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Emerging Pollutants in Environment and Food Sources: Monitoring, Ecotoxicological Risk and Human Health Effects

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Ecology Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2023) | Viewed by 17714

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Somandla Ncube

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemistry, Durban University of Technology, P.O. Box 1334, Durban 4000, South Africa
Interests: environmental analytical chemistry; monitoring and remediation of pollutants in environment and food sources

Dr. Precious Mahlambi

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Guest Editor

School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa
Interests: environmental analytical chemistry; monitoring and remediation of pollutants in environment and food sources

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The pollution of the environment and food sources by pollutants of emerging concern remains a challenge for the world population. This is due to the presence of such pollutants in the environment and various food sources resulting in ecotoxicological risks to aquatic systems and the organisms that rely on such ecosystems for survival. Notably, most developing countries do not have proper protocols on the quality of domestic and industrial effluents, resulting in important pollutants being released into the environment. In this regard, there is the potential that huge amounts of important pollutants are being released into the environment, yet data on their presence is still limited.

The current Special Issue seeks to invite submissions on research that reports on monitoring and ecotoxicological risk assessments of pollutants of emerging concern in the environment and food sources. The Special Issue will consider research and review papers on pollutants, with a special emphasis on the monitoring of pharmaceutical pollutants and personal care products, and conducting trace metal analyses in environments and food sources.

Dr. Somandla Ncube
Dr. Precious Mahlambi
Guest Editors

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Keywords

environmental analysis
food analysis
pharmaceuticals and personal care products
trace metal analysis
ecotoxicological risk assessment
human health effects

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 1930 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Metal Element Traces Sampled from Peri-Urban Road Verge Particulate Matter

by Rareș-Mihăiță Popa, Dan-Marius Mustață, Ioana Ionel and Ramon-Mihai Balogh

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(21), 11649; https://doi.org/10.3390/app132111649 - 25 Oct 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1339

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyze metal elements, such as Na (sodium), Mg (magnesium), Al (aluminum), Si (silicon), Pb (lead), K (potassium), Ca (calcium), and Fe (iron), found in dust particles within two distinct areas from which the samplings were taken. The first sampling was taken from the road verge of a highly trafficked road section, while the second sampling was taken from a residential garden area 90 m away from the road. Several metal elements were detected with a high difference in Si, which presented higher concentrations in the dust samples from the road verge area. Pb has only been detected in the samples taken from the road verge, which could be explained by residual remnants from old lead gasoline and wheel weights. Additionally, during the same investigation, airborne particulate matter (PM) concentrations were measured in comparison between the road verge and the garden area; this presented a substantial difference in the concentration levels, suggesting that dense vegetation is protecting and blocking a majority of airborne PM. A literature highlight of the health effects of different metal elements and PM concentrations is presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Pollutants in Environment and Food Sources: Monitoring, Ecotoxicological Risk and Human Health Effects)

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12 pages, 2503 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Study on Particulate Matter from an Area with High Traffic Intensity

by Dan-Marius Mustață, Ioana Ionel, Rareș-Mihăiță Popa, Ciprian Dughir and Daniel Bisorca

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(15), 8824; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13158824 - 31 Jul 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1845

Abstract

This research focuses on analyzing concentrations of particulate matter (PM) next to a highly congested road section, with 39,900 as the maximum number of vehicles per 24 h, in the vicinity of Timisoara, Romania. The concentrations are measured in multiple episodes using two different measurement methods, gravimetric and dynamic light scattering, showing a dispersion range of the PM concentrations. The presence of metal particles in the samples are analyzed using an electron microscope. Additionally, the impact on human health is described by evaluating the results for inhalable-, thoracic-, and alveolar-sized particles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Pollutants in Environment and Food Sources: Monitoring, Ecotoxicological Risk and Human Health Effects)

