Article
Environmental Sciences
Ying-Xian Zhang, Guo-Fu Wang
Summary: This study systematically reviewed and evaluated the extreme low-temperature events (ELTEs) in China in 2021, using an improved identification and assessment method. It found that there were 20 ELTEs in 2021, with higher intensity but lower impacted area and duration compared to climatology. The losses from low-temperature related disasters in 2021 were relatively less than the average in the past ten years. ELTEs had large impacts on Northwest, North, and Northeast China, while the impacts on the southeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and western parts of Southwest China were smaller. Winter and autumn had a higher-than-normal hazard index for ELTEs.
ADVANCES IN CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Elif Yakamercan, Akif Ari, Ahmet Aygun
Summary: Land application of municipal sewage sludge has become a popular option worldwide, but the heavy metals in the sludge pose potential ecological and human health risks. This study assessed the risks of heavy metals in sewage sludge samples from different cities in Turkey, finding that children may face higher health risks compared to adults due to exposure to Pb, As, and Cr. These findings suggest that regulatory limits alone may not be enough to protect all individuals from health risks associated with municipal sewage sludge.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Pengcheng Xu, Dong Wang, Yuankun Wang, Jianchun Qiu, Vijay P. Singh, Xiaopei Ju, Along Zhang, Jichun Wu, Changsheng Zhang
Summary: This study conducted multivariate nonstationary hazard assessment of annual extreme rainfall events in the Haihe River basin, China, revealing nonstationarity in some stations and showing that the nonstationarity of dependence structure has a smaller impact on the estimation of design quantiles based on reliability levels, but adds more uncertainty to the estimation of hydrologic design quantiles.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Pandolfi Francesco, Baltzopoulos Georgios, Iervolino Iunio
Summary: The increasing attention to extreme winds affecting the built environment has led to the adoption of probabilistic risk assessment methods. ERMESS is a software developed to assess wind risks for portfolios of buildings by integrating global and regional-scale hazard maps and a database of vulnerability and fragility functions. The software also includes a procedure to develop building-level fragility models based on existing component-level functions. The paper demonstrates the effectiveness of ERMESS through proof-of-concept applications.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sifa Dogan
Summary: A risk assessment was conducted on cephalosporin antibiotics in wastewater treatment plants, showing medium risk associated with Cefazolin and Cefuroxime. Further monitoring and control of their concentrations are necessary to prevent water pollution.
ENVIRONMENTAL EARTH SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiajing Lin, Guohe Huang, Guoqing Wang, Denghua Yan, Xiong Zhou
Summary: The study indicates that aging dams in the United States are at an increased risk of breach due to intensified rainfall, with Hurricane rainfall having a more severe impact on downstream hydraulic facilities. Future extreme weather events may further exacerbate this situation.
FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Bilquis Shah, Akhtar Alam, M. Sultan Bhat, Shafkat Ahsan, Noureen Ali, Hilal Ahmad Sheikh
Summary: This study examines the relationship between rainfall patterns and landslide occurrences in the Kashmir Himalaya. The results show that extreme precipitation events are positively correlated with landslides, and future climate change is expected to further increase landslide activity in the region.
