Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Karoline Owusu-Sekyere, David Alatule Aladago
Summary: Informal e-waste recycling is significant in developing countries but poses risks to human health and the environment. There is a lack of data on informal processing, hindering the development of appropriate management strategies. Material Flow Analysis and risk assessment can provide insights into waste flows and risks in order to identify necessary actions.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Diyasha Sengupta, I. M. S. K. Ilankoon, Kai Dean Kang, Meng Nan Chong
Summary: Rapid advances in electronics and telecommunications technologies have resulted in a significant increase in e-waste, with India producing over 3.23 million tonnes of e-waste each year. The informal waste management sector, specifically the kabadiwalas in India, plays a crucial role in processing the majority of e-waste generated in the country. A case study found that approximately 45% of respondents prefer to dispose of their e-waste to kabadiwalas. GPS tracking showed that these waste collectors travel long distances using manual and modified three-wheeler vehicles to collect household waste, including approximately 10% e-waste. Integrating kabadiwalas into the formal e-waste industry could improve e-waste management and value recovery operations in India.
MINERALS ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Rahul Rautela, Shashi Arya, Shilpa Vishwakarma, Jechan Lee, Ki-Hyun Kim, Sunil Kumar
Summary: Challenges in managing electronic waste stem from a lack of technical skills, poor infrastructure, inadequate financial support, and inactive community engagement. Establishing an environment-friendly regulatory regime is essential for proper control of E-waste. It is expected that systematic management measures and best practices in developing countries can minimize adverse impacts while maintaining environmental sustainability.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Lynda Andeobu, Santoso Wibowo, Srimannarayana Grandhi
Summary: Globally, e-waste is a fast-growing and valuable waste-stream, with a significant amount going undocumented. African countries, major recipients of e-waste, face environmental and public health concerns due to informal recycling practices. This study examines the impacts of e-waste dumping and recycling in Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa, and highlights the lack of effective solutions. The findings contribute to understanding the health risks associated with e-waste recycling in Africa.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYGIENE AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Alejandra Gomez-Maldonado, Laura Catalina Ospina-Espita, Paul Rodriguez-Lesmes, Mayra Alejandra Rodriguez-Rodriguez
Summary: Low-and middle-income countries lack research on waste management initiatives and informal sector issues. This article focuses on waste pickers' role and their transition from informal to formal work in the Latin American context. The study in Colombia, which promotes a formalization pathway for waste picker organizations, utilizes both quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze the barriers and opportunities for waste pickers' formalization.
Article
Environmental Sciences
V. C. Shruti, Gurusamy Kutralam-Muniasamy, Fermin Perez-Guevara, Priyadarsi D. Roy
Summary: Accurate characterization and data collection on household waste generation are crucial for promoting recycling and city management plans. Citizen science projects collaborating with waste collectors can overcome traditional data collection challenges and provide a viable solution for addressing household waste generation across different boundaries.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Obiora B. Ezeudu, Tochukwu C. Oraelosi, Jonah C. Agunwamba, Uzochukwu C. Ugochukwu
Summary: Co-production in solid waste management in Nigeria involves the participation of non-state actors, leading to innovation, increased financial resources, and enhanced public awareness. It changes people's attitudes towards waste, promoting the development of circular economy. However, challenges such as potential exploitation of informal waste pickers and unclear business models need to be addressed for successful co-production.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Carlos Alberto de Albuquerque, Carlos Henrique Pereira Mello, Jose Henrique de Freitas Gomes, Valquiria Claret dos Santos
Summary: Research shows that electronic waste is highly toxic and has a rapid growth rate, emphasizing the need for more studies on environmentally friendly waste disposal. China, the USA, and India are the countries with the highest publication rate on this topic, whereas Brazil has a relatively low research output in this field.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Roberta Souza Piao, Ticiana Braga de Vincenzi, Ana Lucia Fernandes da Silva, Maria Clara Chinen de Oliveira, Diego Vazquez-Brust, Marly Monteiro Carvalho
Summary: In order to contribute fully to sustainable development, the circular economy needs to pay more attention to social inclusion. This paper comprehensively analyzed the literature to explore how the circular economy embraces social inclusion. The research design involved both quantitative and qualitative strategies, utilizing bibliometric quantitative analysis and inductive content analysis. The results revealed six clusters of themes, including reverse logistics and recycling, circular economy and innovation, social innovation, sustainable supply chains, bioeconomy, and closed-loop supply chain.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Karoline Owusu-Sekyere, Alexander Batteiger, Richard Afoblikame, Gerold Hafner, Martin Kranert
Summary: Agbogbloshie in Accra, Ghana, has developed into a large scrapyard where electronic waste and scrap metals are processed informally, leading to environmental pollution and health risks. Data suggests that an average of 15,092 tons of e-waste (about 39% of Ghana's e-waste generation) is treated at Agbogbloshie annually.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Michael Rendon, Josep Espluga-Trenc, Joan-Miquel Verd
Summary: This study examines the relationship between formal and informal recycling sectors in Catalonia by analyzing data collected from informal recyclers. It was found that informal recyclers had the potential to collect a significant amount of cardboard in their geographic area, contributing to environmental goals but lacking recognition. Furthermore, the study highlights the impact of global waste markets on both formal and informal systems, suggesting a complex interplay between the two.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mehmet E. Soylu, Rafael L. Bras
Summary: The study aims to develop a new, simple approach to detect shallow groundwater using satellite soil moisture observations, leading to improved lower boundary conditions for soil moisture models. By analyzing the influence of shallow groundwater on soil moisture and using empirical functions, an algorithm was successfully able to identify periods of groundwater influence with a high accuracy rate of 92.4%. Applying this algorithm to different locations resulted in significantly improving soil moisture model outputs.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Takunda Y. Chitaka, Thandazile Moyo, Katharina Gihring, Catherina Schenck
Summary: Waste pickers play a significant role in diverting waste into the secondary resource economy through urban mining. However, their livelihoods are not solely dependent on e-waste picking due to low incomes and hazardous working conditions.
