Current Pollution Reports最新文献

Purpose of Review

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) present a growing threat to seagrass ecosystems, significantly impacting their ecological functions and blue carbon potential. Understanding the complex interactions between HABs and seagrasses is crucial for developing adaptive management strategies to protect seagrass ecosystems.

Recent Findings

Recent studies reveal that global HAB events have significantly expanded both geographically and in frequency over the past two decades. The geomorphological processes and depositional environments of seagrass meadows, along with the effects of climate change, act as contemporary drivers that influence algal invasion, presence, and retention within seagrass ecosystems. Emerging research demonstrates that macroalgal blooms can significantly accelerate seagrass carbon loss by enhancing decomposition rates and increasing greenhouse gas emissions from blue carbon stocks. Seagrass allelopathy and associated algicidal bacteria play crucial roles in natural HAB control. Advanced monitoring techniques combining artificial intelligence with remote sensing have achieved significant improvements in detecting and tracking HAB events and seagrass ecosystems.

Summary

This review provides a comprehensive analysis of HAB-seagrass interactions, documenting diverse types of HABs affecting seagrass beds, including macroalgal and microalgal blooms. We examine key environmental factors contributing to HABs in seagrass ecosystems, particularly eutrophication, global warming, and ocean acidification, and analyze their complex impact mechanisms, including light limitation, resource competition, biogeochemical alterations, and toxin effects. Natural defense mechanisms of seagrasses, particularly allelopathy and algicidal bacteria, offer potential solutions for HAB control. Effective protection of these valuable blue carbon resources requires integrated adaptive management strategies, combining advanced monitoring technologies, water quality improvement measures, and community-based conservation approaches.

Purpose of Review

Effective management of aquaculture wastewater is essential for maintaining ecosystem health, ensuring the safety of aquatic products, and protecting human health. Despite advancements in aquaculture practices and wastewater treatment technologies, a comprehensive review addressing the risks associated with various pollutants is lacking. This review aims to fill that gap by examining the risks and regeneration technologies related to aquaculture wastewater.

Recent Findings

This systematic review analyzes the risk profiles of different pollutants in aquaculture wastewater, highlighting the complexity of these contaminants. It reviews the characteristics and mechanisms of physical, chemical, and biological regeneration technologies employed in wastewater treatment. The findings indicate that the sources, composition, and hazardous properties of key pollutants vary, and the existing reuse technologies provide differing treatment advantages.

Summary

The review identifies limitations in current treatment methods and proposes future research directions, emphasizing the need to investigate the synergistic effects of pollutants, particularly emerging contaminants. It also suggests establishing clear criteria for acceptable contaminant levels and optimizing integrated treatment approaches. These insights will enhance aquaculture wastewater management and contribute to the sustainable development of the aquaculture industry.

Graphical Abstract

Purpose of Review

Microalgae exhibit immense potential for treating textile wet processing wastewater (TWPW), owing to efficient assimilation of pollutants while simultaneously generating valuable biomass for bio-based applications. This review investigates the integration of microalgae cultivation at different stages of textile wet processing (TWP) for TWPW treatment and resource recovery, addressing a key gap in literature, while emphasizing natural dye pigment production and sustainable biorefining potential within the circular bioeconomy principles.

Recent Findings

The textile industry, valued at USD 1837.27 billion, poses significant environmental challenges, due to the generation of chemically complex wastewater mainly during TWP. However, conventional treatment methods for TWPW are often inefficient and resource-intensive, whereas microalgae-integrated bioremediation provides a sustainable alternative, by removing pollutants through biosorption, biodegradation, and bioaccumulation/biotransformation, achieving ~ 99% nutrient removal. Furthermore, as eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic dyes, microalgae-derived natural pigments, including chlorophylls, carotenoids, and phycocyanin, are capable of dyeing a variety of textiles, such as cotton, silk, wool, and synthetic fibers. Particularly, Chlorella and Spirulina exhibit promising dyeing potential, with ~ 87% of uptake efficiency and excellent colorfasness.

Summary

This review critically evaluates the feasibility of microalgae-integrated TWPW treatment, emphasizing the wastewater characteristics and the treatment potential of microalgae. Furthermore, the study evaluates the potential of microalgae pigment as a sustainable alternative to synthetic dyes and the valorization of residual biomass into low-value products, promoting a circular bioeconomy in the textile industry. Hence, the review concludes by highlighting the requirement for a paradigm shift in the current research to optimize industrial-scale TWPW bioremediation and the use of microalgae-derived pigments for textile dyeing.

