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Pesticide pollution is a widespread issue. A global risk assessment of 92 active pesticide ingredients suggests 2.5 billion hectares of agricultural land are at risk of pollution by more than one active ingredient.

The accuracy of environmental risk assessment depends upon selecting appropriate matrices to extract the most risk-relevant portion of contaminant(s) from the soil. Here, we applied the chelatants EDTA and tartaric acid to extract a metal-contaminated soil. Pistia stratiotes was applied as an indicator plant to measure accumulation from the metal-laden bulk solutions generated, in a hydroponic experiment lasting 15 days. Speciation modeling was used to elucidate key geo-chemical mechanisms impacting matrix and metal-specific uptake revealed by experimental work. The highest concentrations of soil-borne metals were extracted from soil by EDTA (7.4% for Cd), but their uptake and translocation to the plant were restricted due to the formation of stable metal complexes predominantly with DOC. Tartaric acid solubilized metals to a lesser extent (4.6% for Cd), but a higher proportion was plant available due to its presence mainly in the form of bivalent metal cations. The water extraction showed the lowest metal extraction (e.g., 3.9% for Cd), but the metal species behaved similarly to those extracted by tartaric acid. This study demonstrates that not all extractions are equal and that metal-specific speciation will impact accurate risk assessment in soil (water)-plant systems. In the case of EDTA, a deleterious impact on DOC leaching is an obvious drawback. As such, further work should now determine soil and not only metal-specific impacts of chelatants on the extraction of environmentally relevant portions of metal(loid)s.

This study is the first to consider, and estimate, the influence of gardening routines on exposures to both health benefits and health risks. This holistic approach helped to contrast the healthy lifestyle of gardening with health risks from exposures to potentially toxic elements such as Cd and Pb in urban environments. A total of 120 participants who grew their own produce in an urban setting were recruited to the study. A detailed questionnaire was developed that included sections on gardening activity, cultivation and consumption of produce, consumption of commercially grown produce, and other lifestyle factors. Administered alongside the questionnaire was the Short Form 36 (v2) as a standardised tool for measuring physical and mental health. Fruit and vegetable consumption was found to be correlated with the amount of gardening individuals did in autumn/winter and was greater than fruit and vegetable consumption, on average, in the UK general population. Levels of physical activity were also found to be higher in our study than regional averages, whilst BMI was lower than average. This is the first study to find a relationship between gardening more regularly (in autumn/winter) and the physical component of the Short Form 36, and this relationship was elevated compared to non-gardening populations. The physical component scores from this study were also significantly higher for older participants, compared to means from a Western population. This finding supports studies suggesting that gardening may be more beneficial for the elderly generation. These benefits were assessed in the context of potential exposures estimated from the type and frequency of produce being consumed. The benefit of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is likely to outweigh the health risks of gardening on soils mildly contaminated with Cd and Pb but requires formal consideration within a risk management framework.

Construction and demolition fines (C&D-fines) and green waste compost (GWC) are two commonly generated urban waste materials that represent repositories of geochemical value. Here technosols were produced from volumetric mixtures of these materials ranging from 0–100% C&D-fines, with the remaining proportion comprised of GWC. Agronomic assessment was carried out by way of pot and rhizobox plant growth experiments with ryegrass, barley and pea to determine germination, plant mass and rooting behaviours. Geochemical and mineralogical evaluation was achieved by soil pore water solution measurements combined with X-ray powder diffraction analyses respectively, to characterise the technosols and their distinct deviations from a reference agricultural geogenic soil (soil). The results demonstrated that germination, growth and root mass/surface area of vegetation were up to 80-fold greater after 30-days in the technosol composed of equal volumes of the two materials (50% C&D-fines: 50% GWC) compared to the soil. High concentrations of Ca and Mg in pore waters (550–800 mg·L−1) were dominant features of the technosols, in contrast to the soil (<50 mg·L−1), resulting from gypsum and calcite enrichment of the C&D-fines. In contrast, the GWC represented a source of soluble K (450–1000·mg·L−1). Highly elevated Ca concentrations in extended leaching tests of the C&D-fines reflected ongoing gypsum dissolution, whereas soluble Mg and K were rapidly depleted from the GWC. In summary, short-term performance of the technosols as plant growth substrates was strong despite their geochemical and mineralogical distinction from soil. Gleaning additional geochemical value from combining urban wastes in this way is potentially suited to myriad scenarios where geogenic soils are contaminated, sealed or otherwise absent. Further assessment will now be needed to determine the geochemical longevity of the technosols before wider scale applications can be recommended.

