Novel flame retardants (NFRs) in e-waste: Environmental burdens, health implications, and recommendations for safety assessment and sustainable management.

Novel flame retardants (NFRs) have emerged as chemicals of environmental health concern due to their widespread use as an alternative to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) in electrical and electronic devices. Humans and ecosystems are under threat because of e-waste recycling procedures that may emit NFRs and other anthropogenic chemicals into the e-waste workplace and the surrounding environment. The individual toxicity of NFRs including novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs), their combined effects and the underlying mechanisms of toxicity have remained poorly understood.

Simultaneous production of biofuel from agricultural wastes and bioremediation of the waste substrates: A review.

Pollution from fossil fuel usage coupled with its unsustainability is currently instigating a global drive for affordable and eco-friendly alternatives. A feasible replacement seems to be microbial biofuels. However, the production cost is still high, partly due to the cost of substrates and media.

Occurrence of selected Covid-19 drugs in surface water resources: a review of their sources, pathways, receptors, fate, ecotoxicity, and possible interactions with heavy metals in aquatic ecosystems.

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) led to the high consumption of antibiotics such as azithromycin as well as corticosteroids such as prednisone, prednisolone, and dexamethasone used to treat the disease. Seemingly, the concentrations of these four Covid-19 drugs increased in wastewater effluents and surface water resources. This is due to the failure of traditional wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) to eliminate pharmaceuticals from wastewater.

A systematic review of the impacts of oil spillage on residents of oil-producing communities in Nigeria.

Oil spillage is common in oil-producing communities of Nigeria, and it impacts negatively on the residents of these communities. This study analysed available research data on oil spillage incidents in these communities to determine their main causes and impacts on the residents. This study highlights the immediate and long-term consequences of oil spills on residents of oil-host communities in Nigeria.

Financing mechanism for solid waste management in Anambra, Nigeria: analyses of emerging challenges and implication for circular economy.

Waste management is a critical public service provided by municipalities around the world. It is often problematic, inefficient, and abysmally performed in developing countries. Among the problems associated with waste management in these global locations is the issue of finance.

Fish predation affects invertebrate community structure of tropical temporary ponds, with downstream effects on phytoplankton that are obscured by pesticide pollution.

Aquatic biota of tropical temporary ponds typically experience a wide range of stressors that can drive the structure and dynamics of natural communities. Particularly in regions with intense agricultural activity, aquatic biota may not only experience predation pressure but also stress from pesticides that inadvertently enter the ponds. We increasingly understand how these different sources of stress affect classic model taxa under controlled laboratory conditions, but how predators and pesticides may jointly affect pond invertebrate communities is still unclear, particularly for tropical systems.

The bii4africa dataset of faunal and floral population intactness estimates across Africa's major land uses.

Sub-Saharan Africa is under-represented in global biodiversity datasets, particularly regarding the impact of land use on species' population abundances. Drawing on recent advances in expert elicitation to ensure data consistency, 200 experts were convened using a modified-Delphi process to estimate 'intactness scores': the remaining proportion of an 'intact' reference population of a species group in a particular land use, on a scale from 0 (no remaining individuals) to 1 (same abundance as the reference) and, in rare cases, to 2 (populations that thrive in human-modified landscapes). The resulting bii4africa dataset contains intactness scores representing terrestrial vertebrates (tetrapods: ±5,400 amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) and vascular plants (±45,000 forbs, graminoids, trees, shrubs) in sub-Saharan Africa across the region's major land uses (urban, cropland, rangeland, plantation, protected, etc.

Role of indigenous microbial communities in the mobilization of potentially toxic elements and rare-earth elements from alkaline mine waste.

This study aims to evaluate the role of indigenous microorganisms in the mobilization of potentially toxic elements (PTE) and rare-earth elements (REE), the influence of the bioavailability of carbon sources that might boost microbial leaching, and the generation of neutral/alkaline mine drainage from alkaline tailings. These tailings, with significant concentrations of total organic carbon (TOC), were mainly colonized by bacteria belonging to the genera Sphingomonas, Novosphingobium and Solirubrobacter, and fungi of the genera Alternaria, Sarocladium and Aspergillus. Functionality analysis suggests the capability of these microorganisms to leach PTE and REE.

Playing Peekaboo with a Master Manipulator: Metagenetic Detection and Phylogenetic Analysis of Supergroups in Freshwater Invertebrates.

The infamous "master manipulators"-intracellular bacteria of the genus -infect a broad range of phylogenetically diverse invertebrate hosts in terrestrial ecosystems. has an important impact on the ecology and evolution of their host with documented effects including induced parthenogenesis, male killing, feminization, and cytoplasmic incompatibility. Nonetheless, data on infections in non-terrestrial invertebrates are scarce.

Reliability of stored river water as an alternative for consumption in Ekpoma, Nigeria: a human health risk assessment.

With looming global water-related issues, the monitoring of water quality for household and industrial consumption has become more pertinent. Rivers in nearby towns serve as primary water sources for Ekpoma town. 123 samples of stored river water were collected from 41 sampling locations and physical properties - pH, electrical conductivity (EC), salinity, temperature, and total dissolved solids (TDS) - were measured in situ using the Hanna edge® Multiparameter EC/TDS/Salinity Meter-HI2030.

