Current Pollution Reports最新文献

Purpose of Review

Urban waterways are a vital part of a city’s socio-ecological infrastructure, supporting ecosystems, protecting public health and enhancing urban livability and sustainability. Urban waterways in the Global South are experiencing severe degradation due to rapid urbanization, industrialization, and inadequate sanitation infrastructure, posing adverse impact on public health, flood risk, and urban livability. While urban waterway restoration across developing countries has gained significant attention, existing evidence still remains fragmented. This review aims to bridge the gap by providing current knowledge on restoration strategies, governance frameworks, implementation progress, and documented environmental and socio-economic outcomes of urban waterway restoration in the Global South.

Recent Findings

The recent literature highlights a diverse urban waterway restoration across the Global South including canal daylighting, constructed wetlands, and community-based management. Studies indicates different technical adoption of nature-based solutions, grey infrastructure, blue–green infrastructure, and hybrid grey–green systems to address high pollution loads, informal urbanization, and resource constraints. Evidence across literature also shows increasing reliance on governance frameworks, particularly Integrated Urban Water Management and polycentric adaptive governance help address institutional fragmentation and enable coordinated action across sectors.

Summary

This review clearly indicates a shift from single purpose, engineering-driven interventions toward integrated restoration approaches in the Global South. Effective restoration increasingly relies on integrated, context-specific approaches combining nature-based and hybrid infrastructure with adaptive and participatory governance. Across case studies, restoration delivers multiple environmental and socio-economic benefits, but outcomes remain uneven due to persistent constraints, including weak regulatory enforcement, limited long-term financing, competing land uses, and insufficient technical capacity. Overall, the review highlights the importance of reframing urban waterways as multifunctional infrastructure to enable scalable, durable restoration and to advance more resilient, healthy, and equitable urban systems.

Purpose of Review

Global concern over microplastics (MPs) has recently prompted several investigations owing to their potential deleterious effects on the environment. Accurate MPs detection with ease and robustness is important for better management decisions to maintain environmental sustainability. The present review summarised advanced sensory techniques for MPs detection in environmental matrices, citing limitations of conventional MPs detection techniques.

Recent Findings

Bio and synthetic receptors, dyes, nanomaterials, and other materials have been reported for the precise visual detection of MPs through their selective adsorption on different polymer types. Advances techniques like Near Infrared (NIR) and microwave spectroscopy, imaging, light-emitting diodes with photodetectors, electrochemical techniques with microfluidic setups, etc., were also reported for sensing MPs. However, limitations remain in terms of the accurate detection of microplastics with good analytical performance in environmental matrices.

Summary

The inferior MPs detection limit, found in IR and Raman spectroscopy, could be overcome by hyperspectral imaging spectroscopy with high spatial resolution. Even though these sensing techniques are still in their infancy, the review highlights that sensors for MPs detection are possible and achievable with high accuracy. However, more investigation is required to improve the efficacy of sensing techniques through pinpointing their shortcomings.

Purpose of Review

The continuous discharge of pharmaceutical residues into aquatic environments has become a significant environmental concern. Effluents from healthcare facilities, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and domestic sources contain active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), antibiotics, hormones, and personal care products that pose ecological and human health risks due to their toxicity, persistence, and mutagenic properties. This review evaluates current and emerging treatment strategies, with emphasis on biological, nanomaterial-based, and integrated bionanotechnological approaches for pharmaceutical wastewater remediation.

Recent Findings

Conventional wastewater treatment plants show limited efficiency in removing pharmaceutical contaminants, leading to their continuous release into aquatic systems and contributing to ecological toxicity and antibiotic resistance. Recent studies highlight the effectiveness of biological approaches, including bacterial, plant-, and algal-based systems, as well as nanomaterial-based technologies such as adsorptive and catalytic nanomaterials. However, these approaches are often limited when applied independently. Emerging research demonstrates that integrating nanomaterials with biological systems into nano–bio hybrid platforms significantly enhances treatment performance. Examples include enzyme-functionalized nanomaterials, magnetic nanoparticle-based biocatalytic systems, and multifunctional nanocomposites.

