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Although positive associations exist between ambient particulate matter (PM2.5; diameter ≤ 2.5 μm) and the morbidity and mortality rates for respiratory diseases, the biological mechanisms of the reported health effects are unclear. Considering that alveolar macrophages (AM) are the main cells responsible for phagocytic clearance of xenobiotic particles that reach the airspaces of the lungs, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether PM2.5 induced AM apoptosis, and investigate its possible mechanisms. Freshly isolated AM from Wistar rats were treated with extracted PM2.5 at concentrations of 33, 100, or 300 μg/mL for 4 h; thereafter, the cytotoxic effects were evaluated. The results demonstrated that PM2.5 induced cytotoxicity by decreasing cell viability and increasing lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in AMs. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and intracellular calcium cations (Ca2+) markedly increased in higher PM2.5 concentration groups. Additionally, the apoptotic ratio increased, and the apoptosis-related proteins BCL2-associated X (Bax), caspase-3, and caspase-9 were upregulated, whereas B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) protein levels were downregulated following PM2.5 exposure. Cumulative findings showed that PM2.5 induced apoptosis in AMs through a mitochondrial-mediated pathway, which indicated that PM2.5 plays a significant role in lung injury diseases.Oil pollution is a worldwide concern due to the increasing rate of offshore oil production and transport. As the Nile Delta coast is adjacent to the main route of oil transport through the Suez Canal, accidental oil spills along the offshore region may have a tremendous impact on the coastal waters. If the oil slicks reach the coast, the impact should also be significant. This study aimed to map the oceanographic parameters that may affect oil pollution dispersion along the offshore zone of the Nile Delta using geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Oceanographic data (wave patterns, bathymetry data, sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll content, phytoplankton concentration, and organic carbon concentration) were used to analyze the characteristics of water at the onset of oil pollution to interpret the dispersion of the oil slick once discharged into the seawater. The results showed that SSTs and the depth of the coastal zone primarily influence the distribution of the other parameters.In the development of a land-sea coordination management strategy, it is necessary to analyze pollution sources and loads of pollutants entering the sea. check details This study estimated the sources and transport of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) entering Bohai Bay in Tianjin, a lower plain urban watershed, using a SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) model. We calibrated the model using TN and TP data from 26 and 27 sites, respectively. The results demonstrated that the R2 values of TN and TP were both above 0.99. In 2013, the TN load delivered to Bohai Bay was 21,320 ton, which could be traced to various sources upstream (39%), industrial discharge (10%), sewage discharge (34%), fertilizer application (3%), livestock breeding (7%), aquaculture (5%), and rural communities (2%). The TP load delivered to Bohai Bay was 1504 ton, which originated from upstream (33%), industrial discharge (5%), sewage discharge (21%), fertilizer application (5%), livestock breeding (12%), aquaculture (10%), and rural communities (14%). Rational management of the water resources in streams, enhancement of water circulation between rivers and wetlands, and making full use of the effect of both land and water on pollutant retention are the suitable strategies in watershed management, reducing marine pollution.We evaluated the effectiveness of natural organic surfactants such as humic acids (HA) from lignite to simultaneously wash heavy metals (HM) and polychlorobiphenyls (PCB) from a heavily contaminated industrial soil of northern Italy. Supramolecular HA promote in solution a micelle-like structure, where recalcitrant apolar organic xenobiotics are repartitioned from surfaces of soil particles during soil washing process. Concomitantly, the HA acidic functional groups enable a simultaneous complexation of HM. A single soil washing with HA removed 68 and 75% of PCB congeners for 11 and 101 solution/soil ratios, respectively. The same HA washing simultaneously and efficiently removed a cumulative average of 47% of total HM, with a maximum of 57 and 67% for Hg and Cu, respectively. We showed that washing a highly polluted soil with HA solution not only is an effective and rapid soil remediation technique but also simultaneously removes both HM and persistent organic pollutants (POP). Soil washing by humic biosurfactants is also a sustainable and eco-friendly technology, since, contrary to synthetic surfactants and solvents used in conventional washing techniques, it preserves soil biodiversity, promotes natural attenuation of unextracted POP, and accelerates further soil reclamation techniques such as bio- or phytoremediation.In order to find the spatial distribution characteristics of elemental (EC) and organic (OC) carbon in fine particles, daily PM2.5 aerosol samples were collected at two different stations, between July 2014 and September 2015 in Ankara, Turkey. Concentrations of OC ranged from 2.1 to 42 μg m-3 at urban station. These concentrations were higher than those obtained for suburban station whose values ranged from 1.3 to 15 μg m-3. Concentrations of EC ranged from 0.7 to 4.9 μg m-3 at the urban station. As in OC case, the corresponding levels were higher than those measured for suburban station. The associated EC levels ranged from 0.1 to 3.4 μg m-3 for the suburban station. Daily changes in the levels of EC were larger than the OC levels. OC/EC ratios were lower with lower monthly variability in summer and higher with lower monthly variability in winter at the urban site. Medium and weak correlations were obtained between EC and OC in the winter and summer seasons, respectively, at both stations. Secondary organic carbon (SOC) was an important component of OC in PM2.5 at the urban and suburban sites. The winter SOC level was higher than the summer SOC level at the urban site but slightly lower than the summer SOC level at the suburban site. Total carbon was apportioned using factor analysis for the eight carbon fraction data (OC1, OC2, OC3, OC4, EC1, EC2, EC3, and OP). The main sources of pollutants in the urban and suburban settings were from vehicular emissions, biomass and coal combustions, and road dust.