Characterization and evaluation of hazardous spent V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalysts are critical to determining their treatment or final disposal. This study employs a thermal approach to simulate the preparation of spent catalysts derived from commercial V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalysts and investigate the structure-activity relationship of the carrier changes during the deactivation process. The results indicate that the catalyst carrier undergoes two processes: an increase in grain size and a transformation in crystal structure. Both structural and catalytic investigations demonstrate that the grain size for catalyst deactivation is 24.62 nm, and the formation of CaWO4 occurs before the crystalline transformation. The specific surface area is susceptible to an increase in grain size. The reactions of selective catalytic reduction involve the participation of both Brønsted acid and Lewis acid sites. The deactivation process of the carrier initially affects Brønsted acid sites, followed by a reduction in Lewis acid sites, resulting in a decline in NH3 adsorption capacity and oxidation. Correlation analysis reveals that changes in the physicochemical properties of the catalyst reduce the NO conversion, with the order being The grain size > Total acid amount > The surface area. It is recommended to recycle the spent catalyst if the carrier grain size is less than 25 nm. The findings of this investigation contribute to expanding the database for evaluating and understanding the physicochemical properties of spent catalysts for disposal.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems play a crucial role in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China. Although the government has implemented many policies to improve the MSW management system, the impact of these improvements on city-level GHG emission reduction remains largely unexplored. This study conducted a comprehensive analysis of both direct and downstream GHG emissions from the MSW sector, encompassing sanitary landfill, dump, incineration, and biological treatment, across 352 Chinese cities from 2001 to 2021 by adopting inventory methods recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The results reveal that (1) GHG emissions from the MSW sector in China peaked at 70.6 Tg of CO2 equiv in 2018, followed by a significant decline to 47.6 Tg of CO2 equiv in 2021, (2) cities with the highest GHG emission reduction benefits in the MSW sector were historical emission hotspots over the past 2 decades, and (3) with the potential achievement of zero-landfilling policy by 2030, an additional reduction of 203.7 Tg of CO2 equiv is projected, with the emission reduction focus toward cities in South China (21.9%), Northeast China (17.8%), and Southwest China (17.3%). This study highlights that, even without explicit emission reduction targets for the MSW sector, the improvements of this sector have significantly reduced GHG emissions in China.

UNASSIGNED: Diabetes Mellitus is a long duration disease, and if a person with diabetes is infected with a blood-borne infectious disease and proper syringe disposal practices are not followed, they run the danger of transmitting the infection to others for a very long period. Whereas fewer research has been done in China on the handing of sharp objects at home. Therefore, there is a need to translate and localize the Knowledge-Attitude-Practice Questionnaire regarding sharp disposal for diabetic patients to assess the current level of patient knowledge, attitudes, and practices and to improve the basis for promoting safe sharps handling practices.
UNASSIGNED: This investigation was a cross-sectional study. The Knowledge-Attitude-Practice Questionnaire regarding sharp disposal was localized and debugged and tested for reliability and validity, and then 334 patients were investigated by General Characteristics Questionnaire, Knowledge- Attitude-Practice Questionnaire regarding sharp disposal, and the influencing factors of practice level regarding sharp disposal of patients were analyzed.
UNASSIGNED: The Cronbach\'s α value of the attitude section was 0.864 and the content validity index was 0.923. The knowledge and practice sections are in line with continental language conventions and are easy to understand without any ambiguity. The majority (52%) of the participants had poor knowledge and a neutral attitude toward disposing of sharp objects. Sharps disposal practices among diabetes mellitus patients were poor since about 90% of patients dispose of their used sharps directly into the household waste. Furthermore, we found that level of education, knowledge and attitude were the major predictors of practices regarding sharps disposal among diabetic patients (R 2 = 0.573, p < 0.001).
UNASSIGNED: The Chinese version of the Knowledge-Attitude-Practice Questionnaire regarding sharp disposal has applicability in China. In China, current practice of disposing used sharps is improper. Additionally, the majority of the subjects had low levels of knowledge and attitudes. To raise awareness and encourage diabetic patients to follow appropriate sharps disposal practices, there needs to be ongoing education and a locally tailored safe sharp disposal alternative accessible.