Summary

This review provides a comprehensive overview of pharmaceutical wastewater sources, characteristics, and treatment technologies, including standalone biological and nanomaterial-based approaches, followed by their integration. Particular emphasis is placed on nano–bio interaction mechanisms, including adsorption-mediated pollutant concentration, nanomaterial-assisted enzymatic biodegradation, and metabolic priming effects, which improve enzyme stability and degradation efficiency. Key challenges such as scalability, environmental safety, and economic feasibility are highlighted. Future research should focus on developing sustainable and scalable hybrid technologies for effective pharmaceutical wastewater management.

Microorganisms exhibiting high photosynthetic efficiency and strong environmental adaptability, are capable of assimilating nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater. Microalgal biofilm technology presents a sustainable strategy for integrated wastewater remediation and CO2 capture, primarily due to their ability to overcome the harvesting bottlenecks and high energy consumption associated with suspended cultivation systems.

This review systematically evaluates frontier advances in this field, with a primary focus on energy and mass transfer dynamics. We elucidate the fundamental mechanisms and Influencing factors of biofilm formation and growth, including the critical biotic and abiotic factors.

The relationship between gas-liquid transfer modes and CO2 bioconversion is critically analyzed, alongside the metabolic pathways for nitrogen, phosphorus, and emerging contaminant removal.

By integrating fundamental transport phenomena with nutrient recovery pathways, this review identifies key research trajectories to facilitate the industrial-scale implementation of high-efficiency microalgal biofilm systems.

Purpose

Reverse osmosis (RO) is increasingly deployed for industrial wastewater reuse and minimal liquid discharge applications, yet persistent challenges related to fouling, membrane durability, and long-term operability continue to restrict performance. While the literature on this topic has expanded rapidly, most studies often isolate innovation in membranes, pretreatment, or modelling, with limited reconciliation of these advances in full-scale industrial constraints. This review critically examines recent industrial wastewater RO studies through an explicit innovation-versus-reality lens to assess how reported advances translate across laboratory, pilot, and full-scale contexts.

Recent findings

Across 36 peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and 2025, lab-scale research predominantly emphasizes short-term performance gains, mechanistic fouling diagnostics, advanced pretreatment, and novel membrane materials and surface modifications under controlled conditions. In contrast, reality-leaning full-scale systems prioritize long term performance and operational continuity, regulatory compliance, retrofit compatibility, and manageable cleaning regimes, often at the expense of peak recovery or flux. Transition-zone studies partially bridge this gap by combining real wastewater, commercial modules, and extended operation, demonstrating that scalability and durability, rather than intrinsic performance, are the primary barriers to technology transfer.

Summary

This review reveals a persistent mismatch between lab-scale RO research and industrial operating realities. Progress in industrial wastewater RO requires a paradigm shift from short-term optimization toward designs explicitly accounting for variability, lifecycle performance, and system integration. No single membrane or pretreatment strategy is universally applicable; effective implementation depends on context-specific alignment between innovation and operational feasibility. Reframing success metrics around sustained industrial viability is essential to accelerate meaningful adoption of RO technologies.

Purpose of Review

Organic waste management is crucial for global sustainable development. Dark fermentation is an effective method for reutilizing organic wastes while generating hydrogen. However, some substances in organic wastes may interfere with hydrogen-producing microorganisms, thereby reducing hydrogen production. Among these substances, emerging contaminants are receiving increasing attention due to their potential risks, environmental persistence, diverse sources, and ecotoxicity, posing a potential threat to the stability and efficiency of dark fermentation. Therefore, this comprehensive review aims to discuss the impacts of emerging contaminants on hydrogen production in dark fermentation, and corresponding mechanisms and control strategies.