We performed a risk assessment of metal exposure to population subgroups living on, and growing food on, urban sites. We modeled uptake of cadmium, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc for a selection of commonly grown allotment and garden vegetables. Generalized linear cross-validation showed that final predictions of Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn content of food crops were satisfactory, whereas the Pb uptake models were less robust. We used predicted concentrations of metals in the vegetables to assess the risk of exposure to human populations from homegrown food sources. Risks from other exposure pathways (consumption of commercially produced foodstuffs, dust inhalation, and soil ingestion) were also estimated. These models were applied to a geochemical database of an urban conurbation in the West Midlands, United Kingdom. Risk, defined as a \"hazard index,\" was mapped for three population subgroups: average person, highly exposed person, and the highly exposed infant (assumed to be a 2-year-old child). The results showed that food grown on 92% of the urban area presented minimal risk to the average person subgroup. However, more vulnerable population subgroups (highly exposed person and the highly exposed infant) were subject to hazard index values greater than unity. This study highlights the importance of site-specific risk assessment and the \"suitable for use\" approach to urban redevelopment.

Background: Inorganic arsenic (iAs) is a potent carcinogen, but there is a lack of information about cancer risk for concentrations < 100 μg/L in drinking water. Objectives: We aimed to quantify skin cancer relative risks in relation to iAs exposure < 100 μg/L and the modifying effects of iAs metabolism. Methods: The Arsenic Health Risk Assessment and Molecular Epidemiology (ASHRAM) study, a case-control study, was conducted in areas of Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia with reported presence of iAs in groundwater. Consecutively diagnosed cases of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the skin were histologically confirmed; controls were general surgery, orthopedic, and trauma patients who were frequency matched to cases by age, sex, and area of residence. Exposure indices were constructed based on information on iAs intake over the lifetime of participants. iAs metabolism status was classified based on urinary concentrations of methylarsonic acid (MA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA). Associations were estimated by multivariable logistic regression. Results: A total of 529 cases with BCC and 540 controls were recruited for the study. BCC was positively associated with three indices of iAs exposure: peak daily iAs dose rate, cumulative iAs dose, and lifetime average water iAs concentration. The adjusted odds ratio per 10-μg/L increase in average lifetime water iAs concentration was 1.18 (95% confidence interval: 1.08, 1.28). The estimated effect of iAs on cancer was stronger in participants with urinary markers indicating incomplete metabolism of iAs: higher percentage of MA in urine or a lower percentage of DMA. Conclusion: We found a positive association between BCC and exposure to iAs through drinking water with concentrations < 100 μg/L.

The environment disseminates antimicrobial-resistance genes; however, it remains challenging to distinguish whether human activities exacerbate antimicrobial resistance or what is natural. Here, we quantified ~300 resistance-related genes in 200+ Scottish soil samples. Location or land use does not explain gene differences, but nutrient levels reduce gene richness. Elevated levels of metals increased gene richness, and selenium increased transposase levels. Rainfall and persistent organic pollutants also increased transposase relative abundance, possibly promoting conditions conducive to the horizontal transfer of antimicrobial-resistance genes. Selenium and polychlorinated biphenyls were primary factors in gene abundance, while polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and pH influenced gene diversity. Polychlorinated biphenyls are derived from anthropogenic activities, highlighting human activities’ potential impact on gene prevalence. This is the first national-scale, high spatial resolution dataset of antimicrobial-resistance genes in Scottish soils and provides a novel resource on which to build future studies.

