A single CDs/Fe-MOF luminescent probe with dual-emission for the simultaneous detection of nitrite and copper (II) ions.

Saxitoxin (STX) and tetrodotoxin (TTX) are among the most potent marine neurotoxins, posing severe risks to public health and the seafood industry. Their high toxicity, structural diversity, and occurrence in complex aquatic and food matrices pose significant challenges for reliable detection and quantification. Conventional instrumental analysis methods offer high sensitivity and specificity but require costly instrumentation, skilled personnel, and time-consuming sample preparation. Immunoassays, while faster, may suffer from limited recognition of toxin congeners. In recent years, aptamers, synthetic single-stranded DNA or RNA sequences have emerged as promising alternatives to antibodies for toxin recognition. Aptamer-based biosensing platforms offer advantages in terms of stability, reproducibility, ease of modification, and scalability. A broad range of detection techniques has been developed, including optical, electrochemical and hybrid systems, often incorporating nanomaterials and signal amplification strategies to achieve ultralow detection limits in food and environmental samples. Yet, the path from promising laboratory prototypes to reliable field tools remains challenging, particularly when matrix effects compromise sensor robustness. This review provides a comprehensive overview of aptamer selection strategies for STX and TTX, recent advances in biosensing technologies, and the performance of various platforms in different matrices. Key challenges, including matrix effects, technological feasibility, and the need for compliance with official regulations, are discussed. Finally, perspectives for developing robust, field-deployable aptasensors are outlined, emphasizing their potential to enable rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective toxin monitoring for food safety and environmental protection.

Combined process of magnesium oxide precipitation-extraction for efficient recovery of cobalt and nickel from extraction slag of spent Li-ion batteries.

Associations between low-dose drinking water lithium exposure and Dementia: A nationwide U.S. ecological study.

Age-specific assessment of annual effective dose and excess lifetime cancer risk from radon in tap water of Mueang Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand.

Chinese corporation’s marine environmental compliance in the era of the revised marine environmental protection law

Historical PAHs contamination is well documented in urbanized estuaries; however, their dynamics in tropical ecosystems considered relatively preserved remain poorly investigated. This study reconstructs the historical deposition of PAHs in the Serinhaém Estuary, a tropical Environmental Protection Area in Northeastern Brazil, quantifying their concentrations, distinguishing their sources, and assessing the associated ecological risks. To achieve these objectives, five sediment cores were collected, dated using 210Pb geochronology, and analyzed by gas chromatography. Diagnostic ratios and multivariate statistical analyses were applied to identify contaminant sources and distribution patterns. The sedimentation rate was approximately 2.5±0.1mm·year-1. Results showed that cores C1 to C4 were dominated by high-molecular weight PAHs of predominantly pyrogenic origin, likely associated with regional biomass burning. In contrast, core C5, located downstream, displayed low concentrations with petrogenic signatures, suggesting inputs related to maritime activities. Core C3 exhibited the highest total concentration (Σ16PAHs=1508ng·g-1), with a pronounced peak in the early 2000s. In this layer, compounds such as fluoranthene (154.36ng.g-1), benzo[a]anthracene (138.55ng.g-1), chrysene (138.91ng.g-1), benzo[a]pyrene (153.86ng.g-1), and dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (42.64ng.g-1) exceeded threshold effect levels (TEL), indicating potential ecological risk. Multivariate analyses confirmed both vertical and lateral heterogeneity, highlighting specific episodes of increased contaminant input. Although overall concentrations ranged from low to moderate, distinct contamination events were identified, reflecting contributions from both diffuse and localized sources. These findings demonstrate that even legally protected estuaries remain vulnerable to anthropogenic pressures. Reconstructing sedimentary records proves essential for understanding the history of contamination and underscores the need for continuous monitoring to support effective conservation strategies.

Towards “land and sea coordination” in China’s offshore environmental protection enforcement: Issues, challenges, and improvement

AMS-validated high-precision radiocarbon analysis of 14C-enriched environmental samples by laser spectroscopy.

