Characteristics and degradation mechanisms of polychlorinated naphthalenes in surface soil in Yangtze River Delta, China.

Both thermal and environmental processes are significant factors influencing the existing characteristics, e.g., congener distributions, and existing levels, of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) in the environment. Soil plays an important role in the life cycle of PCNs, but degradation of PCNs in soils has never been reported. In this study, we collected surface soil samples from 13 cities in the Yangtze River Delta, which is one of the most crowded areas of China and analyzed the samples for 75 PCNs. The long-range transportation from polluted areas was the major source for PCNs in remote areas, but the PCN profiles in remote areas reported in our previous studies were different from those in human settlement in this study, indicating there is a transformation of PCNs after emissions from anthropogenic activities. Two experiments were then designed to reveal the degradation mechanisms, including influencing factors, products, and pathways, of PCNs in surface soils. Based on the experiments, we found that the major factor driving the losses of PCNs in surface soils was volatilization, followed by photo irradiation and microbial metabolism. Under photo-irradiation, the PCN structures would be destroyed through a process of dechlorination followed by oxidation. In addition, the dechlorination pathways of PCNs have been established and found to be significantly influenced by the structure-related parameters.

Vortexing-generated high throughput single-cell droplets for facile analysis of multiplexed microRNA dynamic secretion.

Discriminating secretory phenotypes provides a direct, intact, and dynamic way to evaluate the heterogeneity in cell states and activation, which is significant for dissecting non-genetic heterogeneity for human health studies and disease diagnostics. In particular, secreted microRNAs, soluble signaling molecules released by various cells, are increasingly recognized as a critical mediator for cell-cell communication and the circulating biomarkers for disease diagnosis. However, single-cell analysis of secreted miRNAs is still lacking due to the limited available tools. Herein, we realized three-plexed miRNA secretion analysis over four time points from single cells encapsulated in picoliter droplets with extreme simplicity, coupling vortexing-generated single-cell droplets with multiplexed molecular beacons. Notably, our platform only requires pipetting and vortexing steps to finish the assay setup within 5 min with minimal training, and customized software was developed for automatic data quantification. Applying the platform to human cancer cell lines and primary cells revealed previously undifferentiated heterogeneity and paracrine signaling underlying miRNA secretion. This platform can be used to dissect secretion heterogeneity and cell-cell interactions and has the potential to become a widely used tool in biomedical research.

Target Analysis of Polychlorinated Naphthalenes and Nontarget Screening of Organic Chemicals in Bovine Milk, Infant Formula, and Adult Milk Powder by High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry.

Infant formula is intended as an effective substitute for breast milk but is the main source of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) to nonbreastfed infants. We performed target and nontarget analyses to determine PCNs and identify other organic contaminants in infant formula. The mean PCN concentrations in infant formula, milk powder, and bovine milk were 106.1, 88.8, and 78.2 µg kg-1 of dry weight, respectively. The PCN congener profiles indicated that thermal processes and raw materials were probably the main sources of PCNs in infant formula. A health risk assessment indicated that PCNs in infant formula do not pose health risks to infants. Using gas chromatography-Orbitrap mass spectrometry, 352, 372, and 161 organic chemicals were identified in the infant formula, milk powder, and bovine milk samples, respectively. Phthalate esters were detected in all four plastic-packed milk powder samples. The results indicated milk becomes more contaminated with organic chemicals during manufacturing, processing, and packaging.

Deciphering Cell-Cell Interactions with Integrative Single-Cell Secretion Profiling.

