with heavy metals (HMs) occurrence in municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills. For testing of selected MSW landfills steps were involved, including site characterization, soil sampling and chemical testing, statistical analysis, as well as health risk assessment, carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects. For the Polish landfill (Radiowo) the average HMs concentrations were found in the following order: Zn (52.74  mg/kg DM) >  Pb (28.32 mg/kg DM) >  Cu (12.14 mg/kg DM) >  Ni (4.50 mg/kg DM) >  Cd (3.49 mg/kg DM), while for the Czech landfi...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 23, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

Silver-decorated SrTiO3 nanoparticles for high-performance supercapacitors and effective remediation of hazardous pollutants
AbstractSrTiO3/Ag nanocomposites were synthesized using a facile wet impregnation method, employing rigorous experimental techniques for comprehensive characterization. XRD, FTIR, UV, PL, FESEM, and HRTEM were meticulously utilized to elucidate their structural, functional, morphological, and optical properties. The electrochemical performance of the SrTiO3/Ag nanocomposite was rigorously assessed, revealing an impressive specific capacitance of 850 F/g at a current density of 1  A. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the SrTiO3/Ag nanocomposite was rigorously examined using methylene blue (MB) dye, and the result...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 20, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

Identification of sources and analysis of spatial distribution of soil heavy metals in northern China coal mining areas
AbstractThe mining and utilization of coal resources has not only promoted rapid economic development but also poses a potential threat to the ecological environment. The purpose of this study is to clarify the effects both of mining and land use types on the spatial distribution and particular sources of heavy metals in soil, using inverse distance weighted (IDW) and the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) model. A total of 99 topsoil and profile soil samples across different land use types and mining conditions were collected. The contamination of soil with Cd, Pb, and Hg in the research area was most severe, with the co...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 20, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

Solar-activated and hydrothermally synthesized effective rGO/Ag2S composites for the destruction of naphthol green B dye and antibacterial applications
AbstractGraphene-based nanocomposites are developing as a new class of materials with several uses. The varied weight percentages of rGO on Ag2S catalysts were synthesized using a simple hydrothermal process and employed for the decomposition of anionic dye naphthol green B (NGB) under solar light. The reduced graphene oxide-based silver sulfide (rGO/Ag2S) nanoparticles were then examined using XRD, SEM, EDS, HR-TEM, XPS, UV-DRS, and PL analysis. Using solar light, the photocatalytic activity of the produced catalyst was examined for the degradation of naphthol green B (NGB) in an aqueous solution. At pH 9, rGO/Ag2S is dis...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 20, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

Adsorption behavior of lead, cadmium, and arsenic on manganese-modified biochar: competition and promotion
In this study, the adsorbent was prepared by pyrolysis of rice straw loaded with manganese (BC-Mn). The interactions of Pb, Cd and As adsorption on BC-Mn were systematically studied. The results of the adsorption isotherms for the binary metal system revealed a competitive adsorption between Pb and Cd, resulting in decreased Pb (from 214.38  mg/g to 148.20 mg/g) and Cd (from 165.73 mg/g to 92.11 mg/g). A notable promotion occurred between As and Cd, showing an increase from 234.93 mg/g to 305.00 mg/g for As and 165.73 mg/g to 313.94 mg/g for Cd. In the ternary metal system, Pb inhibition did not counteract the prom...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 17, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

Accumulation and risk assessment of mercury in soil as influenced by mercury mining/smelting in Tongren, Southwest China
AbstractTo investigate the influence of mercury (Hg) mining/smelting on the surrounding soil environment, ninety soil samples were collected around Hg mining/smelting areas in Tongren city, Guizhou Province, Southwest China. The total mercury (THg), methylmercury (MeHg), bioavailability and fractions of Hg in the soil and their potential risk were evaluated. The results showed that Hg mining/smelting significantly increased the soil pH and decreased the soil organic matter content (p <  0.05). The THg content in the surrounding soil was much higher than that at the control site, with almost all the samples exceeding...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 17, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

Assessment of the ecological risk and mobility of arsenic and heavy metals in soils and mine tailings from the Carmina mine site (Asturias, NW Spain)
This study provides an integrative approach that serves as a powerful tool to evaluate the metal pollution status and potential threats to the local environment of abandoned mining areas, and the results are useful for making management decisions in these areas. (Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health)
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 17, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

