Pollutants, Volume 3, Issue 3 (September 2023) – 8 articles

The aim of the research presented here is to assess the magnitude of the burden of health limitations due to air pollution on the world’s economies. This burden was determined by the estimated number of premature years of life lost (YLLs) or years of health lost (YLDs) due to air-pollution-related diseases in the working-age population. Attention was drawn to the problem of existing inequalities in the global burden between economies with different income levels. The hypothesis of persistently high levels of inequality was tested by analysing the convergence process in a group of 204 countries over the period 1990–2019. The results indicate a high degree of variation in the level of health problems caused by air pollution. The analysis of the catching-up process of the most disadvantaged countries (with the highest level of health impacts from air pollution) did not show a positive convergence effect in the study group. Full article

The green-lipped mussel Perna viridis’ sensitive nature and characteristic as a benthos organism that filters the sediment in its environment make it one of the possible bioindicators for pollution in the aquatic ecosystem. The present study aimed to determine the percentages of total shell deformities in comparison to the past data in the coastal waters of Peninsular Malaysia. It was found that several types of discontinuous, continuous, and unexplained shell abnormalities contributed to the overall range of shell deformities of 15.8–87.5%, which was greater in comparison to that (0.0–36.8%). The present study showed that the highest overall proportion of shell abnormalities occurred in Teluk Jawa, whereas the lowest percentages were found in Kampung (Kg.) Pasir Puteh. The regulative mechanisms at the well-known polluted sites at Kg. Pasir Puteh could be the explanation. Further research should be conducted to determine the degree of heavy metal that may be the source of these malformations in the mussel shells. Full article

Biofilms play a crucial role in absorbing various metals from water, including copper, lead, iron, chromium, nickel, zinc, cadmium, and barium. While their presence was revealed in shower system biofilms, the factors affecting metal accumulation in shower system biofilms were poorly explored. This study aimed to investigate the capacity of shower hose biofilms to accumulate heavy metals, in particular in biofilms growing in energy-efficient showerhead systems, and evaluate the potential emission in water and aerosols of metal pollutants during showering. The adsorption efficiency of various metals in biofilms was assessed by ICP/MS and revealed that biofilms accumulate metals as they age and as biofilm biomass increases, indicating a potential influence of heavy metals on biofilm ecology. Furthermore, the study examined the emission of heavy metals during showering and found that it was sporadic and limited primarily to copper and zinc. These findings raise concerns regarding the role of biofilms in both retaining and releasing metal contaminants in water distribution systems, as well as the associated risk of inhalation during showering. By shedding light on the accumulation dynamics of heavy metals in shower hose biofilms and their potential emission patterns, this research highlights the need for further investigation into the impact of biofilms on water quality and human exposure to metal pollutants. The findings underscore the importance of considering biofilm-related processes when addressing the overall management of heavy metal contamination in shower systems and its potential implications for public health. Full article

The major industrial cities of Bangladesh are experiencing significant air-pollution-related problems due to the increased trend of particulate matter (PM_2.5) and other pollutants. This paper aimed to investigate and understand the relationship between PM_2.5 and land use and climatic variables to identify the riskiest areas and population groups using a geographic information system and regression analysis. The results show that about 41% of PM_2.5 concentration (μg/m³) increased within 19 years (2002–2021) in the study area, while the highest concentration of PM_2.5 was found from 2012 to 2021. The concentrations of PM_2.5 were higher over barren lands, forests, croplands, and urban areas. From 2002–2021, the concentration increased by about 64%, 62.7%, 57%, and 55% (μg/m³) annually over barren lands, forests, cropland, and urban regions. The highest concentration level of PM_2.5 (84 μg/m³) among other land use classes was found in urban areas in 2021. The regression analysis shows that air pressure (hPa) (r² = −0.26), evaporation (kg m⁻²) (r² = −0.01), humidity (kg m⁻²) (r² = −0.22), rainfall (mm/h) (r² = −0.20), and water vapor (kg m⁻²) (r² = −0.03) were negatively correlated with PM_2.5. On the other hand, air temperature (k) (r² = 0.24), ground heat (W m⁻²) (r² = 0.60), and wind speed (m s⁻¹) (r² = 0.34) were positively correlated with PM_2.5. More than 60 Upazilas were included in the most polluted areas, with a total population of 11,260,162 in the high-risk/hotspot zone (1,948,029 aged 0–5, 485,407 aged 50–69). Governmental departments along with policymakers, stainable development practitioners, academicians, and others may use the main results of the paper for integrated air pollution mitigation and management in Bangladesh as well as in other geographical settings worldwide. Full article

