Sustainability in Environment
type: channel
description: Sustainability in Environment (SE) is an international, Refereed, double-blind peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by Scholink. In order to give all researchers equal opportunity to share their ideas, SE adopts double-blind peer-review. Sustainability in Environment focuses on scholarly research and practical experience of a wide range of research areas within the general field of environment which covers, but is not limited to the following areas: Recycling Climate Change Biological Research New-Style Energy Energy Conversion Waste Disposal Strategies Environmental Technologies Processes Linking Environments Urban Planning and Development Environmental Economics and Policy Ecology and Sustainable Development Behaviors that Support or Thwart Human Well-Being Evaluation and Management of Environmental Risk and Safety ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We welcome scholars and researchers engaged in the related fields to submit their manuscripts to SE. Both of online submission and E-mail submission (se@scholink.org) are acceptable. Index/List/Archive CNKI Scholar CrossRef WANFANGDATA LinkedIn Electronic Journals Library OALib ResearchGate Research Bib Refseek academic search engine Yahoo Academia.edu Library and Archives Canada Lockss PKP Open Archives Harvester Google Scholar Canadiana Standard Periodical Directory Academic Journal Articles AMICUS Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE) CrossCheck Cosmos Impact Factor Directory of Research Journals Indexing (DRJI) Electronic Journals Library (EZB) Global Impact Factor (GIF) Journalseek JournalTOCs NewJour Scientific Indexing Service (SIS) Universal Impact Factor Open J-Gate Base Search Worldcat ISSN PORTAL Open access: Sustainability in Environment is available online to the reader "without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself". Peer review: Sustainability in Environment takes peer review po…
publisher: SCHOLINK INC.
language: en-US
publication name: Sustainability in Environment
issn: 2470-637X
copyright: Authors who publish with this journal must agree to the following terms: Copyrights for articles published in our are retained by the authors. Authors should promise that their works are entirely original, and all the references in their works should be appropriately cited or quoted. The works have not been published previously. The behavior of submitting the same work to other journals is unacceptable. The journal editor has the right to edit the format of works.
items: Analysis of Influencing Factors and Effects of Biochar on the Adsorption of Pollutants in Water
items: Phosphorus Tailings Modified Biochar for the Removal of Phosphorus from Water
items: Effect of Black Carbon on the Gas-Phase Oxidation of SO2 by H2O2 to Form Sulfate
items: Microbial Community and Ecological Network Responses to Spartina alterniflora Invasion in Coastal Wetlands: A Mini-Review with Bibliometric Insights
items: Digital Twin Technology for Sustainable Urban–Rural Economic Governance:Financial Innovation, Resource Optimization, and Coordinated Development
items: A Study on Economic Resilience of Mountainous Cities and Its Influencing Factors in the Context of Population contraction: A Case Study of the Central Guizhou Urban Agglomeration
items: Research on the Antibacterial Properties of Stone Heritage Buildings
items: Research on the Spatiotemporal Patterns of Ecosystem Services and Urban Sustainable Development: A Case Study of the “Mid-Spine Belt of Beautiful China”
items: Interspecific Differences in Barium Accumulation and Health Risk Assessment of Crops in a Barite Mining Area
items: Pollution Characteristics and Source Apportionment of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in the Main Urban Area of Wuxi City, 2025
items: Progress in the Remediation of Heterogeneously Co-Contaminated Petrochemical Soils: From Structural Constraint to Multiscale Process Coupling
items: Mine Geological Environment Problems and Ecological Restoration Measures of Longlei Lead-Zinc Deposit in Gongcheng, Guangxi
items: Rural Planning Strategy Research for a Typical Village in Northeastern Guangdong Under the “Double Hundred Action” Framework: A Case Study of Nanchang Village, Bopu Town, Zijin County
items: Human Health Risk Assessment of Complexly Contaminated Sites: Limitations of Additive Risk Models and the Challenge of Complex Environmental Mixtures

