Biotechnological methods to remove microplastics: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Microplastics pollution is major threat to ecosystems and is impacting abiotic and biotic components. Microplastics are diverse and highly complex...     

Synthesis of a three-dimensional network sodium alginate–poly(acrylic acid)/attapulgite hydrogel with good mechanic property and reusability for efficient adsorption of Cu2+ and Pb2+

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Water pollution caused by heavy metals has dramatically impacted ecosystems in recent years. For instance, 45.4% of lakes in China are in the category of moderate...     

Analytical methods for microplastics in the environment: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Microplastic pollution is a recently discovered threat to ecosystems requiring the development of new analytical methods. Here, we review classical and advanced...     

Exposure of microplastics to organic matter in waters enhances microplastic encapsulation into calcium carbonate

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Plastic pollution in water ecosystems is threatening the survival of wildlife. In particular, microplastics may be encapsulated into calcium carbonate, a crucial...     

Bimetallic adsorbents for wastewater treatment: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The rising pollution of water resources is threatening the health of humans and ecosystems, calling for advanced methods to clean polluted waters. Adsorption on...     

A study of osteological and molecular differences in populations of Aphanius fasciatus Nardo 1827, from the central Mediterranean (Teleostei, Cyprinodontidae)

Nine populations of Aphanius fasciatus Nardo, 1827 from the central Mediterranean were analysed by examining the mitochondrial control region and the morphology of the bony elements of the skull and vertebral column, to study the degree of intraspecific differentiation of A. fasciatus considering the level of isolation of the different populations and the palaeogeographic history of the central Mediterranean area. Both the molecular and morphological analyses differentiate between the populations, even if the topologies of the two trees are different. Molecular and osteological investigations have consistently demonstrated a well-supported differentiation of the south-eastern Sicilian populations both within the same group (Tigano et al. in Ital J Zool 71:1124–1133, 2004a; Tigano et al. in Abstract volume XI European Congress of Ichthyology, Tallin, Estonia, 2004b), and from the populations from western Sicily, Tunisia and the island of Malta. The molecular results show that the nine populations are characterised by haplotypes that are well defined in relation to a probably limited gene flow; while, as regards the morphological data the differentiation found could be explained in terms of the geographic isolation of the various populations, although the influence of environmental factors, which differ greatly between the various sites where the populations live, cannot be ruled out.     

When does bearing magnets affect the size of deflection in clock-shifted homing pigeons?

Pigeons whose internal clock is shifted by 6 h show deflections from the direction of untreated controls, yet these deflections are often smaller than predicted. Magnets temporarily disabling the magnetic compass increased these the deflections significantly (R. Wiltschko and Wiltschko 2001), indicating a compromise between sun compass and magnetic compass. – Recently, Ioalé et al. (2006) claim that they could not replicate our findings. The reason lies in a difference in the behavior of the clock-shifted pigeons without magnets: in the study of Ioalè et al. (2006), their deflections was already almost as large as that of our pigeons carrying magnets. This difference is probably caused by the limited experience of the pigeons of Ioalè et al. (2006): Their birds, in contrast to ours, had not used their sun’ compass during extended homing flights at various times of the year and, not having been faced with the necessity to compensate the saisonal changes of the sun’s arc, gave the sun compass more weight than our birds did.A comment to the paper by Ioalè, Odetti and Gagliardo (2006) Behav Ecol Sociobiol 60: 516–521.     

Toxicity of the acetamiprid insecticide for mammals: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Pesticides are a major class of pollutants of concern for the health of life and ecosystems. For instance, acetamiprid is a new-generation chloronicotinyl...     

Nanoplastic occurrence,transformation and toxicity: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Nanoplastics are emerging contaminants of concern for living organisms and ecosystems, yet nanoplastics are difficult to extract and analyse. Once released into...     

Migration and remediation of organic liquid pollutants in porous soils and sedimentary rocks: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Underground pollution of soils and sediments is a major yet overlooked health issue, because pollutants are often trapped into inaccessible and complex...     

Environmental chemistry in the twenty-first century

Human society actually faces many environmental challenges such as environmental pollution, climate changes and loss of biodiversity. These issues induce major risks for ecosystems and are a serious threat for further life on Earth. Anthropogenic pressure may continue to exacerbate the present-day problems. Prevention and mitigation of environmental issues demands sound science and dedicated political support. For that, environmental chemistry is a central and multidisciplinary science that will provide new concepts and applied methods to solve actual environmental issues. Here, we outline the scope of environmental chemistry. The Anthropocene era and major chemical disasters are discussed. We present also the challenges of atmospheric chemistry, analytical chemistry, statistics and chemometrics, and education in environmental chemistry.     

Higher number of microplastics in tumoral colon tissues from patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Microplastics have been detected in marine and terrestrial ecosystems, yet the toxic effects of microplastics on living organisms are poorly known. In particular,...     

Remediation of heavy metals and dyes from wastewater using cellulose-based adsorbents

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Heavy metals and dyes are major pollutants that pose potential threat to the health of humans and ecosystems. Various technologies are available to remediate such...     

Marine pollution: Let us not forget beach sand

A continuous task of the working group "Environmental Monitoring" is the development of methods and guidelines for a systematic and long-term analytical control of the chemical burden of environmental compartments and biota A new recommendation regarding the substance-related environmental monitoring is published in "Environmental Science and Pollution Research" (Rüdel et al., 2009). The "Chemical and Biological Monitoring Series", published in the same journal, originates from the working group or from its individual members also. Some central points of these articles are picked up and updated in this report. Current topics of major concern are the transformation of pharmaceuticals and its consequences for environmental monitoring and the monitoring of biocides and nanoparticles. Besides other objectives the working group "Soil Chemistry and Soil Ecology" focuses on the development and standardisation of methods for the chemical, physical, and biological characterisation of soil pollution by specific contaminants as well as on the elaboration of methods for the assessment of potential harmful effects on soil, soil ecology, and on other potentially targeted environmental media. Recently the working group has summarized its main outcomes and conclusions in the position paper "Target Orientated Exposition Estimation in Soil Assessment" which is part of this report. Furthermore several other initiatives and activities of the working group are presented.     

Photoelectrocatalytic systems for simultaneous energy recovery and wastewater treatment: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The rising energy conflicts and environmental pollution are calling for the rapid development of advanced techniques such as photoelectrocatalysis to...     

Photo-Fenton oxidation of Orange G azo dye: process optimization and mineralization mechanism

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Textile effluents containing synthetic dyes are one of the most important sources of water pollution. Several dyes are toxic to the aquatic life and...     

Metallic and bimetallic phosphides-based nanomaterials for photocatalytic hydrogen production and water detoxification: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Providing sustainable energy and cleaning water pollution are actually major societal issues requiring new catalysts. In particular, transition...     

Green synthesis of 1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-ones from aromatic diamines by microwave in a tetrabutylammonium bromide–ethanol molten salt paste

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The replacement of hazardous solvents by greener alternatives is a major goal in green chemistry. Benzimidazol-2-ones are heterocycles exhibiting a wide range of...     

High mineral adsorption of glyphosate versus diethyl phthalate and tetracycline,during visible light photodegradation with goethite and oxalate

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The increasing presence of pesticides, pharmaceuticals and plasticizers in environmental media is threatening public health and ecosystems. Remediation of...     

Overestimated role of sulfate in haze formation over Chinese megacities due to improper simulation of heterogeneous reactions

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Heterogeneous reactions involving aerosol water, i.e., haze chemistry, are responsible for high aerosol concentrations observed during severe haze events in...