Keeping the lights on and the pantry stocked: Ensuring water for energy and food production

Stanford University

A new study, focused on a remote region of the Peruvian Andes where the waters of the Amazon originate, carries lessons for hydropower operators and farming communities worldwide: collaborating on sustainable land management is the best decision they can make for the long-term viability of their businesses and livelihoods. It also opens opportunities for restoration of degraded ecosystems. Research from the Stanford-based Natural Capital Project (NatCap) in Communications - Earth & the Environment integrates hydropower operations with watershed processes and climate projections in a novel, high-resolution modeling approach for the Huallaga River Basin, upstream of the Chaglla Dam. It provides a detailed picture of how climate change will increase water shortages, and points to investments in upstream reforestation and sustainable irrigation as the most effective paths toward meeting these challenges.

“This study is exciting because this is the first time climate change, hydropower, and land management practices have been put together in a robust decision-making approach,” said Zhaowei Ding, a postdoctoral researcher at NatCap and lead author on the paper. “In this region, people had looked at the relationship between hydropower and deforestation, or hydropower and food, but they were not connected. Now, we can show where water goes in the basin and we can optimize our management suggestions.”  

Climate-induced water shortages turn up the pressure

Despite serious social and environmental impacts, hydropower remains an important source of low-carbon energy in many parts of the world, including Latin America and Asia. However, hydropower dams cannot operate below a certain threshold of water flow. Reduced rainfall resulting from climate change will exacerbate the problem. So too will less rain during the growing season. Farmers upstream of hydropower plants will increasingly turn to irrigation to ensure their livelihoods, reducing the water available downstream. These changes will likely exacerbate conflict between the energy and agricultural sectors.

Waldo Lavado, a co-author and researcher at the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology of Peru, noted that water resources in the Peruvian Andean-Amazonian basin are quite vulnerable to changes in land use and to climate change. “For the first time, this research scientifically documents possible projections of these changes – the first step to understanding the water-energy-food-ecosystem nexus in Peruvian basins with increasingly marked human influences.”

The researchers analyzed thousands of possible land and water use scenarios and found no win-win solutions for resolving tensions between water, energy, food, and ecosystems. Unplanned expansion of irrigation in this region could strongly impede the hydropower plant’s ability to function in the dry season, when hydropower is most valuable for the Peruvian power grid. At the same time, thousands of small-scale producers have long relied on rainfed agriculture for their food security and livelihoods, and for contributing to the national market. In this context, irrigation helps farmers mitigate increasing uncertainty. 

Nature offers damage control 

Nonetheless, the study found that impacts to both the energy and food sectors could be lessened using nature-based approaches. Investments in upstream reforestation and the creation of protected areas, by compensating farmers to plant trees instead of crops, would increase water availability for downstream hydropower by reducing irrigation needs. Forests also help retain soil, so this would lessen erosion and sedimentation, which impede dam operations. The modeling helped identify low-yield areas where farms use a lot of water for irrigation but aren’t producing similarly large crops – potentially prime locations for making this switch. This approach could be combined with investments in irrigation efficiency, like drip irrigation systems, in remaining crop production areas to maintain or increase local food production.

“This type of information can contribute to local stakeholders’ decision-making processes around development,” said Andrea Baudoin Farah, assistant professor at Colorado State University, former postdoctoral researcher with NatCap, and a co-author of the paper. “Local farmers and communities are well aware of the need to preserve the ecosystems and landscapes that sustain their production systems, but they face significant challenges in a changing environment.”

Baudoin Farah noted that Andean peasant communities have deep knowledge of the interconnections between ecosystems and food production, despite being historically relegated to the steepest, most marginal lands, and neglected in terms of supportive infrastructure. “Climate change is exacerbating their already-vulnerable livelihoods. Studies like this one point to the need to channel funds to support farmers in their efforts to conserve soils and implement sustainable production systems.”

Scaling the approach in other regions

“This study shows that natural capital approaches, in this case like investing in ecosystems to secure water supplies and reduce sedimentation, are the main lever at this nexus of food, energy, climate, and water,” said Tong Wu a senior scientist & associate director of the NatCap China Program, which collaborated on this research. “They are like the router through which all the different cables go through. It’s not just one solution – it’s the best solution.”

