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An essential requirement for colorimetric paper-sensor is to allow the target analytes (heavy metal ions) to access the chromophore while maintaining strong chromophore immobilization on the porous substrate surface. This work evaluates the selection of sensitive chromophores (dithizone, 1-(2-pyridylazo) 2-naphthol and 4-(2-pyridylazo)-resorcinol) and their immobilization strategies on paper sensors. Dithizone (DTz) are capable of producing a significant color transition at unadjusted pH, observed by UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy and visible recognition. After immobilizing DTz on a paper substrate (cellulose acetate/chitosan substrate), the DTz-paper sensor showed a distinctive color change from blue-green to peach-pink upon reaction with Pb2+ ions, and the color intensity was proportional to the metal concentration. Quantitative analysis using RGB (R:Red; G:Green; B:Blue) plots showed that increasing DTz concentration on the CA/CS paper sensor increases the difference in total color intensity (∆IT) and the difference in red code intensity (∆IR). This is due to the formation of more DTz-Pb2+ complexes on the CA/CS paper substrate. The CA/CS paper strips immobilized with 100 ppm DTz showed practical potential for rapid detection of heavy metal ions. The DTz-CA/CS paper sensor showed significant color change when detecting spiked heavy metals ions (0.1 ppm Pb2+, 2.0 ppm Zn2+, and 0.2 ppm Cu2+) in river water samples that prepared at the maximum permissible limit for industrial effluent in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution destroys the sustainable development of industries worldwide, and its effect on structural changes is the focus of discussion. This paper constructs a model of the structural change of environmental pollution impacts and then, empirically estimates using panel data of Chinese cities from 2003 to 2020. The paper found that the more manufacturing pollutants are discharged, the more serious the manufacturing cost disease(MCD). Compared with low-productivity manufacturing, environmental pollution in high-productivity industries increases sector costs more. Then, this paper verifies that MCD and real wages are two key channels through which pollution emissions affect the share of the manufacturing sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the Global Climate Risk Index, Bangladesh is the world's seventh most climate-vulnerable nation. Being on the verge of facing extreme climatic backlash emerging from unwitting economic development, Bangladesh must comprehend that the current economic growth is not a panacea for its environmental integrity. However, considering Bangladesh's recent economic sustainability, curbing economic development will be uninviting. As such, we propose a conceptual framework to obtain environmental integrity without decommissioning economic development. Deploying data from 1972 to 2020 and novel econometric methodologies, we unearth that FDI ameliorates Bangladesh's environmental quality, whereas export with no comparative advantage jeopardizes it due to its redundancy issue. Considering export and FDI as substitutionary in Bangladesh, we support for FDI-led development for an interim period until the redundant export issue is resolved. Furthermore, exchange rate depreciation increases CO2 emissions. We advocate an exchange rate appreciation policy that will curb redundant exports and improve environmental quality. Findings also validate the EKC hypothesis in both the short run and long run. Turning point estimation indicates that Bangladesh is still below the required income level to phase out growth-induced CO2 emissions. Moreover, natural resource rent improves environmental quality, whereas consumption of non-renewables degrades it. Besides, gross domestic savings (GDS), agricultural value-addition (AVA), and primary schooling increase emissions. We propose GDS and FDI be channeled into the AVA sectors to equip them with green technologies. This paper further suggests including fundamental concepts of climate change education in pre- and secondary-level textbooks to indoctrinate the younger section of society on environmental pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyze the role of pollution for industry location and residence choice. We present a new economic geography (NEG) model in which manufacturing generates local pollution (that does not accumulate) and uses two types of labour input: unskilled workers that cannot migrate and work where they live; and high-skilled entrepreneurs that choose where to produce and where to live. Taking on board costless commuting or, in alternative, distance working, entrepreneurs can live in a different location from production. Both types of households enjoy utility from consuming all commodities (locally and imported variants) and suffer from local pollution. The resulting model is of the footloose entrepreneur variant, but involves two dynamic equations: the standard one governing the residential choice of entrepreneurs, and another one governing where production is located. The current paper analyses the discrete time dynamic process defined by a two-dimensional piecewise smooth map. Depending on parameters this map can have possibly coexisting attractors of various types (fixed points, cycles, closed curves as well as chaotic attractors). We analytically obtain stability conditions for the fixed points. Using numerical methods we describe also some global dynamic properties of the considered map. Finally, we propose an economic interpretation of the results concerning local stability analysis and global dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism has become a major driver of China's economic growth and consumes much energy causing environmental pollution problems. This paper combines the LMDI (logarithmic mean Divisia index) method and K-means clustering to analyze the factors influencing tourism energy consumption in seven Chinese provinces and discusses strategies for energy consumption in tourism. Specifically, firstly, this paper decomposes the tourism energy consumption factors in each province into six factors and identifies the driving forces of different factors on energy consumption. Secondly, K-means clustering method is used to classify different provinces into three categories using the latest dynamic influencing factors as clustering factors and provincial targeted suggestions are made according to the characteristics of different categories. This paper combines the LMDI model with cluster analysis to find targeted energy optimization strategies for the energy consumption of the Chinese tourism industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing the excessive input and inefficient use of agrochemicals are crucial for global food security, environmental protection, and human health. This paper offers a new idea from the perspective of outsourcing agricultural production. The impact of outsourcing on the frequency and intensity of agrochemical inputs were theoretically analyzed and empirically tested using a field survey of 1211 farmers in Heilongjiang, Henan, and Hunan, the major food-producing areas in China. A Logit regression framework was used to analyze the effect, a conditional mixture process (CMP) method was used to address potential endogeneity concerns, and a mediation effect model was used to dissect the mechanism. The results show that the effect of outsourcing on both input frequency and input intensity of agrochemicals was positive at the 1% significance level. The positive effect conclusion still holds even after addressing the potential endogeneity concerns, and in the sub-sample estimates for maize, wheat, and rice. We conclude that outsourcing can improve the utilization efficiency of agrochemicals by increasing the frequency of agrochemical inputs, but fail to solve the excessive agrochemical inputs and even leads to a further increase in the intensity of agrochemical inputs. Moreover, the mechanism for an increase in agrochemical input intensity due to outsourcing was explored, and it is more likely to be caused by inhibiting farmers' investment in soil improvement measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The boom of building various industrial agglomerations in China has continued for many years. The relationship between industrial agglomeration and environmental pollution is the core issue of this paper. At the same time, green finance is a new financial development model that takes environmental protection as the core, and effectively promotes the sustainable development of the environment, the economy, and society while maintaining its own sustainable development, so green finance is a major direction for future financial development. This paper selects the data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2004 to 2020 as the research object and uses a system-GMM method to verify the relationship between industrial agglomerations, green finance on regional environmental pollution. It provides theoretical reference for improving global climate change and reduces environmental pollution (EP), concludes as follows. (1) Industrial agglomeration can exacerbate EP level in China, and also exacerbates EP in the western region, but the effect of industrial agglomeration on EP in the eastern and central regions has been insignificant. (2) Green finance can improve environmental pollution. The intensity of EP in economically less developed regions is more