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Benjamin Steuer, Huijie Li
Summary: This article analyses a novel waste recovery scheme in Changchun, Jilin Province, called Ant Recovery. The scheme, established by members of the informal recycling sector in cooperation with the local recycling association, has achieved a median recovery rate of 438.4 kg/hour at the surveyed recovery station. Extrapolated to the entire scheme's network in Changchun, this figure amounts to roughly 94% of waste recyclables generated by the city's households.
Article
Agronomy
Ping Liao, Shan Huang, Yongjun Zeng, Hua Shao, Jun Zhang, Kees Jan van Groenigen
Summary: Lime application significantly increases rice yield and soil pH, while reducing Cd concentrations in grains. The effects of lime on rice yield vary depending on soil pH and lime application rates, with higher lime application leading to greater reduction in Cd concentrations. Lime application at rates exceeding 1.0 and 6.0 t ha(-1) can effectively reduce Cd concentrations in grains to meet food safety standards.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Toshimi Nakajima, Mao Kuragano, Makoto Yamada, Ryo Sugimoto
Summary: This study compared the contribution of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) to river nutrient budgets at nearshore and embayment scales, and found that SGD-derived nutrients become more important at larger spatial scales.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Fan Liu, Lei Zhang, Chongyang Zhang, Ziguang Chen, Jingguang Li
Summary: NO2 emissions from wall-mounted gas stoves used for household heating have become a significant source of indoor pollution in Chinese urban areas. The high indoor concentration of NO2 poses potential health risks to residents. It is urgently necessary to establish relevant regulations and implement emission reduction technologies to reduce NO2 emissions from wall-mounted gas stoves.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Letter
Environmental Sciences
Hans Peter H. Arp, Raoul Wolf, Sarah E. Hale, Sivani Baskaran, Juliane Gluege, Martin Scheringer, Xenia Trier, Ian T. Cousins, Harrie Timmer, Roberta Hofman-Caris, Anna Lennquist, Andre D. Bannink, Gerard J. Stroomberg, Rosa M. A. Sjerps, Rosa Montes, Rosario Rodil, Jose Benito Quintana, Daniel Zahn, Herve Gallard, Tobias Mohr, Ivo Schliebner, Michael Neumann
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Philomina Onyedikachi Peter, Binessi Edouard Ifon, Francois Nkinahamira, Kayode Hassan Lasisi, Jiangwei Li, Anyi Hu, Chang-Ping Yu
Summary: This study investigates the relationship between dissolved organic matter (DOM) and Rare Earth Elements (REEs) in sediments from Yundang Lagoon, China. The results show four distinct fluorescent components, with protein-like substances being the most prevalent. Additionally, the total fluorescence intensity and LREE concentrations exhibit a synchronized increase from Outer to Inner to Songbai Lake core sediments. The findings demonstrate a strong correlation between DOM content and pollution levels.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Surya Gupta, Pasquale Borrelli, Panos Panagos, Christine Alewell
Summary: The objective of this study is to incorporate soil hydraulic properties into the erodibility factor (K) of USLE-type models. By modifying and improving the existing equations for soil texture and permeability, the study successfully included information on saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) into the calculation of K factor. Using the Random Forest machine learning algorithm, two independent K factor maps with different spatial resolutions were generated. The results show that the decrease in K factor values has a positive impact on the modeling of soil erosion rates.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jesmin Akter, Wendy J. M. Smith, Yawen Liu, Ilho Kim, Stuart L. Simpson, Phong Thai, Asja Korajkic, Warish Ahmed
Summary: The choice of workflow in wastewater surveillance has a significant impact on SARS-CoV-2 concentrations, while having minimal effects on HF183 and no effect on HAdV 40/41 concentrations. Certain components in the workflow can be interchangeable, but factors such as buffer type, chloroform, and homogenization speed can affect the recovery of viruses and bacteria.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yu Luo, Xueting Yang, Diwei Wang, Hongmei Xu, Hongai Zhang, Shasha Huang, Qiyuan Wang, Ningning Zhang, Junji Cao, Zhenxing Shen
Summary: Atmospheric PM2.5, which can generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), is associated with cardiorespiratory morbidity and mortality. The study found that both the mass concentration of PM2.5 and the DTT activity were higher during the heating season than during the nonheating season. Combustion sources were the primary contributors to DTT activity during the heating season, while secondary formation dominated during the nonheating season. The study also revealed that biomass burning had the highest inherent oxidation potential among all sources investigated.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Erin L. Murphy, Leah R. Gerber, Chelsea M. Rochman, Beth Polidoro
