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Risk Characterization of Environmental/Human Health

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 16035

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Cheng Yan

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Guest Editor

Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, China
Interests: bioaerosol; bioaerosol sensor; airborne microorganisms and biological particles; bio-fluorophore particles; laser induced fluorescence; microbiological contamination in environments; assessment and methodology; public and human health; quantitative microbial risk assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Carla Viegas

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1. H & TRC—Health & Technology Research Center, ESTeSL—Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, 1990-096 Lisbon, Portugal
2. Public Health Research Centre, NOVA National School of Public Health, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1099-085 Lisbon, Portugal
3. Comprehensive Health Research Center (CHRC), NOVA Medical School, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1169-056 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: fungal occupational exposure; indoor air quality; aspergillus epidemiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Annalaura Carducci

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Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via S. Zeno 35/39, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Interests: hygiene; public health; infectious diseases; risk assessment; environmental virology; water; aerosol; health literacy; risk communication; occupational health

Dr. Qiuyan Yuan

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Department of Civil Engineering, Price Faculty of Engineering, University of Manitoba, E1-368, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V6, Canada
Interests: landfill leachate; wastewater nutrient removal; nutrient recovery

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

An estimated one quarter of death and disease globally is related to environmental hazards (WHO, 2021). From the quality of the air we breathe to the condition of the food we eat, environmental factors can have a significant effect on our health. The environmental factors will evolve due to activities of nature and human beings. Meanwhile, the environmental factors are also a root cause of a significant disease burden of human. Therefore, rigorous assessments of risk characterization of environmental/human health are imperative and urgently needed.

The environmental health risks are usually evaluated by the ecological risk assessment which is the process for evaluating how likely it is that the environment might be obstructed as a result of exposure to environmental stressors. Its classical assessment steps include: problem formulation, analysis, and risk measurement. The risk measurement of health of human beings is the process to estimate the probability of adverse health effects in communities who would be exposed to polluted environmental conditions. For interpreting the magnitude of risk assessment outcomes, two of the most widely used health risk benchmarks, the annual infection risk level proposed by the U.S. EPA (10E−4 pppy) and the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) by the WHO (10E−6 DALYs pppy), are built around the concept of health-based targets that are grounded on well-defined health metrics (e.g., DALYs) and a level of tolerable health burden. In addition, the Monte Carlo simulation is often used to represent the propagation of variability in the risk characterization process. Additionally, the sensitivity analysis is accordingly utilized to quantify the contributions of all the inputted variable parameters of risk assessment to the uncertainty in the health risk output by sensitivity partitioning coefficient and Spearman rank correlation coefficient.

Manuscripts addressing these themes are invited for this Special Issue, especially those can deliver novel data on the assessment framework and provide a theoretical basis for follow-up research on the mitigation measures and control strategies for stakeholders. Findings in manuscripts should be of significant interest to the diverse readership of IJERPH.

Dr. Cheng Yan
Prof. Dr. Carla Viegas
Prof. Dr. Annalaura Carducci
Dr. Qiuyan Yuan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

risk assessment
environmental health risks
human health risks
problem formulation
analysis
hazard identification
dose–response assessment
exposure assessment
risk characterization

Related Special Issue

Quantitative Assessment of Environmental/Human Health Risks in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (11 articles)

Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 365 KiB

Open AccessArticle

From the Perspectives of Pollution Governance and Public Health: A Research of China’s Fiscal Expenditure on Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection

by Di Zhang and Xiao Dong

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(11), 6018; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20116018 - 31 May 2023

Viewed by 1192

Abstract

Improving the scale and effectiveness of China’s energy conservation and environmental protection fiscal expenditure is crucial to enhancing the capacity of ecological and environmental governance of China, considering the dual perspectives of pollution governance and public health. This article first explains the mechanism by which national energy conservation and environmental protection fiscal expenditure can improve pollution control and promote public health. Secondly, this article scrutinizes the current status and limitations of China’s fiscal expenditure, highlighting the contribution of fiscal expenditure in the construction of ecological civilization from the standpoints of environmental governance and public health. Additionally, this study empirically uses DEA to measure the efficiency of the government’s fiscal expenditure. Conclusions found that: First, environmental protection fiscal expenditure is mainly focused on technological transformation and pollution control, while relatively little is spent on public health protection. Second, the efficiency of environmental protection fiscal funds is relatively low. These suggestions aim to optimize the positive impact of energy conservation and environmental protection fiscal expenditure for improving pollution governance and promoting public health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Risk Characterization of Environmental/Human Health)

12 pages, 2731 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Changes in Bacterial Communities and Their Effects on Soil Carbon Storage in Spartina alterniflora Invasion Areas, Coastal Wetland Bare Flats, and Sueada salsa Areas

by Jiashuo Liu, Xiaoxiao Duan, Guo Li, Zhenjie Cai, Sijie Wei, Qixuan Song and Zheng Zheng

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(5), 4308; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054308 - 28 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1229