Cell-cell interactions are the fundamental behaviors to regulate cellular activities. A comprehensive evaluation of intercellular interactions requires direct profiling of various signaling behaviors simultaneously at the single-cell level, which remains lacking. Herein, an integrative single-cell secretion analysis platform is presented to profile different secreted factors (four proteins, three extracellular vesicles (EV) phenotypes), spatial distances, and migration information (distances and direction) simultaneously from high-throughput paired single cells using an antibody-barcode microchip. Applying the platform to analyze the tumor-stromal and tumor-immune interactions with the human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines and primary OSCC cells reveals that the initial distances between cells would determine their migratory distances and direction to approach stable organization. The cell-cell in close proximity enhances protein secretions while attenuating EV secretions. Migration has a more profound correlation with protein secretions than EV secretions, in which absolute migration distance affects protein secretions significantly but not the direction. These findings highlight the significance of spatial organization in regulating cell signaling behaviors and demonstrate that the integrative single-cell secretion profiling platform is well-suited for a comprehensive dissection of intercellular communication and interactions, providing new avenues for understanding cell-cell interaction biology and how different signaling behaviors coordinate within the tumor microenvironment.

[Emission Characteristics and Control of Heavy Metals in Secondary Copper Smelting Process].

Secondary copper smelting is an important source of heavy metal emission. Flue gas samples were collected from different stages in secondary copper smelters to study the emission characteristics and control of particulate matters (PM) and heavy metals such as Cd, Cr, As, Pb, Sn, and Sb. The mass concentrations of heavy metals in flue gas and fly ash were determined using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The emission factors of heavy metals were estimated. The results showed that the mass concentrations of heavy metals and PM in the flue gas were high in the cooling stage. After passing through a series of air pollution control devices, such as a bag filter and adsorption tower, the heavy metals and PM were simultaneously removed with a removal efficiency of 80%-99%. The concentration order of heavy metals in the stack gas from different anode furnace stages followed feeding-fusion>oxidation≈deoxidization. In general, the mass concentrations of heavy metals and PM in the stack gas could meet the industry emission standards. The average emission factors of As, Pb, Cr, Sn, Sb, and Cd were 2.6×103, 2.4×103, 2.7×103, 5.6×102, 34.1, and 9.8 mg·t-1, respectively. This could provide data support for estimating the annual emission amounts of heavy metals from the secondary copper industry and establishing the emission inventories. The fly ash contained high concentrations of Cu and Zn, which can be recycled as raw materials for recycling the valuable metals.

Automated and parallel microfluidic DNA extraction with integrated pneumatic microvalves/pumps and reusable open-channel columns.

A novel microfluidic DNA extraction protocol based on integrated diaphragm microvalves/pumps and silica-deposited open-channel columns was developed specifically for automated and parallel DNA solid-phase extraction (SPE). The method uses microfluidic chips with a sandwiched structure containing three layers, which are the upper fluidic layer with surface-deposited silica on glass open channels as the extraction phase, the lower actuation layer with valve actuation channels on a glass wafer, and the middle poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) membrane for reversible bonding of the two glass substrates. These two glass substrates can be reused after thoroughly cleaning and the PDMS membrane can be replaced conveniently, which could effectively decrease the time and cost of chip manufacturing. The normally closed microvalves/pumps were used to automatically control all processes of the on-chip DNA SPE without cross-contamination and leakage, enabling the processing of multiple samples in parallel without changing the microvalve control module. Using the microchip device with integrated microvalves/pumps, automated, programmable, and simultaneous λ-DNA extractions from different samples could be attained, even from complex solutions such as human blood, and the silica-deposited open-channel columns could be reused stably and reliably. Results have demonstrated that most of the eluted λ-DNA was recovered in the second 2 µL of elution buffer with high-purity suitable for successful polymerase chain reaction amplification, making it possible for further integration into microfluidic devices for fully functional and high-throughput genetic analysis.

Free radical mechanism of toxic organic compound formations from o-chlorophenol.

