Impacts of Desalination Brine Discharge on Benthic Ecosystems.

Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination facilities produce freshwater and, at the same time, discharge hypersaline brine that often includes various chemical additives such as antiscalants and coagulants. This dense brine can sink to the sea bottom and creep over the seabed, reaching up to 5 km from the discharge point. Previous reviews have discussed the effects of SWRO desalination brine on various marine ecosystems, yet little attention has been paid to the impacts on benthic habitats. This review comprehensibly discusses the effects of SWRO brine discharge on marine benthic fauna and flora. We review previous studies that indicated a suite of impacts by SWRO brine on benthic organisms, including bacteria, seagrasses, polychaetes, and corals. The effects within the discharge mixing zones range from impaired activities and morphological deformations to changes in the community composition. Recent modeling work demonstrated that brine could spread over the seabed, beyond the mixing zone, for up to several tens of kilometers and impair nutrient fluxes from the sediment to the water column. We also provide a possible perspective on brine's impact on the biogeochemical process within the mixing zone subsurface. Desalination brine can infiltrate into the sandy bottom around the discharge area due to gravity currents. Accumulation of brine and associated chemical additives, such as polyphosphonate-based antiscalants and ferric-based coagulants in the porewater, may change the redox zones and, hence, impact biogeochemical processes in sediments. With the demand for drinking water escalating worldwide, the volumes of brine discharge are predicted to triple during the current century. Future efforts should focus on the development and operation of viable technologies to minimize the volumes of brine discharged into marine environments, along with a change to environmentally friendly additives. However, the application of these technologies should be partly subsidized by governmental stakeholders to safeguard coastal ecosystems around desalination facilities.

Enhanced Rock Weathering for Carbon Removal-Monitoring and Mitigating Potential Environmental Impacts on Agricultural Land.

Terrestrial enhanced rock weathering (ERW) is the application of pulverized silicate rock to soils for the purposes of carbon removal and improved soil health. Although a geochemical modeling framework for ERW in soils is emerging, there is a scarcity of experimental and field trial data exploring potential environmental impacts, risks, and monitoring strategies associated with this practice. This paper identifies potential negative consequences and positive cobenefits of ERW scale-up and suggests mitigation and monitoring strategies. To do so, we examined literature on not only ERW but also industry, agriculture, ecosystem science, water chemistry, and human health. From this work, we develop recommendations for future research, infrastructure, and policy needs. We also recommend target metrics, risk mitigation strategies, and best practices for monitoring that will permit early detection and prevention of negative environmental impacts.

The Global Environmental Benefits of Halving Avoidable Consumer Food Waste.

Avoidable consumer food waste (ACFW) is a global environmental issue wasting key resources and causing emissions, especially in high food-producing nations. We trace ACFW to its origin to assess emissions, water use, and land use. We show that ACFW impacts are dominated by commodities like beef, dairy, rice, and wheat. Over 80% of impacts are domestic, but impacts embodied in trade affect a few major food-producing countries under environmental pressure. A 50% reduction in ACFW could save up to 198 Mt CO2eq in emissions, 30 Gm3 of blue water, and 99 Mha of land. Targeting key commodities in impactful countries (e.g., US beef waste) could achieve significant benefits. Sparing wasted land and returning it to its potential natural vegetation could sequester 26 Gt CO2eq long-term (17-35 Gt CO2eq). Finally, while the 50% ACFW reduction lines up with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3b for the avoidable portion of food waste, a total of 276 Mt of unavoidable consumer food waste is also generated, which cannot be readily reduced. Achieving a 50% reduction in total food waste would require a 93% reduction in ACFW. Tracking the spatial impacts of ACFW can elucidate the concrete benefits of policies aiming at SDG 12.3b.

Wasted Food, Wasted Resources? A Critical Review of Environmental Impact Analysis of Food Loss and Waste Generation and Treatment.

Food loss and waste (FLW) comes with significant environmental impacts and thus prevents a sustainable food system transition. Here we conducted a systematic review of 174 screened studies that assessed the environmental impacts of FLW generation and treatment. We found that the embodied impacts of FLW along the supply chain and impacts from FLW treatment received equal attention, but few studies have included both. The reviewed studies show narrow geographical (mostly conducted in industrialized countries) and food supply chain (mostly focused on the consumption stage) coverage. Life cycle analysis (LCA), material flow analysis (MFA), or their combination are the most commonly used to quantify FLW related environmental impacts. More method standardization, integration, and innovation and better FLW data with regional and stage resolution from a first-hand source are badly needed. Among the various proposed mitigation strategies covering technology, economy, behavior, and policy aspects, process optimization and waste management options are the most discussed. Our review calls for a more holistic environmental impact assessment of FLW generation and treatment and analysis of the trade-offs among different environmental impact categories and between supply chain stages, which would better inform relevant policy on effective environmental impact mitigation strategies toward sustainable food systems.

