Emerging contaminants in the Yiwu River adjacent to China's leading international trade hub: Occurrence, ecological risk assessment and influencing factors

Roadside soils are regarded as a reservoir for heavy metal pollution, which potentially leads to ecosystem deterioration as well as serious hazard to human health. A comprehensive investigation was conducted for the levels, relationship with soil properties, and potential sources of heavy metals (Hg, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, and Cr) in roadside soils in six cities (Changzhi, Jincheng, Yuncheng, Linfen, Xinzhou, Datong) of Shanxi Province; and the corresponding ecological risk and human health risk associated with the concentrations of heavy metals were addressed. Heavy metal concentrations of 112 roadside soil samples in the surveyed cities were, in decreasing order, Zn, Cu, Cr, Pb, Cd, and Hg, which were higher than corresponding background values. The highest concentrations were in Changzhi. The results of Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated that positive correlations in varying degrees existed between soil properties such as electrical conductivity, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total organic carbon with specific heavy metals and that negative correlations were observed for clay and electrical conductivity. Anthropogenic sources related to traffic emissions and industrialization were the main sources of heavy metals in roadside soils according to principal component analysis. The ecological risk assessments were achieved by pollution index and potential risk index, indicating that contamination with Hg was the most serious, which posed the highest risk to the ecosystems in the surveyed cities; and the ecological risk in Changzhi ranked at the top compared with other cities. For the human health risk assessment, the results demonstrated that the noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risks were in the acceptable range in the surveyed cities. However, there was a higher health risk from heavy metal exposure for children than adults, and the main exposure pathway was soil ingestion. In addition, Changzhi was the city with the highest noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risks, and the main human health risks were posed by Cr contamination in roadside soil, which was different from the results of ecological risks. Both results of ecological and health risk assessment demonstrated that the higher risk exhibited in southern and southeastern cities than northern cities in Shanxi Province. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:1485-1500. © 2023 SETAC.

A land remediation project involves the removal of potentially toxic chemicals from a polluted site. Lands abandoned by industry are often contaminated with heavy metals like mercury, lead, chemicals, arsenic, and other toxins like dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane biphenyls from electronic devices, and volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) from lubricants and chemicals. Risk assessment in environmental settings requires modernized systematic methodologies due to the complexity of today's environmental problems. When people eat, drink, or work in polluted environments, they put their health at risk and may even get cancer. Integrating geospatial information systems (GIS) with pollutant dispersion models makes environmental risk assessment and early warning possible. This research thus presents a GIS-based ecological risk identification and assessment model (GIS-ERIAM) for assessing risk for efficient land rehabilitation. Environmental cleanup sites' catalog information is the source of these details. With satellite imagery, GIS makes it simple to keep an eye on the environment and track the abundance of different types of plants and animals The ecological risk assessment (ERA) model can support recognition and prioritize risk management. By integrating direct and indirect environment interactions, the risk conditions of the whole ecology and its elements have been quantified and demonstrated in the study. The numerical outcomes illustrate that the recommended GIS-ERIAM model improves the performance by 98.9%, risk level prediction by 97.3%, risk classification by 96.4%, and detection of soil degradation ratio of 95.6% compared to other existing methods.

Teaching resources, especially active learning pedagogy, are scarce for toxicology compared to what is available for other disciplines. Ecological and human health risk assessment&nbsp;are important aspects of toxicology and are routinely used by government agencies to regulate the registration and usage of many chemicals. Most traditional toxicology classes do not cover how such risk assessments are carried out in real-world scenarios. We developed this case study to introduce concepts and processes of ecological and human health risk assessment in pesticide registration by the U.S. EPA. In Part 1, dialogues among three college friends introduce organic food, pesticides, and the concept of risk. Part 2 and Part 3 build on Part 1 and focus on ecological risk assessment and human health risk assessment, respectively. At the end of each section, students select appropriate exposure and toxicity endpoints to perform a mini-risk assessment and draw conclusions regarding risk. In Part 4, students examine real pesticide monitoring data in various foods and perform basic data organization and analysis. This case is appropriate for upper-level college students taking toxicology or other environmental science related courses. With modifications, the case study may also be suitable for introductory level environmental and biological science students. <em>Primary image:&nbsp;</em>Assortment of fruit. This image shows some common fruit and fruit drinks.