Organic free radical intermediates are pivotal to our understanding of toxic chemicals formation from chlorophenols that widely exist in thermal processes. However, in most cases, multiple free radical intermediates exist and produce complex spectra that are hard to deconvolute. Identification of free radical intermediates is the current difficulty for detailed formation mechanisms of toxic products from chlorophenols. In this study, a universal bottom-up method was developed to identify the organic free radical intermediates. Candidate organic free radicals were firstly speculated according to the critical parameters obtained from experimental electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra and the calculated bond dissociation energies of precursors. Their theoretical spectra were then used retrospectively to justify the accordance with the experimental EPR spectra. Identification of the organic free radicals provides straightforward evidence for the formation pathways of pollutants from chlorophenol. Internal factors influencing formation of radical intermediates and the toxic products were also studied, including the ortho effect of the precursor, spin densities of the organic free radical intermediates, and steric hindrance effects of the molecular intermediates. In combination of the experimental results and theoretical calculations, detailed formation mechanisms of toxic pollutants intermediating by organic free radicals from thermal oxidation of chlorophenol were strongly evidenced.

Concentrations, congener patterns, and correlations of unintentional persistent organic pollutants in cement kilns co-processing hazardous waste.

Emissions from two typical cement kilns co-processing different kind of hazardous waste were analyzed for 143 congeners of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated naphthalenes, polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. The congener distributions in different process stages were investigated. One of the plants co-processed waste chemical reagents from laboratories. The emission factor (TEQ basis) for the plant was 2.09 ng WHO2005 TEQ/t, with the kiln head and the kiln back end contributing 1.18, 0.91 ng WHO2005 TEQ/t, respectively. The other plant co-processed municipal waste incineration fly ash. The emission factor for the plant was 0.12 ng WHO2005 TEQ/t, with the kiln head and the kiln back end contributing 0.022, and 0.10 ng WHO2005 TEQ/t. These results indicate that co-processing of waste containing reagents from laboratories may lead to higher emission levels than co-processing of other types of waste. The congener patterns of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in ash samples from the humidifier tower were similar to those in samples from the bag filter at the kiln back end. The correlation coefficients of five pollutants between the humidifier and bag filters samples were generally high, which indicated that conditions in those two stages similarly favored the formation of these POPs. Comparison of the concentrations for different process stages suggested that the main stage for formation of unintentional POPs was the humidifier tower. These results improve our understanding of emission characteristics and could be used for simultaneous control of multiple POPs.

Mapping secretome-mediated interaction between paired neuron-macrophage single cells.

Neuron-immune interaction through secreted factors contributes significantly to the complex microenvironment in the central nervous system that could alter cell functionalities and fates in both physiological and pathological conditions, which remains poorly characterized at the single-cell level. Herein, using a spatially patterned antibody barcode microchip, we realized the mapping of 12 different secretomes, covering cytokines, neurotrophic factors (NFs), and neuron-derived exosomes (NDEs) from high-throughput, paired single cells (≥ 600) simultaneously under normal conditions and an Alzheimer's disease (AD) model induced with amyloid beta protein 1-42 (Aß1-42). We applied the platform to analyze the secretion profiles from paired neuron-macrophage and neuron-microglia single cells with human cell lines. We found that pairwise neuron-macrophage interaction would trigger immune responses and attenuate neuron cells' secretion, while neuron-microglia interaction generally results in opposite outcomes in secretion. When neuron cells are induced with Aß1-42 protein into the AD model, both neuron-macrophage and neuron-microglia interactions lead to increased cytokines and NDEs and decreased NFs. Further analysis of AD patients' serum showed that NDEs were significantly higher in patients' samples than in the control group, validating our observation from the interaction assay. Furthermore, we resolved previously undifferentiated heterogeneity underlying the secretions from single-neuron cells. We found that the NDE and NF secretion was less dependent on the paracrine signaling between one another and that secretions from neuron cells would attenuate after differentiation with Aß1-42. This study demonstrates the mapping of the different secretomes from paired neuron-immune single cells, providing avenues for understanding how neurons and immune cells interact through the complex secretome network.

Variation in the formation characteristics of PBDD/F, brominated PAH, and PBDE congeners along the secondary copper smelting processes.