Design and analysis of a foldable pyramid-shaped architecture for environmental protection at Lunar surface

Oligohydramnios is a clinically relevant but understudied pregnancy complication. This study evaluated the association between maternal exposure to mixed ambient air pollutants and the risk of oligohydramnios, focusing on identifying critical exposure windows and pollutant-specific concentration thresholds. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 7,608 singleton live births from a tertiary hospital in northwestern China (2015-2019). Individual-level air pollution exposure was estimated by inverse distance weighting. Weighted quantile sum (WQS) and lagged WQS (lWQS) models were used to assess mixture effects and time-specific susceptibility. Restricted cubic spline models were applied to estimate concentration-response relationships and preventive thresholds of representative weeks and corresponding key pollutants. The WQS index showed a significant joint effect for daily average exposure during whole pregnancy (odds ratio = 1.204, 95% confidene interval 1.049, 1.285), mainly driven by NO2 and O3. The lWQS model identified the early and late pregnancy as critical exposure windows. As representative time points for early, mid, and late pregnancy, estimated O3 thresholds were 49.28 μg/m3 (week 4), 36.28 μg/m3 (week 16), and 37.40 μg/m3 (week 32); the NO2 threshold at week 32 was 37.41 μg/m3. Maternal exposure to mixed air pollutants, particularly O3 and NO2, increases the risk of oligohydramnios. Findings highlight gestational timing and pollutant-specific targets for prenatal environmental protection.

Tracing sources and ecological risks: seasonal-spatial variations of potentially toxic element (PTE) pollution in marine sediments of Beibu Gulf.

Since the election of President Donald J. Trump to his second term in office, his administration has taken many steps to weaken public health infrastructure and agencies, which is likely to have an impact on population health. Less discussed have been the health impacts of ostensibly “nonhealth” policies that the administration is also implementing. Drawing on the social determinants of health framework, the authors analyze how policies across the domains of environmental regulations, food assistance, housing, immigration, and economic policy fundamentally shape population health outcomes. The administration's sweeping deregulatory agenda—including rollbacks of environmental protections, cuts to nutrition assistance programs, and immigration enforcement policies—represents a systematic threat to the policy infrastructure that supports population health. These changes threaten to widen health gaps and undermine decades of progress in addressing the root causes of poor health. The analysis demonstrates that in evaluating contemporary threats to population health, we must look beyond traditional health sector policies to understand how the broader policy environment shapes the conditions in which people live, work, and thrive.

The aim of this study is to assess the geoheritage of the Uly-Zhilanshik River Basin in the Turgai Depression (Western Central Kazakhstan) and to evaluate its potential for conservation and sustainable geotourism deve lopment. The basin is a geoheritage area of national and international significance, preserving well-exposed Cenozoic stratigraphic sections that document paleoenvironmental evolution and hosting numerous fossil flora and fauna localities that inform regio nal paleoclimatic and paleoecological reconstructions. These geological and paleontological features constitute a natural archive of Earth history and provide a scientific basis for territorial planning and conservation policy. The research combined field surveys of geological and geomorphological sites with an assessment of geotouristic attractiveness of natural complexes, comparative-geographical and socio-cultural analyses, and a review of environmental protection regulations. A SWOT analysis was additionally applied to identify strengths, constraints, development opportunities, and potential risks associated with tourism growth. The study demonstrates the high scientific, educational, and touristic value of the Cenozoic sections, paleontological localities, and associated landscapes, and identifies prospects for integrating geotourism into nature conservation initiatives and regional management strategies. Key directions for sustainable development are outlined, highlighting geotourism as a practical conservation instrument and a viable alternative to resource-extractive economic models. The results support the need for targeted protection measures, responsible access planning, and the incorporation of the Uly-Zhilanshik Basin into broader geoheritage and geopark frameworks within the Turgai Depression.

Striking a microbial balance: Rhizoremediation of crude oil-contaminated soils suppresses resistomes and reconstructs hydrocarbon-degrading microbial networks.

Occurrence and spatial distribution of emerging organic contaminants in the coastal and deep Red Sea sediments utilizing liquid chromatography tandem high resolution mass spectrometry.

Chlorine evolution reaction (CER), pivotal for modern chemical manufacturing, remains hindered by catalyst deactivation and competitive oxygen evolution reaction. To address these, a Mott-Schottky heterojunction electrocatalyst was demonstrated via in situ growth of Ru-RuO2 nanoparticles on TiO2 nanotubes (NTs). The difference of work functions renders electron spontaneous migration at the heterojunction interface, generating a built-in electric field and upshifting the d-band center of the catalyst, which optimizes the adsorption to key intermediates and strengthens catalyst-support interaction. The resultant self-supporting Ru-RuO2/TiO2 NTs electrode exhibits excellent CER performance with low overpotential of 43 mV at 50 mA cm-2. Crucially, the electrode demonstrates 95.8% Cl2 selectivity and stable operation over 600 h at 100 mA cm-2, significantly surpassing Ru-RuO2/Ti plate (selectivity: 87.7%, stability: ∼70 h) and dimensionally stable anode (selectivity: 84.8%, stability: ∼100 h). This work demonstrates a feasible pathway to design efficient CER self-supporting catalysts for the chlor-alkali industry and environmental protection.