Analysis of Influencing Factors and Effects of Biochar on the Adsorption of Pollutants in Water
type: item
description: This research article delves into the factors influencing the adsorption of pollutants in water using biochar. The study investigates the physical and chemical properties of biochar, its interaction with various pollutants, and the environmental conditions affecting its efficacy. Through a series of experiments, the adsorption capacity of biochar is quantified, and the results are analyzed to understand the underlying mechanisms. The findings contribute to the development of more efficient water purification systems using biochar as a sustainable material.
creator: Hongyan Chen
creator: Li-Juan Feng
creator: Jinhong Zhang
creator: Jinyu Luo
creator: Wenlin Li
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Hongyan Chen, Li-Juan Feng, Jinhong Zhang, Jinyu Luo, Wenlin Li http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2027-05-19
publication date: 2027-05-19
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 1
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p1

Phosphorus Tailings Modified Biochar for the Removal of Phosphorus from Water
type: item
description: Dehydrated sludge and phosphate tailings are used as raw materials, mixed in a certain proportion, and pyrolyzed in a tube furnace at a temperature of 800 ℃ to form sludge composite phosphate tailings biochar, which is then used for the treatment of phosphate containing wastewater. We investigated the adsorption efficiency and influencing factors (initial phosphorus concentration, pH value, and coexisting ions) of biochar for phosphorus in both single and mixed systems (coexistence of phosphorus, ammonia nitrogen, and paracetamol). The results showed that in a single system, when the phosphorus concentration was 50mg/L, the pH value was 7, and the concentration of coexisting ion SO42- was 0.1mg/L, the removal rates were 99.88%, 80.96%, and 86.04%, respectively. Biochar had the best adsorption effect on phosphorus. In the mixed system, the removal rate was 99.86% when the phosphorus concentration was 50mg/L, and the removal rates were 99.86%, 54.98%, and 79.10% when the coexisting ion SO42- concentration was 0.1mg/L at pH 8. The adsorption effect on phosphorus was the best. Phosphorus is one of the main elements causing eutrophication of water bodies, which can lead to the proliferation of algae in the water. So the removal of phosphorus from water is very important.
creator: Wenlin Li
creator: LiJuan Feng
creator: Jinyu Luo
creator: Jinhong Zhang
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Wenlin Li, LiJuan Feng, Jinyu Luo, Jinhong Zhang http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-05-19
publication date: 2026-05-19
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 17
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p17

Effect of Black Carbon on the Gas-Phase Oxidation of SO2 by H2O2 to Form Sulfate
type: item
description: A common carbonaceous aerosol in the atmosphere that absorbs light is called black carbon (BC). During haze situations, it can be crucial to the development of sulfate. In this work, we used a flow tube reactor system to replicate the gas-phase oxidation of SO2 by H2O2 in the presence of BC. We looked into the fundamental process as well. According to our findings, BC greatly encourages the development of sulfates. Stronger UV light intensity, higher BC mass concentration, and higher H2O2 concentration all promote this amplification. The reaction exhibits pseudo-first-order kinetics, according to kinetic analysis. When BC is present, the absorption coefficient rises to 2.728 × 10-7, indicating a significant increase in reaction rate. We identified the microscopic process by XPS analysis and radical scavenging studies. The "pre-adsorption–oxidation" route is followed in the production of sulfate. In particular, SO2 initially adsorbs onto the surface of BC. The reaction energy barrier is subsequently lowered by electron transfer, enabling further oxidation to sulfate. Additionally, BC catalyzes the breakdown of H2O2 to produce singlet oxygen (1O2), superoxide radicals (·O2-), and hydroxyl radicals (·OH). The conversion of SO2 is accelerated by these extremely reactive oxygen species. This study emphasizes how important BC is in encouraging the development of atmospheric sulfates. It offers a fresh theoretical foundation for improving our comprehension of atmospheric sulfate production processes.
creator: Wenyao Zhang
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Wenyao Zhang http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-05-20
publication date: 2026-05-20
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 28
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p28