BULLETIN OF ENGINEERING GEOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Jin Xu, Zuxin Xu
Summary: This study conducted an assessment of the engineering issues of urban sewage treatment system in China for the first time, using open data and statistics from the Chinese government. The results showed that the engineering efficiency of urban sewage treatment system in China was not high, with variations among provinces and cities. Many urban areas faced problems such as incomplete or defective sewage pipe networks, common water infiltration, misconnection of stormwater pipelines, and serious sewage direct discharge. Therefore, improving the engineering efficiency of urban sewage treatment system and completing and repairing sewage pipelines are the top priorities for achieving clean water in China's urban areas.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ma Jesus Garcia-Galan, Victor Matamoros, Enrica Uggetti, Ruben Diez-Montero, Joan Garcia
Summary: The study evaluated the efficiency of a new type of reactor in treating different types of pollutants, and indicated through risk assessment that it has minimal impact on the environment.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
M. Ashiq Ahmed, B. Sridharan, Nilanjan Saha, S. A. Sannasiraj, Soumendra Nath Kuiry
Summary: This study emphasizes the need to use extreme events and socio-economic data to evaluate the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) for planning and adaptation measures. The use of spatial distribution of storm surges from hydrodynamic simulations makes the CVI more realistic.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Raviraj Dave, Srikrishnan Siva Subramanian, Udit Bhatia
Summary: The study developed an integrated framework to assess the impact of concurrent hazards on regional road networks, showing that even highly localized concurrent events have the potential to induce widespread and prolonged disruptions. Failure to account for concurrence in these correlated hazards could result in underestimation of functionality losses by 71%.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Dimitrios V. Bilionis, Konstantinos Vlachakis, Dimitrios Vamvatsikos, Maria-Eleni Dasiou, Ioannis Vayas, Konstantinos Lagouvardos
Summary: The risk and losses associated with wind-induced failure of existing steel lattice telecommunication towers were assessed using a performance-based wind engineering framework. The study examined different upgrade/replace/redesign schemes and found that mischaracterization of site-specific wind distribution and corrosion were the most significant risk factors. The choice of rehabilitation approach depended on the projected losses and the size of the population being served.
ENGINEERING STRUCTURES
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Vinicius Roveri, Luciana Lopes Guimaraes, Walber Toma, Alberto Teodorico Correia
Summary: The pollution of tropical coastal rivers in South America by pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in southeast Brazil has attracted attention due to data scarcity. Five rivers originating from the Atlantic rainforest biome were studied for the presence of eleven pharmaceuticals, with ten successfully quantified in all rivers using LC-MS/MS.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Fengxiu Zhang
Summary: This study advances the literature on risk perception and adaptation by examining organizational risk perception and response to extreme weather events in a multi-hazard context. The findings indicate that extreme weather events differ in their impact on organizational risk perception and adaptation. Extreme weather hazards with high expected recurrence, widespread impact dispersion, and rapid onset are more conducive to risk perception and adaptation. However, there is evidence of normalizing bias when extreme weather events with all three characteristics occur at higher frequencies. The study also highlights the low sensitivity and overshadowed attention to slow-onset extreme weather events.
Article
Economics
Jun Wen, Xin-Xin Zhao, Chun-Ping Chang
Summary: This research finds that both natural and human extreme events significantly increase oil price risk, with epidemics having the greatest negative impact. The conclusions remain robust under different scenarios, while terrorism has no significant impact on natural gas price risk.
Article
Ecology
Fiona M. Seaton, Sabine Reinsch, Tim Goodall, Nicola White, Davey L. Jones, Robert I. Griffiths, Simon Creer, Andy Smith, Bridget A. Emmett, David A. Robinson
