Impacts of Comorbidity and Mental Shock on Organic Micropollutants in Surface Water During and After the First Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic in Wuhan (2019–2021), China

The first pandemic wave of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)induced a considerable increase in several antivirals and antibiotics in surface water.The common symptoms of COVID-19 are viral and bacterial infections,while comorbidities(e.g.,hypertension and diabetes)and mental shock(e.g.,insomnia and anxiety)are nonnegligible.Nevertheless,little is known about the long-term impacts of comorbidities and mental shock on organic micropollutants(OMPs)in surface waters.Herein,we monitored 114 OMPs in surface water and wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs)in Wuhan,China,between 2019 and 2021.The pandemic-induced OMP pollution in surface water was confirmed by significant increases in 26 OMP concentrations.Significant increases in four antihypertensives and one diabetic drug suggest that the treatment of comorbidities may induce OMP pollution.Notably,cotinine(a metabolite of nicotine)increased 155 times to 187 ngL1,which might be associated with increased smoking.Additionally,the increases in zolpidem and sulpiride might be the result of worsened insomnia and depression.Hence,it is reasonable to note that mental-health protecting drugs/behavior also contributed to OMP pollution.Among the observed OMPs,telmisartan,lopinavir,and ritonavir were associated with significantly higher ecological risks because of their limited WWTP-removal rate and high ecotoxicity.This study provides new insights into the effects of comorbidities and mental shock on OMPs in surface water during a pandemic and highlights the need to monitor the fate of related pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment and to improve their removal efficiencies in WWTPs。

Navigating the Challenges of Emerging Contaminants to Protect Human and Ecological Health

Emerging contaminants are defined as chemicals that are not currently(or have only recently been)regulated and about which there are concerns regarding their impact on human or ecological health.Such contaminants are widely detected in air,water,soil,sediment,and biotic environments.It is against this backdrop of urgency that we have curated this special issue titled“Emerging Contaminants Control:Science and Technology,”with the goal of uniting the latest scientific insights and pioneering strategies to address this global concern.This special issue embarks on a comprehensive examination of the emerging contaminants dilemma,covering aspects such as risk assessment,remediation technologies,environmental surveying,and the broader implications for policy.Through a collection of articles,we probe deep into the core of this issue,showcasing studies that range from appraising environmental risks to forging new methods for treatment and scrutinizing the occurrence of contaminants across different environmental settings.

Promoting Environmental Risk Assessment and Control of Emerging Contaminants in China

1.Introduction In recent years,China has carried out an extensive preventative battle against air,water,and soil pollution,and the nation’s environmental quality-as reflected by conventional pollutant indicators—has significantly improved.At the same time,the issue of emerging contaminants(ECs)is beginning to receive increasing attention.ECs generally refer to newly discovered or noticeable pollutants that pose risks to the ecological environment or human health.Either they have not been included in environmental management,or existing management measures are insufficient to effectively prevent and control their risks.The ECs of greatest concern generally include persistent organic pollutants(POPs),endocrine-disrupting chemicals(EDCs),pharmaceuticals and personal care products(PPCPs),and microplastics.These four categories of ECs are not entirely separate,as they interrelate with each other(Fig.1).Chemical production and product usage are the main sources of ECs.China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of bulk chemicals,and the production value of China’s chemical industry is predicted to reach 50%of the global total by 2030[1].Scientific control of ECs based on their environmental risk assessment is a necessary way to support the prevention and legal governance of ECs.

Digitalizing river aquatic ecosystems

Traditional river health assessment relies on limited water quality indices and representative organism activity,but does not comprehensively obtain biotic and abiotic information of the ecosystem.Here,we propose a new approach to evaluate the ecological and health risks of river aquatic ecosystems.First,detailed physicochemical and biological characterization of a river ecosystem can be obtained through pollutant determination(especially emerging pollutants)and DNA/RNA sequencing.Second,supervised machine learning can be applied to perform classification analysis of characterization data and ascertain river ecosystem ecology and health.Our proposed methodology transforms river ecosystem health assessment and can be applied in river management.