Ecological risk assessment of hydropower dam construction based on ecological network analysis

矿区生态风险评价研究述评

Topsoil and supporting crop samples around a mining area were collected in Longyan City, and the total amounts and speciation of Pb, Cd, and As in the samples were determined. The ecological risk and human health risk assessment of soil heavy metals Pb, Cd, and As were carried out using the Hakanson potential ecological risk assessment method, the ecological risk classification method based on the principle of geochemical statistics, and the health risk assessment method in accordance with the characteristics of human exposure parameters in China. The results indicated that the heavy metal elements in the soil in the study area exceeded the environmental quality standards for Pb and Cd, and the heavy metal contents in cereal grains exceeded the food limit value mainly for Pb. The proportion of the four bioavailable forms except the residue state followed the order of Pb>Cd>As. The ecological risk assessment results based on the total amount of heavy metals and bioavailable forms showed that Cd was the most important ecological risk factor. The single potential ecological risk of Cd and the comprehensive ecological risk of Pb, Cd, and As in the soil based on bioavailable forms were significantly reduced compared with that based on the total amount. The proportion of medium and superior samples decreased from 100% and 50.0% to 17.2% and 7.81%, respectively, and the divided risk zone basically contained all the warning points of exceeding the standard of crops. Oral ingestion was the main carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic exposure route of heavy metals. In terms of carcinogenic risk, the risk of human carcinogenic health exposure to Cd and As was within the acceptable range, regardless of whether bioavailability was considered. Among the non-carcinogenic risks, the non-carcinogenic risk of the heavy metal Cd was negligible. When only the total amount of heavy metals was considered, the non-carcinogenic risk index of Pb and As under the three exposure pathways ranged from 0.14 to 8.65 and from 0.04 to 2.85, respectively. After considering the adjustment of bioavailability, the non-carcinogenic risk of As was greatly reduced and could be considered to no longer have non-carcinogenic risk. Although the non-carcinogenic exposure risk index of Pb was reduced by 84.7%, the maximum value still reached 1.69, which would cause non-carcinogenic harm to the population and was the key to soil remediation in mining areas.

ABSTRACTUrban ecological risk (UER) caused by rapid urbanization means potential threat to urban ecosystem structure, pattern and services. The scales of ecological risk assessment (ERA) have been expanded from individual organisms to watersheds and regions. The types of stressor range from chemical to physical, biological and natural events. However, the application of ERA in urban ecosystems is relatively new. Here, we summarize the progress of urban ERA and propose an explicit framework to illumine future ERA based on UER identification, analysis, characterization, modeling, projection and early warning and management. The summary includes six urban ERA-relevant methods: weight-of-evidence (WoE), procedure for ecological tiered assessment of risks (PETAR), relative risk model (RRM), multimedia, multi-pathway, multi-receptor risk assessment (3MRA), landscape analysis and ecological models. Furthermore, we review critical cases of urban ERA in landscape ecology, soil, air, water and solid waste. Based on the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing, an urban ERA management platform integrates various urban ERA methodologies that can be developed to provide better implementation strategies of UER for urban ecosystem managers and stakeholders. We develop a conceptual model of urban ERA based on the urban characteristics in China. The future applications of urban ERA include uncertainty analysis using Monte Carlo techniques on the basis of geospatial techniques and comprehensive urban ERA using nonlinear models or process models.

