Bioaccumulation and sources of typical emerging pollutants via farming activities: Insight from risk assessment and mitigation

Emerging contaminants are increasingly and ubiquitously found in both aquatic and terrestrial farms. However, their sources poorly understood, which results in limited capacity to manage and control the ecological and human health risks. The targeted pollutants such as hormones, antibiotics, and phe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Qiongping Sun, Jingru Zhang, Zhixin Zheng, Qianqian Yu, Ting Wei, Jieyi Diao, Xuan Yu, Lulu Zhang, Qiusen Huang, Tieyu Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:Environment International
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025001503
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849710437646467072
author Qiongping Sun
Jingru Zhang
Zhixin Zheng
Qianqian Yu
Ting Wei
Jieyi Diao
Xuan Yu
Lulu Zhang
Qiusen Huang
Tieyu Wang
author_facet Qiongping Sun
Jingru Zhang
Zhixin Zheng
Qianqian Yu
Ting Wei
Jieyi Diao
Xuan Yu
Lulu Zhang
Qiusen Huang
Tieyu Wang
author_sort Qiongping Sun
collection DOAJ
description Emerging contaminants are increasingly and ubiquitously found in both aquatic and terrestrial farms. However, their sources poorly understood, which results in limited capacity to manage and control the ecological and human health risks. The targeted pollutants such as hormones, antibiotics, and phenols were analyzed in farming water, surrounding rivers, feed, biota and feces in the present study. In farming water, the phenols were more prevalent contaminants in aquatic farms, whereas antibiotics were predominant in terrestrial farms, which was partially attributable to the distribution of targeted pollutants in used feed. Notably, the sewage treatment system of terrestrial farms effectively reduced hormones (removal rate: 98.38%) and antibiotics (removal rate: 91.98%), but showed poorly in removing phenols, with their concentrations actually increasing by 37%. This raised significant concerns, as phenols from treated wastewater into rivers posed a threat to aquatic organisms such as fish and daphnia. Moreover, daily pollutant exposure was higher for females than for males, with the highest exposure resulting from the consumption of Penaeus vannamei. The higher exposure to emerging contaminants among females aged 18–29, the critical reproductive phase, warrants special attention due to the potential risks to both their maternal health and fetal development. Overall, this study can propose guidance for all stakeholders to control emerging pollutant emissions from farming and ensure food safety, which is the crucial element for managing the ecological environment and preventing risks.
format Article
id doaj-art-16b77423a0ff4f75a8f62d68bb56d05e
institution DOAJ
issn 0160-4120
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Environment International
spelling doaj-art-16b77423a0ff4f75a8f62d68bb56d05e2025-08-20T03:14:54ZengElsevierEnvironment International0160-41202025-04-0119810939910.1016/j.envint.2025.109399Bioaccumulation and sources of typical emerging pollutants via farming activities: Insight from risk assessment and mitigationQiongping Sun0Jingru Zhang1Zhixin Zheng2Qianqian Yu3Ting Wei4Jieyi Diao5Xuan Yu6Lulu Zhang7Qiusen Huang8Tieyu Wang9Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Disaster Prediction and Protection, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, ChinaLaboratory of New Pollutants Risk Assessment & Control, Guangdong Provincial Academic of Environmental Science, Guangzhou 510045, ChinaGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Disaster Prediction and Protection, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, China; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Offshore Environmental Pollution Control, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, ChinaLaboratory of New Pollutants Risk Assessment & Control, Guangdong Provincial Academic of Environmental Science, Guangzhou 510045, ChinaGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Disaster Prediction and Protection, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, China; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Offshore Environmental Pollution Control, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, ChinaGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Disaster Prediction and Protection, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, China; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Offshore Environmental Pollution Control, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, ChinaLaboratory of New Pollutants Risk Assessment & Control, Guangdong Provincial Academic of Environmental Science, Guangzhou 510045, ChinaLaboratory of New Pollutants Risk Assessment & Control, Guangdong Provincial Academic of Environmental Science, Guangzhou 510045, ChinaLaboratory of