The researchers hope the study’s findings can motivate dialogue between hydropower operators and upstream stakeholders across Latin America. The largest dams in the world are located in Asia, so they are also engaged in ongoing conversations with key actors in the hydropower sector there about scaling up this nature-based approach to addressing the water crisis that is headed their way.

With climate change, the value of water will be higher and competition for it will be stronger. “If hydropower operators want to maintain their revenue, they will need to increase their investments in nature upstream of their dams,” said study senior author Rafael Schmitt, a lead scientist at NatCap and project lead.

“Our team’s modeling framework is an important step forward in defining eco-compensation mechanisms – like paying farmers not to farm, or where to implement protected areas – in a way that is science-based and robust, despite the great uncertainties introduced by future climate change,” Schmitt added.

The Natural Capital Project is based out of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and its Woods Institute for the Environment, and the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. Other Stanford co-authors are Héctor Angarita, Jesse A. Goldstein, Natasha Batista, and Dave Fisher, all based at NatCap. Additional co-authors are Christian Montesinos Cáceres from the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology of Peru (Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología) and Hua Zheng with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

This research was funded by the Moore Foundation.

---

Journal

Communications Earth & Environment

Article Publication Date

18-Nov-2024

 

Greg Liu is in his element using chemistry to tackle the plastics problem

Liu, a professor in the Department of Chemistry, has found a way to convert certain plastics into soaps and detergents, and now he is helping to explore business models that can profitably use his process on a much larger scale.

Virginia Tech

 

image: 

Greg Liu (at left) has spent the past five or six years working on ways to recycle plastics, and he and his team now believe they have found a solution to a growing global problem.

view more 

Credit: Photo by Spencer Coppage for Virginia Tech.

As an undergraduate student at Zhejiang University in eastern China, Greg Liu went with some of his classmates on a university-sponsored trip to tour a host of chemical industries within the area.

The tour gave students pursuing degrees in chemical engineering an opportunity to learn more about the manufacturing and production processes of chemicals within China at the time. Liu realized that day exactly what he wanted to do for a career – find ways to alleviate or stop the industry from polluting the environment.

“I realized that this was not going to be the sustainable way of our future. Pollution was everywhere, water, soil, road, you name it. Workers were in unbearable working conditions. I didn’t want to be in an environment like that, nor our future generations,” Liu said. “That basically drove me to think, ‘OK, I must pursue an advanced degree to change the way we work in the chemical industry.’”

Liu later came to the United States and earned his doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Now, his zeal to use his knowledge of chemical engineering to create a more sustainable world has led to him developing a revolutionary way to deal with arguably one of the world’s most pressing issues — plastic pollution.

A long research project encompassing five or six years finally led to a breakthrough, with Liu, a professor within Virginia Tech’s Department of Chemistry housed in the College of Science, and his team of undergraduate and graduate students finding a way to convert certain plastics into soaps, detergents, lubricants, and other products. Liu has written an article about the process and the feasibility and commercialization of it that recently published in Nature Sustainability, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

In simple terms, Liu’s system was two steps. It first involved using thermolysis, or breaking down a substance – in this case, plastic – by using heat. Plastic placed in a reactor built by Liu’s team and heated to between 650 and 750 degrees Fahrenheit broke down into chemical compounds, leaving a mixture of oil, gas, and residual solids. The key to this first step was breaking down the polypropylene and polyethylene molecules that make up plastic within a certain carbon range, and Liu and his team were able to accomplish this.

The residual solids left behind were minimal, and the gas could be captured and used as fuel. The oil, though, was the product of the most interest here.

During his research, Liu was able to functionalize, or change the chemistry, of the oil into molecules to be converted into soaps, detergents, lubricants, and other products.

“These materials are stable,” Liu said, holding up a vial of soap. “This vial of soap has been in my office for, I would say, a year already. … You could use it to wash your hands and dishes. We have used it to wash our lab glassware in the laboratory.”