Abstract The Climate Change Advisory Opinion (AO) by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) demonstrates the growing prominence of general principles of law in international law. The Climate Change AO was handed down at the end of the International Law Commission's project on general principles of law with the adoption of its Draft Conclusions. In the Climate Change AO, the ICJ accords general principles of law particular importance in environmental protection. This article documents how States identified general principles of law as the bedrock of the international climate change regime, and how the ICJ employed a systematic approach to ‘thicken’ climate change law, both in terms of normative content, obligations and consequences of breach. It then examines the general principles of law affirmed by the ICJ, in particular, the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities and intergenerational equity, both extracted from the broader general principle of equity. These principles guide the interpretation of ‘how far’ or ‘how much’, operating as balancing tools in relation to other obligations. The broader significance of this development lies in the ICJ's growing recognition of general principles of law as a means of supporting and structuring its legal reasoning. The article further argues that the normative development of these principles has been reinforced by reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and that Article 38(1)(c) of the ICJ Statute provides a broader gateway for taking account of normative contributions by actors such as the IPCC. The identification of customary law and peremptory norms ( jus cogens ) is more narrowly defined than general principles of law. The article concludes by examining the IPCC's role in underpinning the normative character of certain general principles of law, building on the interaction of law and science, and suggests that strengthening these principles may facilitate their more robust incorporation into future treaty‐design mechanisms.

This article examines the emergence of a novel trend of pro-European Euroscepticism in Serbia, concentrating on its articulation within pro-EU opposition parties. Historically supportive of European Union (EU) accession, these parties have begun to voice substantial criticism of EU policies and practices. This shift in stance is particularly notable in the context of EU accession negotiations stagnating and the EU's perceived lack of engagement in Serbia's democratisation, which has resulted in the strengthening of stabilitocracy. Using qualitative methods, the study asks whether Eurosceptic rhetoric has entered the domain of traditionally pro-EU parties and, if so, what the principal arguments are. Employing the typology of Euroscepticism developed by Kopecký and Mudde, the article categorises party stances as Euroenthusiasts, Eurosceptics, Europragmatists, and Eurorejects. The article focuses on pro-EU opposition parties that adopt Eurosceptic rhetoric, experimenting with the term ‘pro-European Euroscepticism’. Parties that support the EU seek cooperation to address national challenges, including corruption and environmental issues, but express disappointment with the EU's reluctance to defend its stated values – such as the rule of law, political plurality and environmental protection. The study highlights how EU policy inefficiencies and stabilitocracy fuel Euroscepticism in Serbia, emphasising the nuanced perspectives of pro-EU opposition parties.

Short-chain PFAS congeners containing five carbons or less were introduced as replacements for longer chain (more than six carbons) legacy congeners, such as PFOA and PFOS, due to their lower bioaccumulation potential and reduced toxicity. However, toxicological data are limited for the newer short-chain congeners. Although some experts have suggested that PFAS can be treated as a single class with similar toxicity characteristics, it has been demonstrated that congener potency varies by orders of magnitude, even within groups of similar congeners. Using the available toxicological data, we derived provisional chronic oral toxicity values (PCOTVs) for short-chain congeners that can be used in future risk assessment evaluations. A literature review of invivo animal toxicity studies identified two mouse studies of short-chain congeners; when necessary, benchmark dose (BMD) modeling was used to determine the point of departure. PCOTVs and drinking water equivalent levels (DWELs) were derived for perfluoro-2-methoxyacetic acid (PFMOAA), perfluoro-4-methoxybutanioc acid (PFMOBA), 2,2,3,3-(trifluoromethoxy) propionic acid (PFMOPrA), perfluoro-(3,5-dioxahexanoic) acid (PFO2HxA), and perfluoro-(3,5,7-trioxaoctanoic) acid (PFO3OA). The PCOTVs ranged from 0.00011 mg/kg/day for PFMOAA to 0.00072 mg/kg/day for PFMOPrA. The DWELs were calculated using the default 20% relative source contribution (RSC) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) recommended ceiling of 80% RSC. The lower-bound (20% RSC) and upper-bound (80% RSC) DWELs for PFMOAA, PFMOBA, PFMOPrA, PFO2HxA, and PFO3OA were 1444-5778 ppt, 8349-33,396 ppt, 9609-38,436, 5867-23,467, and 5867-23,467, respectively. Given the lack of formal environmental standards, the PCOTVs and DWELs derived in this analysis may be helpful for future investigations involving short-chain PFAS congeners.