The scientific advancement of water quality criteria (WQC) stands as one of the paramount challenges in ensuring the security of aquatic ecosystem. The region-dependent species distribution and water quality characteristics would impact the toxicity of pollutant, which would further affect the derivation of WQC across regions. Presently, however, numerous countries adhere to singular WQC values. The \"One-size-fits-all\" WQC value for a given pollutant may lead to either \"over-protection\" or \"under-protection\" of organisms in specific region. In this study, we used cadmium(Cd) pollution in surface waters of China as a case study to shed light on this issue. This study evaluated critical water quality parameters and species distribution characteristics to modify WQC for Cd across distinct regions, thus unveiling the geographical variations in ecological risk for Cd throughout China. Notably, regional disparities in ecological risk emerged a substantial correlation with water hardness, while species-related distinctions magnified these regional variations. After considering the aforementioned factors, the variation in long-term WQC among different areas reached 84-fold, while the divergence in risk quotient extended to 280-fold. This study delineated zones of both heightened and diminished ecological susceptibility of Cd, thereby establishing a foundation for regionally differentiated management strategies.

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a common medical condition in women. However, the correlation between exposure to heavy metals, including cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), mercury (Hg), and selenium (Se), and PID, is unclear. Using a large sample size from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, these relationships were studied and verified. PID diagnosis was acquired through a self-reported questionnaire (2013-2018). Heavy metal exposure (Cd, Pb, Mn, Hg, and Se) was measured using mass spectrometry of blood samples. Covariate data were obtained through questionnaires and physical tests. Individuals with complete covariate data were included in the study. The relationship between heavy metal exposure (Cd, Pb, Mn, Hg, and Se) and PID was demonstrated using logistic regression analysis, weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression analysis, and restricted cubic splines (RCS). Overall, 2743 participants were included. Of these, 183 were diagnosed with PID. Through weighted univariate and multivariate regression analyses, the heavy metals of Cd and Pb were positively correlated with the prevalence of PID. However, no significant relationship was observed in the heavy metals of Mn, Hg, and Se. The joint effect of heavy metals further confirmed the important role of Cd and Pb in WQS analysis. After visualizing the RCS, significant curved and linear relationships were observed for Cd and Pb, respectively. Most subgroup analyses confirmed these results. In conclusion, exposure to Cd was nonlinearly correlated with the risk of PID, whereas exposure to Pb showed a linear relationship. Our findings increase the awareness of the environmental effects of exposure to heavy metals in PID. However, further studies are needed to elucidate the causality and underlying mechanisms between heavy metal exposure and the prevalence of PID.

UNASSIGNED: Associations between trace elements and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) have been speculated but not thoroughly examined.
UNASSIGNED: This study registered a total of 225 newly diagnosed patients with NPC and 225 healthy controls matched by sex and age from three municipal hospitals in Guangdong Province, southern China between 2011 and 2015. Information was collected by questionnaire on the demographic characteristics and other possibly confounding lifestyle factors. Eight trace elements and the level of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibody were measured in casual (spot) serum specimens by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. Restricted cubic splines and conditional logistic regression were applied to assess the relationship between trace elements and NPC risk through single-and multiple-elements models.
UNASSIGNED: Serum levels of chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), arsenic (As), strontium (Sr) and molybdenum (Mo) were not associated with NPC risk. Manganese (Mn) and cadmium (Cd) were positively associated with NPC risk in both single-and multiple-element models, with ORs of the highest tertile compared with the reference categories 3.90 (95% CI, 1.27 to 7.34) for Mn and 2.30 (95% CI, 1.26 to 3.38) for Cd. Restricted cubic splines showed that there was a linear increasing trend between Mn and NPC risk, while for Cd there was a J-type correlation.
UNASSIGNED: Serum levels of Cd and Mn was positively related with NPC risk. Prospective researches on the associations of the two trace elements with NPC ought to be taken into account within the future.