<p>Your browser does not support iframes. Link to iframe content: <a href="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/0lbGVu7Eky5xH6XX2emY7s?utm_source=generator&theme=0">https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/0lbGVu7Eky5xH6XX2emY7s?utm_source=generator&theme=0</a></p>

The process, which took less than a day, led to almost zero air pollution output, thus offering clues to a desperately needed solution to a global problem. According to the United Nation’s website, the world produces 430 million tons of plastic each year, with the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic dumped into oceans, rivers, and lakes each day.

Plastic pollution leads to an increased choking of marine wildlife, the damaging of soils, the poisoning of groundwater, and the causing of negative human health impacts. In addition, there are greenhouse gas emissions released into the air during production.

The United Nations expects plastic pollution to triple by 2060 if no action is taken. Unfortunately, according to the United Nation's website, less than 9 percent of plastic actually gets recycled – though there is a reason for that, according to Amanda Morris, the head of the Virginia Tech’s Department of Chemistry.

“We make plastics to last from the perspective that many of them have to hold a liquid inside them that you don’t want coming out of a bottle. So they have to be relatively strong materials,” Morris said. “The bonds that hold the polymer together and give us that strength and give us the properties of the bottles that we use are also really hard to break, and so it’s just trying to come up with ways to do it in an energy efficient manner where you get clean product.

“The other thing is that those polymers can degrade into many different things. Are there ways that we can get it to one specific product that then could actually be used downstream again? I think those are some of the things that we’ve struggled with.”

Liu and his team have come up with a way to break those bonds, but now potentially comes the hard part – scaling up the system and making it a continuous one, while, more importantly, making it cost effective.

His is the plight of many researchers. They often find solutions to issues, but those solutions can come with hefty price tags, often resulting in the solutions remaining on the sidelines. Liu said industries have expressed interest in upscaling this process, but any effort, energy, and investment needs to result in profitability.

Liu said he is seeking help from the community to test a business model. This involves securing capital needed to build a reactor to run continuously in his lab, or perhaps creating a private offsite start-up company to test the ramping up of his process. Yes, soap can be created from a few pieces of plastic, but can tons of plastic generate soaps and detergents profitably?

“There will be a lot of demand on our end to further derisk the process,” Liu said. “We have to derisk it so they [businesses] can see real value out of it, and they can potentially adopt it.

“My estimate is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range to test this. The good thing is that we’re training talented students and postdocs in this lab right now. They will be the ones who can potentially carry on this process in the future. But we definitely need more resources, especially funds, to build reactors and test the reactors.”

Back-end challenges aside, Morris remains optimistic about Liu’s findings and their future impacts. She welcomes opportunities to publicize his efforts tackling the plastics problem and discussing the chemistry department’s efforts in meeting this challenge as part of Virginia Tech’s Global Distinction ambitions.

“I think that any time that we can make our science accessible to the broader public, including our alumni and friends, it’s incredibly beneficial,” Morris said. “It’s beneficial for them to see the impact that we’re having not just as Hokies, but also that they can have by investing further in the Virginia Tech mission.

“The goal is really to take Greg’s technology, make modifications based on what we understand fundamentally about the process, and then make it even more energy efficient and more beneficial to industry. The other thing is that Greg’s technology is for a few polymer classes [with a recycle code of 2, 4, and 5], so can we apply that to other polymer classes? Are there ways where we can increase the reach of the technology? That has me excited as well.”

Liu doesn’t view himself as a pioneer, although, in this case, he truly is a pioneer of converting plastic waste to soap. Instead, he views himself as someone contributing a small piece to the solution of a global problem that requires everyone’s diligence. He said he welcomes more involvement from the scientific and industrial community.

In other words, science needs more collaboration on this problem. The stakes are too high without it.

“It’s no longer enough to be like, ‘Oh, I can play with my cool chemistry in the laboratory, and I can magically generate something out of it, and then I’m good enough,’” Liu said. “That is surely cool, but that isn’t the real solution to the pressing problem of plastic crisis.

“I hope, down the road, we find a solution, and I hope plastic is no longer a problem to worry about. I hope, in time, society will take care of all these waste materials. We can generate useful chemicals and materials from waste, and hopefully we can close the loop of carbon and plastics. That is my dream. I believe we can achieve it, but it’s going to take a while. With everyone’s will, we will solve it.”

