Publications by authors named "Wenyou Hu"

Article Synopsis
  • * It measures the concentration of Cd in rice, soil, atmospheric deposition, and surface water, finding that the average Cd levels in these sources vary significantly.
  • * The MixSIAR model shows that soil is the primary source of Cd in rice grains (56.8%), followed by irrigation water (24.8%) and atmospheric deposition (18.4%), providing insights for managing Cd accumulation in rice.
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  • A collaborative assessment approach was utilized to identify priority metal pollutants and evaluate contamination in the plastic-shed soil (PSS)-vegetable system in the industrial towns of the Yangtze River Delta, China.
  • The study found significant increases in chromium (Cr) and pollution from cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu), primarily due to industrial wastewater irrigation.
  • Using different indices, it was determined that Cu and Cd were the main pollutants in the soil, while Cr and Cd were prominent in vegetables, with a notable percentage of sampling sites exhibiting moderate to heavy contamination, highlighting the need for focused pollution management.
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Conventionally, soil cadmium (Cd) measurements in the laboratory are expensive and time-consuming, involving complex processes of sample preparation and chemical analysis. This study aimed to identify the feasibility of using sensor data of visible near-infrared reflectance (Vis-NIR) spectroscopy and portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (PXRF) to estimate regional soil Cd concentration in a time- and cost-saving manner. The sensor data of Vis-NIR and PXRF, and Cd concentrations of 128 surface soils from Yunnan Province, China, were measured.

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  • The study investigates the presence of herbicide residues in various environmental media including soil, water, sediments, and grains within a Mollisols region in Northeast China, highlighting widespread contamination due to intensive agricultural practices.
  • Herbicide concentrations varied, with Clomazone being the most prevalent in soil and water, while Pendimethalin was mainly found in grains; crop types influenced residue levels in grains.
  • The findings indicate significant ecological risks, especially from herbicide mixtures in water, emphasizing the need for targeted strategies to mitigate environmental impacts on agriculture.
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This study utilizes ultraviolet and fluorescence spectroscopic indices of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from sediments, combined with machine learning (ML) models, to develop an optimized predictive model for estimating sediment total organic carbon (TOC) and identifying adjacent land-use types in coastal sediments from the Yellow and Bohai Seas. Our results indicate that ML models surpass traditional regression techniques in estimating TOC and classifying land-use types. Penalized Least Squares Regression (PLR) and Cubist models show exceptional TOC estimation capabilities, with PLR exhibiting the lowest training error and Cubist achieving a correlation coefficient 0.

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The first systematic and comprehensive investigation of herbicide residues was conducted by identifying their spatial distribution, influencing factors and ecological risk in cropland soils from the Mollisols region covering 109 million hm in Northeast China. Fifty-six herbicides were detected with total herbicide concentrations ranging from 1.01 to 1558.

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Historical trends of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contamination were reconstructed from eleven sediment cores located in intertidal zones of the Yellow and Bohai seas for a period encompassing the last 80 years. The analysis encompassed 15 traditional PAHs (t-PAHs), 9 emerging PAHs (e-PAHs), and 30 halogenated PAHs (Hl-PAHs), including 10 chlorinated PAHs (Cl-PAHs) and 20 brominated PAHs (Br-PAHs). Concentrations of target PAHs were highest in industrial and municipal areas situated along the coast of the Bohai Sea, including Huludao, Yingkou, Tianjin, and Dandong, constituting a substantial mass inventory.

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  • Atmospheric deposition plays a crucial role in transferring heavy metals (HMs) from the air to agricultural soils, with limited research on its impact at both field and regional scales.
  • The study found that industrial areas experienced significantly higher levels of atmospheric particles and HMs deposition compared to agricultural and reference sites, with cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) levels remaining concerning despite a general decrease over time.
  • Precipitation was identified as a major factor influencing seasonal changes in HMs deposition, and lead isotope analysis revealed that the Pb contamination in nearby agricultural soils was primarily from coal combustion emissions associated with industrial activities.
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Food security is the top priority of a country. As an important granary in China, the northeast black land is a "ballast" to ensure national food security. However, the long-term and high-intensity application of herbicides in black land farmland has led to the accumulation and migration of herbicides in the soil, which affects soil quality, crop yield, and quality and hinders sustainable agricultural development in the black soil.

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  • Identified toxic elements (PTEs) in a mining area in Southwestern China, focusing on mercury (Hg), thallium (Tl), and arsenic (As), and assessed their health risks.
  • The study used Hg isotope techniques and a Positive Matrix Factorization model to trace the sources of pollution, showing that historical mining activities contributed significantly to PTE levels, with Hg, Tl, and As being the most affected.
  • Results indicated higher non-carcinogenic health risks associated with these elements compared to others, emphasizing the need for ongoing monitoring and restoration efforts in impacted areas to manage health risks effectively.
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The Yangtze River Economic Belt is one of the major strategic development regions in China. It is of great significance to clarify the characteristics and sources of heavy metal pollution in farmland soil of the Yangtze River Economic Belt for the prevention and control of heavy metal pollution and to ensure safe agricultural production. After collecting extensive literature data, we analyzed the pollution characteristics, environmental risk, and potential sources of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Hg, As, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Ni) in farmland soil of the Yangtze River Economic Belt through the integrated use of spatial and geo-accumulation index analyses.

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Accumulation and concomitant risk of metals in plastic-shed soil (PSS)-vegetable system around industrial areas have attracted growing public concern recently, while limited studies have focused on human bioaccessible metals in various plastic-shed vegetables and health risk calculated using bioaccessible metals. Previous studies showed that intensive farming and industrial activities could prominently affect metal migration from PSS to vegetables via altering PSS pH, total and bioavailable metal contents. In contrast, whether changes in PSS pH and metal contents control bioaccessible metals in vegetables and health risk is still unknown.