Exploring tradeoffs among diet quality and environmental impacts in self-selected diets: a population-based study.

PURPOSE: Proposed sustainable diets often deviate dramatically from currently consumed diets, excluding or drastically reducing entire food groups. Moreover, their environmental sustainability tends to be measured only in terms of greenhouse gases emissions. The aim of this study was to overcome these limitations and identify a cluster of already adopted, relatively healthy diets with substantially lower environmental impacts than the average diet. We also aimed to estimate the reduction in multiple environmental impacts that could be achieved by shifting to this diet cluster and highlight possible tradeoffs among environmental impacts. METHODS: The diet clusters were identified by applying energy-adjusted multiple factor analysis and hierarchical clustering to the dietary data of the National FinHealth 2017 Study (n = 5125) harmonized with life cycle assessment data on food products from Agribalyse 3.0 and Agri-Footprint using nutrient intakes and global warming potential, land use, and eutrophication of marine and freshwater systems as the active variables. RESULTS: We identified five diet clusters, none of which had the highest overall diet quality and lowest impact for all four environmental indicators. One cluster, including twenty percent of the individuals in the sample was identified as a "best compromise" diet with the highest diet quality and the second lowest environmental impacts of all clusters, except for freshwater eutrophication. The cluster did not exclude any food groups, but included more fruits, vegetables, and fish and less of all other animal-source foods than average. Shifting to this cluster diet could raise diet quality while achieving significant reductions in most but not all environmental impacts. CONCLUSION: There are tradeoffs among the environmental impacts of diets. Thus, future dietary analyses should consider multiple sustainability indicators simultaneously. Cluster analysis is a useful tool to help design tailored, socio-culturally acceptable dietary transition paths towards high diet quality and lower environmental impact.

Cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of Spirulina bioplastic produced via plasticization with glycerol.

Bioplastics have been used as alternatives to conventional petroleum-based plastics to lessen the burdens on marine and terrestrial environments due to their non-biodegradability and toxicity. However, recent studies have shown that not all bioplastics may be environmentally friendly. Microalgae, such as Spirulina that do not require arable land, have been identified as a potential bioplastic source. In this study, cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out in openLCA program using the Agribalyse database, to evaluate the environmental impacts of Spirulina bioplastic, formed from plasticization of Spirulina powder with glycerol. Two processes were created for the inventories of (i) Spirulina powder and (ii) Spirulina bioplastic, where the output of the former served as an input for the latter. The extruded bioplastic sheets were food-grade and could be used as edible packaging materials. The bioplastic was also compared to conventional plastics and it was found that the energy consumption was 3.83 ± 0.26 MJ/kg-bioplastic, which was 12% and 22% higher than that of LDPE and PVC plastic films, respectively. The impacts on the environment showed that the chemical growth medium (Zarrouk medium) and electricity were the main contributors in most of the categories. Compared to the PVC and LDPE films, the Spirulina bioplastic's impacts on the aquatic ecosystems were 2-3 times higher. The global warming potential of the Spirulina bioplastic was 1.99 ± 0.014 kg CO2 eq, which was 23% and 47% lower than that of LDPE and PVC films, respectively. Sensitivity analysis was carried out by changing the electricity source and using alternative growth media. Except for the case of switching to solar energy, the results for other cases did not differ significantly from the base case scenario. Future studies were suggested to identify different greener alternatives to the growth medium as well as different energy mixes for more environmentally benign solutions.

Uncovering environmental performance patterns of plastic packaging waste in high recovery rate countries: An example of EU-27.