sensitive to green finance policies. (3) The correlation effect of industrial agglomeration and green finance can improve environmental pollution, i.e., green finance has an important role in improving EP. However, there are significant differences in different regions. The interaction term between industrial agglomeration and green finance with a non-significant positive coefficient in the eastern region, and it is non-significant negative coefficient in the central region, and a significant negative coefficient in the western region. The work has important theoretical value for achieving the goal of regional sustainable development and green transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental health research aims to identify environmental conditions suitable for the healthy living and reproduction of human beings. Through the interdisciplinary research bridging environmental sciences and health/medical sciences, the impacts of physical, chemical, and biological environmental factors on human health are investigated. This includes identifying environmental factors detrimental to human health, evaluating human exposure characteristics to environmental factors, clarifying causal relationships between environmental exposure and health effects, analyzing the underlying biochemical mechanisms, linking environmental factors to the onset and progression of diseases, establishing exposure-response relationships, and determining effect thresholds. Ultimately, the results of environmental health research can serve as a scientific basis for formulating environmental management strategies and guiding prevention and intervention measures at both the public and individual levels. This paper summarizes the recent advances and future perspectives of environmental health research in China, as reported by a group of Chinese scientists who recently attended a workshop in Hainan, China. While it is not intended to provide a comprehensive review of this expansive field, it offers a glimpse into the significant progress made in understanding the health impacts of environmental factors over the past decade. Looking ahead, it is imperative not only to sustain efforts in studying the health effects of traditional environmental pollution, but also to prioritize research on the health impacts of emerging pollutants and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, China's economy is transforming from rapid development to high-quality development, and environmental pollution stands out as an urgent need to be addressed. Fiscal decentralization is considered to confer economic incentives on local governments to obtain the right to gain and spend in economic growth. However, at the same time, political incentives are given to local officials under the promotion mechanism based on gross domestic product (GDP) assessment, and these two incentives become key to the environmental performance of the jurisdictions. Therefore, this paper incorporates fiscal decentralization, promotion incentives, and environmental pollution into a unified framework and theoretically analyzes the effects of fiscal decentralization, promotion incentives on environmental pollution, and the intrinsic mechanism of action. Using panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2002 to 2018, we examine that fiscal decentralization significantly promotes environmental pollution, and this performance is more obvious in economically underdeveloped regions. In terms of its mechanism of action, fiscal decentralization affects environmental pollution by increasing the demand for foreign direct investment, inhibiting technological progress, and enhancing environmental regulation, while foreign direct investment and technological progress significantly inhibit environmental pollution, but environmental regulation does not present a role of pollution control. Further study finds that under the consideration of "GDP-based promotion incentives," local officials will generate "competition for investment," relax environmental standards for FDI, and generate "competition for growth", which will inhibit technological progress and incomplete enforcement of environmental regulations, thus exacerbating local environmental pollution. On this basis, this paper proposes to further deepen the fiscal system reform, promote the optimization of local government competition system, and effectively restrain the vicious competition behavior of local officials under the fiscal decentralization system, so as to provide relevant insights for realizing China's economic transformation as well as high-quality economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to climate change and energy conservation and emission reduction targets, the green development of transportation has become one of the most concerned topics in the world. Many studies have verified the impact of intra-city rail on environmental pollution, but little attention has been paid to the environmental effects of inter-city railway. This paper based on data on 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2003 to 2018 takes high-speed rail as a "quasi-natural experiment" and conducts empirical tests on the emissions reduction effect, impact mechanism, and spatial spillover effect of high-speed rail using a multi-phase difference-in-difference model, a mediating effect model, and a spatial difference-in-difference model. The findings are as follows. (1) High-speed rail is conducive to reduction in environmental pollution in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and as the opening time of the high-speed rail continues, the emission reduction effect of the high-speed rail is gradually increasing. (2) High-speed rail has a more significant inhibiting impact on environmental pollution in cities in the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and cities listed in the "two control areas." (3) Industrial upgrading and human capital accumulation form an important transmission mechanism for high-speed rail to achieve emissions reduction. (4) High-speed rail has a significant positive spatial spillover effect, which aggravates the level of environmental pollution in the surrounding areas of cities along the route. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continous advancement of industrialization, the environmental problems among resource-based cities in China are becoming increasingly serious. Therefore, exploring the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of industrial agglomeration and environmental pollution to understand the interaction mechanism between them is of great significance for the coordinated development of resource-based cities. In this paper, 114 resource-based cities in China are selected as research objects, and data from the period of 2011 to 2020 are used for analysis and research. Location entropy and entropy weight models are used to measure the relevant indicators, and a spatial simultaneous equation model is constructed. The generalized spatial three-stage least squares (GS3SLS) method is used to assess the spatial interactive spillover effects of industrial agglomeration on environmental pollution. The research results show that ① the industrial agglomeration center of China has begun to shift to the junction of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia, and the level of environmental pollution has dropped significantly; ② industrial agglomeration promotes environmental pollution, while environmental pollution inhibits industrial agglomeration, and between them, the inhibition effect is more obvious; ③ the level of industrial agglomeration in surrounding cities promotes industrial agglomeration in the region and inhibits environmental pollution, while the level of environmental pollution in surrounding cities inhibits industrial agglomeration in the region and promotes the diffusion of pollution. Thus, the building of a coordinated development system across regions can achieve a win–win situation between industrial development and environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic, environmental, and social criteria are all being taken into consideration simultaneously when determining pricing policies or inventory levels in sustainable production management. The combination of pricing and inventory policies is an important source of leverage for the efficient management of perishable products. This paper, among the first studies, proposes the problem of devising optimal pricing and inventory management decisions simultaneously where the environmental and social criteria are contributed for perishable complementary products replenished and sold by the same company. This study considers two interrelated price-sensitive linear demand functions to consider the possibility of shortage with both budget and warehouse capacity constraints. Another contribution of the proposed model is to consider an upper bound for environmental pollution and a lower bound for job opportunities as the constraints to the model. As a complex optimization model, the challenge of complexity is addressed by a heuristic algorithm for finding an optimal solution. After an extensive analysis using numerical examples, some managerial insights are concluded from the results. One finding from these analyses confirms that the total capacity of the warehouse, the total available budget, carbon emissions, and variable job opportunities have a high impact on the optimal solution to find a balance between sustainability criteria for making pricing and inventory policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional view is that local governments are inclined to ease environmental regulations in response to fiscal pressure (FP) and alleviate FP by sacrificing the environment for economic development (ED). This paper takes Chinese Mainland resource-based cities (RBC) as the research sample but draws different conclusions. The research results are as follows: firstly, for RBC, although FP reduces environmental pollution (EP), it is not conducive to ED. Compared with non-resource-based cities (NRBC), the economic negative effect of FP in RBC is more obvious. Secondly, FP is detrimental to ED by reducing EP, and RBC have not sacrificed the environment to promote ED in the context of FP. This paper summarizes that the development path of RBC should be "optimizing government behavior → increasing FP → improving environmental quality → reducing ED level." Thirdly, the impact of FP on cities with slower economic growth and smaller economic gap is greater, and the impact of FP on cities with better environment is more obvious. This paper argues that facing FP, RBC in China will not trade EP for ED; at the same time, we suggest RBC in other countries in the face of the FP, not only thinking of promoting ED at the expense of the EP and ease the FP, but also the development of green ecological requirement, overall consideration of the relationship between EP and ED, and then achieve green and sustainable ED without degrading the environment as far as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activities in shooting ranges can cause chemical disturbances in the soil due to the constituents of ammunition, such as lead (Pb). Ecological and human risks are expected in these sites due to the high toxicity, abundance, and persistency of Pb in the soil. Effects in growth, reproducibility, and water absorption are examples of how Pb can affect terrestrial plants. Ingestion or inhalation of Pb-contaminated soil particles can cause respiratory problems, infertility or convulsion, for example, depending on the level of exposure. Children are the most susceptible to adverse health effects, such as behavioral and neurological disturbances. A systematic literature review (SLR) study was conducted to evaluate and discuss the main subjects involving soil contamination by Pb in outdoor shooting ranges. Based on the 31 papers selected, relevant aspects of the risk assessment methodologies and remediation options were presented. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time this topic has been approached through a SLR. 23 documents were used as support literature. Overall, studies that perform speciation analyses of Pb in soil are more indicated to assess ecological and human risk since the contaminant bioavailability is better evaluated. However, only laboratory studies were conducted in the papers analyzed in this SLR to investigate the remediation options for shooting range contamination. There is a lack of pilot-scale data in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adjustment of green finance and energy structure is gradually becoming a new engine that reduces environmental pollution in China. In this paper, the energy structure is introduced in the process of discussing the impact of green finance on environmental pollution. We analyze the spatial correlation of green finance and study whether the adjustment of energy structure is affected by green finance and thus affects environmental pollution using a spatial econometric model. The results of empirical analysis show that green finance among provinces presents a significant spatial agglomeration, improving the green finance, and the energy structure can significantly reduce environmental pollution, and there are significant spatial spillover effects. There is inverted U-shaped relationship between energy structure and green finance in the national space, that is, after the green finance is raised to a certain extent, with the level of green finance once more, the energy structure will gradually improve, and then, green finance drives the reduction of environmental pollution by improving the energy structure. The results of the heterogeneity analysis show that compared with other regions, the improvement of the green finance in the eastern region has significantly improved the energy structure, and environmental pollution has also decreased every year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on panel data from 285 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2003 to 2020, this paper uses the difference-in-difference (DID) method to investigate the policy effect, mechanism, and heterogeneity of green finance (GF) to reduce environmental pollution. (1) Green finance has significant effect on reducing environmental pollution. The parallel trend test demonstrates that DID test results are valid. (2) Following a battery of robustness tests including instrumental variable, propensity score matching (PSM), variable substitution, and changing time-bandwidth, the conclusions are still valid. (3) Mechanism analysis reveals that green finance can reduce environmental pollution by increasing energy efficiency, adjusting industrial structure, and transforming green consumption. (4) Heterogeneity analysis proves that green finance has a substantial impact on reducing the environmental pollution in eastern and western cities, but not in central China. (5) In the "two-control zone" and "low-carbon pilot cities," the results of applying green finance policies are better, and a policy superposition effect exists. To be able to promote environmental pollution control, and green and sustainable development, this paper provides useful enlightenment for environmental pollution control for China and other similar countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building livable rural regions is a key objective of China's rural revitalization, and fostering coordinated and sustainable regional development in China necessitates investigating the geographical and temporal distribution and influencing variables of livability in China's rural areas. This paper compares the concept and connotation of rural livability based on regional economic development theory and sustainable development theory, integrates China's rural revitalization strategy, proposes an index system for evaluating rural livability in China, and conducts an empirical analysis of livable rural areas. Firstly, the level of rural livability development is measured by the entropy method; secondly, the aggregation effect of provinces is demonstrated by using the Moran I index, and finally, the spatial Durbin model is used to explore the influencing factors of rural livability and its spatial spillover effects. Findings of our study reveal that the results of the entropy method indicate that the livability of rural China is in a growing development trend in all provinces, but the livability shows some regional disparities. The Moran index reveals that there are obvious spatial autocorrelations in the livability of Chinese rural areas, and the most typical features are the "high" and "low" clusters. The spatial Durbin model suggests that the influences on the development of rural livability are diverse. Besides, other variables such as environmental pollution and per capita housing area show a negative association with rural livability, and investment in fixed assets, cultural atmosphere and medical health show a positive relationship with rural livability. Based on the study findings, it is proposed that in the rural revitalization strategy process, the formulation of monitoring system should be strengthened and intensify the promotion of coordinated inter-regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human civilization has reached an unprecedented height, but the industrialization of economic development also brings global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, fresh water resources crisis, energy shortage, and environmental problems. In autumn and winter, haze becomes the usual state in the modern society, and PM2.5 has been becoming an important form of air pollution. The research found that PM2.5 brings great influence to the human body or daily life. To some extent, the PM2.5 also affects the propagation of electromagnetic waves near the ground, reducing the transmission performance of electromagnetic wave. Based on Mie scattering theory, this paper qualitatively analyzed the scattering effects of PM2.5 particles on every frequency band of electromagnetic wave in daily use. Then the paper takes the satellite navigation signals as a research example, selecting university of Wyoming Davis stations in Antarctica sounding data by measuring the tropospheric atmospheric meteorological parameters (including the atmosphere pressure, geopotential height of different layers, dew point temperature, relative humidity and specific humidity, wind direction, wind speed, and temperature). The paper inversed the refractive index distribution of the troposphere based on AlexNet model and described the error quantitatively. The simulation results show that the estimated error is less than 5.1455%, proving the high accuracy of the AlexNet model. To test the influence of PM2.5, the paper takes Jiuquan, a city with serious pollution, as an example. Comparison between the inversion results and IGS products shows that high concentration of PM2.5 pollution has little influence on the inversion of refractive index profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses Chinese provincial data from 2006 to 2021 as a sample period to study the relationship between higher education development, industrial structure adjustment, and environmental pollution. Conclusions were as follows: (1) the industry structure adjustment can reduce environmental pollution in Chinese regions except eastern, and the increase in the proportion of the tertiary industry will increase pollution emissions in the eastern region. (2) Although there is a negative correlation between higher education and environmental pollution in China, it is not significant. From different regions, the coefficients in the eastern are positive which means aggravated environmental pollution, and the coefficients in the central region are not significant, but higher education in the western region improves environmental pollution. (3) Urbanization has a significant moderating effect on the national and regional environmental pollution, but in the central and western regions, it is smaller than the eastern region; although environmental regulation has a certain inhibitory effect on environmental pollution, the coefficient in the eastern region is significantly positive, and there is a situation of "more pollution, more control." Further, the increase of foreign direct investment will aggravate environmental pollution; although the elasticity coefficient in the eastern region is negative, there is a trend of improving environmental pollution, but it is not significant. The study holds promising implications for the development of policies related to education, industry, and the environment. Through the research on the relationship between the three, exploring and improving the regional environmental pollution level from the perspective of higher education and industrial structure have important practical significance for the regional green development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the effect of network infrastructure on environmental pollution reduction and the realization mechanism behind it. Based on the panel data of 285 cities in China from 2005 to 2019, this study regards the "Broadband China" pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment to clarify the pollution emission reduction effect of network infrastructure construction through differences-in-differences method and other methods. The research results show the following: (1) The Broadband China pilot policy has reduced environmental pollution, that is, the construction of network infrastructure has the effect of environmental pollution reduction. The conclusion is still established after a series of robustness tests such as parallel trend test, placebo test, and instrumental variable method. Through the heterogeneity test, it is found that the pollution reduction effect of network infrastructure construction is more obvious in non-resource-based cities, first and second tier cities, and cities in the eastern region (2). The construction of network infrastructure plays a restraining role on local environmental pollution. Due to the insufficient level of regional linkage and the siphon effect of pilot cities, the spatial spillover characteristics of the pollution reduction effect are not obvious (3). The mechanism of action shows that green innovation is an important mediating effect mechanism for network infrastructure construction to reduce environmental pollution. Cities in regions with high degree of marketization and environmental regulation can strengthen the effect of network infrastructure construction on environmental pollution reduction. The research conclusions are conducive to accelerating the development of the digital economy represented by the construction of network infrastructure and provide a useful reference for promoting the level of environmental pollution reduction and achieving high-quality development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring fiscal reform's pollution effect draws increasing attention. Our paper brings a new perspective, i.e., the vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI) perspective, to study such issue. With the panel data of China's provincial level from 1999 to 2016, we reveal whether and how VFI affects environmental pollution. We find that VFI significantly enhances the environmental pollution level of China. As the VFI increases, environmental pollution effect caused by VFI appears to be aggravated. According to the transmission path check, we confirm in our paper that VFI can indirectly lead to environmental degradation by affecting the two channels environmental regulation and industrial transformation. Further, through the sub-sample regressions, we find that the impacts of VFI on environmental pollution as well as the transmission paths are regionally heterogeneous. Finally, we believe that using the VFI as a variable to explore fiscal reform's effect on environment is of rationality, and for a better environmental quality, VFI should be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a bridge between economy and ecology, green finance is vital in improving environmental quality and promoting sustainable development. Based on the building of an environmental pollution index system, this paper constructs the STIRPAT - EKC model to deeply explore the specific impact of green finance on environmental pollution using China's provincial panel data from 2007 to 2020. This paper constructs an intermediary model to test the impact mechanism of green finance on reducing environmental pollution and discusses the regional heterogeneity of green finance in reducing environmental pollution. The results show that (1) green finance can significantly reduce environmental pollution, among which green credit has a pronounced effect on reducing environmental pollution, green investment has a relatively small effect, and green securities have not significant effect. (2) Green finance has the best inhibitory effect on solid pollution, less inhibitory effect on air pollution, and no significant improvement effect on water pollution. (3) Green technology innovation, industrial structure upgrading, and environmental regulation play an intermediary role in the process of green finance reducing environmental pollution and improving environmental quality. (4) The effect of green finance in the eastern and carbon emission pilot areas is significantly better than in the central and western regions and non-carbon emission pilot areas respectively. According to the research results of this paper, suggestions are put forward to promote the development of green finance, which is of great significance to reducing environmental pollution and achieving sustainable development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the extensive development model carries China's economy at the forefront of the world, it has brought great environmental pollution problems. The Chinese government hopes to control environmental pollution through green finance and achieve high-quality economic development. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces and cities in China from 2009 to 2019, this paper examines the impact of green finance (GF) on China's high-quality economic development (EQD), environmental pollution (EP), and clean energy production (CEP). In order to study the spatial impact of GF, we put spatial geographic factors into the analysis category, and use the spatial Durbin model to empirically examine the spatial effect of GF on EQD, EP, and CEP. It is found that GF can promote EQD and curb EP in China. However, GF also weakens China's CEP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of China's efforts to achieve green economic development and adjust the spatial layout of industries, this article focuses on pollution-intensive industries. Based on the panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2003 to 2018, the spatial locational characteristics and development directions of pollution-intensive industrial agglomeration and environmental pollution are revealed. The effects of environmental regulations and polluting industrial agglomeration on ecological pollution are explored by constructing a dynamic spatial panel Durbin model. The research found that: ➀Both the concentration of pollution-intensive industries and environmental pollution tend to shift from the east to the central and western parts of China; ②Environmental regulations have a significant inhibitory effect on environmental pollution, and there is a negative spatial spillover effect; ➂Pollution Industrial agglomeration and ecological pollution have an inverted "U"-shaped nonlinear relationship, and there is a positive spatial spillover effect. The research conclusions of this paper provide a theoretical basis for optimizing the spatial layout of pollution-intensive industries, alleviating environmental problems, and realizing the development of the green economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Testicular cancer (TC) is the most common malignancy among young adult males. The etiology is multifactorial, and both environmental and genetic factors play an essential role in the origin and development of this tumor. In particular, exposure to environmental endocrine disruptors (EEDs), resulting from industrialization and urbanization, seems crucial both in pre-and postnatal life. However, the lack of long-term studies on a wide caseload and the difficulty in evaluating their toxic effects in vivo make it challenging to establish a causal link. This review aims to discuss the main