Microbial Community and Ecological Network Responses to Spartina alterniflora Invasion in Coastal Wetlands: A Mini-Review with Bibliometric Insights
type: item
description: Spartina alterniflora invasion has become one of the most intensively studied plant-invasion processes in coastal wetlands because its effects extend beyond aboveground vegetation change to soil microbial communities, microbial interaction networks, and biogeochemical cycling. This mini-review synthesizes a Web of Science dataset of 209 records retrieved with a search strategy linking S. alterniflora, microbial communities or networks, and invasion-related terms. A CiteSpace-compatible bibliometric analysis showed that the literature expanded markedly after 2020, with publication output peaking in 2025 within the exported dataset. The keyword structure was centered on S. alterniflora, salt marsh, coastal wetland, plant invasion, microbial community, bacterial community, carbon, and nitrogen, indicating a field that now connects invasion ecology with microbial network ecology and ecosystem-function research. Evidence from chronosequence, rhizosphere, mangrove, and salt-marsh studies shows that S. alterniflora invasion often restructures bacterial and fungal communities through changes in organic matter, salinity, pH, hydrology, and plant-derived substrates. Network studies suggest a context-dependent reorganization rather than a uniform increase or decrease in complexity: bulk-soil fungal or mixed microbial networks often become simpler or less stable, whereas rhizosphere, host-associated bacterial, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal subnetworks may become more modular or more densely connected. Functionally, these microbial changes are linked to denitrification, N2O emissions, sulfur cycling, decomposition, soil organic carbon dynamics, and carbon-cycling functional genes. Future studies should combine standardized network inference, multi-omics, manipulative experiments, and restoration monitoring to move from correlation-based network description toward causal understanding of belowground invasion mechanisms.
creator: Junliang Chen
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Junliang Chen http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-05-22
publication date: 2026-05-22
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 36
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p36

Digital Twin Technology for Sustainable Urban–Rural Economic Governance:Financial Innovation, Resource Optimization, and Coordinated Development
type: item
description: This study investigates the application of digital twin technology in driving the reform of urban–rural economic systems, with a particular focus on the pivotal role of financial elements. It examines how digital twin–enabled tools can facilitate rural financial innovation—such as precise credit allocation, inclusive finance, and dynamic risk assessment—and optimize capital flows between urban and rural areas, thereby enhancing the efficiency of resource matching and breaking down circulation barriers. By constructing high-fidelity, dynamically evolving virtual representations of urban–rural economic operations, digital twins offer a transformative platform for precision financial services and significant improvements in capital allocation efficiency. The findings suggest that leveraging digital twin technology for financial innovation and optimization constitutes a critical enabler for advancing urban–rural integration and promoting the modernization of economic systems. This research provides practical insights into how technology-driven financial development can serve as a core engine for systemic reform and coordinated regional development.
creator: Jinghan Li
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Jinghan Li http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-05-27
publication date: 2026-05-27
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 44
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p44

A Study on Economic Resilience of Mountainous Cities and Its Influencing Factors in the Context of Population contraction: A Case Study of the Central Guizhou Urban Agglomeration
type: item
description: In recent years, with the slowdown of regional economic growth and significant changes in population structure, the issue of population contraction has received widespread attention. At the same time, there are new pressures and challenges in enhancing the economic resilience of regions. Therefore, a thorough investigation into the impact of population contraction on economic resilience is of profound significance for the synchronized development of population and economy in regions.Based on this, this paper takes the mountainous cities in the central Guizhou urban agglomeration as the case study area, and comprehensively employs population change rate, entropy method, to study the spatio-temporal evolution pattern of population declien and economic resilience in the central Guizhou urban agglomeration from 2013 to 2022, and reveals the impact of population contraction on economic resilience. The results demonstrate the following:(1)In terms of population contraction, only Bozhou District of Zunyi City in the central Guizhou urban agglomeration experienced population shrinkage from 2013 to 2017; from 2018 to 2022, the number of areas experiencing population contraction increased to 11, presenting a distribution pattern approximately symmetrical on the east and west sides with the core area of the central Guizhou urban agglomeration as the axis. (2)Regarding economic resilience, there are significant differences in spatial distribution between the two periods. High-value areas show a spatial lock-in phenomenon, concentrated in Guiyang City, while low-value areas are distributed in the southern part of the central Guizhou urban agglomeration, highlighting the unbalanced development among regions. Additionally, due to the impact of COVID-19, the economic resilience level of the central Guizhou urban agglomeration decreased from 2018 to 2022.
creator: Minghao Cao
creator: Xudong Li
creator: Xing Guo
creator: Zhiwen Yang
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Minghao Cao, Xudong Li, Xing Guo, Zhiwen Yang http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-05-29
publication date: 2026-05-29
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 59
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p59