Abstract

Spartina alterniflora is considered an invasive species that has affected the biogeochemical circle of carbon in coastal wetlands around the world. Nevertheless, it is still unclear how S. alternation invasion affects the carbon storage capacity of coastal wetlands as carbon pools through bacterial changes. Herein, bacterial communities and soil carbon content in coastal wetland native areas and S. alterniflora invasion areas were detected. It was found that an S. alterniflora invasion brought more organic carbon and resulted in the increase in Proteobacteria in bare flats and Sueada salsa areas. When decomposition capacity was not sufficient, large amounts of organic carbon may be stored in specific chemical forms, such as monosaccharides, carboxylic acids, alcohols, etc. The results have also shown that soil bacterial communities were highly similar between the bare flat and S. alterniflora invasion area, which is extremely conducive to the rapid growth of S. alterniflora. However, an S. alterniflora invasion would decrease total carbon contents and inorganic carbon contents in the Sueada salsa area. This is not conducive to the stability of the soil carbon pool and soil health. These findings may complement, to some extent, the shortcomings of the interaction between S. alterniflora and bacterial communities, and their joint effect on soil carbon storage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Risk Characterization of Environmental/Human Health)

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14 pages, 3735 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Coal Mining on Soil Microorganisms from Stipa krylovii Rhizosphere in Typical Grassland

by Linlin Xie, Yinli Bi, Yanxu Zhang and Nan Guo

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(4), 3689; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043689 - 19 Feb 2023

Viewed by 1176

Abstract

The environmental changes caused by coal mining activities caused disturbances to the plant, soil, and microbial health in the mining area. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play an important role in the ecological restoration of mining areas. However, it is less understood how soil fungal communities with multiple functional groups respond to coal mining, and the quantitative impact and risk of mining disturbance. Therefore, in this study, the effect of coal mining on soil microorganisms’ composition and diversity were analyzed near the edge of an opencast coal-mine dump in the Shengli mining area, Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia. The response strategy of soil fungi to coal mining and the stability of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in the soil fungal community were determined. Our results showed that coal mining affected AMF and soil fungi in areas within 900 m from the coal mine. The abundance of endophytes increased with the distance between sampling sites and the mine dump, whereas the abundance of saprotroph decreased with the distance between sampling sites and the mine dump. Saprotroph was the dominant functional flora near the mining area. The nodes percentage of Septoglomus and Claroideoglomus and AMF phylogenetic diversity near the mining area were highest. AMF responded to the mining disturbance via the variety and evolution strategy of flora. Furthermore, AMF and soil fungal communities were significantly correlated with edaphic properties and parameters. Soil available phosphorus (AP) was the main influencer of soil AMF and fungal communities. These findings evaluated the risk range of coal mining on AMF and soil fungal communities and elucidated the microbial response strategy to mining disturbance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Risk Characterization of Environmental/Human Health)

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14 pages, 3497 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dissolved Organic Phosphorus Removal in Secondary Effluent by Ferrate (VI): Performance and Mechanism

by Lei Zheng, Panpan Gao, Yali Song, Hua Wang and Yang Deng

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(4), 2849; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20042849 - 06 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1364

Abstract

Dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP), which is recalcitrant in municipal wastewater treatment, accounts for 26–81% of dissolved total phosphorus in the effluent. More importantly, the majority of DOP could be bioavailable, potentially threatening the aquatic environment through eutrophication. This study aimed to develop a ferrate (VI)-based advanced treatment to effectively destruct and remove DOP from secondary effluent and use deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and adenosine-5’-triphosphate (ATP) as DOP model compounds to explore the relevant mechanisms. The results showed that ferrate (VI) treatment could efficiently destruct and remove 75% of the DOP in secondary effluent from an activated sludge-adopted municipal wastewater treatment plant, under normal operating conditions. Moreover, the coexistence of nitrate, ammonia, and alkalinity barely affected the effectiveness, while the presence of phosphate significantly inhibited DOP removal. The mechanistic study revealed that ferrate (VI)-induced particle adsorption was the dominant way to achieve DOP reduction, rather than oxidating DOP to phosphate and forming precipitation afterward. Meanwhile, DOP molecules could be effectively decomposed into smaller ones by ferrate (VI) oxidation. This study clearly demonstrated that ferrate (VI) treatment could achieve a promising DOP removal from secondary effluent for mitigating the risk of eutrophication in receiving water bodies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Risk Characterization of Environmental/Human Health)

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11 pages, 2076 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Photosynthesis Responses of Tibetan Freshwater Algae Chlorella vulgaris to Herbicide Glyphosate

by Yixiao Zhang, Zixu Chen, Xiaoyan Li, Xinguo Wu, Lanzhou Chen and Gaohong Wang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 386; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010386 - 26 Dec 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1819