human epidemiological studies currently available in the literature to define a possible association between these chemicals and TC. Methods: A comprehensive Medline/PubMed and Embase search was performed, selecting all relevant, peer-reviewed papers in English published from 2002 to January 2022. Other relevant papers were selected from the reference lists. Results: To date, literature evidence is limited due to the scarcity and heterogeneity of human studies and shows controversial data, highlighting the complexity of the topic. However, most human epidemiological studies seem to point toward a correlation between EEDs exposure and TC. Conclusion: Although the molecular mechanisms are not yet fully understood, the role of EEDs in TC onset is plausible, but several factors, such as the individual genetic background, the exposure time, and the complex mechanism of action of these chemicals, do not allow defining the causal link with certainty and make further studies necessary to investigate this complex topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions strategy aims to avoid emissions from all economic sectors by 2050. Although the reduction of GHGs has been considered an urgent issue in all industrial divisions, there are still gaps in climate change mitigation strategies and policies in other sectors, such as waste, accounting for 3–5% of GHG emissions generation which are emitted from landfills, waste transport, waste treatment processes, and incinerators (Clark et al. in Nat Clim Chang 6:360–369, 2016; Masson-Delmotte V, Zhai AP, Connors C P, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R., and Matthews TKM, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds) (2021) Climate Change 2021: the physical science basis. editor, contribution of working group I to the sixth assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;). Waste management is a worldwide issue related to the circular economy. The share of the waste sector in the UK for GHG emissions generation is 3.7% in 2021, and landfills are responsible for 70% of the emissions (Rogelj et al. in Nat Clim Chang 591:365–368, 2021). Therefore, a new approach to waste management and disposal strategies is crucial. This paper reviews the key elements and challenges involved in waste management systems, specifically in the UK, including policy and legislation, infrastructure, and technological advancements. The review offers a clear summary of the application of circularity waste management strategies, focusing on the UK's goal to achieve the net-zero target. This review found that to reach the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and 2050 net-zero goals, the existing waste management hierarchy is no longer appropriate for the global and national setting. The metrics in waste management in the context of the circular economy should be aligned with the optimization of using resources, waste minimization, and increasing product life cycle by considering environmental impacts. Therefore, the circular model can be deployed instead of the hierarchy concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rodents are considered good models for investigating genotoxic damage and mutagenic alterations caused by xenobiotic agents, due to their occupation of a wide variety of habitats. However, relatively few in situ studies have focused on DNA damage in wild rodents associated with environmental exposure. In this review, we investigate trends in the application of the micronucleus test and comet assay in in situ studies of wild rodents. A total of 33 papers were identified, distributed across 14 different countries. Brazil and Spain had the most published studies (six each), followed by Bulgaria (n = 5), Mexico (n = 4) and Italy (n = 3). Only 24 of the 2,652 recognized rodent species have been the subject of in situ studies, which have most frequently focus on species of the genus Mus. The protocols used for the micronucleus test and comet assay varied widely, although blood and bone marrow were the primary types of tissue used. Given the paucity of studies on wild rodents, we recommend further research, particularly focusing on the use of this group as bioindicators of environmental quality and the standardization of protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observing the impact and alienation of local government implementation of central policies is helpful for a comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of central policy execution and the systematic formulation of central-local management policies. This paper takes the influence of land inspections on local government environmental behavior as the research object, based on the land inspection system initiated by the central government in 2006. It uses panel data from 30 provinces in China and a difference-in-differences method to assess the environmental protection crowding-out effect of land inspections for the first time and conducts an in-depth exploration of its mechanisms and heterogeneity. The study findings are as follows: (1) In a long-term sample spanning from 1997 to 2020, the establishment of land inspection bureaus did not significantly increase the level of environmental pollution in the host regions. (2) In a short-term sample spanning from 2000 to 2015, the establishment of land inspection bureaus significantly increased the level of environmental pollution in the host regions. (3) The environmental protection crowding-out effect of land inspections is mainly due to the restraint on local government fiscal revenue. (4) The larger the economic scale, the more significant the positive effect of land inspections on the level of environmental pollution in the host regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heritage stone monuments have been a source of awe and inspiration to people of all ages and backgrounds. These architectural marvels symbolise India’s rich and diverse cultural heritage. They are cherished by people all over the world. Anthropogenic causes like environmental pollution have led to soiling and corrosion of natural stones used to construct these monuments. The diminishing beauty and accelerating deterioration of these monuments have become a matter of concern for all sections of society. In this paper, an attempt has been made to analyse the adequacy of the legal regime to protect the heritage stone monuments from environmental pollution. The introductory part of the paper provides a glimpse of various heritage stone monuments in India and their importance from the historical, cultural and architectural points of view. The next part elaborates on various causes of the degradation of these monuments. Case studies of the Taj Mahal and the Lotus Temple have been undertaken for comparative analysis, as both monuments have been constructed with heritage stones. Makrana Marble extracted from mines of Rajasthan has been used to build the Taj Mahal, whereas the Lotus Temple was constructed with marble extracted from ancient mines of Greece. The former was built during the Mughal era and the latter in the late twentieth century. The Taj Mahal is situated in Agra and the Lotus Temple in the national capital Delhi; for many centuries, both cities have been abuzz with social, economic and political activities. An attempt has been made to understand and analyse the impact of environmental pollution caused by human activities on these monuments. This study concludes that the inadequacy of the legal regime to protect these monuments from environmental pollutants has led to their degradation. In the end, suggestions have been made for protecting and conserving these monuments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maritime transport contributes significantly to environmental pollution. The Mediterranean Sea Area is particularly affected by marine emissions from particulate matter, black carbon, nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides. In addition to international and crossing traffic, the Mediterranean Sea is affected by the freight flows moved between its shores (in the North–South direction and vice versa), but also by transverse freight flows (East–West); these are freights transported through Short Sea Shipping. The Mediterranean Sea is the area where there is the highest concentration of short sea shipping in the EU-27. There are different types of Short Sea transport: container and bulk handling, general cargo ships and Ro-Ro transport. In such scenario, the analysis of trade flows as well as their spatial and geographical distribution, becomes fundamental. The paper proposes a gravity model for estimating trade flows, considering 18 countries boarding the Euro-Mediterranean Sea, in 2019. The proposed gravity model assumes that one of the main factors affecting trade is the economic dimension of a country which is directly related to the volume of imports and exports. In the paper, after a literature review on the gravity models, the illustration of the different phases investigation and construction of the database (specification, calibration and validation) to the definition and implementation of the proposed model is proposed. Scenario analyses are therefore proposed for assessing the environmental impacts generated by maritime transport in the Mediterranean basin as the freight flows vary. The analyses are carried out using a simulation approach which, starting from hypotheses on the economic and social development trends of the countries of the southern shore, made it possible to evaluate the variations