Summary: The study found significant changes in soil microbial communities in response to long-term climate manipulation, likely influenced by soil pH and electrical conductivity. Changes in microbial communities were more pronounced after an extended period of climate treatment, especially in deeper soil layers. Shifts in plant cover played a key role in influencing the microbial communities, particularly through impacts on soil physicochemical properties like pH.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Matthew J. Wade, Anna Lo Jacomo, Elena Armenise, Mathew R. Brown, Joshua T. Bunce, Graeme J. Cameron, Zhou Fang, Kata Farkas, Deidre F. Gilpin, David W. Graham, Jasmine M. S. Grimsley, Alwyn Hart, Till Hoffmann, Katherine J. Jackson, David L. Jones, Chris J. Lilley, John W. McGrath, Jennifer M. McKinley, Cormac McSparron, Behnam F. Nejad, Mario Morvan, Marcos Quintela-Baluja, Adrian M. I. Roberts, Andrew C. Singer, Celia Souque, Vanessa L. Speight, Chris Sweetapple, David Walkers, Glenn Watts, Andrew Weightman, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern
Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented pressure on global public health resources, prompting the development of National wastewater surveillance programmes in the UK to monitor the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This work highlights the unique importance of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) for public health protection, with potential value beyond COVID-19 for monitoring a range of health markers.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jessica L. Kevill, Cameron Pellett, Kata Farkas, Mathew R. Brown, Irene Bassano, Hubert Denise, James E. McDonald, Shelagh K. Malham, Jonathan Porter, Jonathan Warren, Nicholas P. Evens, Steve Paterson, Andrew C. Singer, Davey L. Jones
Summary: Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a useful tool in monitoring SARS-CoV-2 during the pandemic. This study compared three viral concentration methods and found that there was no major difference in viral recovery using these methods. However, factors such as sample turbidity, storage temperature, and surfactant load did affect viral recovery, emphasizing the importance of considering these factors when working with wastewater samples.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Virology
Simona Kraberger, Charlotte Austin, Kata Farkas, Thomas Desvignes, John H. Postlethwait, Rafaela S. Fontenele, Kara Schmidlin, Russell W. Bradley, Pete Warzybok, Koenraad Van Doorslaer, William Davison, Christopher B. Buck, Arvind Varsani
Summary: This study expands the known genomes of fish papillomaviruses and reveals their genetic distance from other papillomaviruses, suggesting a bottleneck event in the evolution of papillomaviruses infecting terrestrial vertebrates.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Daniel Digwo, Paul Chidebelu, Kenneth Ugwu, Adedapo Adediji, Kata Farkas, Vincent Chigor
Summary: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the prevalence and relative risk of rotavirus infections among children below 5 years of age in Nigeria. The findings showed that the nationwide pooled prevalence of rotavirus in Nigeria was 23%, with a prevalence of 27% in the Southern region and 20% in the Northern region. Rotavirus was identified as a significant cause of acute gastroenteritis in Nigeria, with a high relative risk.
PATHOGENS AND GLOBAL HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Katie Robins, Anne F. C. Leonard, Kata Farkas, David W. Graham, David L. Jones, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Joshua T. Bunce, Jasmine M. S. Grimsley, Matthew J. Wade, Andrew M. Zealand, Shannon McIntyre-Nolan
Summary: Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a method used to observe patterns in illicit drug use, poliovirus, and SARS-CoV-2. It has the potential to expand targets and applications for public health protection. However, there are barriers and opportunities that need to be addressed to fully utilize WBE in public health.
JOURNAL OF WATER AND HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Kata Farkas, Cameron Pellett, Natasha Alex-Sanders, Matthew T. P. Bridgman, Alexander Corbishley, Jasmine M. S. Grimsley, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Jessica L. Kevill, Igor Pantea, India S. Richardson-O'Neill, Kathryn Lambert-Slosarska, Nick Woodhall, Davey L. Jones
Summary: This study compares the performance of five commonly used wastewater concentration methods for virus detection and quantification. The findings suggest that ultrafiltration and enhanced polyethylene glycol precipitation are the most reliable approaches. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of sample volume and physicochemical properties in virus recovery. Therefore, careful selection of wastewater process methods and start volumes is crucial for ongoing and future COVID-19 wastewater-based surveillance programs.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jessica L. Kevill, Kathryn Lambert-Slosarska, Cameron Pellett, Nick Woodhall, India Richardson-O'Neill, Igor Pantea, Natasha Alex-Sanders, Kata Farkas, Davey L. Jones
Summary: This study compared the virus-binding capacity of two passive samplers in wastewater and assessed different methods for virus recovery. It found that the tampon-based passive samplers had higher viral recoveries compared to filter paper, and the no-elution/PEG precipitation method was the preferred recovery method.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