“Ecological risk assessments and eco-toxicity analyses using chemical, biological, physiological responses, DNA damages and gene-level biomarkers in Zebrafish (Danio rerio) in an urban stream”

Spatiotemporal variations and priority ranking of emerging contaminants in nanwan reservoir: A case study from the agricultural region in huaihe river basin in China

The purpose of this study was to identify the concentrations, sources, and potential ecological and health risks of heavy metals in soils from a typical industrial area in Shanghai, China. A total of 28 surface soil samples were collected and analyzed for As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, Zn, and Hg from the BAO steel industry in June and July 2016. Classic multivariate statistical and geostatistical analysis methods were used to detect the sources of heavy metals, and the ecological risk index (RI) and hazard index (HI) were calculated to assess the potential ecological and health risks. The results showed significant pollution levels, which were derived from the industrial production process and closely related to the spatial layout of the functional areas of the industry. The ecological risk assessment indicated that a very high concentration zone with values ranging from 2045 to 3417mgkg-1 represented considerable ecological risk in the range of 300 to 600. The main dominant factor affecting the ecological risk is toxicity rather than concentration. The health risk assessment indicated that noncarcinogenic risk was mainly caused by Cr, and the average HI value for adults was 6.48, while it was 39.01 for children. Thus, children face higher threats to heavy metals in soils. The average carcinogenic risk values for Ni, Cr, Cd, and As were 7.97E-09, 5.2E-07, 2.1E-10, and 2.1E-09, respectively, all of which were below the threshold values (1.0E - 04). These results provide basic information for the control and environmental management of heavy metal pollution in steel industrial regions.