---

Journal

Nature Sustainability

DOI

10.1038/s41893-024-01464-x 

Article Publication Date

18-Nov-2024

 

Nanoplastics can impair the effect of antibiotics

Umea University

 

image: 

Nikola Zlatkov Kolev, postdoc at the Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University.

view more 

Credit: Mattias Pettersson

Minuscule particles of plastic are not only bad for the environment. A study led from Umeå University, Sweden, has shown that the so-called nanoplastics which enter the body also can impair the effect of antibiotic treatment. The results also indicate that the nanoplastics may lead to the development of antibiotic resistance. Even the indoor air in our homes contains high levels of nanoplastics from, among other things, nylon, which is particularly problematic.

"The results are alarming considering how common nanoplastics are and because effective antibiotics for many can be the difference between life and death," says Lukas Kenner, professor at the Department of Molecular Biology at Umeå University and one of the researchers who led the study.

Nanoplastics are plastic particles that are smaller than a thousandth of a millimetre. Due to their smallness, they can float freely in the air and have the ability to enter the body.

In the study, led not only by researchers in Umeå, but also by scientists based in Germany and Hungary, the authors have focused on how some of the most common nanoplastics interact with tetracycline, which is a common broad-spectrum antibiotic. It turned out that there was significant accumulation of the antibiotics on the surfaces of the nanoplastic particles. You could say that the nanoplastics absorb antibiotics. 

The nanoplastics in question come from common types of plastics such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene and nylon. They are commonly found in packaging and textiles. Indoor air contains about five times as much nanoplastics as outdoor air, partly due to particles released from textiles.

One risk that the researchers point out is that the binding to nanoplastics can lead to the antibiotics "hitchhiking" with the nanoplastic in the bloodstream and being transported to other places in the body than they are intended for. This can both reduce the targeted effect of the antibiotics and risk enabling the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. When antibiotics accumulate in unintended areas, sub-lethal doses can spur bacterial mutations, selecting for antibiotic-resistant strains.

The researchers used advanced computer models to analyze how the nanoplastics bind to tetracycline. It turned out that the bond was particularly strong to nylon –  one of the substances that is most abundant in nanoplastics in indoor air.

"Although more research is needed to shed light on the connections and possible measures, we can conclude from our results that nanoplastics are a health risk that should be taken more seriously," says Lukas Kenner.

The study, which is published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports, has been led by Lukas Kenner at Umeå University, Barbara Kirchner at the University of Bonn in Germany and Oldamur Hollóczki at the University of Debrecen, Hungary. The sub-study on the binding of nanoplastics to antibiotics has been led by Nikola Zlatkov Kolev at the Department of Molecular Biology at Umeå University. Lukas Kenner has recently taken up the position of visiting professor at the Department of Molecular Biology at Umeå University and continues his research on nanoplastics and health effects.

---

Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-024-75785-4 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

The adsorption of drugs on nanoplastics has severe biological impact

 

Plastic bag bans have lingering impacts, even after repeals

Banning free plastic bags for groceries in Texas resulted in customers purchasing more plastic bags, study finds

University of California - Riverside

 

image: 

Hai Che

view more 

Credit: UC Riverside

Regulations imposed to protect the environment may continue to have impacts even after they are repealed. And those lingering impacts include some that run contrary to the goals of the policies.

Such are te findings of a study published in the Journal of Marketing Research co-authored by UC Riverside marketing professor Hai Che that examined policies to curtail the use of single-use plastic bags in grocery stores and other retail outlets in Austin and Dallas, Texas—policies that were later repealed.

Significantly, the behaviors spurred by the plastic bag rules continued after the rules were no longer in place. And some impacts were not beneficial to the environment.

Che and his coauthors found an increase in sales of plastic bags after the cities prohibited stores from giving away free plastic bags for carrying home groceries. They quantified plastic bag sales by analyzing barcode scanner data on consumer purchases.

“We were hoping for positive spillover effects, like customers will be more environmentally conscious and consume less one-time use plastic or paper products,” said Che, an associate professor at UCR’s School of Business. “But that’s not what happened in the data. People wound up buying more plastic.”

Che added store customer had been repurposing the free grocery bags al as liners for household trash bins.”