in terms of freight flows and environmental impacts in terms of pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of financial development on carbon emissions is a hot topic. Although some researches study the heterogeneous impacts of financial development on carbon emissions at the country level, few paper has investigated their heterogeneous relations within the same country. This paper, applying geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR), studies the spatial–temporal heterogeneity of the impacts of financial development on carbon emissions across China's 30 provinces from 2003 to 2017. The results show that financial development proxied by bank credit indicators curbs carbon emissions in most provinces most of the time, while that proxied by stock market indicator exhibits nonlinear relationships in most provinces, such as U-shaped, inverse U-shaped, and inverse N-shaped. The paper concludes first that financial development proxied by different indicators may exert varied impacts on carbon emissions. Second, the impact of financial development on carbon emissions shows great heterogeneity among different provinces and different years: it may be curbing or increasing, and even it is curbing, its curbing effects differ greatly across provinces and years. Third, the impact of financial development on CO2 is not always monotonic; instead, it may be nonlinear. Regional segmentation of financial markets may explain the heterogeneity. Some policy suggestions are also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the impact of exhaust emissions from hydraulic support transporters on the air quality in roadways in mines. The dispersion distribution of diesel exhaust pollutants emitted by hydraulic support transporters was simulated with a dynamic mesh and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. More specifically, the dispersion and distribution of the main exhaust pollutants CO, HC, and NOx emitted by vehicles under the influence of the roadway wind flow were simulated with CFD simulations; in addition, the dispersion characteristics of exhaust pollutants from hydraulic support transporters during multiple driving phases in an alleyway (from transporting material, being unloaded at idle speed, to driving off without load) were predicted. The simulation results show that exhaust pollutants emitted by moving hydraulic support transporters can pollute the air in roadways and negatively affect the performance of gas monitoring devices in the roadway. Therefore, coal mining companies should optimize the ventilation design scheme to improve the air quality in roadways: they should increase the ventilation volume to dilute the emitted pollutants; in addition, the positions of underground gas monitoring devices should be adjusted to prevent interference from exhaust pollutants emitted by vehicles. This paper provides the theoretical basis and results of a preliminary investigation of the dispersion and transportation characteristics of exhaust pollutants emitted by vehicles in roadways. The results in this paper can serve as guidance for reducing the risk of occupational diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the developing countries, China's export trade mode (ETM) has gradually shifted from processing trade to general trade. Is the deterioration of China's environmental pollution caused by the transformation of ETM? Based on the panel data from 194 cities in China from 2000 to 2016, this paper investigates the impact of ETM transformation on the environmental pollution and its internal mechanism. The results show that the ETM is gradually shifting from processing trade to general trade, and environmental pollution will deteriorate first and then improve, that is, showing a significant "inverted U-shaped" relationship between the transformation of ETM and environmental pollution. Through the robustness test of the threshold, and SYS-GMM model, the results are still valid. The mechanism research shows that the upgrading of industrial structure, energy structure, industrial agglomeration, environmental protection investment, and resource allocation are the main mechanisms that the transformation of ETM affects environmental pollution. The conclusions of this study can provide empirical evidence for the process that the environmental pollution level of developing countries deteriorated and then improved during the process of transforming from processing export trade to general export trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the non-linear impacts of the agricultural, industrial, financial, and service sectors on environmental pollution in Malaysia during the 1980–2018 period. It employs the extended STIRPAT model and two indicators of environmental pollution (carbon dioxide emissions and ecological footprints). It uses the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique to estimate the parameters. Evidence from the study indicate that the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors have inverted U-shaped non-linear impacts on carbon dioxide emissions and ecological footprints, while the financial sector has a U-shaped non-linear relationship with carbon dioxide emissions and ecological footprint. These empirical outcomes are robust to diagnostic tests, structural breaks, and alternative estimation technique and proxies. The economic implication of this paper is that, at the early stage of sectoral growth, the pollution intensity of sectoral output increases, but after a certain turning point, a further increase in sectoral output will reduce environmental pollution. Precisely, environmental pollution will reduce if the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors exceed threshold levels of 11%, 44%, and 49% of GDP, respectively, while environmental pollution will be aggravated if financial sector exceeds a threshold level of 94%. Therefore, efforts to mitigate environmental pollution in Malaysia should integrate sectoral growth to attain sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These days, the most serious threats to the global economy, society, and humans are climate change and global warming, mainly rooted in the sharp increase of economic activities and their concomitant greenhouse gas emissions. This paper aims to investigate how economic complexity and various sectors of the economy affect environmental and economic development. This study employs a modified IPAT and STIRPAT model to investigate the relationship of environmental pollution and economic development with economic complexity, economic structure, and technology in 21 MENA and 34 OECD countries between 1971–2017. Our findings show that economic complexity and industrialization positively affect economic growth in both groups of countries. However, economic complexity and industrialization affect environmental pollution in MENA and developing countries positively but in OECD and developed countries negatively. This relationship accepts the Environmental Kuznets Hypothesis for the nexus of economic complexity and environmental pollution. According to the findings, policymakers in developing countries should increase environmental considerations in their development planning. Also, developed countries should assist developing countries in their endeavors to decrease environmental contamination by supplying technology transfer and financial aid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) has become a global concern, especially in developing countries. In this review, we conducted a literature survey of e-waste management practices, processing activities, and adverse effects in Vietnam, an emerging country in Southeast Asia, by gathering data from peer-reviewed articles published between 2009 and 2021. This is the first review paper to comprehensively discuss management and research aspects regarding e-waste in an Asian developing country. Due to the lack of an effective management and recycling system, a certain portion of Vietnamese e-waste has been processed by informal sectors without appropriate recycling and pollution control technology, resulting in localized contamination and human exposure to toxic chemicals. Primitive processing activities, such as manual dismantling, open burning, and plastic recycling, have been identified as important contributors to the environmental emission and human exposure to toxic elements (notably As, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn) and organic pollutants like flame retardants, PAHs, PCBs, and dioxin-related compounds. Informal e-waste processing from these small-scale workshops can release pollutants at similar levels compared to large-scale facilities in developed countries. This fact suggests an urgent need to develop management best practices for e-waste in Vietnam as well as other emerging and developing countries, in order to increase recycling efficiency and minimize their adverse impacts on environmental and human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of urbanization has important implications for the environment and the human health. However, it is still lacking a comprehensive analysis between urbanization, environmental pollution, and residents' health based on a unified research system. In this study, we assessed the integrated level of urbanization by the entropy method based on the representative indicators. It has been found that there is a significant progress in the urbanization level in the provinces from 2005 to 2020. The impact of urbanization development on environmental