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Exploring the Microecological Risks of Environmental Biological Pollution and Sustainability in Environmental Restoration

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 July 2023) | Viewed by 5153

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Zhiyuan Yao

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Guest Editor

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
Interests: environmental biological pollution; water–environment–public health relationship research; biological and microecological processes in natural and municipal environments

Prof. Dr. Jincai Ma

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Guest Editor

College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, China
Interests: microbially mediated pollutants transformations (e.g., selenate reduction); the fate of contaminants (e.g., human pathogens) in the environment, at molecular, cellular, and community levels
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Dear Colleagues,

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has reminded us that our understanding of the origin, fate, and transport, as well as the ecological and human health impacts of biopollutants in the environment is still vague. Although a number of publications have been published regarding the behaviours of those biohazards, information concerning the source and persistence of pathogenic microorganisms, including viruses, protozoa, fungi, and bacteria, in artificial environments remains limited. Therefore, we propose the compilation of a Special Issue entitled “Microecological Risks of Environmental Biological Pollution and Sustainability in Environmental Restoration”. Original work and critical reviews regarding the following areas are welcome:

Source tracking of biopollutants in artificial environments;
Modelling of the transport of biopollutants in the environment;
Health risk analysis to establish the relationship between environmental characteristics and biopollutant health risks;
Detection methods to determine emerging biopollutants (e.g., COVID-19) in the environment;
Clean-up techniques to minimize biopollution in the environment;
Environmental management strategies to control the spread of biopollutants in the environment.

We believe that articles that focus on advancements in these topics will be exciting to a broad readership and help to increase the visibility of Sustainability.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Zhiyuan Yao
Prof. Dr. Jincai Ma
Guest Editors

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Keywords

pathogen
transport
survival
microbial ecology
microbial source tracking
health risks

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3556 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Persistence of E. coli O157:H7 in Frozen Soils: Role of Freezing Temperature

by Jiawei Wang, Jiafen Liao, Jinhua Ma, Guangze Lyu, Xiaoyin Yang, Abasiofiok M. Ibekwe and Jincai Ma

Sustainability 2023, 15(17), 13249; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151713249 - 04 Sep 2023

Viewed by 652

Abstract

Soilborne pathogen infections are increasingly reported globally in recent years. Infectious agents have contaminated most of seasonal frozen zone and have been found in permafrost due to the effects of intensified human activities on global warming. Therefore, in regard to sustainable agriculture, it is particularly important to assess the environmental behavior of those pathogens in frozen soils. Due to high pathogenicity and low infection threshold, E. coli O157:H7 (EcO157) is a worldwide public health concern, and recent studies have focused more on its fate in the environment. The survival of this serotype in a large variety of environmental media under temperature above 0 °C has been investigated, while its persistence in frozen soils has received less attention. In this study, we collected soils with different textures from a seasonally frozen zone in northeast China and investigated the persistence of EcO157 in soils at freezing temperatures (−5 °C and −15 °C) and moisture content (30% and 60% water holding capacity (WHC)) of the soils. By fitting the survival data with a Weibull model, we obtained three parameters: first log reduction time (δ in days), survival curve shape parameters (p), and monthly average reduction in EcO157 (MAR, log·gdw⁻¹·mon⁻¹). The results showed that temperature has a major impact on persistence, while moisture content has less effect on the survival of EcO157. Further multi-variable analysis revealed that the physical and chemical properties (e.g., sand fraction) of soil play an important role in survival. Certain bacterial groups are significantly correlated with the survival of EcO157 in frozen soils at −5 °C but not for the ones incubated at −15 °C. Our data could provide background data to evaluate the health risk associated with EcO157. The results could be helpful to improve sustainable soil practices and to develop regulations and policies aiming to achieve sustainable agriculture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Microecological Risks of Environmental Biological Pollution and Sustainability in Environmental Restoration)

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17 pages, 3372 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Detection and Assessments of Sources and Health Hazards Caused by Heavy Metals in the Dust of Urban Streets in Harbin, Northeast China

by Rui Yu, Zhengwu Cui, Nana Luo and Yong Yu

Sustainability 2022, 14(18), 11657; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811657 - 16 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1023

