A review of microplastic pollution in commercial fish for human consumption

Today microplastics (MPs) have received worldwide attention as an emerging environmental pollution which is one of the four major global environmental threat and health hazard to human as well. Unfortunately, MPs have been founded in the all environments and media include air, water resources, sediments, and soil. It should not be forgotten MPs have also been detected in food and processing products like tuna. MPs can be ingested by marine organisms such as zooplankton, fish and birds. Accumulation and distribution of MPs by commercially important aquatic organisms is expected to lead to greater exposure risk for human populations with possible adverse effects over time. The aim of this work was to review the published literature regarding the contamination of commercial fish muscle for human consumption. Furthermore, a short revision of the environmental contamination and human health effects by MPs are included. We also estimated human daily intake considering the worldwide contamination of commercial fish muscle ranged from 0.016 items/g muscle of fish to 6.06 items/g muscle of fish. MPs have been found in 56.5% of the commercial fish samples analysed here. As fish is used in human food table across the word, they constitute a long-term exposure route for all humans and raise the concern about the potential public health risk.

Wearable screen-printed SERS array sensor on fire-retardant fibre gloves for on-site environmental emergency monitoring

Glove-based wearable sensors can offer the potential ability to fast and on-site environmental threat assessment, which is crucial for timely and informed incident management. In this work, an on-demand surface-enhanced...

Response Efficacy in Environmental Discounting: Concern and Action towards Climate Change Threats

Extending preceding environmental discounting studies, we examined the role of response efficacy (in low, control, and high conditions) in participants’ valuation of climate-change concern and action across four psychological distance dimensions (temporal, spatial, social, and probabilistic). Participants gave ratings of concern and action in the context of two hypothetical scenarios which were directly related to two different threats (droughts and floods) posed by unmitigated climate change. Rachlin’s hyperboloid discount functions fit the data well. The previously observed gap between concern and action ratings was not replicated in the main analyses, but was seen in the ratings at the minimum distance values. Response efficacy differentially affected ratings of concern and action at the minimum distance values for the temporal, social, and probabilistic dimensions, but differentially affected discount values (k) only for the probabilistic dimension. Compared to their level of concern with the environmental threat, participants who were led to believe that their actions were not efficacious were less willing to engage in mitigation behaviors than participants who were led to believe that their actions were efficacious. The insights gained through the current research effort may be valuable for policymaking as well as intervention design aiming to increase societal mitigation and adaptation efforts.

The Immobilisation of Heavy Metals from Sewage Sludge Ash in CO2-Cured Mortars

Sewage treatment processes are a serious environmental threat due to the difficulties involved in its waste management and disposal. Therefore, one developing trend in sewage sludge processing is its thermal treatment, which generates sewage sludge ash that may contain many environmental pollutants, such as heavy metals. Moreover, due to the European Union requirements that not only focus on the waste generation reduction but also on its reuse and final disposal, it is essential to pursue new applications of such resources, such as the waste-based material incorporation into alternative cementitious materials. Thus, this study evaluated the heavy metals leachability of CO2-cured mortars incorporating sewage sludge ash as filler. For this purpose, Portland cement, reactive magnesia, and electric arc furnace slag were used to produce three different CO2-cured mortars, which were cured though pressurised accelerated carbonation curing for 24h. These mortars presented up to 12.7 MPa as compressive strength and their carbonation was confirmed by TG-DTG and FT-IR analyses. Their leachability of heavy metals met the European requirements for all waste materials, including inert materials, and post-industrial wastewater. Therefore, the immobilisation of heavy metals in this binding technology may be considered an effective method to safely manage sewage sludge ash.

Carbon Dioxide and Methane Emissions during the Composting and Vermicomposting of Sewage Sludge under the Effect of Different Proportions of Straw Pellets

Owing to rapid population growth, sewage sludge poses a serious environmental threat across the world. Composting and vermicomposting are biological technologies commonly used to stabilize sewage sludge. The objective of this study was to assess the carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions from sewage sludge composting and vermicomposting under the influence of different proportions of straw pellets. Four treatments were designed, by mixing the initial sewage sludge with varying ratio of pelletized wheat straw (0, 25%, 50%, and 75% (w/w)). The experiment was conducted for 60 days, and Eisenia andrei was used for vermicomposting. The results revealed that the mixing ratio influenced CO2 (F = 36.1, p = 0.000) and CH4 (F= 73.9, p = 0.000) emissions during composting and CO2 (F= 13.8, p = 0.000) and CH4 (F= 4.5, p= 0.004) vermicomposting. Vermicomposting significantly reduced CH4 emissions by 18–38%, while increasing CO2 emissions by 64–89%. The mixing agent (pelletized wheat straw) decreased CO2 emission by 60–70% and CH4 emission by 30–80% compared to control (0%). The mass balance indicated that 5.5–10.4% of carbon was loss during composting, while methane release accounted for 0.34–1.69%, and CO2 release accounted for 2.3–8.65%. However, vermicomposting lost 8.98–13.7% of its carbon, with a methane release of 0.1–0.6% and CO2 release of 5.0–11.6% of carbon. The carbon loss was 3.3–3.5% more under vermicomposting than composting. This study demonstrated that depending on the target gas to be reduced, composting and vermicomposting, as well as a mixing agent (pelletized wheat straw), could be an option for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (i.e. CH4, CO2).

Catamaran Sargassum Cleaning System “CSC Integrated System” Conceptual Engineering

Since 2011, the Caribbean has been invaded by large banks of “sargassum,” which increase every year and have become an environmental threat and a health problem to those living in the extensive coastal areas affected. We identified different systems around the world dedicated to collecting floating marine debris. Most solutions are not suited to the magnitude and nature of the pollution caused by the sargassum. The limitations we observed are either the loading capacity or limitations in the disposal of the collected sargassum debris. A conceptual solution is proposed in this paper for further review, namely, the “CSC Integrated System”.

How Multi-Sensory Animal Embodiment in Virtual Reality Influences Environmental Threat Processing and Conservation Behaviors

Efforts to mitigate environmental threats are often inversely related to the magnitude of casualty, human or otherwise1–3. This “compassion fade” can be explained, in part, by differential processing of large- versus small-scale threats: it is difficult to form empathic connections with unfamiliar masses versus singular victims4. Despite robust findings, little is known about how non-human casualty is processed, and what strategies override this bias. Over four experiments, we show how embodying threatened megafauna – Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta Caretta) – in virtual reality can offset and reverse compassion fade. After observing compassion fade during exposure to mass non-human casualty in virtual reality (Study 1; N=60), we then tested a custom multi-sensory virtual reality simulation facilitating embodiment of a threatened Loggerhead (Study 2; N=98). Afterwards, a field experiment (Study 3; N=90) testing the simulation with varied number of victims showed embodiment offset compassion fade. Lastly, a fourth study (N=25) found that charitable giving among users embodying threatened wildlife was highest when exposed to one versus many victims, though this effect was reversed if victims were of a different species (Dolphins). The findings demonstrate how animal embodiment in virtual reality alters processing of environmental threats and non-human casualty, thereby influencing biodiversity conservation outcomes.