Research on the Antibacterial Properties of Stone Heritage Buildings
type: item
description: The disinfection of stone heritage buildings poses a major challenge in global heritage conservation. Currently, the lack of effective antibacterial agents to inhibit the growth of microorganisms on stone buildings necessitates urgent exploration of effective and green methods to eliminate fungi and bacteria colonizing the surfaces of stone heritage structures. Therefore, this study synthesized silver nanoparticles using aqueous and alcoholic extracts from four plant species and evaluated their antibacterial properties. Experimental results showed that eight types of biosynthesized silver nanoparticles, particularly those synthesized using cinnamon extract, exhibited excellent antibacterial effects against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger, and Aspergillus flavus. These plant-mediated silver nanoparticles were synthesized under different reaction conditions and characterized by UV spectroscopy and other techniques. The results demonstrated that silver nanoparticles synthesized with cinnamon extract, in particular, showed superior antibactrial performance against E. coli, S. aureus, A. niger, and A. flavus compared to conventional chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles and the chemical biocide benzalkonium chloride (BC). This study confirms that plant-mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles is a feasible and green antibacterial agent for application on stone heritage buildings.
creator: Shengyu Yang
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Shengyu Yang http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-06-01
publication date: 2026-06-01
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 75
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p75

Research on the Spatiotemporal Patterns of Ecosystem Services and Urban Sustainable Development: A Case Study of the “Mid-Spine Belt of Beautiful China”
type: item
description: Urban sustainable development relies on stable ecosystem services (ESs) to coordinate human activities and natural ecosystems. This article takes the “Mid‑Spine Belt of Beautiful China” as the study area,using the entropy weight method and the InVEST model, combined with multi-source data such as remote sensing, geographic, and statistical data, to quantify three categories of Sustainable Development Goal11 (economic, social, environmental) and four types of ESs (carbon storage,water yield, soil conservation, vegetation cover); establishing an evaluation framework for sustainable development applicable to the “Mid-Spine Belt of Beautiful China”. From 2015 to 2023, regional SDG11 rose generally with the lowest score in 2021; inter-city gaps shrank but regional imbalance remained. Water yield and soil conservation declined yearly, while carbon storage and vegetation coverage kept growing. Spearman correlation and MGWR uncover obvious spatial heterogeneity in the synergy and trade-off between SDG11 and ESs: four synergy pairs and three trade-off pairs declined, and economic SDGs had the strongest negative link with vegetation coverage. SOM clustering divides the study zone into four differentiated subregions with distinct ES and SDG11 performances.This work has important practical significance for maintaining the stability and sustainable development of the “Mid-Spine Belt of Beautiful China” ecosystem.
creator: Ruichun Chang
creator: Shan Zhang
creator: Wanquan Tuo
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Ruichun Chang, Shan Zhang, Wanquan Tuo http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-06-05
publication date: 2026-06-05
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 90
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p90