F. S. Brunner, M. R. Brown, I Bassano, H. Denise, M. S. Khalifa, M. J. Wade, R. van Aerle, J. L. Kevill, D. L. Jones, K. Farkas, A. R. Jeffries, E. Cairns, C. Wierzbicki, S. Paterson
Summary: Genomic surveillance is crucial for public health decisions, and both clinical and wastewater monitoring can provide valuable insights into disease transmission and variant emergence. Wastewater surveillance can detect fine-scale differences within urban centers and shows similar results to clinical sequencing. However, it can also capture additional information that may be missed by clinical testing.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Davey L. Jones, Jennifer M. Rhymes, Matthew J. Wade, Jessica L. Kevill, Shelagh K. Malham, Jasmine M. S. Grimsley, Charlotte Rimmer, Andrew J. Weightman, Kata Farkas
Summary: International air travel is recognized as a primary mechanism for the global spread of SARS-CoV-2. Monitoring wastewater from aircraft and transport hubs is proposed as an effective way to track viral pathogens. A study of UK adults found higher defecation rates on long-haul flights among males and younger age groups. Using these rates, it is estimated that aircraft wastewater captures 8-14% of SARS-CoV-2 cases entering the UK. However, wastewater monitoring alone is insufficient for complete surveillance.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Davey L. Jones, Jasmine M. S. Grimsley, Jessica L. Kevill, Rachel Williams, Cameron Pellett, Kathryn Lambert-Slosarska, Andrew C. Singer, Gwion B. Williams, Rafael Bargiela, Robert W. Brown, Matthew J. Wade, Kata Farkas
Summary: The choice of passive sampler materials greatly influences the capture of viruses and bacteria in wastewater, with electronegative cotton-based swabs and tampons showing the best performance. When deployed at wastewater treatment plants, passive samplers work best for up to 6 hours before potential saturation or virus loss occurs, highlighting the importance of selecting the right sampler materials and deployment time.
Article
Microbiology
Kata Farkas, Cameron Pellett, Rachel Williams, Natasha Alex-Sanders, Irene Bassano, Mathew R. Brown, Hubert Denise, Jasmine M. S. Grimsley, Jessica L. Kevill, Mohammad S. Khalifa, Igor Pantea, Rich Story, Matthew J. Wade, Nick Woodhall, Davey L. Jones
Summary: In this study, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) coupled with reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to monitor the presence of COVID-19 variants in quarantine facilities. The results showed that PCR-based detection is a good predictor for variant presence, making WBE coupled with RT-qPCR a rapid and effective method to identify emerging variants at international borders and mass quarantining facilities.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Jasmine K. M. Lopez, Charlotte Austin, Kata Farkas, Simona Kraberger, William Davison, Arvind Varsani
Summary: Sharp-spined notothen (Trematomus pennellii) is an icefish endemic to the southern ocean. From the stomach of an individual, we identified the genomes of 51 microviruses (family Microviridae). The major capsid proteins of most of these share the closest similarities to those identified in other marine organisms.
MICROBIOLOGY RESOURCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Natalie Sims, Kata Farkas, Kishore Jagadeesan, Kathryn Proctor, Matthew J. Wade, Davey L. Jones
Summary: This manuscript presents findings from a comprehensive study on wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) conducted in 10 cities and towns across England, with a population of approximately 7 million people. The study utilized multi-biomarker suite analysis to examine both chemical and biological determinants in wastewater samples, providing insights into city metabolism and community health. The results showed that population size played a significant role in the presence of chemical markers, but there were exceptions indicating specific chemical intake patterns and potential sources of exposure. The study also highlighted the variability in virus markers and their prevalence in different communities.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kata Farkas, Igor Pantea, Nick Woodhall, Denis Williams, Kathryn Lambert-Slosarska, Rachel C. Williams, Jasmine M. S. Grimsley, Andrew C. Singer, Davey L. Jones
Summary: Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is commonly used to monitor COVID-19 outbreaks. This study investigated diurnal patterns of viral concentrations in wastewater and tested different sampling materials. The results showed that grab samples taken from the influent tank can provide representative alternatives to 24-h composite samples. Tampons were found to be a viable alternative for cost-efficient sampling, but viral recovery should be optimized before use.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)