Environmental Science & Technology

The widespread substitution of phthalate esters (PAEs) in industrial production has resulted in an increasingly complex environmental exposure and metabolic transformation in humans. To systematically elucidate their biotransformation relationships, a knowledge graph-Bayesian network-driven suspect screening (KGBS) strategy that integrated text mining, probabilistic reasoning, and high-resolution…

Biomass power plants (BPPs) are expanding rapidly, yet the most toxicologically potent nanoscale fraction of its particulate emissions remains poorly quantified. Here, <i>in vitro</i> assays demonstrate that nanomagnetite particles (NMPs) constitute a disproportionately toxic subfraction of fine particles: despite contributing only 2.3% of particle mass, NMPs account for 59% of cytotoxicity. On t…

Novel thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) nanofiltration membranes have attracted wide attention for their generally boosted water permeability. However, the incorporation of diverse nanomaterials introduces significant uncertainty in tuning the pore size of TFN membranes, thereby complicating the regulation of solute selectivity. This challenge is further amplified by the complex interactions among th…

Chemical upcycling of polystyrene (PS) plastic waste into targeted high-value chemicals is desirable to mitigate plastic pollution and promote a circular economy. However, most of the existing chemical upcycling methods suffer from poor product selectivity due to harsh reaction conditions and an uncontrollable C-C bond cleavage process. Here, we report the selective photocatalytic upcycling of PS…

Accurate predictions of the ecological risks of microplastics require understanding of their interplay with natural stressors. Here, we revealed that predation risk fundamentally altered the microplastics ecotoxicity on the keystone species <i>Daphnia magna</i>. The microplastics alone were toxic (e.g., reduced growth rate, body size, spine length, and delayed maturity) and became more toxic unde…

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) persist globally as legacy pollutants with a complex structural diversity that complicates the understanding of their microbial conversion processes and remediation. In this study, high-throughput enzymatic assays, quantum chemical calculations, and machine learning were integrated to elucidate the reductive dechlorination pathways and reactivity of all 209 PCB co…

Organophosphorus compounds (OPCs) are highly toxic pollutants that pose a significant threat to aquatic ecosystems and human health. Among various remediation strategies, adsorption is widely recognized as the most effective method for OPC removal. A critical challenge, however, lies in rapidly predicting the adsorption performance of OPCs with various characteristics and rationally screening for…

As global efforts intensify toward carbon neutrality and sustainable resource management, wastewater is increasingly recognized as a resource-rich stream rather than a waste. Electrochemical transformation of organic pollutants in wastewater into value-added chemicals offers a sustainable alternative to traditional energy-intensive mineralization processes, aligning with circular economy principl…

Bioplastics, biobased or biodegradable polymers, have begun to be adopted as an alternative to petroleum-based plastics. Despite their growing use, research on the occurrence of these materials in the environment as pollution is nascent. Here, we provide a library of bioplastic spectra known as the Bioplastic Library of Polymers (BLoP), intended to improve the detection of bioplastic materials in…

To contribute to the development of holistic sustainability strategies, we present a computational sustainable design framework for techno-ecological systems that integrates ecosystem coservices into the pursuit of carbon neutrality and net-positive industries. Public-health impacts of land-based pollution mitigation strategies are explicitly modeled and implemented within an integrated optimizat…

The environmental fate of phosphorus in shallow aquatic systems is closely linked to the properties of iron (oxyhydr)oxide minerals such as goethite, which can bind phosphate and influence its mobility. This study investigates how light exposure during mineral formation affects goethite crystal habit and subsequent phosphate adsorption behavior. Humic-acid (humic acid)-mediated transformation of …

Ultrafine particles (UFPs) are a major air quality concern because their small diameter (<100 nm) allows them to reach the lungs' alveolar regions, causing adverse health effects. Civil aviation and airports are important sources of UFPs in urban areas. In this study, a one-month intensive measurement campaign in November 2022, 1 km downwind of Zurich Airport, revealed that high UFP number concen…

Nitrous acid (HONO) is a crucial precursor to hydroxyl radicals (OH) and plays significant roles in tropospheric photochemistry and atmospheric oxidation capacity. However, the quantitative understanding of HONO formation across diverse environments remains limited, especially in the marine atmosphere. In this study, we quantified HONO formation in contrasting environments: an urban site in the Y…