pollution was analyzed using the system GMM (Generalized Method of Moments), and the results show an inverted U-shaped relationship between urbanization and environmental pollution. Fixed effect regression model analysis infers that urbanization has a dual impact on population health. Urbanization promotes residents' health by improving medical conditions, but the environmental pollution caused by urbanization is harmful to residents' health. This paper integrated urbanization, environmental pollution, and residents' health into a research system to analyze the impact of urbanization on environmental pollution and residents' health. Some policy recommendations have been proposed based on the research results for promoting high-quality development of urbanization, reducing environmental pollution, and improving residents' health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to predict heavy metal pollution based on ecological factors with a new approach, using artificial neural networks (ANNs), by significantly removing typical obstacles like time-consuming laboratory procedures and high implementation costs. Pollution prediction is crucial for the safety of all living things, for sustainable development, and for policymakers to make the right decisions. This study focuses on predicting heavy metal contamination in an ecosystem at a significantly lower cost because pollution assessment still primarily relies on conventional methods, which are recognized to have disadvantages. To accomplish this, the data collected for 800 plant and soil materials have been utilized in the production of an ANN. This research is the first to use an ANN to predict pollution very accurately and has found the network models to be very suitable systemic tools for modelling in pollution data analysis. The findings appear are promising to be very illuminating and pioneering for scientists, conservationists, and governments to swiftly and optimally develop their appropriate work programs to leave a functioning ecosystem for all living things. It has been observed that the relative errors calculated for each of the polluting heavy metals for training, testing, and holdout data are significantly low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper addresses a novel two-echelon multi-product Location-Allocation-Routing problem (LARP). It also considers the integration of issues such as disruption, environmental pollution, and energy-efficient vehicles as currently critical issues in a Supply Chain Network (SCN) that includes production plants, central warehouses, and retailers. The aim of this study is to minimize the total cost, which involves costs related to the establishment, shipment processes, environmental pollution, travelling, vehicle usage, and fuel consumption, in a way to cover the total demand of retailers. The problem is NP-hard; thus, to solve it approximately, we developed Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithms. The numerical analysis showed that the proposed algorithms yielded high-quality results in a short computational time where the average gaps of GWO and PSO against CPLEX are 0.78% and 0.9%, respectively. Then, a case study of a dairy factory in Iran is conducted to evaluate the applicability of the proposed methodology and find the optimal policy. Finally, a set of sensitivity analyses is carried out to suggest managerial insights and decision aids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining is regarded as one of the major economic activities with the ability to contribute to economic development. However, governments, the general public, stakeholder organizations and individuals have been concerned about the environmental and health implications of mining on surrounding communities. This paper investigated the environmental and health impacts of the Kenyasi-Ahafo mining activities on the local population and other nearby areas. The study employed a cross-sectional, observational and community-based study involving 150 respondents from three different communities through questionnaires and interview data collection. The study also made use of secondary data which included data on water quality from 2017 to 2021, air pollution dataset from blasting (August 2021-July 2022), and health facility record dataset from 2018 to 2021. The study revealed that mining activities have resulted in major environmental impacts, including land degradation. In addition, there is pollution which has affected mainly water resources in the municipality. Air and noise pollution were also evident in the area. The combined effects of environmental problems have ended in health implications with an associated high prevalence of diseases such as malaria, respiratory tract infections and skin diseases. The study found the effects of mining on the health of the local population are dependent on their proximity to the actively mined area. It also found that efforts by authorities to manage the mining impact on air, water and land were unsatisfactory. Lead (Pb) concentration in water sources was above the WHO guidelines for drinking water for most communities. About 92% of respondents agree that the mining activities were to blame for the disease prevalent in their area, with only 4.7% disagreeing. Interestingly, the study established that respondents' years of staying in the community influenced their knowledge of the effect of mining on the environment (p = 0.00132). The study recommends a review of the environmental management policy of Kenyasi-Ahafo Mines restoration efforts and intervention measures, which include afforestation, a review of operational procedures and the provision of alternative drinking water quality to the affected communities. The outcomes of this study are useful to relevant stakeholders and local authorities towards initiating plans to ensure that the environmental and health impact of the mining activities is kept to a minimum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate on the environmental effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) has long been overdue but remains inconclusive. One key reason is that existing studies have focused mainly on the linear effect of FDI, ignoring its nonlinear effect. To remedy this deficiency, this paper establishes a nonlinear theoretical framework for modeling the connection between FDI and environmental pollution. Furthermore, we develop a spatial semiparametric autoregressive two-way effect panel data model to empirically test the nonlinear impact of FDI on China's environment. The results reveal strong evidence for the positive spillover effect of pollutant emissions in the spatial distribution and an inverted "N-shaped" connection between FDI inflow and environmental pollution. The influx of FDI has been shown to positively moderate the impact of economic growth on environmental degradation. In contrast, FDI inflow has negatively mitigated the impacts of industrialization on environmental degradation. The findings also reveal that energy consumption, economic growth, industrialization, and population size exacerbate environmental pollution, while technology and urbanization do the opposite. The research results have important practical relevance for re-examining the environmental performance of FDI and formulating coherent policies for attracting investment and energy-reduction policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environment protection and food safety are two critical issues in the world. In this review, a novel approach which integrates statistical study and subjective discussion was adopted to review recent advances on environment and food safety. Firstly, a scientometric-based statistical study was conducted based on 4904 publications collected from the Web of Science Core Collection database. It was found that the research on environment and food safety was growing steadily from 2001 to 2020. Interestingly, the statistical analysis of most-cited papers, titles, abstracts, keywords, and research areas revealed that the research on environment and food safety was diverse and multidisciplinary. In addition to the scientometric study, strategies to protect environment and ensure food safety were critically discussed, followed by a discussion on the emerging research topics, including emerging contaminates (e.g., microplastics), rapid detection of contaminants (e.g., biosensors), and environment friendly food packaging materials (e.g., biodegradable polymers). Finally, current challenges and future research directions were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cars are dominating urban traffic in cities around the world, even though daily trips in many cities are often realized with active modes of transportation or public transport. Urban transport planning processes need to adapt to this reality and the necessity of climate change mitigation. Against this background, the research project "Mobility Reporting", a joint undertaking of the district Pankow in Berlin and researchers from TU Berlin and TU Dresden, established a new, goal-driven, and participative planning process. The process identified local mobility as one of the central planning goals. The 15-min city (FMC) was thus adduced as a benchmark to analyze the district's current mobility system and development potential. We conducted extensive accessibility analyses to examine the status quo concerning the FMC. We calculated travel times to essential destinations in daily life by foot, public transport, and car. This analysis was