Promote research, education and training in the environmental sciences. romote the systematic application of all relevant scientific disciplines to the evaluation of chemical hazards. articipate in the scientific interpretation of issues concerned with hazard assessment and risk analysis. upport forums (meetings and publications) for communication among professionals in government, business, and academia and other segments of society involved in the use, protection, and management of our environment. SETAC's success reflects not only the foresight and soundness of the original concept, but also the priorities and changes in society at large during the last several decades. Society's awareness of environmental problems and issues grew tremendously from the mid-1970s through the 1990s. A more informed public demanded that environmental hazards be addressed and that corporations accept responsibility for environmental impacts caused by action or negligence. As government and industry responded to the public's demand for prevention and better environmental solutions, SETAC was uniquely positioned to contribute. The Society provided a venue for presenting data, discussing scientific questions, and working on practical solutions to complex problems, with participants able to transcend affiliations with industry, government, or academia. As the science and technology for addressing and solving environmental problems grew more sophisticated, so did SETAC, and this was reflected in its journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, at annual meetings, and by the increasing number and complexity of problems considered at workshops. As developments in information technology and global travel occurred, the Society kept pace, increasing the number, quality, and frequency of publications; communicating more rapidly and effectively to more individuals, institutions, and organizations; and improving member services overall. As SETAC matures, the focus, aspect, and breadth of vision of the Society continue to evolve. SETAC's membership is increasingly international. Much of the international growth of SETAC reflects the response of scientists worldwide to a winning model for furthering environmental science and solving environmental problems. Members have different priorities, needs, and contributions, largely dependent on their cultural, economic, geographical, and political context. Additionally, the scale and pace of environmental issues are changing worldwide. Many environmental management decisions must be made on a spatially large scale or a temporally significant one. Research is needed at all levels of complexity, from the subcellular level to that of the global ecosystem, to support these decision needs. Although the spatial scale creates difficulties in problem formulation, data collection, and interpretation, it increases the likelihood that studies are designed and data collected to answer the large-scale and/or long-term questions key to protecting and managing ecological and natural resources. The internationalization of SETAC and the need to address environmental problems on a large-scale, prospective basis present the Society with challenges and exciting opportunities as it enters its 20th year. The challenges and opportunities involve growing in a manner that continues to further environmental science and contributes to informed environmental management—and is also satisfying to individual members during the journey. onducting efficiently the Society's business around the world and equitably allocating costs. nsuring that the Society speaks with a consistent voice in keeping with its mission, when so many different cultural, political, geographical, and technical backgrounds represent it. ransferring the SETAC culture of balanced representation across disciplines and sectors in membership, scientific events, and leadership. aintaining the continental/regional autonomies that have worked so well while growing as a united, single Society with worldwide membership. etaining the quality and relevance of our publications while responding to the needs of members in countries at various stages of economic development. eeting the demand to review and publish original, fast-breaking science promptly, given the increasing volume and changing breadth of environmental science. Based on these considerations and many others, changes in how the Society is managed and administrated may occur. Decisions for specific changes will require affirmative responses to the following: Does the change better serve members? Is this the best way to achieve the Society's long-term goals of furthering science and promoting informed environmental management? Under most definitions, sustainable development provides an umbrella under which many of the difficult environmental, economic, and social issues that must be faced by society in the coming years can be addressed. The world population is expected to double by 2050, with 90% of the increase in developing countries. To simply maintain the current standard of living in those countries will require economic growth. The challenge will be to deliver an acceptable standard of living for many more people while ensuring that the ecological foundations upon which society depends are protected and are themselves sustainable. Successfully integrating economic growth, social enhancement, and environmental improvement on a local scale while understanding the broader consequences of decisions on a national or regional scale will be required. The most exciting opportunities for the foreseeable future of the Society stem from participating and contributing to progress toward sustainable development. The priorities for SETAC involvement and action identified by the long-range planning activities of the SETAC Board and Long-Range Planning Committee during 1997 and 1998 are directly related or relevant to this topic. Sustainable development encompasses much more than the science or technologies that are the traditional purview of SETAC and that fit the expertise of most SETAC members. It involves integration of social, ethical, political, economic, and environmental issues. Environmental toxicology and chemistry are relevant for only a subset of sustainable development discussions. They are, however, relevant to the environmental component of sustainability. The culture, history, and scientific focus of SETAC position it to contribute meaningfully. A larger international membership and more global perspective bring additional value to the Society's traditional strengths. Solving the most complex (and often most important) environmental problems facing society and the planet today demand the multi-and interdisciplinary and multisectoral approaches that are the strength of SETAC. The scale and linkages required will stretch even SETAC. Two areas of SETAC's strength with particular relevance for contributing to sustainability are the experience of working effectively across boundaries of expertise and affiliation to solve environmental problems and the development and use of science-based methodologies to aid decision makers. SETAC has been crossing boundaries and building bridges since its inception. The scientific questions and management decisions required for sustainable development are ones that will require multidisciplinary, multistakeholder input. Boundaries between scientific disciplines, between scientists and managers, between scientists and policy makers, and between people (specifically scientists) of different languages and cultures need to be crossed to achieve sustainability. Partnerships between ecologists versed in the complex questions of how ecological communities function, as well as closer partnerships with soil scientists, microbiologists, biochemists, and geochemists, need to be cultivated with SETAC's toxicologists and chemists. Issues to be addressed include ecosystem management, ecosystem restoration and rehabilitation, resource valuation and management, assimilation capacity, and biodiversity. In ecosystems on every continent, species exist that have not yet been discovered, much less studied to understand their functions within their ecological community or potential values to humans. There are gaps in knowledge with regard to understanding the sources, mechanisms of action, and means for mitigating the effects of ecosystem stressors (biological, chemical, and physical). The toxicological effects of the chemical synergy or antagonism are not well defined for many combinations of chemicals in the laboratory, and much less well defined in the environment, where, to name a few, the influences of temperature, moisture, soil type, shelter, and species interactions are present. Significant challenges exist in elucidating the spatial and temporal extent of environmental contamination on a large scale. Physical alterations, such as loss of