Practical performance and its efficiency of arsenic removal from groundwater using Fe-Mn binary oxide

A treatment unit packed by granular adsorbent of Fe-Mn binary oxide incorporated into diatomite （FMBO（1：1）-diatomite） was studied to remove arsenic from anaerobic groundwater without any pre-treatment or post-treatment. The raw anaerobic groundwater containing 35-45 μg/L of arsenic was collected from suburb of Beijing. Arsenic（Ⅲ） constituted roughly 60%-80% of the total arsenic content. Approximately 7,000 bed volumes （ratio of effluent volume to adsorbent volume） treated water with arsenic concentration below 10 μg/L were produced in the operation period of four months. The regeneration of FMBO（1：1）-diatomite had been operated for 15 times. In the first stage, the regeneration process significantly improved the adsorption capacity of FMBO（1：1 ）-diatomite. With increased loading amount of Fe-Mn binary oxide, the adsorption capacity for arsenic decreased 20%-40%. Iron and manganese in anaerobic groundwater were oxidized and adsorptive filtrated by FMBO（1 ： 1）-diatomite efficiently. The final concentrations of iron and manganese in effluents were nearly zero. The continued safe performance of the treatment units proved that adsorbent FMBO（1：1）- diatomite had high oxidation ability and exhibited strong adsorptive filtration.

新冠病毒传播的可能路径:自然宿主-环境介质-人

传统上,识别第一个感染病例(零号病人)是追溯病毒来源的关键,但是,常常很难找到零号病人。特别是如果零号病人无症状或症状非常轻微,无看医生或相关病情记录,可能永远也无法找到。因此,是否可以跳过零号病人追溯到病毒的来源?针对上述问题,研究中分析了人类历史上的病毒暴发以及病毒在环境中的存活时间等。发现很大比例的疫情事件都是由人类直接接触带有传染性病毒的环境介质而引起的,同时病毒可以在环境介质中长期保持活性。另一方面,随着人类活动能力不断增强,与动物等生存空间的逐渐重叠,人类与带病毒环境介质(我们称之为"环境准宿主")之间的接触大大增加。因此,研究中提出了跳过零号病人在环境中追溯病毒来源的可能路径,即以携带SARS-CoV-2或RaTG3相关冠状病毒的环境介质为目标,基于自然宿主-环境介质(环境准宿主)-人的传播路径,进行新冠病毒溯源。

Science and Technology for Combating Global Water Challenges

The survival and development of human society highly depends on the water availability. Driven by the growth of population and economy, global water demand has increased more than eightfold since the 1900s. Meanwhile, the commonly deteriorated freshwater quality cause a large proportion of available water resources unsuitable for human uses. This inter-coupled challenge of insufficient water quantity and inadequate water quality has rendered water scarcity a widespread problem in many parts of the world.

Roadmap for Managing SARS-CoV-2 and Other Viruses in the Water Environment for Public Health

The water sector needs to address viral-related public health issues,because water is a virus carrier,which not only spreads viruses(e.g.,via drinking water),but also provides information about the circu-lation of viruses in the community(e.g.,via sewage).It has been widely reported that waterborne viral pathogens are abundant,diverse,complex,and threatening the public health in both developed and developing countries.Meanwhile,there is great potential for viral monitoring that can indicate biosafety,treatment performance and community health.New developments in technology have been rising to meet the emerging challenges over the past decades.Under the current coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2),the world’s attention is directed to the urgent need to tackle the most challenging public health issues related to waterborne viruses.Based on critical analysis of the water viral knowledge progresses and gaps,this article offers a roadmap for managing COVID-19 and other viruses in the water environments for ensur-ing public health.

The Phragmites Root-Inhabiting Microbiome: A Critical Review on Its Composition and Environmental Application

As widespread wetland plants,Phragmites play a vital role in water purification and are widely utilized in constructed wetlands(accounting for 15.5%of applied wetland plants)as a natural alternative to wastewater treatment.However,despite such common applications,current understanding of the basic composition of the Phragmites root-inhabiting microbiome and the complex functions of each member of this microbiome remains incomplete,especially regarding pollution remediation.This review summa-rizes the advances that have been made in ecological and biochemical research on the Phragmites root microbiome,including bacteria,archaea,and fungi.Based on next-generation sequencing,microbial com-munity compositions have been profiled under various environmental conditions.Furthermore,culture-based methods have helped to clarify the functions of the microbiome,such as metal iron stabilization,organic matter degradation,and nutrient element transformation.The unique community structure and functions are highly impacted by Phragmites lineages and environmental factors such as salinity.Based on the current understanding of the Phragmites root microbiome,we propose that synthetic microbial com-munities and iron–manganese plaque could be applied and intensified in constructed wetlands to help promote their water purification performance.

