Papers

Environmental Value and Pro-environmental Behavior Among Young Adults: The Mediating Role of Risk Perception and Moral Anger

A survey of 558 young adults tested the relationship between environmental values and pro-environmental behavior, finding that risk perception and moral anger acted as mediating mechanisms through which values translated into action. The study provides insights for environmental communication strategies aimed at motivating plastic pollution reduction behaviors in younger populations.

The response of Panax notoginseng to combined microplastics and cadmium stress and its mechanism of rhizosphere microorganisms and root metabolites

A pot experiment investigated how polyethylene microplastics interact with cadmium — a toxic heavy metal common in agricultural soils — to affect the growth and chemistry of Panax notoginseng, a valuable medicinal plant. At low microplastic concentrations combined with low cadmium, plant biomass actually increased; at higher concentrations, growth was inhibited and cadmium accumulated in the roots. Microplastics also altered the plant's production of medicinally important compounds like flavonoids, and shifted which microbes thrived in the root zone. These results show that combined microplastic-heavy metal contamination can affect both the safety and therapeutic quality of medicinal crops.

Valorizing agricultural waste into sustainable active food packaging: Preparation of chitosan-based film incorporating bioactive extract and lignin nanoparticles from green walnut husks