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Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important water budget term for understanding the recovery of stormwater retention in green roof systems (GRs). However, ET evaluations, particularly in full-scale GRs, remain challenging. This study investigated ET dynamics within a GR in the City of Pittsburgh, USA, using a water balance based on continuously monitored soil moisture from moisture sensors over 15 months. Results suggest under well-watered soil conditions, daily moisture loss correlated with solar radiation, temperature, and humidity, in decreasing order of correlation strength, while wind speed had limited effects. Compared to sensor-informed moisture loss (using moisture-based water balance), the Hargreaves and FAO-56 Penman-Monteith equations predicted cumulative ET that was 1.8 and 2.1 times higher, respectively. When soil moisture declined and approached the temporary wilting points, a noticeable reduction in daily moisture loss was observed. This suggests the necessity of using a water stress coefficient alongside a crop coefficient to represent actual ET based on FAO-56 Penman–Monteith estimates. Seasonal crop coefficients from dominant native plant species present at our monitored location, eastern bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana) and creeping woodsorrel (Oxalis corniculata), had mean values of 0.48, 0.62, and 0.65 for fall, spring, and summer, respectively. The impact of water stress on ET could be characterized by a linear relationship with moisture content. Our results highlight the importance of soil moisture in regulating ET processes and demonstrate the utility of soil moisture data for evaluating ET in GRs and informing irrigation practices. 

Green roof systems (GRs) are effective tools for urban stormwater management. However, there is limited documentation of the long-term hydrological performance of GRs to support decision-making. This study evaluated long-term field monitoring records (7 years) from a 12-year-old GR, situated in a Moist Subtropical Mid- Latitude Climate, to analyze seasonality in and evolution of hydrological performance. The monitoring system was built within a pan lysimeter buried under substrate layers matching the surrounding GR. The monitoring results highlight the efficacy of this GR in long-term stormwater runoff control. The GR can retain 87% of the annual precipitation and return 54% of the precipitation to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration (ET) and sustain long-term event-based mean runoff volume reductions, peak flow reductions, and flow delays of 82%, 93%, and 4.3 h, respectively. The initial moisture content prior to events was highly correlated with hydrological performance, with a seasonal mean Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.47, suggesting the potential of enhancing ET from the GR to improve performance. Substrate water holding capacity increased over time, but no obvious changes in water retention performance were observed. These monitoring results from the aging GR demonstrate the effectiveness of GR systems for long-term stormwater management. 

Green roof systems (GRs) provide a promising stormwater management strategy in highly urbanized areas when limited open space is available. Hydrological modeling can predict the ability of GRs to reduce runoff. This paper reviews three popular types of GR models with varying complexities, including water balance models, the U.S. EPA's Stormwater Management Model (SWMM), and Hydrus-1D. Developments and practical applications of these models are discussed, by detailing model parameter estimates, performance evaluations and application scopes. These three models are capable of replicating GR outflow. Water balance models have the smallest number of parameters (≤7) to estimate. Hydrus-1D requires substantial parameterization effort for soil hydraulic properties but can simulate unsaturated soil water flow processes. Although SWMM has a large number of parameters (>10), it can simulate water transport through the entire GR profile. In addition, SWMM GR models can be easily incorporated into SWMM's stormwater model framework, so it is widely used to simulate the watershed-scale effects of GR implementations. Four research gaps limiting GR model applications are identified and discussed: drainage mat flow simulations, soil characterization, evapotranspiration estimates, and scale effects of GRs. The literature documents promising results in GR simulations for rainfall events, however, a critical need remains for long-term monitoring and modeling of full-scale GR systems to allow interpretation of both internal (substrate) and external (meteorological characteristics) system effects on stormwater management. 

Because of their ubiquitous presence in the environment and their potential toxicity to human health, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have drawn great attention over the past few years. Current conventional drinking and wastewater treatment approaches fail to effectively remove these substances from aqueous media, motivating researchers to focus on using sorption, a simple and cost-effective method, to remove PFAS from contaminated water. This work aims to summarize and critically evaluate the sorption capacities of PFAS by a variety of natural and engineered sorbents, including carbonaceous materials, ion exchange resins, polymers, different natural materials and other engineered sorbent materials. The specific focus of this review is on the performance of these different materials in removing short-chain PFAS due to their high solubility and mobility in aqueous media. A treatment train optimizing the removal of these short-chain substances from water is proposed, and challenges and future recommendations are discussed. 

We have predicted acid dissociation constants (pKa), octanol–water partition coefficients (KOW), and DMPC lipid membrane–water partition coefficients (Klipid-w) of 150 different eight-carbon-containing poly-/perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (C8-PFCAs) utilizing the COnductor-like Screening MOdel for Realistic Solvents (COSMO-RS) theory. Different trends associated with functionalization, degree of fluorination, degree of saturation, degree of chlorination, and branching are discussed on the basis of the predicted values for the partition coefficients. In general, functionalization closest to the carboxylic headgroup had the greatest impact on the value of the predicted physicochemical properties. 

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of synthetic chemicals colloquially known as “forever chemicals” because of their high persistence. PFAS have been detected in the blood, liver, kidney, heart, muscle and brain of various species. Although brain is not a dominant tissue for PFAS accumulation compared to blood and liver, adverse effects of PFAS on brain functions have been identified. Here, we review studies related to the absorption, accumulation, distribution and toxicity of PFAS in the brain. We summarize evidence on two potential mechanisms of PFAS entering the brain: initiating blood–brain barrier (BBB) disassembly through disrupting tight junctions and relying on transporters located at the BBB. PFAS with diverse structures and properties enter and accumulate in the brain with varying efficiencies. Compared to long-chain PFAS, short-chain PFAS may not cross cerebral barriers effectively. According to biomonitoring studies and PFAS exposure experiments, PFAS can accumulate in the brain of humans and wildlife species. With respect to the distribution of PFAS in specific brain regions, the brain stem, hippocampus, hypothalamus, pons/medulla and thalamus are dominant for PFAS accumulation. The accumulation and distribution of PFAS in the brain may lead to toxic effects in the central nervous system (CNS), including PFAS-induced behavioral and cognitive disorders. The specific mechanisms underlying such PFAS-induced neurotoxicity remain to be explored, but two major potential mechanisms based on current understanding are PFAS effects on calcium homeostasis and neurotransmitter alterations in neurons. Based on the information available about PFAS uptake, accumulation, distribution and impacts on the brain, PFAS have the potential to enter and accumulate in the brain at varying levels. The balance of existing studies shows there is some indication of risk in animals, while the human evidence is mixed and warrants further scrutiny.