Simultaneous determination of 58 congeners of polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDD/Fs), brominated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Br-PAHs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) from multiple stages of industrial-scale secondary copper smelting plants was conducted with the aim of understanding their variations and control. In addition to the historical manufacture of PBDEs as brominated flame retardants, this study confirmed that PBDEs can be unintentionally produced and released from the secondary copper industry. The average mass emission factors of PBDD/Fs, PBDEs, and Br-PAHs from different sources were 10.0, 5.21 × 103, and 7.24 × 103 µg t-1, respectively. Therefore, the emission of brominated persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the secondary copper industry should be of concern. The concentration of brominated POPs increased from the gas cooling stage to stack outlet due to the possible "memory effect" and the regenerated POPs were mainly low-brominated homologs. A comparison of brominated POPs with corresponding chlorinated analogs in the same process indicated that the formation pathway of Br-PAHs was consistent with that of chlorinated PAHs. However, unlike chlorinated dioxins and furans, PBDD/Fs can also be formed from PBDEs as precursors, leading to obvious increases in highly brominated furans. Therefore, inhibiting the unintentional formation of PBDEs is important for controlling brominated POPs emissions.

Spatial barcoding-enabled highly multiplexed immunoassay with digital microfluidics.

Digital microfluidics (DMF), facilitating independent manipulation of microliter samples, provides an ideal platform for immunoassay detection; however, suffering limited multiplexity. To address the need, herein we described a digital microfluidics (DMF) platform that realizes spatial barcoding on the Teflon-coated indium tin oxide (ITO) glass side to fulfill highly multiplexed immunoassay (10+) with low-volume samples (∼4 µL) in parallel, representing the highest multiplexing recorded to date for DMF-actuated immunoassay. Planar-based spatial immobilization of multiple capture antibodies was realized on a Teflon-coated ITO glass side, which was then used as the top plate of the DMF device. Droplets containing analytes, secondary antibodies, and fluorescent signaling reporters with low volume, which were electrically manipulated by our DMF control system, were shuttled sequentially along the working electrodes to complete the immuno-reaction. Evaluation of platform performance with recombinant proteins showed excellent sensitivity and reproducibility. To test the feasibility of our platform in analyzing multiplex biomarkers of the immune response, we used lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages as a model system for protein secretion dynamics studies. As a result, temporal profiling of pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion dynamics was obtained. The spatial barcoding strategy presented here is easy-to-operate to enable a more comprehensive evaluation of protein abundance from biological samples, paving the way for new opportunities to realize multiplexity-associated applications with the DMF platform.

Comprehensive Evaluation of Dietary Exposure and Health Risk of Polychlorinated Naphthalenes.

Intake from food is considered an important route of human exposure to polychlorinated naphthalenes. To our knowledge, several studies have quantified dietary exposure but only in European countries and measuring only a few of the 75 congeners. In addition, the influence of source diversity on human exposure has seldom been assessed. We analyzed 192 composite food samples composed of 17,280 subsamples from 24 provinces in China to measure the concentrations of polychlorinated naphthalenes and estimate their daily intake and potential health risks on a national scale. The estimated cancer risk was in the range of 6.8 × 10-8 to 4.6 × 10-7. We compared our findings for 75 congeners with reports in the literature that quantified only 12 congeners. We estimate that these 12 congeners contribute only approximately 4% to the total mass daily intake of polychlorinated naphthalenes and 70% to the total toxic equivalent quantity, indicating underestimation of dietary exposure. The contributions of combustion-associated congeners to the total concentrations of polychlorinated naphthalenes were in the range of 31-52%, suggesting that the ongoing unintentional release of these compounds from industrial thermal processes is an important factor in polychlorinated naphthalene contamination and human exposure in China.

Angiogenesis and Functional Vessel Formation Induced by Interstitial Flow and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Using a Microfluidic Chip.

Angiogenesis occurs during both physiological and pathological processes. In this study, a microfluidic chip for the development of angiogenesis was utilized to assess angiogenic sprouting and functional vessel formation. We also found that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was a determinant of the initiation of vascular sprouts, while the direction of these sprouts was greatly influenced by interstitial flow. Isoforms of VEGF such as VEGF121, VEGF165, and VEGF189 displayed different angiogenic properties on the chip as assessed by sprout length and number, vessel perfusion, and connectivity. VEGF165 had the highest capacity to induce vascular sprouting among the three isoforms assessed and furthermore, also induced functional vessel formation. This chip could be used to analyze the effect of different angiogenic factors and drugs, as well as to explore the mechanism of angiogenesis induced by such factors.