Recent Findings

The sources of emerging contaminants in organic wastes are summarized. The effects of emerging contaminants on dark fermentative hydrogen production are systematically and critically summarized. Most of emerging contaminants inhibit hydrogen production. The mechanisms of emerging contaminants affecting hydrogen production in dark fermentation are discussed from perspectives of microbial physiological response, community structure, and metabolic pathways. Additionally, control strategies to alleviate the inhibitory effects of emerging contaminants on dark fermentation are summarized.

Summary

This review contributes to understanding how these emerging contaminants affect microbial systems, which is essential to safeguard the metabolic efficiency and operational stability. Future research directions are proposed for dark fermentation of organic wastes containing emerging contaminants.

Purpose of Review

Global agricultural soils face severe degradation, with widespread issues like cadmium (Cd) contamination. Integrated strategies are required to concurrently remediate soil pollution and enhance soil fertility. This review aims to elucidate the effects and underlying mechanisms of green manuring on both the Cd bioavailability and soil quality in contaminated farmland under different environment and management factors.

Recent Findings

A meta-analysis of 50 recent peer-reviewed publications showed that green manuring is an effective practice for enhancing soil quality and mitigating Cd bioavailability. Compared to fallow, green manuring increased the soil quality index (SQI) and crop yield by 19.1% and 19.6%, respectively, while concurrently reducing crop Cd and soil available Cd (Avail-Cd) by 37.6% and 12.4%. Random forest analysis revealed that soil properties collectively influenced soil quality and Avail-Cd. Furthermore, SQI showed significant negative correlations with crop Cd, Avail-Cd, and exchangeable Cd. The efficacy of green manuring in reducing crop Cd was more pronounced in paddy fields than in dryland systems. Mechanistically, green manuring promoted soil Cd immobilization in both the two systems, but in paddy systems, the induction of iron-manganese plaque on root surfaces plays a critical and distinct role in suppressing Cd uptake.

Summary

Meta-analysis revealed that green manuring reduced Cd bioavailability by improving soil health. The background soil Cd concentration and soil organic matter content were the key factors affecting the effects of green manuring on controlling Avail-Cd and improving SQI. Overall, green manuring is an effective and potential pathway for safe crop production in Cd-contaminated fields.

Graphical Abstract

Purpose of Review

This comprehensive review examines nitrosamine impurities, potent carcinogens formed through amine-nitrite reactions, which are predominantly found in pharmaceuticals, food, cosmetics, and environmental sources. Given recent pharmaceutical recalls and growing concerns about developmental toxicity, this review consolidates current knowledge on nitrosamine sources, detection methods, and health effects, with a special focus on at-risk maternal-fetal-infant groups.

Recent Findings

Recent evidence indicates widespread nitrosamine contamination, resulting in over 1,400 drug recalls for exceeding the acceptable level of 26.5 ng/day. The FDA's August 2023 guidelines introduced five potency categories, each with an adequate intake limit ranging from 26.5 to 1,500 ng/day. Maternal nitrosamine exposure has been linked to neural tube defects, limb deficiencies, and heart malformations. New electrochemical sensors can now detect levels as low as 1.47 nM, although traditional chromatographic methods remain the most common. Nitrosamines can cross the placental barrier, and tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) are particularly associated with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Multiple exposure routes during pregnancy include contaminated medications, drinking water (NDMA levels between 2 and 51.8 ng/L), processed foods, and secondhand smoke.

Summary

Nitrosamine exposure is a significant yet modifiable risk factor for adverse developmental outcomes. The review highlights critical knowledge gaps, including human dose-response relationships, long-term developmental effects, and optimal prevention strategies. Recommendations include expanding surveillance of pediatric medications, establishing age-specific exposure limits, promoting maternal education programs, and adopting nitrite-free manufacturing processes. By integrating toxicological, analytical, and public health perspectives, this work presents an evidence-based framework to protect maternal and child health, and underscores urgent research priorities in this evolving field.