Plastic consumption and its end-of-life management pose a significant environmental footprint and are energy intensive. Waste-to-resources and prevention strategies have been promoted widely in Europe as countermeasures; however, their effectiveness remains uncertain. This study aims to uncover the environmental footprint patterns of the plastics value chain in the European Union Member States (EU-27) through exploratory data analysis with dimension reduction and grouping. Nine variables are assessed, ranging from socioeconomic and demographic to environmental impacts. Three clusters are formed according to the similarity of a range of characteristics (nine), with environmental impacts being identified as the primary influencing variable in determining the clusters. Most countries belong to Cluster 0, consisting of 17 countries in 2014 and 18 countries in 2019. They represent clusters with a relatively low global warming potential (GWP), with an average value of 2.64 t CO2eq/cap in 2014 and 4.01 t CO2eq/cap in 2019. Among all the assessed countries, Denmark showed a significant change when assessed within the traits of EU-27, categorised from Cluster 1 (high GWP) in 2014 to Cluster 0 (low GWP) in 2019. The analysis of plastic packaging waste statistics in 2019 (data released in 2022) shows that, despite an increase in the recovery rate within the EU-27, the GWP has not reduced, suggesting a rebound effect. The GWP tends to increase in correlation with the higher plastic waste amount. In contrast, other environmental impacts, like eutrophication, abiotic and acidification potential, are identified to be mitigated effectively via recovery, suppressing the adverse effects of an increase in plastic waste generation. The five-year interval data analysis identified distinct clusters within a set of patterns, categorising them based on their similarities. The categorisation and managerial insights serve as a foundation for devising a focused mitigation strategy.

A call from 40 public health scientists for an end to the continuing humanitarian and environmental catastrophe in Gaza.

An under-recognised aspect of the current humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is the impact of the war on the environment and the associated risks for human health. This commentary contextualises these impacts against the background of human suffering produced by the overwhelming violence associated with the use of military force against the general population of Gaza. In calling for an immediate cessation to the violence, the authors draw attention to the urgent need to rebuild the health care system and restore the physical and human infrastructure that makes a liveable environment possible and promotes human health and well-being, especially for the most vulnerable in the population. Environmental remediation should therefore form one of the most important parts of international efforts to assist reconstruction, through which we hope Palestinians and Israelis will achieve lasting peace, health, and sustainable development, all as part of accepted international human rights obligations.

Shaping sustainable consumption: Quebec consumers' knowledge and beliefs about the environmental impacts of food.

There is growing evidence that shifts in food consumption have the potential to mitigate the environmental impacts of food systems. Yet, although Canadians are increasingly concerned about climate change, changes towards more sustainable food consumption patterns are not widely observed. Understanding consumers' perspective on these issues is crucial for bridging this gap between individual behaviors and collective concerns. This study explores the knowledge, understanding and beliefs of Quebec consumers regarding the environmental impacts of food and their potential for shaping sustainable food consumption. A representative sample of consumers (N = 978) answered an online questionnaire assessing their factual knowledge and investigating their views of food systems impacts. Results indicate low levels of knowledge and highlight widely shared beliefs regarding food systems. Consumers tended to overestimate the role of transport in food's environmental footprint and believe that reducing transport or eating local foods are the most effective ways to improve environmental sustainability. Likewise, consumers tend to underestimate the impact of production, as well as solutions that could effectively reduce this impact. The findings reveal a need for improved literacy and awareness of the environmental impacts of food, thereby highlighting the importance of effective information and education strategies to shape sustainable food consumption habits.

A critical review on plastic waste life cycle assessment and management: Challenges, research gaps, and future perspectives.

The global production and consumption of plastics, as well as their deposition in the environment, are experiencing exponential growth. In addition, mismanaged plastic waste (PW) losses into drainage channels are a growing source of microplastic (MP) pollution concern. However, the complete understanding of their environmental implications throughout their life cycle is yet to be fully understood. Determining the potential extent to which MPs contribute to overall ecotoxicity is possible through the monitoring of PW release and MP removal during remediation. Life cycle assessments (LCAs) have been extensively utilized in many comparative analyses, such as comparing petroleum-based plastics with biomass and single-use plastics with multi-use alternatives. These assessments typically yield unexpected or paradoxical results. Nevertheless, there is still a paucity of reliable data and tools for conducting LCAs on plastics. On the other hand, the release and impact of MP have so far not been considered in LCA studies. This is due to the absence of inventory-related data regarding MP releases and the characterization factors necessary to quantify the effects of MP. Therefore, this review paper conducts a comprehensive literature review in order to assess the current state of knowledge and data regarding the environmental impacts that occur throughout the life cycle of plastics, along with strategies for plastic management through LCA.

Healthy environments for athleTes (HEAT): environmental conditions along a 90 km ultra-marathon event, South Africa.