Arrayed Cobalt Phosphide Electrocatalyst Achieves Low Energy Consumption and Persistent H2 Liberation from Anodic Chemical Conversion

Electrochemical reduction of water to hydrogen(H2) offers a promising strategy for production of clean energy,but the design and optimization of electrochemical apparatus present challenges in terms of H2 recovery and energy consumption.Using cobalt phosphide nanoarrays(Co2 P/CoP NAs) as a charge mediator,we effectively separated the H2 and O2 evolution of alkaline water electrolysis in time,thereby achieving a membrane-free pathway for H2 purification.The hierarchical array structure and synergistic optimization of the electronic configuration of metallic Co2 P and metalloid CoP make the Co2 P/CoP NAs high-efficiency bifunctional electrocatalysts for both charge storage and hydrogen evolution.Theoretical investigations revealed that the introduction of Co2 P into CoP leads to a moderate hydrogen adsorption free energy and low water dissociation barrier,which are beneficial for boosting HER activity.Meanwhile,Co2 P/CoP NAs with high capacitance could maintain a cathodic H2 evolution time of 1500 s at 10 mA cm^(-2) driven by a low average voltage of 1.38 V.Alternatively,the energy stored in the mediator could be exhausted via coupling with the anodic oxidation of ammonia,whereby only 0.21 V was required to hold the current for 1188 s.This membrane-free architecture demonstrates the potential for developing hydrogen purification technology at low cost.

Ecological Barrier Deterioration Driven by Human Activities Poses Fatal Threats to Public Health due to Emerging Infectious Diseases

The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)and concerns about several other pandemics in the 21st century have attracted extensive global attention.These emerging infectious diseases threaten global public health and raise urgent studies on unraveling the underlying mechanisms of their transmission from animals to humans.Although numerous works have intensively discussed the cross-species and endemic barriers to the occurrence and spread of emerging infectious diseases,both types of barriers play synergistic roles in wildlife habitats.Thus far,there is still a lack of a complete understanding of viral diffusion,migration,and transmission in ecosystems from a macro perspective.In this review,we conceptualize the ecological barrier that represents the combined effects of cross-species and endemic barriers for either the natural or intermediate hosts of viruses.We comprehensively discuss the key influential factors affecting the ecological barrier against viral transmission from virus hosts in their natural habitats into human society,including transmission routes,contact probability,contact frequency,and viral characteristics.Considering the significant impacts of human activities and global industrialization on the strength of the ecological barrier,ecological barrier deterioration driven by human activities is critically analyzed for potential mechanisms.Global climate change can trigger and expand the range of emerging infectious diseases,and human disturbances promote higher contact frequency and greater transmission possibility.In addition,globalization drives more transmission routes and produces new high-risk regions in city areas.This review aims to provide a new concept for and comprehensive evidence of the ecological barrier blocking the transmission and spread of emerging infectious diseases.It also offers new insights into potential strategies to protect the ecological barrier and reduce the wide-ranging risks of emerging infectious diseases to public health.

Pathways toward a pollution-free planet and challenges

The mission of“Establishment of Zero-Pollution Earth”defined by United Nations Environment Programme aims at creation of a clean,safe and prosperous home for all human beings.It is of rational choice from each individual to protect our environment and demonstrates our great ambition to achieve our goals.The key message given in this article is that,zero pollution does not mean no discharge of pollutants and instead it can be achievable through optimizing and controlling a sound balance between pollutants discharge and capacities of decontamination through treatment and natural environmental accumulation,which can be termed as“Principle of Equilibrium”between pollution and decontamination.Based on this principle,we propose and illustrate several key factors and synergistic pathways toward a pollution-free planet:quantitative determination on purification and wastewater;source control through green measures;minimization of negative side-effects;precise management through digitalized systems;and keeping sound balance between pollutants and natural purification.It should be noted that we would face a series of difficulties and challenges in moving forward to“Zero-Pollution Earth”.We should further develop theories,principles and tools to achieve the balance between quantity of pollutants and decontamination capacities.Environmentalists should work together to break through the bottleneck limited by“Principle of equilibrium”to establish new environmental remediation systems leading to“Zero-Pollution Earth”.

FESE’s Best Papers of 2023

Frontiers of Environmental Science&Engineering is pleased to announce the best paper awards for 2023.In 2023,we published 140 research and review papers in Volume 17 of FESE.In order to acknowledge the past contributions and encourage more submissions,the FESE editorial board selected three distinguished research papers for their profound insights into current serious environmental issues and contributions to practical treatment technology.We hope these papers will inspire and promote innovation in the environmental science and engineering research field.