Snow cover is a unique environmental medium in cold regions that can cause potential risks to the ecological environment, due to the release of pollutants that are stored in it. In this study, the Qixing River wetland, located in the Sanjiang Plain of China, was taken as the target research area. Heavy metals in snow cover, including Cu, Ni, Cr, Cd, Pb, and Zn were measured at 19 sampling sites. The results showed that the average concentrations of heavy metals were: Zn (103.46 ± 39.16) > Pb (13.08 ± 4.99) > Cr (11.97 ± 2.82) > Ni (9.55 ± 4.96) > Cu (6.19 ± 1.79) > Cd (0.55 ± 0.25) μg·L−1. Cr and Zn were between Class I and Class II in the “Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water” of China (GB3838-2002). Pb in snow exceeded the upper limit of Class II, and was significantly higher than concentrations measured in water samples from the Qixing River wetland (p < 0.05), indicating that atmospheric deposition during winter was the major source of Pb. The water pollution index (WPI) indicated that 61.0% of samples could be considered of “clean” status, while the contribution of Zn, Pb, and Cr to WPI were 33.3%, 21.0%, and 19.3%, respectively. A preliminary evaluation of heavy metal inventory in snow cover showed that the residue level of Zn was the highest (2313.57 ± 1194.67 μg·m−2), while Cd was the lowest (13.91 ± 10.45 μg·m−2). The areas with high residues of heavy metals were all located near the buffer zone of the wetland (except for Zn), where snow depth tended to be greatest. Exposure analysis indicated that the risks to winter resident birds from snow ingestion was minimal, but it should be noted that the exposure risk was higher in birds with lower bodyweights. This study provides important information and scientific knowledge on the pollution characteristics and residue inventory of heavy metals in wetland ecosystems, while the results can also provide a monitoring method, reflecting atmospheric environmental quality at a local or regional scale.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and other commentators have warned about the impacts that biodiversity decline will have on human health. There is no doubting that the natural world provides mankind with the majority of the resources required to sustain life and health. Many species provide food, fuel, medicines; with the potential for many more (as of yet) undiscovered uses for various species. Despite this, there have been very few attempts to actually investigate relationships between biodiversity (i.e. number of species, rather than the ability of specific species to provide health benefits) and human health. This paper reviews the available evidence and demonstrates that while the links between biodiversity and health seem intuitive, they are very difficult to prove. Socio-economics has a huge influence on health status and the exploitation of natural resources (leading to eventual biodiversity loss) tends to have a positive economic effects. More direct effects of biodiversity on health include the diversity of the internal microbiome, the effect of natural diversity on our mental health and well-being (although this has large social aspects with many people feeling fearful in very diverse environments). Still to be elucidated are the tipping points where the level of global biodiversity loss is such that human health can no longer be sustained.

Objective Methods and results are presented for an arsenic exposure assessment integral to an epidemiological case–control study of arsenic and cancer—the European Commission funded ASHRAM (Arsenic Health Risk Assessment and Molecular Epidemiology) study carried out in some counties of Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. Methods The exposure history of each participant ( N  = 1,392) was constructed by taking into account how much water they consumed (as water, in drinks and in food), sources of drinking water in their various residences over their lifetime, and the concentrations of arsenic in their various water supplies measured by Hydride Generation-Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (HG-AAS). Concentrations of arsenic in previous water supplies were either derived from contemporary analyses of the same source, or from routine historical data from measurements performed by the authorities in each country. Using this approach, 80% of the recorded lifetime residential history was matched to an arsenic concentration. Seven indices of current, life time, and peak exposure were calculated. Results The exposure indices were all log-normally distributed and the mean and median lifetime average concentrations were in Hungary 14.7 and 13.3 μg l −1 , Romania 3.8 and 0.7 μg l −1 and in Slovakia 1.9 and 0.8 μg l −1 , respectively. Overall 25% of the population had average concentrations over 10 μg l −1 and 8% with exposure over 50 μg l −1 . Conclusions Careful assessment of arsenic in drinking water supplies (both current and previous) enabled the majority of study participants’ cumulative lifetime of potential exposure to arsenic in residential water to be characterised.