New Pollutants Risk Assessment & Control, Guangdong Provincial Academic of Environmental Science, Guangzhou 510045, ChinaGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Disaster Prediction and Protection, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, China; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Offshore Environmental Pollution Control, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, China; Corresponding author at: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Disaster Prediction and Protection, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, China.Emerging contaminants are increasingly and ubiquitously found in both aquatic and terrestrial farms. However, their sources poorly understood, which results in limited capacity to manage and control the ecological and human health risks. The targeted pollutants such as hormones, antibiotics, and phenols were analyzed in farming water, surrounding rivers, feed, biota and feces in the present study. In farming water, the phenols were more prevalent contaminants in aquatic farms, whereas antibiotics were predominant in terrestrial farms, which was partially attributable to the distribution of targeted pollutants in used feed. Notably, the sewage treatment system of terrestrial farms effectively reduced hormones (removal rate: 98.38%) and antibiotics (removal rate: 91.98%), but showed poorly in removing phenols, with their concentrations actually increasing by 37%. This raised significant concerns, as phenols from treated wastewater into rivers posed a threat to aquatic organisms such as fish and daphnia. Moreover, daily pollutant exposure was higher for females than for males, with the highest exposure resulting from the consumption of Penaeus vannamei. The higher exposure to emerging contaminants among females aged 18–29, the critical reproductive phase, warrants special attention due to the potential risks to both their maternal health and fetal development. Overall, this study can propose guidance for all stakeholders to control emerging pollutant emissions from farming and ensure food safety, which is the crucial element for managing the ecological environment and preventing risks.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025001503Emerging contaminantsBioaccumulationFarmsRisksCountermeasures
spellingShingle Qiongping Sun
Jingru Zhang
Zhixin Zheng
Qianqian Yu
Ting Wei
Jieyi Diao
Xuan Yu
Lulu Zhang
Qiusen Huang
Tieyu Wang
Bioaccumulation and sources of typical emerging pollutants via farming activities: Insight from risk assessment and mitigation
Environment International
Emerging contaminants
Bioaccumulation
Farms
Risks
Countermeasures
title Bioaccumulation and sources of typical emerging pollutants via farming activities: Insight from risk assessment and mitigation
title_full Bioaccumulation and sources of typical emerging pollutants via farming activities: Insight from risk assessment and mitigation
title_fullStr Bioaccumulation and sources of typical emerging pollutants via farming activities: Insight from risk assessment and mitigation
title_full_unstemmed Bioaccumulation and sources of typical emerging pollutants via farming activities: Insight from risk assessment and mitigation
title_short Bioaccumulation and sources of typical emerging pollutants via farming activities: Insight from risk assessment and mitigation
title_sort bioaccumulation and sources of typical emerging pollutants via farming activities insight from risk assessment and mitigation
topic Emerging contaminants
Bioaccumulation
Farms
Risks
Countermeasures
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025001503
work_keys_str_mv AT qiongpingsun bioaccumulationandsourcesoftypicalemergingpollutantsviafarmingactivitiesinsightfromriskassessmentandmitigation
AT jingruzhang bioaccumulationandsourcesoftypicalemergingpollutantsviafarmingactivitiesinsightfromriskassessmentandmitigation
AT zhixinzheng bioaccumulationandsourcesoftypicalemergingpollutantsviafarmingactivitiesinsightfromriskassessmentandmitigation
AT qianqianyu bioaccumulationandsourcesoftypicalemergingpollutantsviafarmingactivitiesinsightfromriskassessmentandmitigation
AT tingwei bioaccumulationandsourcesoftypicalemergingpollutantsviafarmingactivitiesinsightfromriskassessmentandmitigation
AT jieyidiao bioaccumulationandsourcesoftypicalemergingpollutantsviafarmingactivitiesinsightfromriskassessmentandmitigation
AT xuanyu bioaccumulationandsourcesoftypicalemergingpollutantsviafarmingactivitiesinsightfromriskassessmentandmitigation
AT luluzhang bioaccumulationandsourcesoftypicalemergingpollutantsviafarmingactivitiesinsightfromriskassessmentandmitigation
AT qiusenhuang bioaccumulationandsourcesoftypicalemergingpollutantsviafarmingactivitiesinsightfromriskassessmentandmitigation
AT tieyuwang bioaccumulationandsourcesoftypicalemergingpollutantsviafarmingactivitiesinsightfromriskassessmentandmitigation