Trace analysis of benzophenone-type UV filters in water and their effects on human estrogen and androgen receptors.

To carry out risk assessments of benzophenone-type UV filters (BPs), fast and accurate analytical methods are crucial to determine and monitor levels in the environment. This study presents an LC-MS/MS method that requires minimal sample preparation and yet can identify 10 different BPs in environmental samples such as surface or wastewater resulting in a LOQ range from 2 to 1060 ng/L. The method suitability was tested through environmental monitoring, which showed that, BP-4 is the most abundant derivative found in the surface waters of Germany, India, South Africa and Vietnam.

Bacterial communities shift and influence in an acid mine drainage treatment using barium carbonate disperse alkaline substrate system.

Chemical passive treatment systems used to remediate acid mine drainage has been evaluated based mainly on the reactivity of the chemical alkaline reagents, overlooking the activity of the microorganisms that proliferate in these artificial ecosystems. In this study, the bacterial communities of a unique passive treatment system known as BDAS (Barium carbonate Dispersed Alkaline Substrate) were investigated using 16S rRNA gene metagenomic sequencing combined with hydrochemical characterization of the AMD and phenotypic characterization of biogenic precipitates. According to the hydrochemical characterization, the water quality improved as the water progressed through the system, with a drastic increase in the pH (up to alkaline conditions) and total organic carbon, as well as the removal of main contaminants such as Ca, SO, Fe, Al, and Mn.

Arbuscular mycorrhizas accelerate the degradation of colour containing organic pollutants present in distillery spent wash leachates.

Distillery spent wash (DSW) from molasses-based distilleries is being used as a low-cost alternative to chemical fertilizers in countries like India and Brazil. However, using DSW as a fertilizer substitute causes organic pollutant leaching, including melanoidins and caramel colourants that turn bodies of water dark brown. This study investigated the arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) mediated degradation of organic pollutants in DSW.

Long-term exposure to a pharmaceutical pollutant affects geotaxic behaviour in the adult but not juvenile life stage of killifish.

Ecosystems around the world are increasingly polluted with pharmaceutical compounds that may perturb wildlife behaviour. Because many pharmaceuticals are continuously present in the aquatic environment, animals are often exposed to them across several life stages or even their entire life. Despite a large body of literature showing various impacts of exposure to pharmaceuticals on fish, hardly any long-term studies across different life stages have been conducted which makes it hard to accurately estimate the ecological outcomes of pharmaceutical pollution.

Improving capacity for phytoremediation of Vetiver grass and Indian mustard in heavy metal (Al and Mn) contaminated water through the application of clay minerals.

One of the consequences of mining is the release of heavy metals into the environment, especially water bodies. Phytoremediation of areas contaminated by heavy metals using Vetiver grass and Indian mustard is cost-effective and environmentally friendly. This study aimed at enhancing remediation of heavy metal contaminated water through the simultaneous hybrid application of clay minerals (attapulgite and bentonite) and Vetiver grass or Indian mustard.

The role of anthropogenic container habitats as mosquito oviposition habitats in rural settlements in northern Tanzania.

In many areas, the main sources of mosquito vectors are not natural habitats but small artificial water bodies that are provided unintentionally by humans. Such container habitats have been linked to outbreaks of dengue fever and other arboviral diseases. However, in many parts of the world the possible risks associated with container habitats have not been assessed.

Using pollution indices to develop a risk classification tool for gold mining contaminated soils.

The presence of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in soil and plants is a risk factor to human well-being and the environment. Soil and leaves from a traditional medicinal plant, known as the sweet thorn plant, were assessed to determine the extent of pollution by PTEs from gold mine tailings in a case study area of Matjhabeng Local Municipality, South Africa. A risk classification tool was developed using the different indicators of pollution quantified to describe the pollution risk at each sampling site.

Determining biota succession in a domestic wastewater pond system after treatment with a specific consortium microalgae.

Unlabelled: Wastewater stabilization ponds (WSPs) rely on the metabolic activities of the inhabiting microbiota to treat wastewater. A selected consortium of and were used to manipulate the natural resident microalgae assemblage to improve the treatment performance of a domestic wastewater pond treatment system in a coastal region. Since information is lacking about the resulting influence on the composition or succession of the phytoplankton or associated microbiota assemblage, the current study aimed to determine how dosing with the microalgae and change the efficiency of wastewater effluent treatment, as well as the composition and succession of the natural occurring phytoplankton and microbial assemblage throughout WSP system.

Combined effects of global warming and chlorpyrifos exposure on the annual fish Nothobranchius furzeri.

Global warming and environmental pollution threaten aquatic ecosystems. While interactive effects between both stressors can have more than additive consequences, these remain poorly studied for most taxa. Especially chronic exposure trials with vertebrates are scarce due to the high time- and monetary costs of such studies.

A mobile application to protect groundwater during unconventional oil and gas extraction.

Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) is an important energy source for many countries, but requires large quantities of water for its development, and may pollute water resources. Regulations are one of the main tools to achieve government policy on natural resource protection. South Africa, which is energy-constrained, but also water-scarce, is currently considering UOG extraction as an additional energy resource.