Microplastic (MP) pollution has attracted global attention due to the extensive use of plastic products. The hydrophobic MP surface provides a habitat for multiple microorganisms. Although there have been several studies on the impact of plastic particles on microbial communities, there are few reviews that have systematically summarized the interaction between MPs and microbes and their effects on human health and biochemical circulation. The discussions in this review will take place under the following topics (1) MPs prompt colonization, biofilm generation, and transfer of environmental microbes; (2) the microbial communities can cause the morphological alterations and biodegradation of MPs; (3) MP-microbe combinations can induce the alteration of intestinal flora and hazard animal health; (4) the biogeochemical cycles affected by MP-microbe interactions. This review will highlight the close interactions between MPs and microorganisms, and provide suggestions for future studies.The effect of sludge retention time (SRT) on the production of organic nitrogen (ON) fractions (particulate, colloidal and soluble) and the biodegradability of produced soluble ON in an activated sludge process was investigated. Synthetic wastewater with no ON was fed to the four laboratory-scale reactors operated at SRTs of 2, 5, 10 and 20 d, respectively. Effluent ON from each reactor was fractionated into particulate, colloidal, and soluble ON (pON, cON, and sON). The effluent total ON contained 5.7 to 11.9 mg/L pON, 3.6 to 3.8 mg/L cON, and 2.3 to 4.6 mg/L sON. cON fraction can be larger than sON fraction in the secondary effluent. Therefore, besides focusing on sON, water resource recovery facilities aiming to meet stricter effluent TN limits should also identify appropriate technologies to target cON. More than 50% of effluent sON was biodegradable under SRTs of 2, 5, and 10 d but the biodegradability decreased to 31% at 20-d SRT. Large fractions of non-biodegradable sON (69%) at SRT of 20-d could be contributed by extracellular polymeric substances and soluble microbial products, specifically biomass associated products due to endogenous respiration. Thus, sON generated at long SRTs may take longer to decompose in receiving waters.Some trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) can be considered as ubiquitous contaminants since the 1950s, and the study of their historical distribution within river sediments allows us to better understand the temporal variation of the chemical quality of sediments, and make assumptions about the most insightful forcings impacting these distributions. In this study, the occurrence of 41 TrOCs of various classes (i.e. pharmaceutical products and pesticides) was studied in a sedimentary core sampled in a disused dock along the Seine River, France. This core covers a 60 year-long period between 1944 and 2003, and 23 TrOCs were detected at least once. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/jnk-inhibitor-viii.html Their concentrations mainly ranged between 1 and 10 ng g-1 within the core, except for tetracycline that exhibited higher concentrations (~hundreds of ng·g-1). The dating of the core, based on previous studies, enabled the characterization of the changes since 1945, potentially impacted by (i) the sewer connectivity, (ii) the upgrading of wastewater treatment technologies, (iii) historical modifications in the use of each TrOC, and (iv) the sedimentary composition. In every case the deepest occurrence of each TrOC in the core matched its market authorization date, indicating the potential of TrOC to be used as chronomarkers. This study also reveals that the recent upgrading of wastewater treatment technologies within the watershed decreased the concentrations of each TrOC, despite an increase in TrOC diversity in the most recent years.The steelmaking industry is an important source of unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants (UP-POPs). This review summarizes the emission levels, characteristics, and formation mechanisms of UP-POPs, including halogenated dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated naphthalenes, and penta- and hexa- chlorobenzenes in the steelmaking industry to improve our understanding of the emissions of UP-POPs from the steelmaking industry. The factors influencing UP-POP formation during the iron ore sintering (IOS) process are also reviewed. The raw materials and temperature during the steelmaking process are important factors influencing UP-POP generation. Raw materials containing plastics, paints, cutting oil, rubber, and iron from electronic waste recycling can contribute to high emissions of UP-POPs during steelmaking processes. Electrostatic precipitator dust contains chlorine, carbon, and metals, which are usually recycled as a component of the raw material, and could also promote dioxin formation and emissions from IOS. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) are easily formed in high concentrations at temperatures in the range of 200 °C-650 °C. This review also provides a comprehensive summary of the UP-POP emission limits in the steel industry worldwide and the best available techniques and environmental practices for UP-POP emission reduction. The information in this review will be useful for the reduction of UP-POPs in the steelmaking process.Intertidal creeks play an important role in transporting nutrients between coastal ecosystems and ocean. Reclamation is a predominant anthropogenic disturbance in coastal regions; however, the influence of reclamation on carbon and nitrogen species and greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes in creek remains unclear. In a subtropical salt marsh of eastern China, the seasonal patterns of dissolved carbon (DOC, DIC, CO2, and CH4) and inorganic nitrogen (NH4+-N, NO2--N, and NO3--N and N2O) species, and the diffusive fluxes of CO2, CH4, and N2O, were compared between the natural tidal creeks and the reclaimed creeks. Due to notably changed hydrological and biological conditions in the reclaimed creeks, concentrations of all dissolved carbon species, NH4+-N and NO2--N increased significantly by 60.2-288.2%, while NO3--N and N2O decreased slightly, compared to the natural tidal creeks. DIC and NO3--N were the primary components of the total dissolved carbon and inorganic nitrogen in both creek types; however, their proportions decreased as a result of elevated DOC, CO2, CH4, NH4+-N, and NO2--N following reclamation.