The bag rules, however,  most likely changed consumer behavior in positive ways as well, such as people getting in the habit of using reusable canvas or burlap bags for everyday shopping, although such data wasn’t available to the researchers, Che said.

The study found that the longer a policy is in place, the longer the behaviors spurred by the policy lingered on.

The Dallas City Council had imposed a 5-cent fee for single-use bags for five months in 2015 before repealing the fee when the city faced lawsuits from plastic bag manufacturers. When free bags became available again, plastic bag sales initially declined sharply and returned to pre-policy levels after 13 months.

The Austin City Council banned single-use carryout bags in 2013, and the policy remained in place for five years until 2018 when the Texas Supreme Court struck down such bans statewide when it ruled on a case about a similar bag ban in Lerado. After the repeal, the carryover effect of plastic bag purchases declined gradually and did not revert to the pre-policy baseline after 18 months, which was the end of the researchers’ analysis time frame. In fact, the carryover effect remained 38.6% above the baseline even at the end of the analysis

To assess the net environmental impact, the research team conducted a “break-even analysis” to determine if the plastic bag policy, despite the negative spillover effects, ultimately reduced plastic waste. They calculated how many fewer single-use grocery bags consumers would need to use to offset the additional trash bags purchased due to the policy. In Dallas, consumers would need to use one less grocery bag every seven trips, while in Austin, it would be one less bag every five trips to break even in terms of environmental impact.

burlap bag
Bans on free plastic bags for groceries are designed to encourage use of  reusable canvas or burlap bags which reduce plastic waste in the environment.  (Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)
“Interestingly, even a slight reduction in grocery bag use can offset the increased plastic consumption from trash bags,” Che said. “This suggests that these policies might still benefit the environment overall, even when repealed.”

The study’s title is “Are We Worse Off After Policy Repeals? Evidence from Two Green Policies.” In addition to Che, the authors are Dinesh Puranam of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, Sungjin Kim of Rutgers Business School at Rutgers University, and Jihoon Hong at W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

The study contributes to a growing body of knowledge on the unintended consequences of environmental policies and offers insights applicable beyond plastic bag usage, Che said.

“While our study focused on plastic bags, similar spillover effects have been documented in policies targeting sugary drinks, energy efficiency, and health incentives,” Che said. “In each case, behaviors that weren’t directly targeted by the policy—like purchasing more sugary snacks when soda is taxed—can offset or even undermine the policy’s primary goals.”

---

Journal

Journal of Marketing Research

DOI

10.1177/00222437241290157 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Are We Worse off after Policy Repeals? Evidence from Two Green Policies

Which EU country is the biggest consumer of lightweight plastic bags?

The number of lightweight plastic bags purchased across the EU is staggering – nearly 30 billion in 2022 alone. However, their usage rate is declining rapidly. Which countries use the most, and which are the most eco-friendly?

EU member states have taken progressive steps over the past decade to reduce the use of lightweight plastic bags, including imposing additional charges or levies and promoting the adoption of compostable and biodegradable alternatives.

Although these measures have not fully resolved the issue, they have proven effective: Today, EU citizens purchase about 30% fewer lightweight plastic bags compared to 2018, according to a Eurostat report published on Tuesday.

However, the overall consumption remains significantly high.

In 2022 alone, nearly 30 billion lightweight plastic bags were bought across the EU, averaging more than 66 bags per person.

Lithuanians buy nearly a bag a day, Belgians almost none in a year

Lithuania recorded the highest use per capita, with 249, followed by Latvia (193) and the Czech Republic (185).

With only four bags per capita, Belgium reported the lowest consumption rate, followed by Poland (7) and Portugal (13).

Consumption of lighweight plastic carrier bags, 2022Eurostat

What are lightweight plastic bags, and what impact do they have?

Lightweight plastic bags are less than 50 microns thick and are normally used for carrying small amounts of groceries.

They have a devastating impact on the environment.

Not only do they take centuries to decompose, but they also break up into microplastics, ending up in the human and animal food chain.

Study finds 'safe' BPA alternatives pose health risks

A virtual simulation of the interaction between complex biological membranes and alternative bisphenols suggests that BPF and BPS also accumulate in biological membranes.

Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche

 

image: 

Bisphenols are a group of endocrine-disrupting chemicals used worldwide for the production of plastics and resins. Bisphenol A (BPA), the main bisphenol, exhibits many unwanted effects. BPA has, currently, been replaced with bisphenol F (BPF) and bisphenol S (BPS) in many applications in the hope that these molecules have a lesser effect on metabolism than BPA. After conducting molecular dynamics simulations to compare the localization and interactions of BPA, BPF, and BPS in a complex membrane, the ata support that both BPF and BPS, behaving in the same way in the membrane as BPA and with the same capacity to accumulate in the biological membrane, are not safe alternatives to BPA.

view more 

Credit: Villalaín, J. IDiBE UMH

A study by Professor José Villalaín of the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) in Spain, published in the Journal of Xenobiotics, reveals that bisphenol analogs BPF and BPS, used as safer alternatives to BPA, may still pose health risks. Using high-resolution computer simulations, the research shows these compounds accumulate in complex biological membranes, potentially disrupting endocrine function and causing diseases like obesity and diabetes.

While European health authorities have warned about the adverse effects of bisphenol A in plastic production and have imposed legal restrictions on its use, similar compounds used in the plastics industry are suspected of causing the same health issues. This new study adds to the growing body of scientific evidence pointing to the dangers of these compounds.

Using computer simulations, the expert from the UMH’s Institute of Research, Development, and Innovation in Healthcare Biotechnology analyzed the interactions between human cell membranes and the molecules of bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol F (BPF), and bisphenol S (BPS). BPF and BPS are being marketed as safer alternatives. The results show that these compounds are so similar to bisphenol A that they accumulate in cells and affect membrane lipids, making them potentially harmful and capable of causing diseases.

Some synthetic and natural chemical compounds can interfere with the normal functioning of the endocrine system, which regulates many vital functions. These substances are known as “endocrine disruptors.” These chemicals are present in everyday items, including plastic bottles, food containers, metal coatings, detergents, flame retardants, foods, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides. Some, such as DDT, have already been banned. Others are under ongoing review, with increasing regulation, as is the case with bisphenol A, which has been identified by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as a “health concern for consumers across all age groups.”

Bisphenols are endocrine disruptors used globally in the production of plastics and resins. Bisphenol A, the most common bisphenol, has been linked to numerous adverse health effects in both humans and animals. As a result, BPA is being replaced with Bisphenol F (BPF) and Bisphenol S (BPS) in the hope that these compounds will have less of an impact on metabolism.

However, studies conducted over the past decade have found elevated concentrations of these BPA analogs in urine samples from European adults. At the same time, BPS and BPF have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other health problems. The scientific community is still investigating the full extent of the risks posed by these supposedly ‘safe’ bisphenols.

To better understand these compounds, Professor Villalaín conducted virtual simulations to compare how BPA, BPF, and BPS interact with cell membranes — the layers that separate cells from their surrounding environment. The technique, known as molecular dynamics, allows the creation of complex biomembranes that closely resemble those found in human cells.

The UMH study shows that bisphenols tend to accumulate at the membrane's interface without a preferred orientation and may exist in either monomeric or aggregated states. They also affect the biophysical properties of the membrane's lipid components. The properties of bisphenols can be partially attributed to their membrane-affecting behavior and their ability to alter the membrane’s physical characteristics.

These findings suggest that BPF and BPS, which behave similarly to BPA in the membrane and share its ability to accumulate in biological membranes, are not safer alternatives to BPA. "Given the environmental and health importance of these molecules, the use of these bisphenols should be discontinued due to the risks they may pose to human and animal health," concludes the expert.

The study, published in one of the leading journals in this field, supports the growing scientific evidence that BPF and BPS also act as endocrine disruptors in the human body. “Since bisphenols tend to accumulate in the lipid phase [the part of the cell membrane where molecules responsible for transporting substances and chemical signals into and out of cells are located], the concentration of bisphenols found in biological membranes can be significant,” says Professor Villalaín. Bisphenols interfere with the chemical messages within the cell by adhering to it, which leads to negative health effects, including diabetes, obesity, and infertility.