Heavy metal pollution is one of the major global issues arising from various anthropogenic activities. The natural habitat and human health may be at peril from heavy metal exposure since they are tenacious, bio-accumulative, and non-biodegradable. Therefore, eradicating heavy metals from the soil ecosystem is a crucial responsibility to create a secure, viable, and zero-waste ecosystem. There are numerous techniques for eliminating heavy metals from the environment, but each has its own benefits and drawbacks. When a biological agent is used to degrade pollutants, this process is called bioremediation. Nano-phytoremediation, an emerging bioremediation approach in the field of nanotechnology, uses biosynthesized nanoparticles and plant species for the removal of toxic heavy metals from the environment. It is an efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly technique. The adverse consequences of metal exposure on different plant species have been discovered to be greatly reduced by engineered nanomaterials. Because of their tiny dimensions and huge surface area, nanomaterials have an attraction towards metals and can thus quickly enter the contaminated zone of ecosystems that are metal-challenged. The current review provides an overview of various aspects of nano-phytoremediation for heavy metal remediation. Full article

Arsenic (As), a widely distributed metalloid in the Earth’s crust, constitutes one of the most significant environmental contaminants today. This study was carried out to determine As concentrations in the soils of a Castilla La Mancha (CLM; Spain) benchmark collection that represents all the soil orders (soil taxonomy) in this territory. It also examined vine plant tolerance to As in relation to soil concentration. For this purpose, soils and leaves from vineyards were collected from 10 locations in the CLM community. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) of As in vineyards was assessed. The results of the present study show that As content in soils is widely variable, and is fundamentally related to soil type and parent material. The most surprising point is that, although some vineyards have been treated with As derivatives, the vast majority of them do not accumulate any amount of As. This important finding must be used to enhance the quality of the final obtained product: wine. In other words, CLM wines are not at risk of As contamination and must, therefore, be clean wines. Our results suggest that CLM vineyards are clean of contamination by As because this element in leaves reveals null vine capacity to accumulate As, a process that derives from scarce As in soils and the traditional practices carried out by winegrowers. Full article

Analyses of mosses and lichens provide some information on the contents of both particulate and dissolved (from hydrometeors including snow and flooding) metal ions and other elements like As and Sb in the local environment. However, this information is compromised by rarity (and thus duly legal protection) of suitable species (particularly lichens) for regular sampling and also by poorly understood mechanisms of binding. Hence, it is crucial to find an alternative that does not harm or kill rare and/or protected organisms for sampling purposes while providing data that can be traced to environmental levels (e.g., metal ions in water) in a comprehensible way. Studying the coordination of aq. metal ions on some biogenic surface which can form ligating bonds to these ions provides such information. The most abundant and thus cheap such biopolymer acting as both a possible ligand and a water- (or environment-)biomass interface is chitin. Data from chitin exposed in either water, common sandy sediments, and ferric gels delivered by Fe-oxidizing bacteria are processed to understand adsorption in quantitative terms depending on local conditions, accounting for observed BCFs >> 1 for certain elements (Bi, V, LREEs). Slopes of functions that describe the increase of retention of some element upon increasing aq. concentrations allow us to construct (a) some function giving BCF by numerical integration, (b) predict the behavior of other elements for which certain parameters guiding complex formation are known as well. It turns out that top sensitivities (maximum BCF- or partition factor) values are reached with different elements depending on the environment the chitin sample was exposed to. PF can extend the detection and determination of many elements below levels directly observable in water or sediments. The detection of fallout radionuclides on chitin is even more sensitive (by a factor of 20–25) because of omitting dilution in workup by direct observation of γ radiation. Full article

Seafood constitutes the primary source of exposure to the organic form of mercury in the general population, and the Trieste Gulf is considered a hotspot of mercury contamination. We used a newly developed quantitative food frequency questionnaire to obtain an estimation of the intake of mercury through seafood consumption in a sample of 32 individuals from Trieste. Then, we validated the results obtained from the questionnaire against those of the analysis of total mercury measured in the hair of the same individuals through Spearman rank correlation coefficients, Cohen’s weighted Kappa statistic, and a Bland–Altman plot. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient and Cohen’s weighted Kappa statistic were 0.76 and 0.69, respectively. In the Bland–Altman plot, 93.75% of the data points lay within the acceptability range. The plot revealed an ever-increasing overestimation of mercury intake by the questionnaires as the hair mercury increased. By applying a standardized filtering procedure to the results of the questionnaires, we obtained a Spearman rank correlation coefficient and Cohen’s weighted Kappa statistic of 0.69 and 0.57, respectively. In this Bland–Altman plot, 93.75% of the data points lay within the acceptability range. In this latter plot, the proportionality between the mean difference and the magnitude of the measurement was more subtle compared to that observed in the plot built upon the non-filtered questionnaires. This preliminary study shows the high accuracy of the reported questionnaire in the estimation of habitual mercury intake, similar to the one measured through the analysis of hair. Full article