The Yellow River Delta is a dynamic-equilibrium wetland system formed via the complex interactions between the Yellow River and the ocean across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Owing to the frequent shifts in the Yellow River’s course, the deltaic wetlands have undergone a cyclical evolution involving rapid formation, development, erosion or succession, and disappearance or remnant persistence. Under the combined stresses of intensive human activities and climate change, the Yellow River Delta is facing a series of challenges, including water and sediment variability, vegetation degradation, species invasion, habitat fragmentation, and functional decline. Many existing ecological problems have emerged throughout the evolutionary process of the delta’s wetlands, characterized by overlapping impacts across multiple spatial and temporal dimensions. Consequently, conservation and restoration strategies based on isolated timeframes, specific sites, or individual elements are increasingly showing limitations in mitigating habitat fragmentation, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem degradation in the delta. This paper reviews extensive literature on ecological conservation and restoration in the Yellow River Delta, elucidating the influence mechanisms of biotic and abiotic disturbance factors on key ecological components, structures, and processes affecting the ecological functions of coastal wetlands. Moreover, it identifies the stability patterns of multifunctional wetland systems under multiple stressors, proposes an integrated optimization framework combining conservation, restoration, and regulation, and develops multiscale correlated and multiprocess coordinated conservation and restoration measures, thereby providing new insights for addressing ecosystem degradation in this region.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine-disrupting chemical that is widely used in the production of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics. Due to its potential harm to human health, its use has been restricted in many materials that come into contact with the human body. Other bisphenol compounds have emerged as alternatives, but they have similar structures and characteristics, with varying degrees of estrogenic activity and toxicity. With the rapid economic development in China, the demand for bisphenol compounds has been increasing, and so has the production capacity. The sources and distribution of bisphenol pollutants are emerging pollutants in various environmental media and human exposure to them in China deserve in-depth research. In this study, we reviewed the literature published in the past ten years (2014—2024), systematically summarized the sources and distribution patterns, human exposure levels, and health risks of bisphenol pollutants in various environmental media (surface water, sediments, and soil), and proposed various control measures and policy recommendations for bisphenol pollutants in China, aiming to provide a reference for the environmental risk control and environmental governance of bisphenol pollutants in China.

Residues of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are an emerging class of organic contaminants known for their endocrine-disrupting properties, pseudo-persistence, and ecotoxicity. Because of their wide application in the medical, animal husbandry, and cosmetic industries, PPCPs have been frequently detected in surface water, groundwater, industrial sludge, and even food such as milk in recent years, raising significant concerns about their safety. However, because PPCPs are present at very low concentrations in real samples and are affected by complex matrix effects, direct quantitative analysis is challenging. Therefore, before instrumental analysis, effective sample pretreatment methods are required for the enrichment analysis of PPCPs. In recent years, many novel materials have been developed for the extraction of trace contaminants. First, this paper provides a systematic introduction to the hazards and contamination status of PPCPs, followed by a detailed discussion of the contamination of two typical PPCPs: bisphenols and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Second, it lists several sample pretreatment techniques, highlighting the application of novel adsorbent materials in PPCP analysis and detection, while also exploring the development trends of these new adsorbent materials. Finally, the paper summarizes the obstacles and challenges that may be encountered in the analysis and detection of PPCPs.

Petroleum contamination in oil-field soils poses significant risks to both regional environmental safty and human health. The use of biotechnologies for the remediation of contaminated oil-field soils offers advantages such as ecological sustainability, economic feasibility, and high efficiency. This paper reviews the research progress on various biotechnologies used for the remediation of contaminated oil-field soils. By descrribing the mechanisms and methods of various bioremediation technogies, the study analyzes and evaluates microbial remediation, phytoremediation, and their combined applications with surfactants, chemical oxidation, and electrokinetic remediation. It also highlights the importance of assessing the effectiveness of bioremediation strategies. This study provides valuable guidance for the promotion and application of bioremediation technologies aimed at improving the quality of oil-field soils and restoring the ecological environment.

Key tasks in the construction of a “waste-free city” in Shandong Province are to formulate local regulations for solid-waste pollution prevention and control and to enhance the local standard system for solid-waste resource utilization. This study reviews the generation volume, comprehensive utilization rate, and industry-specific distribution of bulk industrial solid waste in Shandong Province in 2023. This study also investigates the current status of local standards for the resource utilization of bulk industrial solid waste across different provinces(autonomous regions) in China. Based on this comparative analysis, this study identifies existing issues in the local standard system for the resource utilization of bulk industrial solid waste in Shandong Province and proposes targeted countermeasures. These recommendations enhance pollution prevention and promote the establishment of a comprehensive local standard system for bulk industrial solid-waste resource utilization in Shandong Province.