Together towards a pollution-free planet

“Towards a pollution-free planet”is one of the three strategic objectives proposed in United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP)’s Medium-Term Strategy for 2022—2025 which framed UNEP’s contribution in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals and beyond.It aims at a planet where pollution is prevented and controlled,and good environmental quality and improved health and well-being are ensured for all.Achieving this objective requires joint efforts from diverse sectors,including environmental protection,green development,carbon mitigation,pollution control,etc.

Enhanced phosphate removal using zirconium hydroxide encapsulated in quaternized cellulose

Zirconium-based materials are efficient adsorbent for aqueous phosphate removal.However,current zirconium-based materials still show unsatisfied performance on adsorption capacity and selectivity.Here,we demonstrate a zirconium hydroxide encapsulated in quaternized cellulose(QC-Zr) for the selective phosphate removal.Zirconium hydroxide nanoparticles were simultaneously generated in situ with the QC framework and firmly anchored in the three-dimensional(3D) cross-linked cellulose chains.The maximum P adsorption capacity of QC-Zr was 83.6 mg P/g.Furthermore,the QC-Zr shows high P adsorption performance in a wide pH range,generally due to the electrostatic effects of quaternized cellulose.The enhanced adsorption of P was also achieved in the presence of competing anions(including Cl^-,NO3^-,SO4^2-,SO4^4-) and humic acid(HA) even at a molar ratio up to 20 levels.The column adsorption capacity of QC-Zr reached 4000 bed volumes(BV) at EBCT=0.5 min as the P concentration decreased from 2.5 to 0.5 mg/L.Mechanism study revealed that both-N^+(CH3)3 groups and zirconium hydroxide were involved in phosphate adsorption via electrostatic interactions between -N^+(CH3)3 and phosphate,and the formation of zirconium hydrogen phosphate(Zr(HPO4)x).The 31 P nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) study implied that P surface-precipitated and inner-sphere complexed with zirconium hydroxide at a ratio of 3:1.

Removal of bentazone from micro-polluted water using MIEX resin:Kinetics,equilibrium,and mechanism

The contamination of surface and ground water by bentazone has attracted increasing global concern in recent years. We conducted a detailed investigation using MIEX resin to eliminate bentazone from waters. Batch experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of process parameters, such as retention time, resin amount, and initial pesticide concentration, on removal efficiency of bentazone. Results showed the sorption process was fast and bentazone could be efficiently removed in 30 minutes. The kinetic process of bentazone sorption on MIEX resin was well described by pseudo second-order model and intraparticle diffusion was the rate controlling step. The MIEX resin possessed the highest sorption capacity of 0.2656 mmol/mL for bentazone according to Langmuir fitting, Bentazone is a hydrophobic ionizable organic compound, and both ionic charge and hydrophobic aromatic structure governed the sorption characteristics on MIEX resin. The different removal efficiencies of ionic and non-ionic pesticides, combined with the charge balance equations of bentazone, SO4^2-, NO3- and Cl-, indicated that removal of bentazone using MIEX resin occurred primarily via ion exchange.

Mitigating microbiological risks of potential pathogens carrying antibiotic resistance genes and virulence factors in receiving rivers:benefits of wastewater treatment plant upgrade

Wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs)with additional tertiary ultrafiltration membranes and ozonation treatment can improve water quality in receiving rivers.However,the impacts of WWTP upgrade(WWTP-UP)on pathogens carrying antibiotic resistance genes(ARGs)and virulence factors(VFs)in rivers remain poorly understood.In this study,ARGs,VFs,and their pathogenic hosts were investigated in three rivers impacted by large-scale WWTP-UP.A five-year sampling campaign covered the periods before and after WWTP-UP.Results showed that the abundance of total metagenome-assembled genomes(MAGs)containing both ARGs and VFs in receiving rivers did not decrease substantially after WWTP-UP,but the abundance of MAGs belonging to pathogenic genera that contain both ARGs and VFs(abbreviated as PAVs)declined markedly.'Genome-resolved metagenomics further revealed that WWTP-UP not only reduced most types of VFs and ARGs in PAVs,but also effectively eliminated efflux pump and nutritional VFs carried by PAVs in receiving rivers.WWTP-UP narrowed the pathogenic host ranges of ARGs and VFs and mitigated the cooccurrence of ARGs and VFs in receiving rivers.These findings underline the importance of WWTPUP for the alleviation of pathogens containing both ARGs and VFs in receiving rivers。

Removal of pharmaceutical in a biogenic/chemical manganese oxide system driven by manganese-oxidizing bacteria with humic acids as sole carbon source