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19 pages, 4292 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison of Ultra-Sonication and Microwave Extraction Followed by Filtration or Filtration and Solid-Phase Extraction Clean-Up for PAH Determination from Sediment and Sludge: Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment

by Sinayo Ndwabu, Mncedisi Malungana and Precious Mahlambi

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(9), 5619; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13095619 - 2 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1782

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are compounds originating from pyrogenic and petrogenic sources, which increases their potential introduction into the environment and possible exposure to humans. PAHs have been identified as compounds of concern due to their environmental persistence and toxicity to living organisms, leading to harmful health effects. As a consequence, the South African government (The Department of Water and Sanitation) has set national norms and standards for the assessment of waste for landfill disposal through the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (NEMWA) license (Act No. 59 of 2008). This study therefore evaluated the concentrations, origin sources, human health and ecological risk of PAHs in sediment and sludge samples, which is a requirement by the South African government. The PAHs were determined using ultrasonic extraction (UE) and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), followed by filtration, or filtration and clean-up with solid-phase extraction (SPE). The results obtained indicated that both methods can be used for the extraction of PAHs with relative accuracy and sensitivity. However, higher concentrations were obtained with F + SPE-cleaned samples (95.96–926.0 µg/kg) compared to filtered samples (21.61–380.6 µg/kg), with pyrene showing dominance over all other PAHs. The detected concentrations indicated that the PAHs were of petrogenic origin. These concentrations are currently within the total acceptable concentration levels of 5.0 × 10⁴ µg/kg as prescribed by the NEMWA standards for sludge and sediments. However, the concentration above the effective medium range in river sediments revealed potential toxic effects to aquatic organisms. The ILCRderm values suggested a very high potential risk of cancer through dermal exposure to the inhabitants of the area. These findings indicate that continuous monitoring of these compounds is of paramount importance as the study area is not entirely safe for use even for recreational purposes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Pollutants in Environment and Food Sources: Monitoring, Ecotoxicological Risk and Human Health Effects)

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16 pages, 3358 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Predicting PM2.5, PM10, SO₂, NO₂, NO and CO Air Pollutant Values with Linear Regression in R Language

by Zoltan Kazi, Snezana Filip and Ljubica Kazi

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 3617; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13063617 - 12 Mar 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 7994

Abstract

Air pollution is one of the most challenging and complex problems of our time. This research presents the prediction of air pollutant values based on using an R program with linear regression. The research sample consists of obtained values of air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide (SO₂), particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrite oxides (NO, NO₂, and NO_X), atmospheric data pressure (p), temperature (T), and relative humidity (rh). The research data were collected from the city of Belgrade air quality monitoring reports, published by the Environmental Protection Agency of the Republic of Serbia. The report data were transformed into a form suitable for processing by the R program and used to derive prediction functions based on linear regression upon pairs of air pollutants. In this paper, we describe the R program that was created to enable the correlation of air pollutants with linear regression, which results in functions that are used for the prediction of pollutant values. The correlation of pollutants is presented graphically with diagrams created within the R GUI environment. The predicted data were categorized according to air pollution standard ranges. It has been shown that the derived functions from linear regression enable predictions that are well correlated with the data obtained by automatic acquisition from air quality monitoring stations. The R program was created by using R language statements without any additional packages, and, therefore, it is suitable for multiple uses in a diversity of application domains with minor adjustments to appropriate data sets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Pollutants in Environment and Food Sources: Monitoring, Ecotoxicological Risk and Human Health Effects)

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17 pages, 3027 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Long-Term Pre-Treatment of Municipal Sewage Sludge with Solidified Carbon Dioxide (SCO₂)—Effect on Anaerobic Digestion Efficiency

by Joanna Kazimierowicz, Marcin Dębowski and Marcin Zieliński

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 3075; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13053075 - 27 Feb 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1348