Core fucosylation involvement in the paracrine regulation of proteinuria-induced renal interstitial fibrosis evaluated with the use of a microfluidic chip.

Proteinuria is a clinical manifestation of chronic kidney disease that aggravates renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF), in which injury of peritubular microvessels is an important event. However, the changes in peritubular microvessels induced by proteinuria and their molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Thus, we aimed to develop a co-culture microfluidic device that contains renal tubules and peritubular microvessels to create a proteinuria model. We found that protein overload in the renal tubule induced trans-differentiation and apoptosis of endothelial cells (ECs) and pericytes. Moreover, profiling of secreted proteins in this model revealed that a paracrine network between tubules and microvessels was activated in proteinuria-induced microvascular injury. Multiple cytokine receptors in this paracrine network were core-fucosylated. Inhibition of core fucosylation significantly reduced ligand-receptor binding ability and blocked downstream pathways, alleviating trans-differentiation and apoptosis of ECs and pericytes. Furthermore, the protective effect of genetic FUT8 deficiency on proteinuria overload-induced RIF and pericyte-myofibroblast trans-differentiation was validated in FUT8 knockout heterozygous mice. In conclusion, we constructed and used a multiple-unit integrated microfluidic device to uncover the mechanism of proteinuria-induced RIF. Furthermore, FUT8 may serve as a hub-like therapeutic target to alleviate peritubular microvascular injury in RIF. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: In this study, we constructed a multiple-unit integrated renal tubule-vascular chip. We reproduced human proteinuria on the chip and found that multiple receptors were modified by FUT8-catalyzed core fucosylation (CF) involved in the cross-talk between renal tubules and peritubular microvessels in proteinuria-induced RIF, and inhibiting the FUT8 of receptors could block the tubule-microvessel paracrine network and reverse the damage of peritubular microvessels and renal interstitial fibrosis. This tubule-vascular chip may provide a prospective platform to facilitate future investigations into the mechanisms of kidney diseases, and target-FUT8 inhibition may be an innovative and potential therapeutic strategy for RIF induced by proteinuria.

Congener profiles and process distributions of polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated naphthalenes and chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from secondary copper smelting.

Secondary copper smelting is an important industrial source of unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants (UPOPs) emissions. Herein, field study on industrial-scale plants was conducted to clarify the levels and profiles of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) and chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (> 3 rings, Cl-PAHs) from secondary copper smelting plants. The three UPOPs emission levels from the oxygen-enriched smelting furnace were higher than that from the anode furnace, which was attributed to the low-grade raw materials used. The toxic equivalent quantity concentrations of Cl-PAHs were 1.3-4.4 and 4.6-18.9 times higher than that of PCBs and PCNs, respectively. Thus, the emission control of Cl-PAHs in the secondary copper industry should be of concern. The chlorination degree of PCBs and PCNs was ~4 after the gas-cooling stage but was reduced to 1-2 in the stack outlet. This result indicated that the PCBs and PCNs congeners that were generated during the cooling stage were mainly higher-chlorinated. After purification by air pollution control devices (APCDs), the high-chlorinated congeners were removed simultaneously with the fly ash, whereas the low-chlorinated congeners may be regenerated and transferred into the stack gas due to possible memory effect within the APCDs.

High-Throughput Single-Cell Extracellular Vesicle Secretion Analysis on a Desktop Scanner without Cell Counting.