Mercury exposure in riverine populations of Terra do Meio Extractive Reserves in the Xingu basin, Amazon, Brazil
AbstractAmazon is a hotspot for mercury (Hg) contamination and Terra do Meio region, despite its protected status for sustainable use, has never been monitored for this element. Looking to address this gap, this study aimed to quantify capillary Hg concentration in riverine populations of Terra do Meio (Xingu Basin, Central Amazon, Brazil) and associated factors with high Hg levels (90 percentile). Hair samples from 182 individuals from Iriri, Riozinho do Anfr ísio and Xingu Extractive Reserves (RESEX), aged between 18 and 70 years old, were collected to measure total mercury levels (HgT), and socioeconomic, demographic, ...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 17, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

Microplastic interactions in the agroecosystems: methodological advances and limitations in quantifying microplastics from agricultural soil
AbstractThe instantaneous growth of  the world population is intensifying the pressure on the agricultural sector. On the other hand, the critical climate changes and increasing load of pollutants in the soil are imposing formidable challenges on agroecosystems, affecting productivity and quality of the crops. Microplastics are amo ng the most prevalent pollutants that have already invaded all terrestrial and aquatic zones. The increasing microplastic concentration in soil critically impacts crop plants growth and yield. The current review elaborates on the behaviors of microplastics in soil and their impact on soil qu...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 17, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

A nose for trouble: ecotoxicological implications for climate change and disease in Saiga antelope (S. t. tatarica)
AbstractIn recent decades, Saiga antelope (Saiga t. tatarica) mass die-offs have become more common. The mass die-off of 2015 in central Kazakhstan, recorded 140,000 individual deaths across multiple herds. Previously, research has shown atmospheric humidity, the bacteriumPasteurella multocida serotype B, and resultant haemorrhagic septicaemia, were the primary cause. However, other synergistic factors may have impacted this process. Here we use a multivariate compositional data analysis (CoDA) approach to assess what other factors may have been involved. We show a pollutant linkage me chanism where relative humidity and...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 17, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

Spatial distribution pattern and health risk of groundwater contamination by cadmium, manganese, lead and nitrate in groundwater of an arid area
In this study, stacking of five base learners, including eXtreme gradient boosting, random forest, feed-forward neural networks, generalized linear models with Lasso or Elastic Net regularization, and support vector machines, was used to study the spatial variation of Mn, Cd, Pb, and nitrate in Qom-Kahak Aquifers, Iran. The stacking strategy proved to be an effective substitute predictor for existing machine learning approaches due to its high accuracy and stability when compared to individual learners. Contrarily, there was not any best-performing base model for all of the involved parameters. For instance, in the case of...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 17, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

Short-term association between air pollution and daily genitourinary disorder admissions in Lanzhou, China
AbstractThe aim of this study was to determine the relationship between short-term exposure to ambient air pollution and the number of daily hospital admissions for genitourinary disorders in Lanzhou. Hospital admission data and air pollutants, including PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, O38h and CO, were obtained from the period 2013 to 2020. A generalized additive model (GAM) combined with distribution lag nonlinear model (DLNM) based on quasi-Poisson distribution was used by the controlling for trends, weather, weekdays and holidays. Short-term exposure to PM2.5, NO2 and CO increased the risk of genitourinary disorder admissions w...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 17, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

Distribution characteristics, source analysis and risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediments of Kuye River: a river in a typical energy and chemical industry zone
This study systematically analyzed the distribution characteristics, sources, and ecological risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Kuye River sediments, located in an energy and chemical industry base in northern Shaanxi, China. The results that revealed the concentrations of 16 PAHs in the sediment ranged from 1090.04 to 32,175.68  ng∙g−1 dw, with the four-ring PAHs accounting for the highest proportion. Positive matrix factorization analysis (PMF) revealed the main sources of PAHs as incomplete fossil fuel combustion, biomass combustion, and traffic emissions. The total toxic equivalent concentration o...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 17, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research

Development of an environmentally sustainable technique to minimize the sludge production in the textile effluent sector through an electrokinetic (EK) coupled with electrooxidation (EO) approach
This study presents an environmentally sustainable method for minimizing sludge production in the textile effluent sector through the combined application of electrokinetic (EK) and electrooxidation (EO) processes. AAS and XRF analyses reveal that utilizing acidic electrolytes in the EK method successfully eliminates heavy metals (Cu,  Mn, Zn, and Cr) from sludge, demonstrating superior efficiency compared to alkaline conditions. In addition, the total removal efficiency of COD contents was calculated following the order of EK-3 (60%), EK-1 (51%) and EK-2 (34%). Notably, EK-3, leveraging pH gradient fluctuations induced b...
Source: Environmental Geochemistry and Health - February 17, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research