Few studies have focused on environmental cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) exposure while exploring the effect of smoking on blood Cd (BCd) and blood Pb (BPb) levels. Moreover, essential trace elements affect the absorption, accumulation, and toxicity of Cd and Pb. To investigate the effect of smoking on BCd and BPb levels under high Cd and Pb exposure and the influence of essential trace elements on the effect, 301 residents living near a mining and smelting area in Northwest China were included in our study. After collecting health information and measuring BCd, BPb, serum iron, magnesium, and total calcium levels, we analyzed the association between smoking and BCd and BPb levels and the influence of the essential trace elements on the association. The results showed that BCd and BPb levels in smokers were significantly higher than those in non-smokers. There was a dose-response association between pack-years and the odds ratios (ORs) of high BCd and BPb levels in all participants compared with non-smokers. Serum iron, magnesium, and calcium had a negative effect on the elevations of the ORs of high BCd and BPb levels. In addition, smoking-related elevations of BCd and BPb levels vary by sex, age, BMI, and age of smoking initiation. Our findings present evidence for the effect of smoking on BCd and BPb levels under high Cd and Pb exposure and may provide guidance for the prevention and control of BCd and BPb elevations in residents living in Cd- and Pb-polluted areas.

Ornamental hyperaccumulators are considered ideal plants for phytoremediation of cadmium (Cd)-contaminated soils because of their high accumulation capacity and minimal potential to enter the food chain. Aiming to estimate the phytoremediation efficiency and explore the influence of double harvesting, a filed study was carried out in Cd-contaminated alkaline soil using the ornamental hyperaccumulator Mirabilis jalapa L. Seeds of M. jalapa were sawn with spacing in rows of 15 cm and in lines of 20 cm on April 20th. Three treatments with different harvesting strategies were arranged: all plants were harvested once on September 10th (marked with H0), and the plants were harvested on July 20th for the first time at a height above ground of 50 cm and 30 cm (marked with H1 and H2, respectively), and then, they were harvested on September 10th for the second time. The plant samples were digested with a mixture of HNO3 and HClO4 and determined using ICP-MS. The results showed that the total biomass of the shoots increased from 505.81 ± 8.29 g/m2 in the H0 treatment to 849.72 ± 59.73 and 933.14 ± 96.12 g/m2 in the H1 and H2 treatments, respectively, while the total Cd accumulation in the shoots was 42.32 ± 4.44, 52.99 ± 7.32, and 56.30 ± 6.95 g/ha in the H0, H1, and H2 treatments, respectively. Phytoremediation efficiencies increased by at least 20% after the application of double harvesting. However, double harvesting also decreased the translocation and bioconcentration factors with a reduction of 30-55% because the Cd concentration in the shoots was low at the first harvest. Our results suggested that double harvesting is a powerful method to improve phytoremediation efficiency with low costs and minimal risk, and other technologies should be applied together to address the accumulation and translocation of Cd.

The risk of heavy metal cadmium (Cd) on aquatic organisms has drawn widespread attentions, but the effects of nanomaterials (e.g. graphene (G)) on Cd toxicity are rarely clarified. It was known that mixture of contaminants may exhibit more severe impact than the individual metal. Here, we conducted a study systematically on the effects of nanomaterials on the toxicity of Cd to Scenedesmus Obliquus (S. obliquus) with or without the presence of graphene family materials (GFMs) derived from G, such as graphene oxide (GO) and amine-modified graphene (GNH). Our results showed that the influence of GFMs on the acute toxicity of Cd to S. obliquus is in the order of GO > G > GNH based on their EC50 of Cd-GFMs. The effects of GFMs on the cytotoxicity and oxidative damage of Cd to S. obliquus are varied with the concentrations of GFMs. The differences between the effects of GFMs on Cd toxicity may attribute to their different surface oxygen-containing functional groups contained in the nanomaterials. The adsorption capacity of nanomaterials on metal ions, their dispersibility in water and their interaction mode with organisms, may dominate main contributions to their effects on Cd toxicity. Our study aids to clarify the interference of nanoparticles on the ecotoxicity of metals, to avoid the misunderstanding of the potential risk of metals in the complicate water environments.