Interspecific Differences in Barium Accumulation and Health Risk Assessment of Crops in a Barite Mining Area
type: item
description: Understanding barium (Ba) accumulation in crops from barite mining areas is crucial for assessing dietary health risks. This study investigated Ba concentrations, bioaccumulation factors (BCF), and translocation characteristics in various crops from a barite mining region in Guizhou, China. Results showed significant interspecific differences. Pakchoi (Brassicaceae) exhibited the highest Ba concentration (947.92-952.37 mg·kg-1) and BCF (0.028), while grains of Poaceae (rice and maize) had the lowest (1.50-7.14 mg·kg-1). Ba distribution in Poaceae followed root>leaf>stem>grain, with very limited translocation to grains (TF stem→grain: 0.0135–0.0559), whereas pakchoi showed efficient translocation to leaves (TF: 0.4732). Health risk assessment revealed that pakchoi’s estimated daily intake (EDI) was 17.5-18.4 times the USEPA reference dose (0.2 mg·kg-1·day-1), with hazard index (HI)>1, indicating a potential health risk. Solanaceae fruits and Poaceae grains had HI<1, posing negligible risk. Therefore, in high‑Ba areas, priority should be given to planting Solanaceae or Poaceae crops rather than leafy vegetables.
creator: Hairun Wang
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Hairun Wang http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-06-07
publication date: 2026-06-07
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 116
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p116

Pollution Characteristics and Source Apportionment of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in the Main Urban Area of Wuxi City, 2025
type: item
description: In To identify pollution sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Wuxi City, we analyzed their pollution characteristics, ozone formation potential (OFP) and source apportionment using online monitoring data from December 2024 to November 2025. The average VOCs volume fraction was 38.90×10-9, showing a seasonal trend of higher levels in winter/autumn and lower in spring/summer. Alkanes (30.90%) and oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs, 34.71%) were the dominant components, and all chemical species exhibited a "double peaks and one valley" diurnal pattern.Total OFP reached 75.90 μg/m³, with OVOCs (55.87–66.16%) being the primary contributor across seasons. Aromatic hydrocarbons contributed significantly more in winter (15.71%) than in spring, summer and autumn (4.93–8.79%). Acetaldehyde (19.43–32.02%) ranked first in annual OFP contribution, followed by acrolein and vinyl acetate. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) identified seven source factors. Motor vehicles (28.6%) and solvent usage (19.9%) were the dominant VOCs sources, followed by plant/biomass combustion (12%), combustion sources (10.7%), industrial emissions (10.6%), LPG (9.9%) and oil/gas volatilization (8.2%). Therefore, priority should be given to controlling these two major sources for effective VOCs abatement in Wuxi.
creator: Jiaxing Deng
creator: Heng Chu
creator: Chunyan Diao
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Jiaxing Deng, Heng Chu, Chunyan Diao http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-06-08
publication date: 2026-06-08
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 128
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p128

Progress in the Remediation of Heterogeneously Co-Contaminated Petrochemical Soils: From Structural Constraint to Multiscale Process Coupling
type: item
description: Heterogeneously co-contaminated soils impacted by petrochemical activities are characterized by the coexistence of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), and their weathered derivatives distributed across multiphase soil domains. Their long-term persistence is primarily governed by pore-scale heterogeneity, strong sorption within soil organic matter (SOM), and severe mass transfer limitations across solid–liquid–gas interfaces.This review synthesizes recent advances in understanding and remediating such complex systems from a multiscale and system-coupling perspective. We focus on three interconnected aspects: (i) the structural evolution of contaminated soil matrices under long-term aging, (ii) interfacial activation mechanisms induced by external physical and chemical energy fields, and (iii) the nonlinear coupling among physical transport, chemical transformation, and biological degradation processes.A conceptual framework is proposed, emphasizing “structural constraint release–interfacial activation–system-level evolution”, providing theoretical support for hierarchical, adaptive, and energy-efficient remediation strategies in highly heterogeneous contaminated sites.
creator: Pengcheng Lei
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Pengcheng Lei http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-06-30
publication date: 2026-06-30
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 142
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p142

