Deep learning in water protection of resources, environment, and ecology: achievement and challenges.

The breathtaking economic development put a heavy toll on ecology, especially on water pollution. Efficient water resource management has a long-term influence on the sustainable development of the economy and society. Economic development and ecology preservation are tangled together, and the growth of one is not possible without the other. Deep learning (DL) is ubiquitous in autonomous driving, medical imaging, speech recognition, etc. The spectacular success of deep learning comes from its power of richer representation of data. In view of the bright prospects of DL, this review comprehensively focuses on the development of DL applications in water resources management, water environment protection, and water ecology. First, the concept and modeling steps of DL are briefly introduced, including data preparation, algorithm selection, and model evaluation. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of commonly used algorithms are analyzed according to their structures and mechanisms, and recommendations on the selection of DL algorithms for different studies, as well as prospects for the application and development of DL in water science are proposed. This review provides references for solving a wider range of water-related problems and brings further insights into the intelligent development of water science.

Energy saving and carbon reduction schemes for hospital with photovoltaic power generation and system upgrading technology.

In order to help China achieve the double carbon target of total carbon peak and high-quality sustainable economic development, and to enrich the work and content of energy conservation and emission reduction in the building sector, the most complex and energy-consuming hospitals are taken as the key projects for energy conservation and emission reduction to carry out feasibility studies. The reasons for the high energy consumption of the existing hospital buildings were analysed, and it was proposed to upgrade the existing systems (including air conditioning, hot water system and intelligent control system) and to generate photovoltaic power for the existing buildings, taking into account the characteristics of the local climate. The results of the study showed that the energy saving and emission reduction effect of the hospital was obvious after the programme was adopted.

Are high-risk heavy metal(loid)s contaminated vegetables detrimental to human health? A study of incorporating bioaccessibility and toxicity into accurate health risk assessment.

Heavy metal(loid)s in the environment threaten food safety and human health. Health risk assessment of vegetables based on total or bioaccessible heavy metal(loid)s was widely used but can overestimate their risks, so exploring accurate methods is urgent for food safety evaluation and management. In this study, a total of 224 frequently consumed vegetables and their corresponding grown soils were collected from Yunnan, Southwest China. The total contents and bioaccessibilities of heavy metal(loid)s in vegetables were measured, their health risks were evaluated using the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk models provided by USEPA. Besides, the gastrotoxicity of high-risk vegetables was also evaluated using a human cell model. Results showed that 6.25-43.8 % of Cr, Cd, and Pb contents in Zea mays L., Coriandrum sativum L., or Allium sativum L. exceeded the maximum permissible level of China, which were not consistent with those in corresponding soils. The bioaccessibility of Cr, Cd, As, Pb, Cu, Zn, Ni, and Mn in vegetables in the gastric phase was 0.41-93.8 %. Health risks based on bioaccessibility were remarkably decreased compared with total heavy metal(loid)s, but the unacceptable carcinogenic risk (CR > 10-4) was found even considering the bioaccessibility. Interestingly, gastric digesta of high-risk vegetables did not trigger adverse effects on human gastric mucosa epithelial cells, indicating existing health risk assessment model should be adjusted by toxic data to accurately reflect its hazards. Taken together, both bioaccessibility and toxicity of heavy metal(loid)s in vegetables should be considered in accurate health risk assessment and food safety-related policy-making and management.

Applications of Single Atom Catalysts for Environmental Management.

With the rapid development of industrialization, human beings have caused many negative effects on the environment that have endangered the survival and development of human beings, such as the greenhouse effect, water pollution, energy depletion, etc [...].

One-step, low-cost, mussel-inspired green method to prepare superhydrophobic nanostructured surfaces having durability, efficiency, and wide applicability.

Various oils discharged from daily life and industrial production, as well as frequent oil spillages, have led to severe water pollution and ecological problems. Mussel-inspired polydopamine has been widely applied for fabrication of superhydrophobic materials for oil/water separation. However, the need of additional nanoparticles via tedious steps to construct nanostructures, and the high cost of dopamine itself limit its practical applications. Moreover, the application modes of superhydrophobic materials for oil/water separation are monotonous, which will limit the applied range of the superhydrophobic materials. For example, superhydrophobic sponge was usually used for adsorbing oil droplets or oil spills from water, while superhydrophobic fabric or mesh was usually used for separating bulk layered oil/water mixture. Therefore, developing simple and low-cost mussel-inspired surface modification strategy toward superhydrophobic materials, as well as diverse application modes for oil/water separation, is still highly desired. In this study, superhydrophobic sponge and fabric with nanostructures, which exhibits excellent performance for diverse oil/water separation, have been fabricated through a novel one-step and cost-effective mussel-inspired approach. The resultant superhydrophobic sponge exhibits outstanding oil absorption capability (weight gains up to 8860%), while the superhydrophobic fabric can effectively separate oil/water mixture. Moreover, diverse modes for oil/water separation have been developed for the first time. For example, water-in-oil emulsion can be highly-efficient separated by a compressed superhydrophobic sponge (~1800L m-2h-1 bar-1 for water-in-oil emulsion, and above 99% rejection rate for water droplets), while crude oil spills can be efficiently collected by a superhydrophobic boat (above 98%).

Occurrence, distribution, and risk assessment of organophosphate esters in urban street dust in the central province of Henan, China.

