The metropolitan area of the Toluca Valley (MATV) extends over an area of 1208.55 km2 and has 1,361,500 inhabitants making it the fifth highest populated area in the country and the second highest in the state. The MATV has several environmental problems, with regards to the air quality. Particles PM10 and PM2.5 are considered to be the main pollutant due to these particles frequently exceeding the limit laid down in the standards of the air quality in the country. For this reason, samples of the mosses Fabriona ciliaris and Leskea angustata were collected at different sites in MATV, Mexico in order to establish the atmospheric deposition of heavy metals by means of the analysis of the mosses tissues. Results show the average metal concentrations in the mosses in the order of: Zn > Pb > Cr > Cd. The concentration capacities of heavy metals were higher in Fabriona ciliaris than Leskea angustata. Enrichment factors for Cr, Zn, Pb and Cd were obtained using the soils from the same sampling area. Enrichment factors results show that Cr is conservative in both sampling seasons with a terrigenous origin; Zn is moderately enriched in both sampling seasons and mainly associated to pedological-soil or substrate contribution and anthropogenic activities and Cd is highly enriched in the rainy season and Pb is highly enriched in both sampling seasons, with a predominantly anthropogenic origin. This study provides information to be considered in the strategies for similar environmental problems in the world.

In the hilly semi-arid region of central Argentina, where the agricultural frontier expands at the expense of natural ecosystems, soil erosion is one of the most alarming environmental problems. Thus, obtaining knowledge about the dynamics of erosive processes and identifying erosion hotspots constitutes a primary scientific objective. This investigation is focused on estimating the apportionments of main sources of sediments, at the mouth of a small catchment called Durazno del Medio, located in the province of San Luis, Argentina. Elemental Analysis, measured by Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF), was used to select potential geochemical fingerprints of sediment. The unmixing model MixSIAR was applied to approximate the contribution of each identified source in the sediment accumulation areas at the mouth of the catchment. Potential sediment sources were selected using two criteria: (i) a hierarchical approach to identify the main geomorphological units (GUs) and (ii) the main land uses (LU), recognized by examining satellite images and field recognitions. The selected geochemical tracers were able to distinguish sources located in the Crystalline basement hills with loess-patched (CBH) as the main sediment contributors.

The large-scale conversion of forests to agriculture has caused biodiversity loss, climate change, and disrupted dietary fatty acid balances, with adverse public health effects. Wild edibles like pine nuts, especially Pinus cembroides, provide sustainable solutions by supporting ecosystems and offering economic value. However, variability in seed quality limits market potential, and lipidomic studies on P. cembroides remain sparse. This paper underscores the ecological, social, and nutritional value of P. cembroides while advocating for advanced research to enhance its use as a non-timber forest resource in Mexico’s communal areas. It explores various analytical techniques, such as nuclear magnetic resonances (NMR), chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS, GC-MS) and GC coupled with flame ionization detector (GC-FID), highlighting extraction methods like derivatization, purification, and thin-layer chromatography. Likewise, some considerations are addressed for the treatment of data obtained in the detection of fatty acids from bioformatics and the evaluation of the data through statistical methods and artificial intelligence and deep learning. These approaches aim to improve fatty acid profiling and seed quality assessments, fostering the species economic viability and supporting sustainable livelihoods in rural communities, encouraging researchers across the country to explore the fatty acid composition of different P. cembroides populations can drive valuable insights into its nutritional and ecological significance. Such efforts can enhance understanding of regional variations, promote sustainable use, and elevate the specie’s economic and scientific value.

Mining waste often contains elevated concentrations of V, Cr, As, Sb, and Pb. Stibnite mining, during extraction and processing, generates waste that is deposited directly onto soil without vegetation cover, potentially leading to environmental pollution. This study assessed concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in the rhizoids and stems-phyllidia of terrestrial mosses near antimony mines and used these mosses as biomonitors of soil contamination. Results obtained via energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry showed the highest concentrations of As, Sb, and Pb in mosses growing on mining rubble, reflecting elevated contaminant levels in the study area. Concentrations of As, Sb, and Pb differed significantly between mosses from mine rubble sites and those from forest and meander sites. Both rhizoids and stems/phyllidia of mosses from rubble sites showed high enrichment factors (EFs) for As, Sb, and Pb. Notably, PTEs concentrations in mosses from the forest area were lower than values reported for other regions, whereas concentrations in the mine rubble area exceeded those reported for other mining-polluted regions worldwide.

In the Ejido La Gavia, in the municipality of Almoloya de Juarez, State of Mexico, the soils dedicated to maize cultivation and cattle grazing show high levels of erosion. Therefore, it is convenient to estimate the soil erosion rate of crops in the sub-basin with the use of tracers. The hypothesis of this study was that the annual erosion rate (Mg ha(-1) y(-1)) on the degraded slope of the Ejido La Gavia can exceed the maximum permitted limits of erosion for this type of agricultural soils. The objective of this study was to quantify the annual erosion rate in a maize plot and a degraded slope of the Ejido, and to identify the deposit areas of the radioactive isotope Cesium-137 (Cs-137). The soil sampling of the degraded slope was made in four transects with ten samples in each one, obtaining a total of 40 soil samples. Five reference sites were included, out of which the Cs-137 profile was measured at 50 cm depth. At the reference site, the maximum value found was 6.8 Bq kg(-1) at a depth of 10 cm, with 96 % of the Cs-137 content observed in the first 20 cm of the soil profile. The inventory of Cs-137 on the study slope was between 10.2 and 535.1 Bq m(-2), which was lower than that found in the selected reference site of 584.3 Bq m(-2). The mass balance model 2 was used, obtaining a soil loss rate with values of -23.5, - 27.5, - 20.9, and - 22.0 Mg ha(-1) y(-1). Soil erosion rates in the study four site transects far exceeded the permissible limit of 6.7 Mg ha(-1) y(-1).