This paper provides an overview of the HEAT (Healthy Environments for AthleTes) project, which aims to understand the impact of environmental conditions on athlete health and performance during major sporting events such as long-distance running, cycling, and triathlons. In collaboration with the SAFER (Strategies to reduce Adverse medical events For the ExerciseR) initiative, the HEAT project carried out a field campaign at the 2022 Comrades Marathon in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The measurement campaign deployed seven weather stations, seven PM2.5 monitors and one spore trap along the 90 km route to capture spatially representative measurements of complex micro-climates, allergenic aerospora, and particulate matter exposure. The results indicate that runners were exposed to moderate risk heat stress conditions. Novel findings from this initial campaign shows elevated and potentially harmful PM2.5 levels at spectator areas, possibly coinciding with small fire events around the race day festivities. Our findings show values PM2.5 levels over the WHO 24-h guidelines at all stations, while 2000 µg/m3 at two stations. However, the lack of an acute exposure standard means direct health impacts cannot be quantified in the context of a sport event. The HEAT project highlights important aspects of race day monitoring; regional scale climatology has an impact on the race day conditions, the microclimatic conditions (pollution and meteorology) are not necessarily captured by proximity instruments and direct environmental measurements are required to accurately capture conditions along the route.

A Comprehensive Assessment of the Environmental Impact of Different Infant Feeding Types: The Observational Study GREEN MOTHER.

AIM(S): To observe and compare the environmental impacts of different types of infant feeding, considering the use of formula, infant feeding accessories, potentially increased maternal dietary intake during breastfeeding (BF) and food consumption habits. DESIGN: An observational cross-sectional multicentre study conducted in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area of the Catalan Institute of Health. METHODS: Data were collected from 419 postpartum women on infant feeding type (formula milk and accessories), maternal dietary intake (24-h register) and food consumption habits from November 2022 to April 2023. The environmental impacts (climate change (CC), water consumption and water scarcity) of the infant feeding types and maternal diet were calculated using the IPCC, ReCiPE and AWARE indicators, respectively. The differences in impacts were calculated by Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS: Significant differences for the three environmental impacts were observed. The CC impact of formula milk and feeding accessories was 0.01 kg CO2eq for exclusive BF, 1.55 kg CO2eq for mixed feeding and 4.98 kg CO2eq for formula feeding. While BF mothers consumed an extra 238 kcal, no significant differences were found related to maternal diet across feeding types. CONCLUSION: Exclusive BF was the most sustainable type of infant feeding, considering formula and infant feeding accessories. In our study, the difference between the impacts of BF and non-BF mothers' diet was insignificant. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE: Offer informative and educational support for midwives and other healthcare professionals on BF and a healthy, sustainable diet to transfer this knowledge to the general public. IMPACT: Raise the general public's awareness about BF and a healthy, sustainable diet. To reduce environmental impacts through behavioural changes. REPORTING METHOD: STROBE. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Patients of the Catalan Health Service reviewed the content of the data collection tools. TRIAL REGISTRATION: (for the whole GREEN MOTHER project): NCT05729581 (https://clinicaltrials.gov).

Use of trophic ecology of omnivorous fish and abiotic factors as supporting tools for assessing environmental impacts in a neotropical river.

The study of diet is one of the mechanisms by which competition for resources between species that cohabit in the same ecosystem can be inferred. Therefore, the relationships of the indices that measure specialization in the diet of fish species are necessary to characterize the nutritional quality of these populations and the ecosystem's environmental health. Three species of catfish were selected: one invasive (Clarias gariepinus) and two natives (Trachelyopterus striatulus and Rhamdia quelen), with similar distribution along the Guapi-Macacu River, in the Guapimirim Protection Area (Rio de Janeiro). Fifty-nine catfish of the three species were collected in total, along 32 collection points in the Guapi-Macacu River in two periods (dry and rainy) in 2018. Non-parametric statistics showed the partition of resources between species and the influence of abiotic factors (temperature, pH, transparency, and dissolved oxygen) contributing to the selection of available resources in the environment. Diet-related indices-repletion index (RI), condition factor (K), niche width, and trophic position (TP) of the specimens collected-contributed to measuring the nutritional status of each of these catfish species, showing that R. quelen has a relationship between RI and K, tending to absorb and metabolize nutrients faster than other species. In addition, the invasive species occupies a wide range of TPs compared to native species, confirming its feeding plasticity. On the contrary, T. striatulus needs large amounts of terrestrial insects to maintain its poor condition factor. Also, the RI showed direct influences of abiotic variables, with the temperature being the most prominent. Our results suggest that the invasive species can benefit from this environment that shows signs of environmental degradation.

