Driving factors and health risks of spatiotemporal variations of heavy metal pollution in groundwater of pyrite mining areas in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River in China
2026
Groundwater heavy metal contamination from mining activities is a major concern, yet driving mechanisms and health risk differences caused by spatiotemporal variability remain unclear. This study investigated...
Impact of COVID-19 policy easing on the fate, removal and ecological risk of anti-epidemic pharmaceuticals in a typical WWTP in South China
2026
China's termination of the stringent “dynamic zero-COVID” policy in December 2022 triggered a shift in pharmaceutical consumption patterns, profoundly altering the load and fate of these compounds in...
Exposure to drinking-water disinfection byproducts, seminal plasma metabolomic signatures, and semen quality: Findings from the TREE cohort
2026
Disinfection byproducts (DBPs) have been linked to reduced semen quality, yet the underlying mechanisms are largely unclear....
Early-life hotspots and organ partitioning of legacy and alternative PFAS in stranded cetaceans from a rapidly developing subtropical bay
2026
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent “novel entities” that increasingly accumulate in coastal food webs, making apex predators critical sentinels for long-term exposure and risk....
Interspecies comparison of individual- and population-level biomarkers in gammarids caged in a drained agricultural catchment for pesticide ecotoxicity assessment
2026
Subsurface drainage increases pesticide transfer from intensive agriculture to surface waters. Their transfer to surface waters is facilitated by underground drainage networks, but the impact of seasonality...
Photoaged polylactic acid biodegradable microplastics mitigate didecyldimethylammonium chloride toxicity in Microcystis aeruginosa by reducing bioavailability and inducing molecular adaptations
2026
Despite growing concerns about the ecological risks of biodegradable microplastics (BMPs) in aquatic environments, the combined toxicity of BMPs and coexisting pollutants, particularly to primary producers,...
The soil biodegradable plastisphere: A hotspot driving microbial shift and antibiotic resistance dissemination
2026
Biodegradable plastics (BPs), as alternatives to conventional plastics, may paradoxically contribute to soil pollution by affecting microbial communities and accelerating antibiotic resistance gene...
Biochar regulates soil organic carbon flow pathways via density fraction redistribution and priming effects
2026
The mechanisms underlying biochar's regulation of soil organic carbon (SOC) flow via heterogeneous density fraction distribution and fraction-specific priming effects remain unclear. To address this...
Responses of zebrafish to pristine and UV-aged polyethylene microplastics: Single and combined effects with galaxolide (HHCB) in an aquatic microcosm
2026
Microplastics (MPs) and synthetic musk compound galaxolide (HHCB) are widely prevalent new pollutants in aquatic environments, yet their combined toxic effects have not been fully elucidated. This study...
A case–control design of environmental exposures and metabolic alterations in early pregnancy loss using non-targeted analysis
2026
Early pregnancy loss (EPL) is a common reproductive outcome with multifactorial etiologies that remain incompletely understood. To characterize metabolic alterations and potential environmental chemical...
Disentangling anthropogenic inputs from natural heterogeneity: An adaptive machine learning-Geostatistics workflow for soil heavy metal risk assessment
2026
The background value is crucial in determining anthropogenic inputs and risk level of soil heavy metals (HMs). However, the spatial heterogeneity of the HMs frequently cause errors in the background...
Ferroptosis drives the sex-specific gonadal toxicity of microcystin-LR in mussels Hyriopsis cumingii with doubly uniparental inheritance
2026
The reproductive toxicity of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) threatens declining freshwater mussels, many of which have a doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) system that may confer sex-specific vulnerability....
Electrochemical performance of Zn2SnO4@graphene oxide nanocomposites towards waterborne microplastic detection: Experimental and DFT study
2026
Microplastics (MPs) are emerging contaminants of growing concern in seawater desalination and water treatment systems due to their persistence and potential risks to human health. Traditional detection...
Oxidative surface biodeterioration of polystyrene by plastisphere-derived Paenibacillus strains from weathered EPS buoy debris
2026
Expanded polystyrene (EPS) buoy debris is a persistent source of polystyrene (PS) particles in coastal environments, yet microbial processes occurring on weathered PS surfaces remain poorly resolved....
Root-driven cadmium accumulation in leafy vegetables co-regulated by soil water-soluble cadmium and plant transpiration
2026
Understanding the factors governing Cd accumulation in leafy vegetables is critical for Cd remediation and risk control. In theory, root driven Cd accumulation is determined by the product of the soil...
Microplastic bioaccumulation in blood cockles (Anadara granosa) from Indonesia: Influence of body size, habitat, and human dietary risk assessment
2026
Microplastics (MPs) contamination has emerged as a significant environmental threat that may disrupt the ecological functions of coastal systems. Despite this, there is a distinct lack of comprehensive...
Novel VUV/H2O2/PDS process dominated by singlet oxygen for ultrafast degradation of fluoroquinolones in water: Synergistic mechanism and detoxification evaluation
2026
Aquatic fluoroquinolones (FQs) pose escalating ecological risks. The vacuum ultraviolet/hydrogen peroxide (VUV/H2O2) process is promising due to its good compatibility with mainstream water treatment...
Integrative approach to assess the combined impact of microplastics and algal toxins in mussels
2026
Microplastics (MPs) may alter the environmental fate and trophic transfer of lipophilic phycotoxins in coastal waters, but the consequences for marine organisms remain largely unresolved. We investigated...
Ecotoxicological impacts of selected chemical pollutants associated with urban runoff on microalgae and biofilms
2026
Urban runoff micropollutants may impose toxic effects onto the biota of receiving freshwaters. We here determined the toxicity effects of selected urban runoff pollutants on freshwater biofilms and...
Binding mechanisms of selenium to dissolved organic matter: Implications for Se bioavailability and aquatic ecological risks
2026
Selenium (Se) and dissolved organic matter (DOM) are crucial components that regulate redox dynamics and related ecological risks. This review elucidates the binding mechanisms between DOM and different...
Association between urinary metal exposure and vital capacity in Chinese university students
2026
Metal pollution is a global public health concern. Previous studies have focused on single metals in occupational or child populations, with limited longitudinal evidence in university students and...
A multifactorial prioritization strategy for micropollutants in wastewater: Enhancing Indicator selection for effective monitoring and risk management
2026
Monitoring micropollutants in wastewater remains challenging due to the large number of potential contaminants and the logistical constraints of comprehensive chemical analysis. Most existing monitoring...
The sustainable synthesis of functionalized magnetic carbon nanotube adsorbent derived from steel waste for high-efficiency sequestration of tetracycline: Optimization, kinetics, isotherms and regeneration performance
2026
Antibiotic pollution from tetracycline (TC) poses severe environmental and public health hazards. This study investigates the synthesis, characterization, and adsorptive performance of sustainable,...
Carbon-centered environmentally persistent free radicals induce stronger toxicity than oxygen-centered ones in earthworms (Eisenia fetida)
2026
Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) have attracted significant research interest regarding their generation and potential toxicities. However, conventional toxicity assessments of EPFRs...
Freeze-thaw aged film-derived polyethylene and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) microplastics differentially regulate the toxicity of acetochlor on maize
2026
Microplastics (MPs) from agricultural films and herbicides persistently coexist within the agroecosystem. Freeze-thaw (FT) cycles can induce changes in the surface properties of MPs at mid- and high-latitudes,...