---

Journal

Journal of Xenobiotics

DOI

10.3390/jox14030068 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Bisphenol F and Bisphenol S in a Complex Biomembrane: Comparison with Bisphenol A

 

Remembrance and reflection: Exhibition "ÜberLeben erzählen" in Stuttgart

80 years ago, Waffen-SS soldiers carried out a massacre in the Italian mountain village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema, leaving hundreds dead.

University of Konstanz

On 12 August 1944, soldiers of the Waffen-SS invaded the Italian mountain village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema and killed around 560 people, including 130 children. For decades, officials avoided talking about what had happened. It was not until April 2004 that the military court in La Spezia started a trial of several perpetrators who were still alive, and the following year ten former SS members were sentenced to life imprisonment. However, they were neither extradited nor convicted in Germany, as the Stuttgart public prosecutor's office discontinued its own proceedings in 2012.

"We see the 'ÜberLeben erzählen' exhibition as a contribution to the examination of these crimes, which, at least from a judicial perspective, the Stuttgart public prosecutor had suspended in 2012," says anthropologist Maria Lidola, who led the exhibition project along with cultural scholar Sarah Seidel. "Our choice of location was thus very intentional". From 20 November to 5 December 2024, the exhibition will be on display at the StadtPalais in Stuttgart, within sight of the Ministry of Justice and Migration.

A bridge connecting then and now
"ÜberLeben erzählen. Sant’Anna di Stazzema 1944/2024" was developed in the context of an interdisciplinary exhibition and teaching project at the University of Konstanz – with funding from forum.konstanz, the Centre for Cultural Inquiry (ZKF) and the Teaching Innovation Fund. 80 years after the massacre, university teachers Maria Lidola and Sarah Seidel visited the site along with students and Petra Quintini, a co-initiator of the project. While there, they made audio, photo and video recordings documenting the stories of eye witnesses and their descendants as well as legal and political actors. In seminars back in Konstanz, they dug into issues of remembrance – for example, the role of memorial sites – as well as silence and reflection on the past in the form of art, music and literature.

"The aim of this student project was not to just retell the events of the massacre, but rather to try to grasp what happened from today's perspective. Our goal was to tell a story, of the massacre that took place, of survival, and how the survivors have lived on until the present day", explains Sarah Seidel. "The special thing about the project was the connections that were made between eye witnesses and students, who otherwise often only learn about the Nazi period in textbooks. Because of the eye witnesses' advanced age, this is an opportunity that will not be around much longer". They describe all of the encounters teachers and their students had as being very personal and touching. "For us, this was the strength of the project. Getting to know individual people and their experiences is much more moving than simply learning facts and figures", Maria Lidola says.

The sisters Siria and Adele Pardini accompanied a group of students to their childhood home where almost 30 people were shot and killed, including their mother and two sisters. Minutes before entering the house, Siria talked about caring for the flowers on the memorial plaques, which she has been doing every week for decades. Then, in the kitchen, she pulls a tin from the shelf, which had been preserved for her father. Suddenly the past becomes very present. Today, the glass preserves memories.

On 20 November 2024 at 18:30, the doors will open to the exhibition "ÜberLeben erzählen. Sant'Anna di Stazzema 1944/2024" at the StadtPalais in Stuttgart. It can be viewed there daily during normal opening hours until 5 December 2024. In May 2025, the exhibition will be on show in Konstanz.

Student Amélie Kroneis reports in the University of Konstanz's online magazine campus.kn how she experienced the exhibition project and the excursion to Sant'Anna, where the exhibition opened in August 2024 on the 80th anniversary of the massacre.

 

Key facts:

 

• Exhibition "ÜberLeben erzählen" (stories of survivors) from 20 November to 5 December 2024 at StadtPalais in Stuttgart

 

• Project leaders: Sarah Seidel, literary scholar at the University of Konstanz, and Maria Lidola, anthropologist at the University of Konstanz, in collaboration with Petra Quintini, co-initiator of "Campo della Pace" and ambassador for remembrance work.
• Funded by forum.konstanz, the Centre for Cultural Inquiry (ZKF) and the Teaching Innovation Fund of the University of Konstanz
• Aims of the project: Exploring the possibilities of storytelling, remembrance and commemoration with a focus on survivors' stories and reflection of the events
• Project activities: Seminar "Erinnern und Gedenken. Das Unbeschreibliche erzählen" (Narrating the indescribable) (Sarah Seidel) and seminar "Narrative Anthropology" (Maria Lidola); excursions to Sant'Anna di Stazzema from 10 to 17 May 2024, and on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the massacre for the installation of the exhibition "Raccontare la sopravvivenza", which took place from 11 to 25 August 2024, and for the study of contemporary witnesses' reports as well as of legal and political reappraisals.