habitat, can be more important to species survival and ecosystem sustainability than chemical contamination and yet are rarely considered when assessing ecological risk. It must be acknowledged that human beings are part of, not separate from, the environment. The assumption of interconnections between human health and ecosystem function is a given; it is intuitive and significant [1]. While this may be so, recognition by many SETAC members that our Society has a role to play in the assessment of risk to human health has been slow. Equally slow has been recognition by mammalian toxicologists and human/public health experts that surrounding (natural) environments must be considered when assessing risk to people. Bridges are already being built in this area, with SETAC members actively engaged in making scientific contributions in both toxicology and ecotoxicology as well as to ecological and human risk assessments. SETAC has formally begun enhancing its relationships with professional societies on both sides of our traditional boundaries, including the Ecological Society of America and the Society of Toxicology. The theme of the 1998 annual meeting, The Natural Connection: Environmental Integrity and Human Health, clearly demonstrates the commitment to expanding activities and collaborations in this area. In addition to communication and cross-fertilization between scientific communities, more interaction and mutual learning experiences are needed between environmental specialists and environmental managers in both business and government. Better and deeper understanding of science needs to be inserted into environmental management and decision making. Every day people in governments and multinational corporations use readily available knowledge and experience acquired over the years to make decisions that have long-lasting, and in some cases permanent, impacts on the environment. Not only does basic science need to be conducted, results and interpretations must also be communicated in a meaningful way to policymakers, regulatory experts, and business leaders to ensure that state-of-the-art science plays an appropriate role in decision making. Transcending boundaries, even those between scientific disciplines, has not been without controversy within SETAC. Even more controversial is moving into the realm of policy. Out of the comfort zone of our laboratories, study sites, and offices, we are in a world that in large part lacks environmental literacy [2]. SETAC has already moved in the last five years toward being much more engaged in communicating “good or sound” science and crossing the boundary between scientists and policymakers. Examples include the Science Fellow Program and Technical Issue Papers. Another recent initiative is the Peer Review Program, where SETAC will facilitate balanced, objective peer reviews of environmental programs or documents for governmental or other organizations. In all cases thus far, when SETAC has moved towards bridging gaps, the results have been beneficial for the Society and the issues have been better served by the diversity of environmental expertise and outlook. SETAC members have been instrumental in developing and bringing into common usage methodologies for evaluating different aspects of human-initiated impacts on the environment: ecological risk and life-cycle assessment (LCA). Ecological risk assessment provides a systematic method for estimating the nature and likelihood of adverse effects on the environment. It provides a structure for interaction and cooperation and makes it more likely that management decisions will be science-based, transparent, objective, and ecologically relevant. Although many criticisms can be made of ecological risk assessment, it is the best tool available now. Improvements continue to sharpen the inputs for both exposure and effects. LCA is a tool for evaluating the potential impacts resulting from the use of resources and the potential environmental impacts associated with a product or process. Practitioners of LCA recognize its limitations (implementation and interpretation of results can be difficult), but it is a structured methodology already accepted as a tool for furthering sustainable development. Life-cycle considerations are included in the basic principles of a framework for eco-efficiency indicators [3] and are being used in some industries to evaluate process inefficiencies and in others to provide information for product design and specification. These tools will continue to be refined to provide better (more precise, more accurate, more relevant) answers for environmental management questions. Additional tools are needed to be able to evaluate and compare global environmental performance by measuring appropriate environmental indicators within and across industries. Better tools are needed for translating ecological knowledge to models that will give reliable predictions of the consequences and potential for recovery to environmental changes. Despite the sophistication that exists, better models for predicting the fate and transport of chemicals through and across media, across geopolitical boundaries, and on a long-term temporal scale are needed. Tools are also needed to help understand and manage some of the broadest and most complex environmental issues facing society today. These issues, including climate change, drought, famine, ozone layer depletion, uncontrolled population growth, transboundary pollution, natural resource exploitation, water quality and availability, and waste transport and disposal transcend the boundaries of any scientific discipline, professional organization, or governmental body. Although we are continuing to support and nurture the science that is the foundation of the Society, we are now poised to contribute more directly to the creation of environmental policy used in environmental management. Every opportunity for participation will require serious and cautious evaluation to ensure that we never compromise the integrity of our science or the reputation of the Society. The need for engagement is real and in some cases, the time frame for intervention is short. Although very few management or policy decisions are based on science alone, science should inflluence the decision, and to do that its representatives must be present at the table. This is equally true whether the debates are within industries or governments or between them. Many of these decisions will affect the long-term viability of the natural environment (managed or pristine) and should not be based solely on political expediency, economic priorities, or emotional responses to perceptions of risk. Many specific examples can be given of large-scale or complex environmental problems that will need considerable technical and political skill to resolve. Although many of these problems appear to fall outside of the traditional purview of SETAC, many are squarely in our court. There are others to which we can make considerable contributions, in conjunction with scientists of different expertise. While few simple solutions exist, the paths forward are discernible. The leadership of SETAC over the next several years will make decisions regarding the commitments of the Society toward many of these issues. I hope we continue moving toward policies of engagement and education, taking advantage of opportunities to advance environmental science and the informed management of our environment.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate human health and potential ecological risk assessment in the ger district of Ulaanbaatar city, Mongolia. To perform these risk assessments, soil samples were collected based on reference studies that investigated heavy element distribution in soil samples near the ger area in Ulaanbaatar city. In total, 42 soil samples were collected and 26 heavy metals were identified by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) methods. The measurement results were compared with the reference data in order to validate the soil contamination level. Although there was a large difference between the measurement results of the present and reference data, the general tendency was similar. Soil contamination was assessed by pollution indexes such as geoaccumulation index and enrichment factor. Mo and As were the most enriched elements compared with the other elements. The carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic risks to children exceeded the permissible limits, and for adults, only 12 out of 42 sampling points exceeded the permissible limit of noncarcinogenic effects. According to the results of the ecological risk assessment, Zn and Pb showed from moderate to considerable contamination indexes and high toxicity values for ecological risk of a single element. The Cr and As ranged as very high ecological risk than that of the other measured heavy metals.

