Themed collection REV articles from Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts

Accurate quantification of inorganic fluoride (F⁻) release is an essential metric for evaluating the efficacy of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) degradation processes.

Microplastics (MPs) are persistent pollutants that pose serious ecological and health hazards across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

This article emphasizes the crucial role of metrology, the science of measurement, in modern life.

Cobalt (Co) is a transition metal essential for human and animal health. Cobalt is classified as a beneficial element for plants, but its precise physiological roles in plant metabolism remain enigmatic.

Lead (Pb) has been used in human civilization for centuries, but the quantity and source of Pb pollution released into the environment varies spatially and temporally. Ice cores and snowpits are an excellent record of past Pb use.

This review provides valuable insights into environmental contamination caused by petroleum hydrocarbons and contributes to the development of effective remediation strategies.

Microplastics originating from legacy landfills can be transported via leachate, soils, sediments, air, and compost, thereby highlighting multiple terrestrial transport pathways and associated environmental risks.

This review systematically examines the occurrence, mechanisms, and environmental implications of heavy metal(loid)-related anaerobic oxidation of methane in wetland ecosystems.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emitted from sources such as industrial activities and transport emissions are washed into rivers and lakes by rainwater runoff and infiltrate groundwater, causing widespread water pollution.

This critical review systematically compares pharmaceutical fate and exposure models, identifies key limitations and data gaps, and proposes innovative integration of mechanistic insights and machine learning to advance predictive capabilities.

This review critically analyzes the key mechanisms of stabilization of soil organic carbon by biochar.

Biodegradable plastic degradation in soils is highly complex. Without effective management, degradation poses potential risks to environmental and human health, soil quality, food security and safety, and environmental sustainability.

This review summarizes PFAS reproductive toxicity in five model organisms, highlighting gonadal damage, hormone disruption, and transgenerational effects, to support model selection and future research strategies.

Organobrominated contaminants pose significant environmental risks due to their persistence, toxicity, and involve complex migration and transformation pathways, which can be differentiated by compound-specific isotope analysis.

The production and use of PFAS in some countries, coupled with uncertainties about their applications across Asia, underscore the urgent need to assess human exposure.

Tire wear particle emissions in the environment have low risk prioritization. This has been estimated from data on terrestrial and aquatic exposure and hazard. The risk of tire leachables is not yet known due to inconsistency in hazard data.

Microplastics represent a group of emerging environmental contaminants widely recognized for their potential impacts on human health, particularly concerning the pathogenesis of cancer.

This review analyses data on heavy metal contamination in wastewater-irrigated vegetables across four developing Asian countries, highlighting metal accumulation patterns, health impacts, regulatory gaps and calls for urgent coordinated action.

Antidepressants are increasingly detected in aquatic environments due to their incomplete removal in wastewater treatment, raising significant concerns about their ecological impacts.

Impact of nanoplastics (NPs), microplastics (MPs), and heavy metals (HMs) on soil and plant properties.

This review summarizes the research progress on the adsorption of organic pollutants onto microplastics with different techniques, i.e., experiments, simulations, and prediction models, and provides perspectives for future research.

This paper focuses on the fate, degradation mechanisms and toxic effects of the neonicotinoid insecticide sulfentrazone in the environment.

Antimony (Sb) has gained increased attention over the past few decades due to its possible detrimental effects on biota and its potential to leach and disperse from contaminated soils.

Microcontaminants and microplastics are released at every stage of production and use and end up in wastewater treatment plants and eventually in surface waters.

An overview of the photodegradation of psychotropic drugs in the aquatic environment.

The nano-self-assembly of natural organic matter (NOM) profoundly influences the occurrence and fate of NOM and pollutants in large-scale complex environments.

This work introduces the reader to machine learning principles and highlights its usage in examining microplastics in soil samples.

The review highlights advanced removal strategies and their impacts on soil algae and nematodes, addressing plasticizer pollution comprehensively.

The critical review scrutinizes some of the public statements on fluorinated gases and gives a detailed overview of the available alternatives to fluorinated gases used as refrigerants.

This review focuses on the impact of cell types and other experimental factors such as exposure duration, dose, chemical composition, and atmospheric processing of PM, on the results of cell-based assays.

Optical surrogates are used to characterize dissolved organic matter composition like aromaticity and molecular weight. We both review the genesis of surrogate-composition relationships and critically evaluate additional supporting evidence.