OBJECTIVE: Unsafe opioid-related practices can lead to abuse, diversion, and accidental overdoses. In this study, we aimed to describe the patterns and beliefs regarding the storage, disposal, and use of opioids among Chinese patients with cancer in their home settings, which remain unclear.
METHODS: A multicenter cross-sectional survey was conducted in Hubei Province from October 2022 to June 2023. We collected information on the storage, disposal, and use of opioids among cancer pain inpatients in the oncology department. Logistic regression was used to estimate the factors associated with unsafe disposal and use of opioids.
RESULTS: The survey included 221 patients with a median age of 62 years. Only 3.2% stored their opioids under lock and key, and 49.8% were unaware of proper disposal methods. Nearly one-fifth (19.5%) reported having received information on the safe storage (14.0%) and/or disposal (10.0%) of opioids. A total of 44.3% reported unsafe use by sharing (1.8%), losing (4.1%), or taking opioids at a higher dose than prescribed (42.5%). Patients who did not receive information on the safe disposal of opioids (OR = 4.57, P = .0423), had a history of alcohol use (OR = 1.91, P = .0399), and used opioids other than morphine (OR = 2.31, P = .0461) had higher odds of unsafe disposal practices. Individuals with an associate degree/bachelor\'s degree or above were less likely to dispose of (OR = 0.36, P = .0261) and use (OR = 0.31, P = .0127) opioids unsafely.
CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion of Chinese patients with cancer exhibit unsafe practices in the storage, disposal, and use of opioids. The study highlights an urgent need for implementing routine education programs and drug \"take-back\" initiatives to improve opioid-related practices.

Due to the far distance impact on resident, aquatic and soil ecosystem health, food waste disposal becomes the focus of municipal waste strategy in developing countries. Shanghai is a leading city in China, its evolution of food waste management can indicate the coming future of the nation. In this city, from 1986 to 2020, the open dumping, landfill and incineration of food waste had been gradually banned, replaced by centralized compost and anaerobic digestion and other recovery ways. This study selected ten scenarios, ever used for food/mixed waste disposal in Shanghai, and analyzed the environmental impact change during the period 1986-2020. Life cycle assessment showed that although the generation of food waste raised rapidly, the total environmental impact, which was dominated by Freshwater Aquatic Ecotoxicity Potential, displayed a sharp decrease as 96.09 %, and Global Warming Potential decreased by 28.14 %. Substantial efforts should be made to improve the collection rate of biogas and landfill gas to reduce environmental impact, and quality of residues from anaerobic digestion and compost plants should be improved and utilized in its legal ways. Driving forces for the goal of sustainable food waste management in Shanghai involved economic development, environmental regulations and the supporting national/local standards.

Dredging is one of the most effective methods for inhibiting the endogenous contamination of natural lakes. However, both the amount and the scope of dredging will be restricted if the disposal of the dredged sediment incurs considerable environmental and economic costs. The use of dredged sediments as a post-mining soil amendment for mine reclamation benefits both sustainable dredging and ecological restoration. This study incorporates a field planting experiment with a life cycle assessment to confirm the practical effectiveness of sediment disposal via mine reclamation, as well as its environmental and economic superiority over other alternative scenarios. The results show that the sediment offered plentiful organic matter and nitrogen for mine substrate, stimulating plant growth and increasing photosynthetic carbon fixation density, followed by enhanced plant root absorption and an improved soil immobilization effect on heavy metals. A 2:1 ratio of mine substrate to sediment is recommended to significantly promote the yield of ryegrass while reducing levels of groundwater pollution and soil contaminant accumulation. Due to the significant reduction in electricity and fuel, mine reclamation had minimal environmental impacts on global warming (2.63 × 10-2 kg CO2 eq./kg DS), fossil depletion (6.81 × 10-3 kg oil eq./DS), human toxicity (2.29 × 10-5 kg 1,4-DB eq/kg DS), photochemical oxidant formation (7.62 × 10-5 kg NOx eq./kg DS), and terrestrial acidification (6.69 × 10-5 kg SO2 eq./kg DS). Mine reclamation also had a lower cost (CNY 0.260/ kg DS) than cement production (CNY 0.965/kg DS) and unfired brick production (CNY 0.268/kg DS). The use of freshwater for irrigation and electricity for dehydration were the key factors in mine reclamation. Through this comprehensive evaluation, the disposal of dredged sediment for mine reclamation was verified to be both environmentally and economically feasible.