Mine Geological Environment Problems and Ecological Restoration Measures of Longlei Lead-Zinc Deposit in Gongcheng, Guangxi
type: item
description: The exploitation of mineral resources provides crucial material support for regional economic development, yet the concomitant mine geological environmental issues have become core constraints restricting the sustainable development of the mining industry. The Longlei Lead-Zinc Deposit is situated in the Laochang lead-zinc ore field in the western segment of the Nanling Metallogenic Belt, representing a typical small-to-medium-sized lead-zinc deposit in this region. Taking this deposit as a research case, this paper systematically elaborates the geological environmental background of the mining area through field geological surveys and comprehensive indoor data analysis. It accurately identifies dominant geological environmental hazards induced by mining activities, including geological disasters, topographic and geomorphic landscape destruction, water-soil environmental pollution, and land resource degradation. A targeted classified technical system for ecological restoration is accordingly established. The research outcomes can effectively restore the ecological structure and functions of the mining area, rebuild ecological balance, facilitate sound, coordinated and sustainable evolution of the mine geological environment, and offer a replicable and scalable practical paradigm for geological environmental protection and ecological restoration of analogous lead-zinc deposits.
creator: Qin Yuanxiang
creator: Li Yuanqiang
creator: Wei Changpei
creator: Zhang Zhan
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Qin Yuanxiang, Li Yuanqiang, Wei Changpei, Zhang Zhan http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-07-20
publication date: 2026-07-20
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 152
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p152

Rural Planning Strategy Research for a Typical Village in Northeastern Guangdong Under the “Double Hundred Action” Framework: A Case Study of Nanchang Village, Bopu Town, Zijin County
type: item
description: Guangdong Province’s “Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Project” has transitioned from a primary focus on human-settlement remediation to a new stage that jointly advances landscape enhancement and cultural identity-building. In the core Hakka cultural area of northeastern Guangdong, model-village cultivation faces a practical tension between “traditional preservation” and “modern development.” Anchored in the “Double Hundred Action” framework, this study takes Nanchang Village, Bopu Town, Zijin County—a first-batch model village selected in 2023—as its case. Through on-site planning interventions, the paper identifies the village’s Hakka cultural resources and translates them into a landscape-planning strategy system spanning cultural-gene decoding, spatial translation, public-space revitalisation, and agriculture-culture-tourism integration. It argues that culture-led rural landscape planning must move beyond symbolic extraction toward a complete chain of cultural identification, spatial translation, functional reactivation, and industrial extension, so that the village becomes a self-generating subject rather than an object of remediation. The findings offer an actionable and replicable reference for similar Hakka villages in northeastern Guangdong.
creator: Ting Hou
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Ting Hou http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-07-31
publication date: 2026-07-31
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 165
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p165

Human Health Risk Assessment of Complexly Contaminated Sites: Limitations of Additive Risk Models and the Challenge of Complex Environmental Mixtures
type: item
description: Human health risk assessment (HHRA) has become a central regulatory framework for evaluating contaminated soils and groundwater impacted by industrial activities, petroleum releases, hazardous waste disposal, and urban development. Contemporary cumulative HHRA methodologies commonly estimate carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic risks through additive aggregation of individual contaminant risks across multiple exposure pathways. Although these approaches provide practical and conservative tools for environmental regulation, they also rely on substantial assumptions regarding toxicological additivity, contaminant independence, and dose response behavior. Real-world contaminated sites frequently contain complex mixtures such as hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chlorinated solvents, metals, and transformation products which interactions remain incompletely understood. This review critically examines the conceptual and scientific limitations associated with additive cumulative HHRA frameworks for complexly contaminated sites. Particular attention is given to unresolved mixture toxicology, toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic interactions, exposure heterogeneity, and the distinction between regulatory screening thresholds and actual biological disease probability. Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) are discussed as a representative example of unresolved environmental mixtures that challenge conventional fraction-based assessment methodologies. The paper argues that current cumulative HHRA models should be interpreted primarily as operational regulatory approximations designed to provide conservative protection rather than comprehensive mechanistic representations of human carcinogenesis under mixed environmental exposure conditions. Emerging advances in systems toxicology, exposomics, physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling, and high-resolution analytical chemistry may support development of more biologically informed future risk assessment frameworks.
creator: Ziyou Zhou
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Ziyou Zhou http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-07-31
publication date: 2026-07-31
volume: 11
number: 3
starting page: 178
doi: 10.22158/se.v11n3p178