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  • A bioassay using the copepod Tigriopus japonicus assessed the ecotoxicity of sediments from the Yellow and Bohai Seas, revealing the Yellow Sea had the highest toxicity levels.
  • Significant toxic effects were linked to high concentrations of PAHs and other harmful substances found in the sediments.
  • The findings highlight the need for further research to identify unknown toxicants in these areas, as a considerable portion of copepod toxicity couldn't be attributed to known PAHs.
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Hg pollution in soils surrounding the Wanshan mercury mine (WMM), once the largest Hg-producing center in China, has been confirmed, neglecting other potential toxic elements (PTEs). Better understanding of the sources and transport pathways of soil PTEs remains insufficient. To response these limitations, eight soil PTEs (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn) at two typical agricultural sites, namely AZ and WW that are located near and far from the WMM, respectively, were systemically investigated.

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In recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT), based on low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) wireless communication technology, has developed rapidly. On the one hand, the IoT makes it possible to conduct low-cost, low-power, wide-coverage, and real-time soil monitoring in fields. On the other hand, many proximal soil sensor devices designed based on conventional communication methods that are stored in an inventory face elimination.

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  • Researchers identified new aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists in coastal sediments from the Yellow and Bohai Seas using effect-directed analysis and computer predictions.* -
  • Out of 125 sediment samples tested, significant AhR activity was found in specific organic extracts, with some compounds showing stronger activity than expected based on known dioxin-like pollutants.* -
  • A total of 13 candidate compounds were analyzed, revealing six new AhR agonists, including 1,12-dimethylbenzo[c]phenanthrene and indeno[1,2,3-cd]fluoranthene, which contribute substantially to the overall AhR activity in the sediments.*
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Soil environmental capacity (EC) of heavy metals (HMs) can be used as an index to evaluate the pollution status of HMs and to provide basic data for HM remediation. However, the commonly used soil EC for HMs usually are prone to bias due to the lack of local background values (BVs) and the consideration of the contribution from various HM sources. Here, a modified method was proposed to estimate the soil EC by integrating the establishment of local BVs and the quantitative evaluation of contributions from HM sources in an intensive agricultural area of Shouguang city, China.

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  • This study analyzed the contamination levels and sources of traditional and emerging polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments from nine cities along the Yangtze River, using sediment samples collected in 2019.
  • A total of 57 samples were examined for 15 traditional PAHs and 11 emerging PAHs, revealing significant variability in contamination and sources based on organic carbon and nitrogen content.
  • Findings indicated that vehicle emissions were the leading source of PAHs, followed by petroleum and fossil fuel combustion, with high contamination levels posing severe ecological risks at certain hotspot sites like Nanjing and Suzhou.
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Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for crop growth and it plays a critical role in agricultural production. Excessive P applications has become a serious concern in Chinese greenhouse vegetable production (GVP) systems. Nevertheless, P accumulation (legacy P) in GVP profile soils and its potential loss remain poorly documented.

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Excessive accumulation of soil heavy metals (HMs) result in the deterioration of soil quality and reduction of agricultural productivity and safety. The accumulation status, temporal change, and sources of soil HMs were determined by large-scale field surveys in 2014 and 2019 in rapid urbanization and industrialization area along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China. Eighty-two surface soil samples were collected in 2014 and ninety-five surface soil samples and seven soil profiles (0-100 cm) were collected in 2019.

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Microplastics become one of the serious persistent pollutants in terrestrial environments, and thus may represent a threat to the quality of soil and inhabiting organisms. It is imperative to understand occurrence and distribution of microplastics in soils. In this study, a large-scale field survey encompassing 85 locations along the lower reaches of Yangtze River and estuary was performed to investigate the microplastics abundance in agricultural soils.

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  • The Yellow and Bohai seas face contamination from persistent toxic substances (PTSs) due to various human activities, and a study evaluated sediment toxicity using Vibrio fischeri bioassay across 125 surface sediment samples.
  • The findings revealed that while most sites were non-toxic, organic extracts showed higher toxicity than aqueous samples, indicating organic pollutants pose a significant risk.
  • Key toxic contributors included polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), styrene oligomers, and alkylphenols, with salinity playing an important role in determining toxicity levels linked to pollution sources.
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Due to the high cropping index and substantial agricultural inputs in greenhouse vegetable production systems (GVP), the environmental problems caused by heavy metals in GVP are becoming increasingly serious. A systematic investigation of heavy metals accumulation was carried out in GVP located in Jingyang, Shaanxi, China. The accumulation of Cd and Hg was assessed to be more significant than that of other elements in these GVP soils.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study highlights a gap in conventional soil assessments, stressing the need for a comprehensive evaluation that includes heavy metals (HMs) in both soil and agricultural products to better understand their impact on environmental quality and food security.
  • - Conducted in Nanjing, China, the research found elevated levels of heavy metals like Cadmium and Arsenic in surface soils, primarily due to fertilizer use and atmospheric deposition, which posed risks to crops such as rice, maize, and vegetables.
  • - This assessment revealed that about 11.1% of soil-crop pairs were multi-contaminated by HMs, with paddy soils showing the highest risk, thus proposing a new method that integrates soil quality measurements with agricultural safety standards for effective
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Identification and quantification of the distribution, ecological risk, and sources of heavy metals in soils are essential for regional pollution control and management. In this study, spatial analysis (SA), GeogDetector model (GDM), and positive matrix factorization (PMF) model were combined to evaluate the status, ecological risk, and sources of heavy metals in soils from a typical coastal economic development area in Southeastern China. The mean contents of Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu, and Zn in the surface soils (0-20 cm) were 0.

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