 

New study investigates insecticide contamination in Minnesota’s water

Research reveals high concentrations in natural springs and possible impacts on drinking water

University of Minnesota

 

image: 

The DNR conducted field samples in both urban and rural areas that were used to complete the study. 

view more 

Credit: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (11/18/2024) — A new study by researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) found that specific insecticides, called neonicotinoids, were found at high concentrations in some ground and surface water sources that could affect drinking water.

Individuals relying on shallow groundwater or natural springs for drinking water have a higher risk of contamination from these insecticides compared to those getting their drinking water from deep groundwater wells. They also found that these insecticides could affect organisms in the streams that are fed by those springs.

The research was recently published in Science of the Total Environment, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

With the increased use of insecticides for agriculture and insect control in the past few decades, research has shown that consistent application of them can lead to contamination in water. This can have a negative impact on human health and pollinator insect species, such as bees and butterflies. 

A large portion of Minnesota’s drinking water comes from groundwater. Looking at the levels of these specific insecticides can help water treatment plants determine what to monitor and filter.

In this study, researchers looked at the levels of neonicotinoids in surface and groundwater across Minnesota, identifying factors that may affect the extent of contamination. The DNR was able to collect water samples from 15 springs and 75 unique wells from 13 counties in Minnesota over four years (2019–2022) allowing comparisons between urban and rural areas. 

The researchers not only collected an extensive amount of geographic locations, they also looked at the chemical levels at various depths. In testing the water samples, they found that natural springs are very susceptible to contamination from neonicotinoid insecticides. 

“Oftentimes people think a natural spring has water that is safe to drink,” said Bill Arnold, Distinguished McKnight University Professor & Joseph T. and Rose S. Ling Professor in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering. “That's not necessarily true, it depends on how deep that water is sourced.” 

There are multiple ways these types of chemicals can get into the environment. In addition to direct application, stormwater runoff and snow melt can contribute to these chemicals in ground and surface water. The researchers were able to map different classes of the insecticides across the state. 

“This study is a key first step in identifying pollutants in the water, even in some unexpected places like natural springs,” said Arnold. “We use so many of these insecticides in Minnesota—basically every corn and soybean seed is treated before planting—and many of these chemicals can be purchased at a local hardware store for spraying fruit trees, flea and tick control for your pets, and eliminating bedbugs.”

While the researchers knew they would find traces of the insecticide in water, some of their study results were unexpected.

“We were surprised by the high levels of the chemical detected in the natural springs and in some cases the chemicals were observed at much deeper levels in wells than we expected going into this project," Arnold added.

As a follow-up to the study, researchers are collaborating with county and state agencies to include these chemicals on water treatment monitoring lists and want to continue to educate watershed districts about these insecticides. The researchers will also work with the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls Laboratory to improve stormwater treatment methods for urban environments, including the use of biofiltration to remove pollutants.  

In addition to Arnold, the team included University of Minnesota Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering retired adjunct associate professor Paul Capel, former research assistant Grant Goedjen, and John Barry from the DNR’s Division of Ecological and Water Resources.

This work was funded by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENTRF) as recommended by the Legislative Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR). The ENRTF is a permanent fund in Minnesota that provides funding for the protection and conservation of Minnesota's natural resources. 

Read the entire research paper titled, “Occurrence and distribution of neonicotinoids and fiproles within groundwater in Minnesota: Effects of lithology, land use and geography,” visit the Science Direct website.

---

Journal

Science of The Total Environment

DOI

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176411 

Article Title

Occurrence and distribution of neonicotinoids and fiproles within groundwater in Minnesota: Effects of lithology, land use and geography