Purpose of Review

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) play a significant role in the global carbon cycle and climate change. While significant advancements have been made in terrestrial BVOCs research, critical gaps persist in understanding marine BVOCs, particularly their emission, multiphase oxidation pathways, and climate feedback mechanisms.

Recent Findings

Current atmospheric models underestimate the flux of marine VOCs. Recent studies have revealed isomerization pathways and heterogeneous reaction mechanisms, thereby revising the traditional theory dominated solely by gas-phase oxidation in atmospheric transformation of BVOCs. This advancement enables more accurate prediction of oxidation product distributions. These products can drive new particle formation at the tropopause, thereby influencing radiation balance and regulating climate through resultant feedback mechanisms.

Summary

This review systematically elaborates the sources and sinks of marine BVOCs, their atmospheric transformation mechanisms, and climate feedback, highlighting the critical role of marine biota in global climate regulation. The production and emission of marine BVOCs exhibit significant spatiotemporal heterogeneity, primarily regulated by marine internal processes including biological activities and chemical reactions. Upon entering the atmosphere via sea-air exchange, marine BVOCs undergo complex atmospheric oxidation processes to form aerosols (e.g., sulfur-containing aerosols, brown carbon) and reactive halogen species, thereby influencing the radiation balance and atmospheric oxidation capacity while exerting crucial feedback on global climate. This provides an overarching perspective for a more comprehensive understanding of the role of marine ecosystems in global climate regulation.

Graphical Abstract

Purpose of Review

Outdoor air pollution, the scourge of modern urban living, has long been associated with an array of adverse health outcomes. While empirically supported strategies have already been prescribed for individuals to effectively lessen the impact of contaminated air on their physical health, much is still unknown about comparable solutions for mental wellbeing. The utility of an all-embracing framework that could offer a parsimonious elucidation of existing apparently-heterogeneous work is contended to be pivotal, and this narrative review will address this by reviewing recent main findings through the lens of evolutionary mismatch theory.

Recent Findings

In general, recent evidence suggests that the evolutionary mismatch theorisation (which posits that air pollution–induced lifestyle changes could play an influential role in modifying mental wellbeing outcomes due to their evolutionarily unfamiliar nature) might be valid. More specifically, the air pollution–mental wellbeing link (tentatively) appears to have been influenced by (1) the evolutionarily mismatched curtailment of physical activities, (2) sunlight exposure, and (3) social contact, together with (4) the evolutionarily mismatched overexposure to upsetting information. The jury is still out for the proposed role of the evolutionarily mismatched reduction of greenery exposure, while the very limited evidence does not support the postulated influence of evolutionarily mismatched opportunities for comparisons with others via media.

Summary

Findings from this review (tentatively) propound that deleterious mental-wellbeing consequences due to urban air pollution could be mitigated if individuals maintain a more evolutionarily familiar lifestyle within the limits of their circumstances.

Graphical Abstract

Purpose of Review

The various disease outbreaks have increased the consumption of antibiotics. Unfortunately, this condition can further increase the accumulation of antibiotics that can pollute the environment and even human health. Biodegradation is one method to reduce or even eliminate the accumulation of antibiotics. This review aims to discuss the sources of antibiotics in the environment, mechanisms of antibiotic biodegradation, factors affecting the biodegradation process, ecological risks, regulatory implications, current strategies that have been implemented, and innovative approaches to reduce antibiotic resistance and environmental contamination.

Recent Findings

Recent studies have highlighted antibiotic resistance in aquatic and soil environments. This increases the threat of antibiotic-resistant bacterial populations. Biodegradation techniques such as biological wastewater treatment, wetlands, microbial degradation, and algal degradation have been able to show satisfactory performance. In particular, microbial consortia and genetic modification of bacteria, fungi, and microalgae can also provide synergistic metabolic pathways that enhance the efficiency of antibiotic degradation. In addition, biogenic nanoparticles and enzyme-assisted degradation methods, such as laccases, can be advanced innovative approaches for antibiotic biodegradation. 

Summary

Antibiotic biodegradation has been a pivotal research focus due to increasing environmental pollution and the risk of antibiotic resistance. This topic is promising in decomposing antibiotics into compounds that are more tolerant of the environment. Although there has been progress in antibiotic biodegradation research, further studies should be conducted to overcome challenges such as the complexity of the compounds, antibiotic stability, antibiotic and gene resistance phenomena, and non-optimal environmental factors. 