Abstract

To investigate heavy metals (HMs) in the dust of the urban streets and evaluate health hazards through dust pollution exposure, this research implements an analysis method called principal component analysis and a model called positive matrix factorization to investigate the associations between HMs and their plausible allocation of sources. A total number of 118 dust samples were collected from Harbin, China, which is one of the most eloquent industrial hubs and tourist destinations. The results suggest that the mean concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Zn, Ni, Pb, and Mn are 1.79 ± 1.618, 67.23 ± 32.84, 57.76 ± 51.50, 328.52 ± 117.62, 27.11 ± 4.66, 83.03 ± 25.39, and 745.34 ± 153.22 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. The erratic enrichment of Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd is succeeded by a geo-accumulation index and the factors that are used for enrichment. Both the spatial distribution and correlation analysis imply that Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd can be controlled by anthropogenic activities. On the contrary, Cr, Mn, and Ni can be ascribed to natural sources. The hazard quotients are less than 1, and the hazard indexes for seniors and kids are 0.129 and 0.852, respectively. So, kids had more non-carcinogenic hazards than the older individuals did. Both groups have carcinogenic risks of less than 1 × 10⁻⁶. The results indicated that street dust could not be potentially accepted as a health hazard for dwellers. Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr, Ni, and Cd existed in the street dust of the research region and have been influenced by the combination of industrial and traffic sources and domestic coal combustion, and the parent material that forms soil affects the levels of Mn. A model, called the PMF, is implemented in the study of street dust pollution sources, enhancing the reliability and accuracy of pollution source determination, and presenting some potential applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Microecological Risks of Environmental Biological Pollution and Sustainability in Environmental Restoration)

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13 pages, 1107 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characteristics of Enzyme Activities during Phytoremediation of Cd-Contaminated Soil

by Hui Lu, Duanping Xu, Tao Kong and Dongli Wang

Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9350; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159350 - 30 Jul 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1517

Abstract

In order to study the effects of exogenous Cd on the soil enzyme activities of three herbs, a pot experiment was conducted to study the changes of soil urease, protease, catalase and phosphatase activities in different growth periods of Solanum nigrum L., Phytolacca acinose Roxb., and Bidens pilosa L. under different concentrations of Cd stress. The results showed that the content and proportion of each form of Cd were different in different periods. Compared with the control, the activities of urease, protease and catalase in the soil of three herbs decreased under 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg Cd stress, while the phosphatase activities increased first and then decreased. The activities of urease, protease, catalase and phosphatase were 4.24–6.84, 2.17–5.83, 2.09–2.79 and 34.57–37.25 mg/g, respectively, and the recovery degrees were 50.81–66.41%, 32.10–90.54%, 46.97–69.28% and 54.78–56.69%, respectively. After 60 days of remediation, the activities of urease, protease, catalase and phosphatase were 6.05–8.55, 2.83–9.89, 3.32–4.48 and 37.62–41.15 mg/g, respectively, and the recovery degrees were 70.19–84.57%, 41.86–161.34%, 72.35–140.44% and 58.38–63.20%, respectively. Soil enzyme activities were affected by Cd solution stress, which could be improved to a certain extent by plant self–healing, and different grass species recovered to varying degrees under various Cd solution stresses. Different soil enzymes displayed different responses to Cd stress, the inhibition of urease and phosphatase activities was temporary, and the effect of Cd concentration on soil phosphatase activity was close, and it could stimulate the activities of soil protease and catalase, and the higher the concentration of Cd solution, the greater the degree of stimulation. Principal component analysis shows that, after 60 days of repair, the best repair effect plants were Solanum nigrum L. under 5 mg/kg Cd stress and Phytolacca acinosa Roxb. under 10 mg/kg Cd stress. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Microecological Risks of Environmental Biological Pollution and Sustainability in Environmental Restoration)

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10 pages, 2926 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Occurrence of Trace Heavy Metals in Leaves of Urban Greening Plants in Fuxin, Northeast China: Spatial Distribution & Plant Purification Assessment

by Qili Yang, Jing Guo, Dongli Wang, Yong Yu, Weili Dou, Zhiwen Liu, Qiaohong Xu and Gang Lv

Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8445; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148445 - 11 Jul 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1338

Abstract

Trace element analysis, in the leaves of five kinds of greening plants (Buxus, Picea, Pine, Juniperus and Platycladus) from eight uniform distribution sites in Fuxin, a typical traditional resource-based city in northeast China, was carried out to study the purification ability difference of urban greening plants and spatial distribution tendency of heavy metal elements in the whole city area. In terms of the purification ability analysis, Platycladus had a better environmental purification capacity for Cd, As, Pb and Cr. Juniperus also showed a certain environmental purification potential for As, Pb and Cu. Furthermore, Mn has the highest point mean of element content in all plants, ranging from 64.044–114.290 µg/g, and the MnPA content of Buxus and Juniperus was 60% higher than that of the other three plants, which showed a better Mn purification effect. In terms of the spatial distribution tendency analysis, point pollution source location and the urban climate factors (mainly for the wind factor) were the main controlling factors. However, the specificity of Mn distribution suggested that its polluting behavior had a close relation with minerals transportation during exploiting and transferring in the city’s coal mining industry in the past. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Microecological Risks of Environmental Biological Pollution and Sustainability in Environmental Restoration)

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