Waste masks pose a serious threat to the environment, including marine plastic pollution and soil pollution risks caused by landfills since the outbreak of COVID-19. Currently, numerous effective methods regarding disposal and resource utilization of waste masks have been reported, containing physical, thermochemical, and solvent-based technologies. As for physical technologies, the mechanical properties of the mask-based materials could be enhanced and the conductivity or antibacterial activity was endowed by adding natural fibers or inorganic nanoparticles. Regarding thermochemical technologies, catalytic pyrolysis could yield considerable hydrogen, which is an eco-friendly resource, and would mitigate the energy crisis. Noticeably, the solvent-based technology, as a more convenient and efficient method, was also considered in this paper. In this way, soaking the mask directly in a specific chemical reagent changes the original structure of polypropylene and obtains multi-functional materials. The solvent-based technology is promising in the future with the researches of sustainable and universally applicable reagents. This review could provide guidance for utilizing resources of waste masks and address the issues of plastic pollution.

Most insulin injections for people with diabetes are administered at home, thus generating many used needles. Unsafe disposal of these at-home needles can lead to needle stick injuries, blood-borne disease transmission, and environmental contamination. Previous studies have shown varying results on the prevalence of and factors associated with safe sharps disposal practices of people with diabetes.
To assess the prevalence of and the factors associated with the safe disposal of used insulin needles among patients with diabetes.
We collected data from 271 insulin-using patients at a tertiary care hospital in China. A self-designed instrument was used to assess sociodemographic data, disease- and treatment-related characteristics, sharps disposal practices, education on diabetes self-management and sharps disposal, and awareness of the potential risks associated with unsafe sharps disposal. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to explore factors associated with safe sharps disposal practices.
Only 10.3% (28/271) of participants disposed of used at-home insulin needles in a safe manner, and 14.8% (45/271) of participants had received previous instruction on sharps disposal. Previous sharps disposal instruction (AOR = 4.143, 95% CI = 1.642-10.450) and awareness of the risk of blood-borne pathogen transmission (AOR = 3.064, 95% CI = 1.332-7.046) were associated with safe disposal of used insulin needles.
In our study, the prevalence of safe sharps disposal practices was low, and a minority of respondents had received previous instruction on sharps disposal. Participants who had previously received instruction and were aware of the risk of blood-borne pathogen transmission were more likely to handle sharps safely. Our study findings suggest that health care professionals should pay attention to sharps disposal practices of patients with diabetes and conduct diabetes education programs that include information on safe sharps disposal methods and potential hazards of unsafe sharps disposal.

Adsorption is the most widely adopted, effective, and reliable treatment process for the removal of inorganic and organic contaminants from wastewater. One of the major issues with the adsorption-treatment process for the removal of contaminants from wastewater streams is the recovery and sustainable management of spent adsorbents. This review focuses on the effectiveness of emerging adsorbents and how the spent adsorbents could be recovered, regenerated, and further managed through reuse or safe disposal. The critical analysis of both conventional and emerging adsorbents on organic and inorganic contaminants in wastewater systems are evaluated. The various recovery and regeneration techniques of spent adsorbents including magnetic separation, filtration, thermal desorption and decomposition, chemical desorption, supercritical fluid desorption, advanced oxidation process and microbial assisted adsorbent regeneration are discussed in detail. The current challenges for the recovery and regeneration of adsorbents and the methodologies used for solving those problems are covered. The spent adsorbents are managed through regeneration for reuse (such as soil amendment, capacitor, catalyst/catalyst support) or safe disposal involving incineration and landfilling. Sustainable management of spent adsorbents, including processes involved in the recovery and regeneration of adsorbents for reuse, is examined in the context of resource recovery and circular economy. Finally, the review ends with the current drawbacks in the recovery and management of the spent adsorbents and the future directions for the economic and environmental feasibility of the system for industrial-scale application.

UNASSIGNED: No live specimens of the snail Oncomelania hupensis (O. hupensis) and indigenous infected cases of schistosomiasis japonicum have been found in Guangdong Province since 1993, but live O. hupensis was found again in 2019. This study conducted O. hupensis identification and elimination.
UNASSIGNED: In 2019, live O. hupensis specimens were detected by routine surveillance in areas in Qujiang of Shaoguan City and Yingde of Qingyuan City, and an emergency response was launched immediately.
UNASSIGNED: The suspected habitat of O. hupensis in originally endemic areas of schistosomiasis in Guangdong is still complicated, so it is necessary to record suspected habitats comprehensively and carry out scientific routine surveillance for O. hupensis.