Purpose of Review

Anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) holds considerable promise for the recovery and reutilization of resources from animal farming liquid waste (AFLW). However, typical pollutants in AFLW can markedly impair AnMBR performance. This review aims to describe the mechanisms through which conductive materials enhance AnMBR performance to maximize resource recovery and minimize environmental impact.

Recent Findings

AFLW exhibits high resource utilization potential. However, pollutants in AFLW, such as antibiotics, resistance genes, and heavy metals (HMs), can disrupt microbial communities in AnMBR, reducing treatment efficiency and increasing environmental risks. Conductive materials, such as iron-based materials (e.g., zero-valent iron, magnetite) and carbon-based materials (e.g., biochar, granular activated carbon), enhance microbial activity through mediated interspecies electron transfer and direct interspecific electron transfer, improving pollutant removal and resource recovery. Additionally, conductive materials reduce the bio-toxicity of HMs through adsorption, further mitigating environmental pollution.

Summary

This review highlights the enhancement of resource recovery and reduction of environmental risks in AnMBR for treating AFLW through the incorporation of conductive materials. The incorporation of conductive materials has been shown to significantly improve AnMBR performance, including enhanced methane production, reduced start-up time, and improved degradation efficiency of organic matter. The main mechanisms of conductive materials are further discussed to provide the further development of AnMBR in AFLW treatment.

Purpose of Review

This review examines recent advances in exploring the potential of microalgae for simultaneous CO₂ sequestration and the sustainable biosynthesis of high-value carotenoids, specifically astaxanthin and lutein. It aims to highlight integrated approaches that align microalgal biotechnology with global sustainability targets.

Recent Findings

Drawing on a detailed analysis of recent experimental and technological studies, this review explores innovations in photobioreactor engineering, nutrient regime optimization, genetic and metabolic engineering, and the use of industrial flue gases to enhance CO₂ uptake by microalgae. The review also examines how carotenoid production is tightly linked to the microalgal life cycle: lutein is predominantly synthesized during active growth to support photosynthesis, while astaxanthin accumulates under stress conditions for cellular protection. Recent advancements in cultivation strategies and green extraction technologies have enhanced the yield and purity of these carotenoids, enabling broader industrial applications across nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and aquaculture.

Summary

By analyzing multidisciplinary and biorefinery developments, this review demonstrates that carbon capturing with carotenoid biosynthesis integration in microalgae systems supports Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 13 (Climate Action) and 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). The dual focus on environmental remediation and bioactive production underlines microalgae’s potential as scalable, sustainable platforms in the emerging bioeconomy.

Purpose of Review

This review provides a comprehensive understanding about the mechanisms and technologies for the enhanced remediation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs)-contaminated soils by organic and biochar amendments. This article discusses the practical implications in relation to degradation, mobility, and bioavailability of POPs in soils.

Recent Findings

The application of organic (and carbonaceous) amendment lead to changes in soil’s pH, OM, and soluble organic carbon levels which might shift POPs from solid to aqueous phases, increasing their availability for microbial breakdown. Biochar can be useful as an electron donor, acceptor, or shuttle for microorganisms that degrade POPs (via different biological or chemical reactions) apart from its high surface area and excellent sorption properties (π–π interactions).

Summary

Large amounts of organic such as composted manure, biosolids, municipal solid waste, and biochar amendments are utilized as a soil conditioner to enhance soil health and crop productivity as well as a source of carbon and nutrients, which can also impact the interactions of POPs in soil.

Purpose of the Review

High amounts of microplastics (MPs) are collected and then disposed of in sewage treatment plants. This review aims to identify the effects of wastewater treatment processes on the physical and chemical properties of MPs as well as their fragmentation and ageing, which are rarely reported and have not yet been revised.

Recent Findings

The amount of microplastic particles introduced into the WWTP depends on many factors, such as the area and population, treatment processes, migration of people, and weather conditions. As a result, WWTP effluents were identified as the source of MP pollution. Selected treatment methods and chemicals used in wastewater treatment may contribute to the deterioration of MP.

Summary

The impact of individual physical, mechanical, and chemical factors on the fate of microplastics in the WWTP was analysed. In the case of preliminary and primary treatment processes, the fragmentation of MP particles is mainly affected by mechanical interactions such as physical abrasion and water shearing force. However, during tertiary treatment processes, chemical factors such as advanced oxidation processes, chlorination, and ozonation play a leading role in MP deterioration. The paradox of so-called microplastic removal in WWTPs has been highlighted, and the concept of defining wastewater treatment plants as sources of tertiary microplastic pollution has been proposed.

Graphical Abstract