Abstract

With the development of agriculture and the widespread application of agrichemicals in Tibet, herbicide residues have become a threat to the ecological safety of Tibetan water bodies. Algae, as the producers in the food chain in water bodies, play an important role in aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, the impact of herbicides on Tibetan algae is of great significance for evaluating ecological health and the protection of Tibetan water ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of glyphosate, a herbicide, on the photosynthetic system of Chlorella vulgaris, Tibetan algae, by determining chlorophyll fluorescence and the activity of an antioxidant system. The results revealed that glyphosate at low concentration did not affect the photosynthetic activity of C. vulgaris; however, glyphosate at a high concentration significantly inhibited photosynthetic activity and reduced pigment content. Moreover, high levels of glyphosate also decreased photochemical efficiency and electron transport rate and resulted in ROS accumulation, high SOD activity, and lipid peroxidation. These results suggested that glyphosate could decrease the primary production of aquatic ecosystems and influence their performance. Therefore, reducing the herbicide levels could protect the Tibetan aquatic environment and maintain the health of ecosystems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Risk Characterization of Environmental/Human Health)

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14 pages, 10725 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Temporal Characteristics of Ozone (O₃) in the Representative City of the Yangtze River Delta: Explanatory Factors and Sensitivity Analysis

by Yu Lu, Zhentao Wu, Xiaobing Pang, Hai Wu, Bo Xing, Jingjing Li, Qiaoming Xiang, Jianmeng Chen and Dongfeng Shi

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 168; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010168 - 22 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1234

Abstract

Ozone (O₃) has attracted considerable attention due to its harmful effects on the ecosystem and human health. The Yangtze River Delta (YRD), China in particular has experienced severe O₃ pollution in recent years. Here, we conducted a long-term observation of O₃ in YRD to reveal its characteristics. The O₃ concentration in autumn was the highest at 72.76 ppb due to photochemical contribution and local convection patterns, with its lowest value of 2.40 ppb in winter. O₃ exhibited strong diurnal variations, showing the highest values in the early afternoon (15:00–16:00) and the minimum in 07:00–08:00, specifically, peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) showed similar variations to O₃ but PAN peak usually occurred 1 h earlier than that of O₃ due to PAN photolysis. A generalized additive model indicated that the key factors to O₃ formation were NO₂, PAN, and temperature. It was found that a certain temperature rise promoted O₃ formation, whereas temperatures above 27 °C inhibited O₃ formation. An observation-based model showed O₃ formation was VOCs-limited in spring and winter, was NO_x-limited in summer, and even controlled by both VOCs and NO_x in autumn. Thus, prevention and control strategies for O₃ in the YRD are strongly recommended to be variable for each season based on various formation mechanisms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Risk Characterization of Environmental/Human Health)

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17 pages, 3330 KiB

Open AccessArticle

AMF Inoculum Enhances Crop Yields of Zea mays L. ‘Chenghai No. 618’ and Glycine max L. ‘Zhonghuang No. 17’ without Disturbing Native Fugal Communities in Coal Mine Dump

by Kun Wang, Yinli Bi, Jiayu Zhang and Shaopeng Ma

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(24), 17058; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192417058 - 19 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1541

Abstract

For the agricultural development of dumps, increase in land use efficiency and protection of food security, to verify the safety, efficacy and sustainability of field-applied arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculum, and to exclude the risk of potential biological invasion, in this study, we determined the effect of AMF inoculation and intercropping patterns (maize–soybean) on the temporal dynamics of soil parameters, native AMF communities and crop yields. AMF communities were analyzed using Illumina MiSeq. A total of 448 AMF operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to six genera and nine families were identified. AMF inoculation treatment significantly improved the yield of intercropping maize and increased the content of available phosphorus. AMF diversity was significantly influenced by cropping pattern and growth stage, but not by the inoculation treatment. Inoculation altered the AMF community composition in the early growth stage and facilitated a more complex AMF network in the early and late growth stages. These results indicate that AMF inoculation affects native AMF only in the early stage, and its impact on yield may be the consequence of cumulative effects due to the advantages of plant growth and nutrient uptake in the early stage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Risk Characterization of Environmental/Human Health)

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Review

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23 pages, 1346 KiB

Open AccessReview

Removal of Copper Ions from Wastewater: A Review

by Yongming Liu, Haishuang Wang, Yuanyuan Cui and Nan Chen

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(5), 3885; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20053885 - 22 Feb 2023

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 5357

Abstract

Copper pollution of the world’s water resources is becoming increasingly serious and poses a serious threat to human health and aquatic ecosystems. With reported copper concentrations in wastewater ranging from approximately 2.5 mg/L to 10,000 mg/L, a summary of remediation techniques for different contamination scenarios is essential. Therefore, it is important to develop low-cost, feasible, and sustainable wastewater removal technologies. Various methods for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater have been extensively studied in recent years. This paper reviews the current methods used to treat Cu(II)-containing wastewater and evaluates these technologies and their health effects. These technologies include membrane separation, ion exchange, chemical precipitation, electrochemistry, adsorption, and biotechnology. Thus, in this paper, we review the efforts and technological advances made so far in the pursuit of more efficient removal and recovery of Cu(II) from industrial wastewater and compare the advantages and disadvantages of each technology in terms of research prospects, technical bottlenecks, and application scenarios. Meanwhile, this study points out that achieving low health risk effluent through technology coupling is the focus of future research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Risk Characterization of Environmental/Human Health)

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