Rare earth elements (REEs) are increasingly recognized as significant environmental pollutants due to their environmental persistence, bioaccumulation, and chronic toxicity. This study assessed REEs pollution in soil, water, and vegetables in an ion-adsorption rare earth mining area in Ganzhou, and evaluated the associated health risks to the local population. Results indicated that the REEs content in soil ranged from 168.58 to 1915.68 mg/kg, with an average of 546.71 mg/kg, substantially surpassing the background level for Jiangxi Province (243.4 mg/kg) and the national average (197.3 mg/kg). Vegetables displayed an average REEs content of 23.17 mg/kg in fresh weight, far exceeding the hygiene standard of 0.7 mg/kg. Water samples contained REEs at a concentration of 4.09 mu g/L. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of REEs from vegetables exceeded the threshold for subclinical damage, posing potential health risks, particularly for children and adolescents. Further analysis of the adjusted average daily intake (ADI) and non-carcinogenic risk suggested that while most vegetable consumption remains within safe threshold, the intake of REEs from high-risk vegetables such as pakchoi should be limited. Overall, carcinogenic risks associated with lifetime cancer risk (LCR) model for REEs exposure through vegetables and water were found to be low in this area.

Purpose of ReviewThis review examines recent publications on rare earth elements (REE) in soils, critically evaluating their role as emerging soil contaminants. We emphasized new findings and main gaps using a previous review paper published in 2016 by our research group as a reference point. Three major subjects were prioritized: (1) sources, background levels, and behavior of REE in soils; (2) plant development and metabolism as affected by REE exposure; and (3) environmental and human health risk assessments of REE in the soil environment.Recent FindingsPublications addressing the occurrence and fate of REE in the soil environment have more than tripled in the last decade. Coincidentally, global REE exploration has more than doubled in the past 7 years. Because of their unique features, the global demand for REE is expected to increase by at least 50% in the next 10 years. As soils are the main sink of contaminants, we must continue to investigate the consequences of the unceasing addition of these elements in soil ecosystems.SummaryWe highlighted the main sources of REE, their background levels in selected global soils, and their physicochemical behavior. The relationship between REE and plants revealed potential benefits such as environmental stress tolerance. Finally, ecological and human health risk assessment data for REE in soils were carefully discussed in terms of their potential adverse effects on biota. We conclude with a survey in which prominent authors working with REE answered questions about challenges and opportunities for innovative research on REE in soil-plant-animal/human systems.

Tailings storage facilities (TSFs) represent an anthropogenic source of pollution, resulting in potential risks to both environmental integrity and human health. To date, the environmental and human health risks from TSFs in China have been under-researched. This study attempts to address this gap by developing, and geo-statistically analyzing two comprehensive databases. The first database (I) focuses on failed TSFs; we supply the statistics of environmental damages from 143 TSF failure incidents. Notably, approximately 75 % of the failure incidents involved tailings flows released into water bodies, resulting in a significant exacerbation of environmental pollution. To better inform ecological and human health risks, we present another database (II) for 147 nonfailed TSFs to investigate the soil heavy metal contamination, considering 8 heavy metals. The findings reveal that (i) Cd, Pb, and Hg are the prominent pollutants across the non-failed TSF sites in China; (ii) lead-zinc and tungsten mine tailings storage sites exhibit the most severe pollution; (iii) Pb, Cd, and Ni present noteworthy non-carcinogenic risks to human health; (iv) >85 % of TSF sites pose carcinogenic risks associated with arsenic; and (v) health risks resulting from dermal absorption surpass ingestion for the majority of heavy metals, with the exception of Pb, where ingestion presents a more pronounced route of exposure. Our study presents a comprehensive evaluation of environmental and human health risks due to TSFs, highlighting the necessity for risk assessment of >14,000 existing TSFs in China.

Mining contributes to an increased tax revenues, export earnings, employment opportunities, infrastructure development, and transfer of technology to the host countries. However, there is a high risk of socio-economic enclaves or environmental damages caused by mining operations which include the release of heavy metals into water and soil resources, air pollution, land degradation, and depletion of vegetation. Mineral exploration is often preoccupied with integrating relevant datasets and utilising various techniques to discover subtle surface indications of mineralisation and usually results in huge disturbances of large surface area and underlying strata including aquifers. These issues with mineral exploration are pronounced in developing countries where the primary goal of many investors is to look for the occurrence of mineral of interest and its economic viability with little or no attention to the associated hydrogeological risk. Hydrogeological Risk Assessment, even though crucial to the development of sound environmental impact assessment for a proposed mineral exploration project, is often not included in mineral exploration activities. This could potentially result in a significant health risk and environmental impact which could negatively impact various communities within the mining areas. In this research, an overview of the various stages involved in evaluating and assessing the hydrogeological risk from the initial exploration stage has been provided. A framework that will enable a short-term to long-term integrated groundwater resources management system into mineral exploration projects have also been developed. This framework would provide valuable information to stakeholders to verify whether a proposed project is likely to be debilitating to hydrogeology in a locality.

