The highest mean concentrations were observed in October 2015 and August 2016, the time of the year which correlates with the period of pesticide application. Considering groundwater samples, high mean concentrations of pesticides were detected in sites G4, G9, G10, and G12 and during October 2015 and March 2016, following the rainy season. Ecotoxicological risk assessment using the risk quotient (RQ) methodology revealed high risk for five pesticides under average conditions and fourteen under extreme conditions. This study presents, for the first time, a statistical analysis showing the quantification of pesticides in the water resources of the Abou Ali River. In conclusion, it reveals the need to apply a complete pesticide monitoring program, not only for the Abou Ali River but for all the water resources in Lebanon.Fluazinam is a widely used fungicide; most of the available information associated with its impact predominately on birds, invertebrates, mammals, and algae and scarce works studied its impact on crop plants. A two years-field experiments were conducted to study the response of pepper and eggplant to fluazinam at 0, 1, 2, and 3 times of the fluazinam-recommended dose (0, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 mL/L). The results revealed that fluazinam did not cause toxic effect on the tested plants except for temporary decline of shoot weights and lengths after 3 days of fluazinam application. However, fluazinam improved the physiological status of leaves via promoting metabolites, antioxidants, better membrane integrity, and adjustment of the redox status of fluazinam-sprayed plants. The ultrastructure changes of fluazinam-treated leaves associated with increment of chloroplasts' starch granules, giant nucleus, and elevated number of mitochondria. After 35 days of treatments, plant length of fungicide-treated plants was found to be higher than control and flowering time showed significant earliness. Furthermore, the yield traits were increased significantly in response to fluazinam. Our findings suggested that fluazinam-treated plants could initiate an early defense mechanism to mitigate the permanent growth retardation. This study could serve as a matrix for further studies to seek elucidation of plants' response to other doses of fluazinam. Graphical abstract .Compared with As(V), As(III) is a tricky issue worldwide for its higher toxicity and more difficult to remove in aqueous solution. In present study, a novel CeOx/MnOy nanoparticles anchored layered structural TiO2 pillared montmorillonite (TiO2-Mt-Ce-Mn) was fabricated and applied as an efficient absorbent for As(III) removal. Under the condition of the initial As(III) concentration = 20 mg/L and adsorbent dose = 0.4 g/L, TiO2-Mt-Ce-Mn with a high specific surface area (148.099 m2/g) has an outstanding adsorption capacity (46.58 mg/g) for As(III) at pH 4.2, and the effect of oxy-anions on adsorption efficiency is slight except for H2PO4-. Interestingly, the layered structure provides sufficient attachment space for CeOx/MnOy nanoparticles, while CeOx/MnOy nanoparticles in turn endows TiO2-Mt a high redox potential, which further facilitates the oxidation of As(III), and this significantly reduces the toxicity of wastewater. The adsorption mechanism includes the oxidation of As(III) to As(V) by both CeOx/MnOy nanoparticles and TiO2 and effective adsorption of the residual As(III) and the formed As(V) subsequently. In addition, the adsorption efficiency of TiO2-Mt-Ce-Mn can still maintain 79.6% after five cycles through a facile regeneration method. Thus, the nanocomposite with low-cost synthesis process, high adsorption capacity, and regenerability is a promising candidate for As(III) treatment of wastewater.It is urgent to explore the potential ecological carrying capacity (PECC) of regions where the study of ecological carrying capacity (ECC) is difficult to meet the real-world requirements of building an ecological civilization. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/liraglutide.html In this study, classification and regression tree models were applied for estimating potential normalized difference vegetation index (PNDVI) based on climate variables and training data of actual NDVI. Then, potential net primary productivity (PNPP) was simulated by using Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model and PNDVI. On this basis, PECC of 31 provinces in China was estimated using the improved ecological footprint model and compared results with actual condition in 2015. The results showed the following per capita PECC presented immense spatial differences, with high values in the northwest and low values in the southeast. The total PECCs of eight provinces were far greater than their actual total ECCs in 2015. Human activities in five provinces had the greatest negative impact on the ecological environment and the greatest pressure on ecological restoration. This study provided a new way to estimate the spatial distribution of potential ecological carrying capacity and found that spatial simulations of PNDVI, PNPP, and PECC can better quantify the difference between actual and potential ecological conditions under external pressures and can provide a trustworthy scientific basis for formulating differentiated ecological restoration strategies.Cadmium (Cd) is one of the toxic metals in the aquatic environment. This study was designed to examine the effects of Cd on the activities of ALT and AST and the concentrations of TP in plasma of freshwater turtle Mauremys reevesii. Experiment turtles were exposed to Cd at the concentration of 15 mg/kg by intraperitoneal injection. The activities of ALT and AST and the concentrations of TP were investigated. Compared with the controls, the activities of ALT and AST in plasma of the treated turtles significantly increased. The concentrations of TP were comparable between the treated turtles and the controls except that were higher than the control turtles in 14 days (14 d) and 56 days (56 d). As a result that turtles exposed to Cd were led to liver function damage.Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a persistent organic pollutant and can cause oxidative stress in animals. Wood vinegar (WV) is the water condensate of smoke produced during wood carbonization. It was used for antibacterial application, pest control, and antioxidant. In the study, PFOS and WV were used to treat the planarian, and then the oxidative stress induced by PFOS on the planarian (Dugesia japonica) and the protective effects of WV on lipid peroxidation, related antioxidant enzyme activity, and mRNA expression in the planarian were studied. PFOS caused an increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, a decrease in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities, and a change in glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione reductase (GR) activities. The mRNA levels of glutathione peroxidase gene (gpx), glutathione S-transferase enzyme gene (gst), and glutathione reductase gene (gr) are upregulated or downregulated to varying degrees. The WV and co-treatment planarians reduced MDA levels, increased the activities of oxidative stress biomarker enzymes, and restored gene expression levels.