Abstract

Studies on harnessing solidified carbon dioxide (SCO₂) for municipal sewage sludge (MSS) pre-treatment have been conducted exclusively in batch reactors. This makes it difficult to accurately assess how long-term SCO₂ treatment affects anaerobic digestion (AD) conditions and performance. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of long-term MSS pre-treatment with SCO₂ on AD conditions, anaerobic bacterial community, and biogas composition and yields. The presented experiments are the first studies on the effect of pre-treatment with SCO₂ on the efficiency of AD of MSS in continuous reactors. So far, the impact of the organic load rate (OLR) on the efficiency of MSS methane fermentation has not been assessed, which is also a novelty of the conducted research. The AD process was conducted in continuous-stirred, continuous-flow anaerobic with an active volume of 20 dm³. The digestion process was run at 38 ± 1 °C. The experiment was divided into two stages. Raw (non-pretreated) MSS was used in stage 1, whereas the MSS used in stage 2 was pre-treated with SCO₂. The SCO₂/MSS ratio was 1:3. Each stage was sub-divided into four variants, with different levels of the OLR ranging from 2.0 to 5.0 gCOD/dm³·day. Pre-treatment with SCO₂ was found to improve AD performance at an OLR of 3.0–4.0 gVS/dm³·day. The 3.0 gVS/dm³·day variant offered the best biogas production performance—both daily (29 ± 1.3 dm³/day) and per VS added (0.49 ± 0.02 dm³/gVS)—as well as the highest CH₄ content in the biogas (70.1 ± 1.0%). In this variant, the highest energy output effect of 187.07 ± 1.5 Wh/day was obtained. The SCO₂ pre-treatment was not found to change the pH, FOS/TAC, or the anaerobic bacterial community composition. Instead, these variables were mainly affected by the OLR. Our study shows that MSS pre-treatment with SCO₂ at a SCO₂/MSS ratio of 0.3 (by volume) significantly improves AD performance in terms of methane production and feedstock mineralization. The pre-treatment was found to have no negative effect on the long-term continuous operation of the reactor. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Pollutants in Environment and Food Sources: Monitoring, Ecotoxicological Risk and Human Health Effects)

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12 pages, 1104 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Health Risk Assessment of Metals in African Aphrodisiacs: A Case Study of Aqueous Concoctions from Johannesburg and Durban Herbal Markets, South Africa

by Siphesihle Dube, Nkosinathi Makhubela, Lawrence Mzukisi Madikizela, Nkoana Ishmael Mongalo, Vusumzi Emmanuel Pakade, Bethusile Rejoice Maseko and Somandla Ncube

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(4), 2148; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13042148 - 7 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2362

Abstract

Consumption of aphrodisiacs is a common practice in South Africa. Hence, determining the levels of trace metals as potential pollutants is necessary to protect consumers’ health. The current study reports a health risk assessment due to metals in aphrodisiacs collected from herbal markets in Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa. Samples were digested using microwave-assisted digestion followed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry analysis. The results showed that the concentrations of common metals (Na, K, Mg, and Ca) were within the guideline limits for human consumption, while the trace metals (Ni, Cr, Co, As, Cd, and Pb) were above the limits, recording values of 0.132–0.268, 0.209–0.308, 0.224–0.405, 0.0884–0.230, 0.0402–1.11, and 0.146–0.207 mg L⁻¹, respectively. The source of the trace metals was traced to the tap water probably collected from dilapidated buildings where the water systems are ailing. A strong correlation for metals with similar sources was observed, notably for Pb and Cd that leach from water pipes. The aphrodisiacs had low consumption rates, and the health risk assessment gave a hazard quotient of 0.225 as a total for all studied metals. The group of aphrodisiacs investigated in the current study therefore poses minimal health risks and can be consumed without fear of metal contamination. More inclusive studies are, however, needed to have a better understanding of aphrodisiacs with the aim of potentially commercializing them like the other commercialized herbal concoctions currently distributed in South African markets and pharmacies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Pollutants in Environment and Food Sources: Monitoring, Ecotoxicological Risk and Human Health Effects)

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