Multi-perspective evaluation on spent lithium iron phosphate recycling process: For next-generation technology option.

The recycling of spent lithium iron phosphate batteries has recently become a focus topic. Consequently, evaluating different spent lithium iron phosphate recycling processes becomes necessary for industrial development. Here, based on multiple perspectives of environment, economy and technology, four typical spent lithium iron phosphate recovery processes (Hydro-A: hydrometallurgical total leaching recovery process; Hydro-B(H2O2/O2): hydrometallurgical selective lithium extraction process; Pyro: Pyrometallurgical recovery process; Direct: Direct regeneration process) were compared comprehensively. The comprehensive evaluation study uses environment, economy and technology as evaluation indicators, and uses the entropy weight method and analytic hierarchy process to couple the comprehensive indicator weights. Results show that the comprehensive evaluation values of Hydro-A, Hydro-B (H2O2), Hydro-B (O2), Pyro and Direct are 0.347, 0.421, 0.442, 0.099 and 0.857, respectively. Therefore, the technological maturity of Direct should be further improved to enable early industrialization. On this basis, this study conducted a quantitative evaluation of the spent lithium iron phosphate recycling process by comprehensively considering environmental, economic and technical factors, providing further guidance for the formulation of recycling processes.

Environmental reporting in Italian thermal power plants: insights from a comprehensive analysis of EMAS environmental statements.

The global energy sector heavily relies on fossil fuels, significantly contributing to climate change. The ambitious European emissions' reduction targets require sustainable processes and alternatives. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of 73 Italian thermal power plants registered to the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) aimed at assessing EMAS effectiveness in addressing and quantifying the environmental impacts of this relevant industrial sector. The analysis was based on EMAS environmental statements, publicly disclosing verified and certified data, with the secondary objective of evaluating if EMAS could be an efficient tool to improve the plants' environmental performances. An inventory of technical and environmental aspects, adopted indicators, and allocated budgets was based on 2023 data. A strong correlation was found between the significance of the environmental aspects and the number of adopted indicators. Gaps were observed in describing aspects like "biodiversity" and "local issues". Improvement objectives and budget allocation showed discrepancies and lacked correlation with the significance of the related environmental aspects. "Energy production" accounted for 68% of the total allocated budget; "environmental risks", "emissions to air", "electricity consumption", and "local issues" were also key focus areas. Insufficient information on emission control technologies and progress tracking of improvement objectives was detected. This study highlights the need for thermal power installations to improve the selection of appropriate indicators and to better relate allocated budget to improvement objectives when implementing EMAS. Such measures would facilitate the quantification of the effective environmental impacts of the energy production sector, supporting future research on this topic, allowing stakeholders a better comparison among plants, and driving industry-wide improvements.

Environmental impact assessment of ocean energy converters using quantum machine learning.

The depletion of fossil energy reserves and the environmental pollution caused by these sources highlight the need to harness renewable energy sources from the oceans, such as waves and tides, due to their high potential. On the other hand, the large-scale deployment of ocean energy converters to meet future energy needs requires the use of large farms of these converters, which may have negative environmental impacts on the ocean ecosystem. In the meantime, a very important point is the volume of data produced by different methods of collecting data from the ocean for their analysis, which makes the use of advanced tools such as different machine learning algorithms even more colorful. In this article, some environmental impacts of ocean energy devices have been analyzed using machine learning and quantum machine learning. The results show that quantum machine learning performs better than its classical counterpart in terms of calculation accuracy. This approach offers a promising new method for environmental impact assessment, especially in a complex environment such as the ocean.

Impacts assessment of nitrification inhibitors on U.S. agricultural emissions of reactive nitrogen gases.