Summary: Plastic pollution has devastating consequences for marine organisms. This study uses a trait-based framework to develop a vulnerability index for marine mammals, seabirds, and sea turtles in Hawai'i. The index ranks 63 study species based on their vulnerability to macroplastic pollution, providing valuable information for species monitoring and management priorities.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kenji Maurice, Amelia Bourceret, Sami Youssef, Stephane Boivin, Liam Laurent-Webb, Coraline Damasio, Hassan Boukcim, Marc-Andre Selosse, Marc Ducousso
Summary: Growing pressure from climate change and agricultural land use is destabilizing soil microbial community interactions. Little is known about microbial community resistance and adaptation to disturbances, hindering our understanding of recovery latency and implications for ecosystem functioning. This study found that anthropic disturbance and natural disturbance have different effects on the topology and stability of soil microbial networks.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yunhao Li, Yali Feng, Haoran Li, Yisong Yao, Chenglong Xu, Jinrong Ju, Ruiyu Ma, Haoyu Wang, Shiwei Jiang
Summary: Deep-sea mining poses a serious threat to marine ecosystems and human health by disturbing sediment and transmitting metal ions through the food chain. This study developed a new regenerative adsorption material, OMN@SA, which effectively removes metal ions. The adsorption mechanism and performance of the material for metal ion fixation were investigated.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Antonio Medici, Margherita Lavorgna, Marina Isidori, Chiara Russo, Elena Orlo, Giovanni Luongo, Giovanni Di Fabio, Armando Zarrelli
Summary: Valsartan, a widely used antihypertensive drug, has been detected in high concentrations in surface waters due to its unchanged excretion and incomplete degradation in wastewater treatment plants. This study investigated the degradation of valsartan and identified 14 degradation byproducts. The acute and chronic toxicity of these byproducts were evaluated in key organisms in the freshwater trophic chain.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jiang Lin, Lianbao Chi, Qing Yuan, Busu Li, Mingbao Feng
Summary: This study investigated the photodegradation behavior and product formation of two representative pharmaceuticals in simulated estuary water. The study found that the formed transformation products of these pharmaceuticals have potential toxicity on marine organisms, including oxidative stress and damage to cellular components.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hua Fang, Dongdong Jiang, Ye He, Siyi Wu, Yuehong Li, Ziqi Zhang, Haoting Chen, Zixin Zheng, Yan Sun, Wenxiang Wang
Summary: This study revealed that exposure to lower levels of air pollutants led to decreased pregnancy rates, with PM10, NO2, SO2, and CO emerging as the four most prominent pollutants. Individuals aged 35 and above exhibited heightened susceptibility to pollutants.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ali Shaan Manzoor Ghumman, Rashid Shamsuddin, Amin Abbasi, Mohaira Ahmad, Yoshiaki Yoshida, Abdul Sami, Hamad Almohamadi
Summary: In this study, inverse vulcanized polysulfides (IVP) were synthesized by reacting molten sulfur with 4-vinyl benzyl chloride, and then functionalized using N-methyl D-glucamine (NMDG). The functionalized IVP showed a high mercury adsorption capacity and a machine learning model was developed to predict the amount of mercury removed. Furthermore, the functionalized IVP can be regenerated and reused, providing a sustainable and cost-effective adsorbent.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Rita Bonfiglio, Renata Sisto, Stefano Casciardi, Valeria Palumbo, Maria Paola Scioli, Erica Giacobbi, Francesca Servadei, Gerry Melino, Alessandro Mauriello, Manuel Scimeca
Summary: This study investigated the presence of aluminum in human colon cancer samples and its potential association with biological processes involved in cancer progression. Aluminum was found in tumor areas of 24% of patients and was associated with epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cell death. Additional analyses revealed higher tumor mutational burden and mutations in genes related to EMT and apoptosis in aluminum-positive colon cancers. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of aluminum toxicity may improve strategies for the management of colon cancer patients.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)