Bioaugmented sand filtration has attracted considerable attention because it can effectively remove contaminants in drinking water without additional chemical reagent addition.In this study,a synthesized chemical manganese dioxide (MnO_(2)) -coated quartz sand(MnQS) and biogenic manganese oxide (BioMnOx) composite system was proposed to simultaneously remove typical pharmaceutical contaminants and Mn_(2)+.We demonstrated a manganese-oxidizing bacterium,Pseudomonas sp.QJX-1,could oxidize Mn_(2)+to generate BioMnOxusing humic acids (HA) as sole carbon source.The coaction of MnQS,QJX-1,and the generated BioMnOxin simultaneously removing caffeine and Mn_(2)+in the presence of HA was evaluated.We found a synergistic effect between them.MnQS and BioMnOxtogether significantly increased the caffeine removal efficiency from 32.8%(MnQS alone) and 21.5%(BioMnOxalone) to 61.2%.Meanwhile,Mn_(2)+leaked from MnQS was rapidly oxidized by QJX-1 to regenerate reactive BioMnOx,which was beneficial for continuous contaminant removal and system stability.Different degradation intermediates of caffeine oxidized by MnQS and BioMnOxwere detected by LC-QTOF-MS analysis,which implied that caffeine was oxidized by a different pathway.Overall,this work promotes the potential application of bioaugmented sand filtration in pharmaceutical removal in the presence of natural organic matter in drinking water.

A hybrid fuel cell for water purification and simultaneously electricity generation

The development of highly efficient energy conversion technologies to extract energy from wastewater is urgently needed,especially in facing of increasing energy and environment burdens.Here,we successfully fabricated a novel hybrid fuel cell with BiOCl-NH_(4)PTA as photocatalyst.The polyoxometalate(NH_(4)PTA)act as the acceptor of photoelectrons and could retard the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes,which lead to superior photocatalytic degradation.By utilizing BiOCl-NH_(4)PTA as photocatalysts and Pt/C air-cathode,we successfully constructed an electron and mass transfer enhanced photocatalytic hybrid fuel cell with flow-through field(F-HFC).In this novel fuel cell,dyes and biomass could be directly degraded and stable power output could be obtained.About 87%of dyes could be degraded in 30 min irradiation and nearly 100%removed within 90 min.The current density could reach up to~267.1μA/cm^(2);with maximum power density(Pmax)of~16.2μW/cm^(2) with Rhodamine B as organic pollutant in F-HFC.The power densities were 9.0μW/cm^(2),12.2μW/cm^(2),and 13.9μW/cm^(2) when using methyl orange(MO),glucose and starch as substrates,respectively.This hybrid fuel cell with BiOCl-NH_(4)PTA composite fulfills the purpose of decontamination of aqueous organic pollutants and synchronous electricity generation.Moreover,the novel design cell with separated photodegradation unit and the electricity generation unit could bring potential practical application in water purification and energy recovery from wastewater.

Impacts of backwashing on micropollutant removal and associated microbial assembly processes in sand filters

Backwashing is crucial for preventing clogging of sand filters.However,few studies have investigated the effect of backwashing on micropollutant removal and the dynamic changes in the microbial community in sand filters.Here,we used a series of manganese and quartz sand filters under empty bed contact times(EBCTs)of 2 h and 4 h to explore variations in micropollutant degradation and temporal dynamics of the microbial community after backwashing.The results showed that the removal efficiencies of caffeine,sulfamethoxazole,sulfadiazine,trimethoprim,atrazine,and active biomass recovered within 2 d after backwashing in both types of sand filters at 2-h EBCT,but the recovery of sulfadiazine and trimethoprim was not observed at 4-h EBCT.Moreover,the removal efficiency of atenolol increased after backwashing in the manganese sand filters,whereas maintained almost complete removal efficiency in the quartz sand filters at both EBCTs.Pearson correlation analysis indicated that microbial community composition gradually recovered to the pre-backwashing level(R increased from 0.53 to 0.97)at 2-h EBCT,but shifted at 4-h EBCT(R<0.25)after backwashing.Furthermore,the compositions of the recovered,depleted,and improved groups of microbes were distinguished by applying hierarchical clustering to the differentially abundant amplicon sequence variants.The cumulative relative abundance of recovered microbes at 2-h EBCT was 82.76%±0.43%and 46.82%±4.34%in the manganese and quartz sand filters,respectively.In contrast,at 4-h EBCT,the recovered microbes dropped to 15.55%–25.69%in both types of sand filters.