accompanied by a mixed online and paper–pencil survey conducted to evaluate the perceived accessibility of people in Pankow. The survey results shed light on the question of which walking time thresholds constitute a "very good" or "good" accessibility. Further analyses included environmental and social variables, allowing us to check whether areas with different accessibility levels also differ regarding the socio-economic characteristics of their inhabitants. For example, do socially advantaged neighborhoods have better local accessibility? Is there a trade-off between exposure to environmental pollution and good accessibility? With this contribution, we shed light on what an FMC is and ought to be. Results from the survey support the normative and political vision of the FMC. Pankow generally offers the merits of a walkable city, showing the expected travel time differences between the dense inner city and the outskirts. Socially disadvantaged neighborhoods are not consistently less accessible. However, there seems to be a trade-off between good accessibility (especially PT accessibility) and correlated externalities of transport, namely air pollution and noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans are exposed to the variety of emerging environmental pollutant in everyday life. The special concern is paid to endocrine disrupting chemicals especially to triclosan which could interfere with normal hormonal functions. Triclosan could be found in numerous commercial products such as mouthwashes, toothpastes and disinfectants due to its antibacterial and antifungal effects. Considering the excessive use and disposal, wastewaters are recognized as the main source of triclosan in the aquatic environment. As a result of the incomplete removal, triclosan residues reach surface water and even groundwater. Triclosan has potential to accumulate in sediment and aquatic organisms. Therefore, the detectable concentrations of triclosan in various environmental and biological matrices emerged concerns about the potential toxicity. Triclosan impairs thyroid homeostasis and could be associated with neurodevelopment impairment, metabolic disorders, cardiotoxicity and the increased cancer risk. The growing resistance of the vast groups of bacteria, the evidenced toxicity on different aquatic organisms, its adverse health effects observed in vitro, in vivo as well as the available epidemiological studies suggest that further efforts to monitor triclosan toxicity at environmental levels are necessary. The safety precaution measures and full commitment to proper legislation in compliance with the environmental protection are needed in order to obtain triclosan good ecological status. This paper is an overview of the possible negative triclosan effects on human health. Sources of exposure to triclosan, methods and levels of detection in aquatic environment are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tax collection and management is an important factor affecting corporate pollution emissions, but currently, few studies systematically and rigorously identify its effects. Based on China's tax collection and management reform and a microenterprise database, this paper uses a regression discontinuity design model to empirically analyze the impact of tax collection and management reform on environmental pollution and the mechanism of this impact. This study found that the tax collection and management reforms have significantly increased environmental pollution. On average, the environmental pollution of enterprises affected by the reform has increased by approximately 10.8%. This effect is more pronounced in companies with high innovation capabilities and financing constraints, companies in underdeveloped areas, zombie companies, large-scale companies, and non-labor-intensive companies. The impact mechanism analysis shows that tax collection and management reforms increase the tax burden and costs of enterprises and reduce enterprise operating performance, thereby exacerbating environmental pollution. The findings of this article help clarify the impact of government taxation decisions on environmental pollution decisions and have enlightening significance for improving taxation system design and reducing environmental pollution in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WC55-Y hydraulic support transporters allow an efficient transport of support equipment in fully mechanized mining faces. However, the diesel particulate matter (DPM) emitted by these transporters seriously pollutes the air environment along mine roadways, endangering the health of coal mine workers. In this paper, we simulated the diffusion dispersion of DPM during the functioning of a WC55-Y hydraulic support transporter (emitting high amounts of exhaust pollutants) by computational fluid dynamics, identifying high DPM concentration zones. While the transporter was driven along a coal auxiliary transportation roadway, the diffusion–dispersion characteristics of DPM changed: DPM reached a long horizontal diffusion distance and a high concentration. We found that to avoid the inhalation of DPM and reduce its potential harm, coal mine workers should keep a distance of at least 21.27 m from the hydraulic support transporter while the vehicle runs along the roadway. Moreover, according to our simulation, the operators responsible for disassembling the hydraulic support transporter should wear protective equipment with good filterability while unloading it. Overall, the findings of this study can be applied to outline new work practice guidelines and design new optimum auxiliary ventilation for reducing underground miner exposure to DPM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of previous studies on the relations among foreign direct investment (FDI), environmental regulation, and environmental pollution, this work uses provincial panel data from 2000 to 2014 to study the effects of FDI and environmental regulation on environmental pollution by applying the panel-corrected standard error (PCSE) method. This paper then utilizes environmental regulation as the threshold variable to estimate the threshold effects of environmental regulation on FDI's influence on environmental pollution in a threshold regression model for the eastern, central, and western regions of China. The results show that stricter environmental regulation can substantially reduce the pollution in each region. FDI can decrease environmental pollution in the eastern and central regions, but it can increase pollution in the western region. There are double-threshold effects of environmental regulation on the effects of FDI on environmental pollution in each region. When the environmental regulation level is between the first threshold and the second threshold, FDI can decrease environmental pollution much more in the eastern and central regions and increase environmental pollution much less in the western region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity substitution refers to replacing fossil fuels by electricity in the consumption side. To figure out the actual ways of energy usage, we conduct field survey to obtain energy consumption data in Fujian, as well as potentials for electricity substitution. Based on these data, this paper provides a theoretical analysis for electricity substitution policy. We use the input–output model to estimate the effects of electricity substitution in Fujian during the period of 2016–2020. The results show electricity substitution can significantly increase total output of the power sector and reduce oil demand. Moreover, the electricity substitution policy can also help to control greenhouse gases and pollutants effectively. Replacing fossil fuels with clean electricity will be conducive to sustainable economic development. These findings will shed some light on the future policy of electricity substitution and energy structure change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies King Abdul-Aziz Public Transport Project (KAPTP) in Riyadh, which is currently being implemented. It is anticipated to reduce air pollution and improve air quality by 2030. Transportation is undoubtedly one of the fundamental pillars of sustainable development; however, it is also one of the most signifcant sources of air pollution. The studyʼs main objectives include identifying the current state of air pollution in Riyadh, reviewing the authorityʼs eforts to improve air quality, estimating the population size and expected daily trips in 2020 and 2030, and determining the projectʼs expected efects on air quality in Riyadh. According to the studyʼs fndings, Riyadhʼs population will be approximately 7.8 million in 2020 and 10.4 million in 2030. More than (9) million daily travels are anticipated in 2020, and more than (12) million daily journeys are anticipated in 2030. Additionally, it is anticipated that the KAPTPʼs deployment will begin in 2022. Additionally, it is anticipated that after the project is operational, 20% of daily trips would change, and that this percentage will rise to 25% in 2030. As a result, once the project is operational, it is anticipated that air pollution will decrease by roughly 30%, increasing to about 40% in 2030. The study recommends developing a comprehensive media plan to prepare the community, promote its use of public transportation, study public transport tarifs, and encourage the use of public transportation by imposing fees for the use of roads and parking lots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]