Indian and global scenarios of Bisphenol A distribution and its new analogues: Prevalence & probability exceedance.

We compare, the prevalence, fate, and sources of Bisphenol A both globally and in India. India has the highest concentration of BPA and Bisphenol S(BPS) in general, with vegetables, particularly corn, beans, strings, and raw or canned vegetables, being the largest contributors. Among all the matrices, bisphenols (BPs) are found in the highest concentration in food, followed by surface water, wastewater, and indoor dust. BPA, BPS, and BPF are the most commonly reported analogues in India, with BPA being the most dominant category used worldwide. The highest concentration of BPs is observed in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana that are three major agricultural states of India however, there is still a research gap regarding the dietary exposure to BPs on an individual level. Environmentally detected BPA occurs in a range of below detection to 10636 ng. L-1, with significant geographic variations. Interestingly, the order of abundance in India was maximum for BPS, which is contrary to the global average, where BPA is observed as most abundant. BPS is found to be the most common BPs analogue in surface water worldwide, with limited removal efficiency by both naturally remediation and conventional treatment methods. Similar patterns were observed in the US-India and Japan-Korea regions in terms of their source-sink-prevalence-fate dynamics. The probability of exceeding safe concentrations of BPs is higher in India and Korea, suggesting that these countries are more vulnerable to high prevalence concentrations and the subsequent public health hazards.

Traversing the prevalence of microplastics in soil-agro ecosystems: Origin, occurrence, and pollutants synergies.

The ubiquity of plastics in modern life has made them a significant environmental concern and a marker of the Anthropocene era. The degradation of plastics results in the formation of microplastics (MPs), which measure 5 mm or less. The coexistence of MPs with other pollutants found in sludge, water treatment plant effluents, surface water, and groundwater, shapes the environmental landscape together. Despite extensive investigation, the long-term implications of MPs in soils remain uncertain, underscoring the importance of delving into their transportation and interactions with soil biota and other contaminants. The present article provides a comprehensive overview of MPs contamination in soil, encompassing its sources, prevalence, features, and interactions with soil flora and fauna, heavy metals, and organic compounds. The sources of MPs in soil agroecosystems are mulching, composting, littering, sewage sludge, irrigation water, and fertilizer application. The concentration of MPs reported in plastic mulch, littering, and sewage sludge is 503 ± 2760 items per kg-1, 4483 ± 2315 MPs/kg, and 11,100 ± 570 per/kg. The transport of MPs in soil agroecosystems is due to their horizontal and vertical migration including biotic and abiotic mobility. The article also highlighted the analytical process, which includes sampling planning, collection, purification, extraction, and identification techniques of MPs in soil agroecosystems. The mechanism in the interaction of MPs and organic pollutants includes surface adsorption or adhesion cation bridging, hydrogen bonding, charge transfer, ligand exchange, van der Waals interactions, and ion exchange.

Tricks and tracks of prevalence, occurrences, treatment technologies, and challenges of mixtures of emerging contaminants in the environment: With special emphasis on microplastic.

This paper aims to emphasize the occurrence of various emerging contaminant (EC) mixtures in natural ecosystems and highlights the primary concern arising from the unregulated release into soil and water, along with their impacts on human health. Emerging contaminant mixtures, including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides, antibiotics, biocides, surfactants, phthalates, enteric viruses, and microplastics (MPs), are considered toxic contaminants with grave implications. MPs play a crucial role in transporting pollutants to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems as they interact with the various components of the soil and water environments. This review summarizes that major emerging contaminants (ECs), like trimethoprim, diclofenac, sulfamethoxazole, and 17α-Ethinylestradiol, pose serious threats to public health and contribute to antimicrobial resistance. In addressing human health concerns and remediation techniques, this review critically evaluates conventional methods for removing ECs from complex matrices. The diverse physiochemical properties of surrounding environments facilitate the partitioning of ECs into sediments and other organic phases, resulting in carcinogenic, teratogenic, and estrogenic effects through active catalytic interactions and mechanisms mediated by aryl hydrocarbon receptors. The proactive toxicity of ECs mixture complexation and, in part, the yet-to-be-identified environmental mixtures of ECs represent a blind spot in current literature, necessitating conceptual frameworks for assessing the toxicity and risks with individual components and mixtures. Lastly, this review concludes with an in-depth exploration of future scopes, knowledge gaps, and challenges, emphasizing the need for a concerted effort in managing ECs and other organic pollutants.