Determining priority control toxic metal for different protection targets based on source-oriented ecological and human health risk assessment around gold smelting area

The present study aimed to investigate the concentrations of potentially toxic metals (PTMs) in the drainages, rivers, and coast of Malacca in Peninsular Malaysia. The ranges of total PTM concentrations (mg/kg dry weight) were 1.88–7.01 for Cd, 18.9–1689 for Cu, 26.0–850 for Ni, 56.5–307 for Pb, and 75.4–312 for Zn. Based on an ecological risk assessment and geochemical fractions, it was concluded that heavy metals pollute the drainages and the Malacca River. The potential ecological risk index (PERI) categorised the drainage and river sites as a “very high ecological risk”. Therefore, it was shown that elevated levels of PTMs in the drainages near Malacca Industrial Area and in the Malacca River sediment were most probably attributed to untreated (or incomplete treatment of) industrial effluents. The drainage sediments were found to have higher hazard quotient (HQ) values for the three pathways of the PTMs for children and adults. Although in general, the non-carcinogenic risks of the PTMs for children and adults indicated no significant detrimental health effects, the hazard index (HI) for Pb in children at drainage locations surpassed 1.0, suggesting a non-carcinogenic risk (NCR), which is a cause for worry. Consequently, the ecological health risk assessments offered critical information for PTM pollution reduction and environmental management in future sustainable development initiatives in Peninsular Malaysia’s drainages and rivers. The present findings on the ecological health risks of PTMs based on 2006 samples can serve as an important baseline for future reference and comparison. This work should encourage future investigations on the direct impact of the risks to the residents during floods in Malaysia, as part of mitigation and risk assessments of the contaminated drainage and river sediments in an attempt to lower the hazards for the surrounding residents.

Ecological models in ecotoxicology and ecological risk assessment: an introduction to the special section.