Fertilizer-intensive agriculture leads to emissions of reactive nitrogen (Nr), posing threats to climate via nitrous oxide (N2O) and to air quality and human health via nitric oxide (NO) and ammonia (NH3) that form ozone and particulate matter (PM) downwind. Adding nitrification inhibitors (NIs) to fertilizers can mitigate N2O and NO emissions but may stimulate NH3 emissions. Quantifying the net effects of these trade-offs requires spatially resolving changes in emissions and associated impacts. We introduce an assessment framework to quantify such trade-off effects. It deploys an agroecosystem model with enhanced capabilities to predict emissions of Nr with or without the use of NIs, and a social cost of greenhouse gas to monetize the impacts of N2O on climate. The framework also incorporates reduced-complexity air quality and health models to monetize associated impacts of NO and NH3 emissions on human health downwind via ozone and PM. Evaluation of our model against available field measurements showed that it captured the direction of emission changes but underestimated reductions in N2O and overestimated increases in NH3 emissions. The model estimated that, averaged over applicable U.S. agricultural soils, NIs could reduce N2O and NO emissions by an average of 11% and 16%, respectively, while stimulating NH3 emissions by 87%. Impacts are largest in regions with moderate soil temperatures and occur mostly within two to three months of N fertilizer and NI application. An alternative estimate of NI-induced emission changes was obtained by multiplying the baseline emissions from the agroecosystem model by the reported relative changes in Nr emissions suggested from a global meta-analysis: -44% for N2O, -24% for NO and +20% for NH3. Monetized assessments indicate that on an annual scale, NI-induced harms from increased NH3 emissions outweigh (8.5-33.8 times) the benefits of reducing NO and N2O emissions in all agricultural regions, according to model-based estimates. Even under meta-analysis-based estimates, NI-induced damages exceed benefits by a factor of 1.1-4. Our study highlights the importance of considering multiple pollutants when assessing NIs, and underscores the need to mitigate NH3 emissions. Further field studies are needed to evaluate the robustness of multi-pollutant assessments.

Responsibility for the Environmental Impact of Data-Intensive Research: An Exploration of UK Health Researchers.

Concerns about research's environmental impacts have been articulated in the research arena, but questions remain about what types of role responsibilities are appropriate to place on researchers, if any. The research question of this paper is: what are the views of UK health researchers who use data-intensive methods on their responsibilities to consider the environmental impacts of their research? Twenty-six interviews were conducted with UK health researchers using data-intensive methods. Participants expressed a desire to take responsibility for the environmental impacts of their research, however, they were unable to consolidate this because there were often obstacles that prevented them from taking such role responsibilities. They suggested strategies to address this, predominantly related to the need for regulation to monitor their own behaviour. This paper discusses the implications of adopting such a regulatory approach as a mechanism to promote researchers' role responsibilities using a neo-liberal critique.

Assessment of pesticide residues: a comprehensive analysis of seasonal trends and health implications.

This study assessed the presence of eight pesticide residues in the Indus River, Mianwali, Pakistan, focusing on three sampling sites (S1, S2, and S3) in water, sediment, and the fish species Cyprinus carpio during both dry and wet seasons. Analysis was conducted using gas chromatography with an electron capture detector. Results indicated elevated pesticide concentrations in both seasons, with levels of 0.84 and 0.62 µg/L in water, 12.47 and 9.21 µg/g/dw in sediment, and 17.33 and 12.17 µg/g/ww in fish, with higher concentrations observed during the dry season. Cypermethrin and carbofuran were the primary pesticides detected in water, while endosulfan and cypermethrin were dominant in sediment and fish tissue, often exceeding standard safety thresholds. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis revealed stronger correlations between sediment and fish muscle, with varying associations among pesticides across seasons. The Hazard Index (HI) surpassed 1 in both seasons, signaling potential health risks to humans. These findings underscore the substantial risk agricultural pesticides pose to the aquatic ecosystem and food chain, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable agricultural practices and stricter regulations to minimize pesticide use and encourage eco-friendly pest management strategies.

[The environmental impact of digital technology and artificial intelligence, in the era of digital pathology]. / Impacts environnementaux du numérique et de l'intelligence artificielle, à l'heure de la pathologie digitale.

While digitization and artificial intelligence represent the future of our specialty, future is also constrained by global warming and overstepping of planetary limits, threatening human health and the functioning of the healthcare system. The report by the Délégation ministérielle du numérique en santé and the French government's ecological planning of the healthcare system confirm the need to control the environmental impact of digital technology. Indeed, despite the promises of dematerialization, digital technology is a very material industry, generating greenhouse gas emissions, problematic consumption of water and mineral resources, and social impacts. The digital sector is impacting at every stage: (i) manufacture of equipment; (ii) use; and (iii) end-of-life of equipment, which, when recycled, can only be recycled to a very limited extent. This is a fast-growing sector, and the digitization of our specialty is part of its acceleration and its impact. Understanding the consequences of digitalization and artificial intelligence, and phenomena such as the rebound effect, is an essential prerequisite for the implementation of a sober, responsible, and sustainable digital pathology. The aim of this update is to help pathologists better understand the environmental impact of digital technology. As healthcare professionals, we have a responsibility to combine technological advances with an awareness of their impact, within a systemic vision of human health.