Soil contamination in some areas of southern China has resulted in elevated dietary intake of cadmium (Cd), posing a potential risk to human health. A survey of paired soil-rice (n = 200) and soil-vegetable (n = 142) samples was conducted in Xiangtan county of Hunan province, southern China. The concentrations of Cd in all the samples were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Dietary intakes of Cd from the consumption of locally produced rice and vegetables were estimated for different age groups. Among the 342 crop samples collected in the survey, 88% and 29% of rice grain and vegetable samples, respectively, exceeded the Chinese maximum permissible limit for Cd (0.2 mg dry weight kg-1, 0.2 mg fresh weight kg-1 and 0.1 mg fresh weight kg-1 for rice, leafy vegetables and for rootstalk and legume vegetables, respectively). The median dietary Cd intake varied from 66.5 to 116 μg Cd kg-1 body weight (BW) month-1, with children (4-11 years) exhibiting the highest intake. These values are 2.7-4.6 times the tolerable dietary intake of 25 μg kg-1 BW month-1 recommended by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. For the general population in Xiangtan county, rice contributed the majority (81%) of the Cd intake with vegetables contributing only 19%. The median hazard quotient calculated from dietary Cd intake was 2.4 times the permissible level, indicating a high risk to the local residents. This study highlights an urgent need to reduce the transfer of Cd from soil to the food chain in the investigated region.

We analysed the association between the concentration of four toxic elements (As, Cd, Hg and Pb) and diverse reproductive outcomes in a cohort of 194 women with fertility disorders undergoing IVF in a public hospital. Concentration in hair specimens was explored as biomarker of exposure during the three months prior to oocyte retrieval. The proportion of negative results, especially regarding pregnancy and birth outcomes, is remarkable. However, we found that the probability of mature oocytes was inversely associated with the concentration of Hg in hair (RR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.70-0.95) and directly associated with that of Pb (RR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.03-1.35). These findings provide insights for future research on the links between heavy metal concentrations and IVF outcomes.

Poplar clones were studied for their phytoextraction capacity in the second growth cycle (6-year growth) on a site in the Belgian Campine region, which is contaminated with Cd and Zn via historic atmospheric deposition of nearby zinc smelter activities. The field trial revealed regrowth problems for some clones that could not be predicted in the first growth cycle. Four allometric relations were assessed for their capacity to predict biomass yield in the second growth cycle. A power function based on the shoot diameter best estimates the biomass production of poplar with R2 values between 0.94 and 0.98. The woody biomass yield ranged from 2.1 to 4.8 ton woody Dry Mass (DM) ha-1 y-1. The primary goal was to reduce soil concentrations of metals caused by phytoextraction. Nevertheless, increased metal concentrations were determined in the topsoil. This increase can partially be explained by the input of metals from deeper soil layers in the top soil through litterfall. The phytoextraction option with poplar short rotation coppice in this setup did not lead to the intended soil remediation in a reasonable time span. Therefore, harvest of the leaf biomass is put forward as a crucial part of the strategy for soil remediation through Cd/Zn phytoextraction.

This study focused on the behavior of phosphorus (P) and its effect on cadmium (Cd) immobilization in sludge during hydrothermal treatment (HTT). The results showed that, after HTT other forms of P in sludge were almost completely converted into apatite P (AP) and the eco-toxicity and leachability of Cd was sharply decreased, signaling the immobilization effect of HTT on Cd in the sludge. Hydroxyapatite (HAP) addition showed a synergetic effect with HTT on Cd risk reduction, implying the immobilization effect of HTT on Cd could be partly attributed to the strong binding capacity of phosphorus with Cd. P content was found to have a strong relationship with the existing forms of Cd during HTT. The present results suggest that HTT with HAP addition could be a promising method for the safe disposal of Cd-contaminated sludge.