In this study, nine OPEs were measured in 60 street dust samples collected from the central province of Henan, China. The total concentrations of OPEs (∑9OPEs) in street dust range from 2.77 to 505 µg/kg (median 59.3 µg/kg). Chlorinated OPEs are dominant in street dust with median concentration of 33.5 µg/kg, followed by aryl OPEs (median 9.05 µg/kg), and alkyl OPEs (median 6.19 µg/kg). No significant correlations are found between ∑9OPEs and parameters, such as population (p = 0.931), population density (p = 0.602), car ownership (p = 0.618), and gross domestic product (p = 0.863). Principal component analysis (PCA) result reveals that road traffic could be a major source of OPEs in street dust because of their extensive use in various vehicles. The total average (median) and high-level exposure (95th percentile) of OPEs are 1.01 × 10-2, 7.17 × 10-2 ng/kg bw/d for adults and 6.03 × 10-2, 0.43 ng/kg bw/d for children, respectively. Hazard quotient (HQ) values are 5-6 orders of magnitude lower than the acceptable risk level (HQ < 0.1), indicating there is still a low risk to local residents at current levels.

Health and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals pollution in an antimony mining region: a case study from South China.

In recent years, international research on the toxicity of the heavy metal, antimony, has gradually changed focus from early medical and pharmacological toxicology to environmental toxicology and ecotoxicology. However, little research has been conducted for sources identification and risk management of heavy metals pollution by long-term antimony mining activities. In this study, a large number of investigations were conducted on the temporal and spatial distribution of antimony and related heavy metal contaminants (lead, zinc, and arsenic), as well as on the exposure risks for the population for the Yuxi river basin in the Hunan province, China. The scope of the investigations included mine water, waste rock, tailings, agricultural soil, surface water, river sediments, and groundwater sources of drinking water. Health and ecological risks from exposure to heavy metal pollution were evaluated. The main pollution sources of heavy metals in the Yuxi River basin were analyzed. Remediation programs and risk management strategies for heavy metal pollution were consequently proposed. This article provides a scientific basis for the risk assessment and management of heavy metal pollution caused by antimony basin ore mining.

An ultra-facile and label-free immunoassay strategy for detection of copper (II) utilizing chemiluminescence self-enhancement of Cu (II)-ethylenediaminetetraacetate chelate.

The establishment of facile, rapid, sensitive and cost-effective protocols for the detection of heavy metals is of great significance for human health and environmental monitoring. Hereby, an ultra-facile and label-free immunoassay strategy was designed for detecting heavy metal ion by using Cu (II) as the model analyte. Cu (II) reacted previously with ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) was captured by immobilized monoclonal antibody for Cu (II)-EDTA chelate. Then Cu (II) was detected based on the self-enhancing effect of Cu (II)-EDTA chelate to luminol-H2O2 chemiluminescence reaction. The CL intensity is linear relative with Cu (II) concentration in a very wide range of 1.0-1000ng/mL, with a detection limit of 0.33ng/mL (S/N=3). Since the specificity of this proposed strategy relied on both the specificity of monoclonal antibody and the specificity of luminol-H2O2 system, it could avoid interference from most common ions. The proposed method was used successfully to detect Cu (II) in traditional Chinese medicine and environmental water samples with acceptable recovery values of 82-113%. This proof-of-principle work demonstrated the feasibility of the label-free immunoassay for heavy metal ions, and opened a new avenue for rapid screening and field assay for drug safety, environmental monitoring and clinical diagnosis.

Potential health risk of arsenic and cadmium in groundwater near Xiangjiang River, China: a case study for risk assessment and management of toxic substances.

As part of our efforts to find effective methods to the drinking water risk management, the health risk assessment of arsenic and cadmium in groundwater near Xiangjiang River was analyzed. The results suggest that although the arsenic and cadmium concentrations in 97% of groundwater sources are less than the requirement of Water Quality Standards for Drinking Water (GB5749-2006) in China, the residents served by almost all of the investigated centralized drinking water sources have a significant potential health risk by consumption, especially cancer risk. It is justified through analyses that risk assessment is an effective tool for risk management, and the maximum permissible concentration of arsenic and cadmium in drinking water (0.01 and 0.005 mg L(-1), respectively) is suitable for China at present, considering the current economic status of China. Risk managers develop cleanup standards designed to protect against all possible adverse effects, which should take into account highly exposed individuals, effects of mixtures of toxic substances, attendant uncertainties, and other factors such as site-specific (or generic) criteria, technical feasibility, cost-benefit analyses, and sociopolitical concerns.

Ingestion risks of metals in groundwater based on TIN model and dose-response assessment - A case study in the Xiangjiang watershed, central-south China.

Groundwater samples were collected in the Xiangjiang watershed in China from 2002 to 2008 to analyze concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, mercury, manganese, and zinc. Spatial and seasonal trends of metal concentrations were then discussed. Combined with geostatistics, an ingestion risk assessment of metals in groundwater was performed using the dose-response assessment method and the triangulated irregular network (TIN) model. Arsenic concentration in groundwater had a larger variation from year to year, while the variations of other metal concentrations were minor. Meanwhile, As concentrations in groundwater over the period of 2002-2004 were significantly higher than that over the period of 2005-2007, indicating the improvement of groundwater quality within the later year. The hazard index (HI) in 2002 was also significantly higher than that in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Moreover, more than 80% of the study area recorded an HI of more than 1.0 for children, suggesting that some people will experience deleterious health effects from drinking groundwater in the Xiangjiang watershed. Arsenic and manganese were the largest contributors to human health risks (HHRs). This study highlights the value of long-term health risk evaluation and the importance of geographic information system (GIS) technologies in the assessment of watershed-scale human health risk.