As typical antibiotics, tetracycline (TC) and sulfadiazine (SDZ) enter the human body through the food chain. Therefore, it is necessary to understand their individual and combined toxicity. In this study, the effects of TC, SDZ, and their mixture on cell viability, cell membrane damage, liver cell damage, and oxidative damage were evaluated in in vitro assays with human liver cells Huh-7. The results showed cytotoxicity of TC, SDZ, and their mixture, which induced oxidative stress and caused membrane and cell damage. The effect of antibiotics on Huh7 cells increased with increasing concentration, except for lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity that commonly showed a threshold concentration response and cell viability, which commonly showed a biphasic trend, suggesting the possibility of hormetic responses where proper doses are included. The toxicity of TC was commonly higher than that of SDZ when applied at the same concentration. These findings shed light on the individual and joint effects of these major antibiotics on liver cells, providing a scientific basis for the evaluation of antibiotic toxicity and associated risks.

A total of 30 samples from the downwind direction of a certain electroplating company in Jiaxing were collected in layers to analyze their heavy metal content. The soil risk assessment was conducted from the perspective of ecological and human health risks using the ground accumulation index method and human health risk assessment method. The results showed that in all samples, cadmium and arsenic far exceeded the soil background values, with an average exceeding multiple of 14.31 and 64.42, respectively, and a exceeding rate of 100%. After evaluation by the ground accumulation index, among these six heavy metals, arsenic and cadmium belong to extremely serious pollution levels. The human health risk assessment of electroplating plants found that in the exposure risk assessment, the ingestion value was much greater than the harm caused by breathing and skin, and the maximum exposure damage value of arsenic to children and adults was 4.17 x 10-3, among the carcinogenic risks, the risk brought by consumption is much greater than the respiratory and skin carcinogenic risk index, with the highest value score of 3.37 for cadmium, arsenic, and zinc carcinogenic risks 3.37 x 10-6, 2.42 x 10-3, 1.10 x 10-4.

Background: Black carbon (BC) caused by incomplete combustion of fossil and bio-fuel has a dual effect on health and climate. There is a need for systematic approaches to evaluation of health outcomes and climate impacts relevant to BC exposure. Objectives: We propose and illustrate for the first time, to our knowledge, an integrated analysis of a region-specific health model with climate change valuation module to quantify the health and climate consequences of BC exposure. Methods: Based on the data from regional air pollution monitoring stations from 2013 to 2014 in the Pearl River Delta region (PRD), China, we analyzed the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects and the relative risk of cause-specific mortality due to BC exposure in three typical cities of the PRD (i.e. Guangzhou, Jiangmen and Huizhou). The radiative forcing (RF) and heating rate (HR) were calculated by the Fu-Liou-Gu (FLG) plane-parallel radiation model and the conversion of empirical formula. We further connected the health and climate impacts by calculating the excess mortalities attributed to climate warming due to BC. Results: Between 2013 and 2014, carcinogenic risks of adults and children due to BC exposure in the PRD were higher than the recommended limits (1 x 10(-6) to 1 x 10(-4)), resulting in an excess of 4.82 cancer cases per 10,000 adults (4.82 x 10(-4)) and an excess of 1.97 cancer cases per 10,000 children (1.97 x 10(-4)). Non-carcinogenic risk caused by BC was not found. The relative risks of BC exposure on mortality were higher in winter and dry season. The atmospheric RFs of BC were 26.31 W m(-2), 26.41 W m(-2), and 22.45 W m(-2) for Guangzhou, Jiangmen and Huizhou, leading to a warming of the atmosphere in the PRD. The estimated annual excess mortalities of climate warming due to BC were 5052 (95% CI: 1983, 8139), 5121 (95% CI: 2010, 8249) and 4363 (95% CI: 1712, 7032) for Guangzhou, Jiangmen and Huizhou, respectively. Conclusion: Our estimates suggest that current levels of BC exposure in the PRD region posed a considerable risk to human health and the climate. Reduction of BC emission could lead to substantial health and climate co-benefits.