Single-cell EV (extracellular vesicle) secretion analysis is emerging for a better understanding of non-genetic cellular heterogeneity regulating human health and diseases through intercellular mediators. However, the requirements of expensive and bulky instrumentations hinder its widespread use. Herein, by combining gold nanoparticle-enhanced silver staining and the Poisson distribution, we reported the use of a home-use scanner to realize high-throughput single-cell EV secretion analysis without cell counting. We applied the platform to analyze the secretions of different EV phenotypes with the human oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line and primary cells from patients, which generated single-cell results comparable with those of the immunofluorescence approach. Notably, we also realized the quantification of the number of EVs secreted from every single cell using their respective titration curves obtained from population samples, making it possible to directly compare different EV phonotypes in regard to their secretion number, secretion rate, and so forth. The technology introduced here is simple, easy to operate, and of low cost, which make it a potential, easily accessible, and affordable tool for widespread use in both basic and clinical research.

A robust and scalable active-matrix driven digital microfluidic platform based on printed-circuit board technology.

Two-dimensional digital microfluidic platforms, on which droplets are actuated by electrowetting on dielectrics, have merits such as dynamic reconfigurability and ease for automation. However, concerns for digital microfluidic platforms based on low-cost printed circuit boards, such as the scalability of the electrode array and the reliability of the device operation, should be addressed before high throughput and fully automatic applications can be realized. In this work we report the progress in addressing those issues by using active-matrix circuitry to automatically drive a large electrode array with enhanced device reliability. We describe the design and the fabrication of a robust and scalable active-matrix driven digital microfluidic platform based on printed-circuit board technology. Reliable actuation of aqueous and organic droplets is achieved using a free-standing double-layer hydrophobic membrane. To demonstrate the versatility of the digital microfluidic platform, a pentapeptide is synthesized on the device within 30 minutes. With these improvements, a fully automatic, scalable, robust, reusable, and low-cost digital microfluidic platform capable of parallel manipulation of a large number of droplets can find numerous applications in chemical engineering, bioengineering and biomedical engineering.

Photoinduced formation of persistent free radicals, hydrogen radicals, and hydroxyl radicals from catechol on atmospheric particulate matter.

Catechol is speculated to be a potential precursor of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) in the atmosphere. EPFRs absorbed on PM2.5 have attracted public attention because their toxicity is similar to cigarette smoke. In this study, we found that catechol could produce EPFRs, which were oxygen-centered phenoxy and semiquinone radicals. These free radical species had half-lives of up to 382 days. CaO, CuO, and Fe2O3 markedly promoted EPFR formation from catechol. The valence states of Cu and Fe changed during the photochemical reactions of catechol but no valence state changed for Ca. Alkaline nature of CaO is possibly the key for promoting the free radical formations through acid-base reactions with catechol. In addition to hydroxyl free radicals, hydrogen free radicals and superoxide anions formed from the photochemical reactions of catechol were first discovered. This is of concern because of the adverse effects of these free radicals on human health.

Single-Cell Secretion Analysis in the Engineered Tumor Microenvironment Reveals Differential Modulation of Macrophage Immune Responses.

It is increasingly recognized that the cellular microenvironment plays critical roles in regulating the fate and physiology of cells. Despite recent advancements in single-cell analysis technologies, engineering and integration of the microenvironment for single-cell analysis platforms remain limited. Here, we report a single-cell cytokine secretion analysis platform that integrated both the three-dimensional cell culture and the primary oral squamous cell carcinoma tumor cell co-culture to provide both physical and physiological cues for single cells to be analyzed. We apply the platform to investigate the immune responses of human macrophages stimulated with the ligand of toll-like receptor 4 lipopolysaccharide. Notably, we observe the differential modulation effect in cytokine secretions by the tumor microenvironment, in which antitumor cytokine TNF-a secretion was attenuated, and protumor cytokine IL-6 would increase. The differential modulation effect is conserved from cell line-derived macrophages to primary macrophages derived from healthy donors. Immunofluorescence staining further reveals that ∼50% of macrophage cells could be polarized from M1 to the M2 phenotype within 12 h in the engineered tumor microenvironment. This work demonstrates the significance of the cell microenvironment toward single-cell analysis, which could help to evaluate how immune cells will respond in the complex microenvironment more accurately.

Facile synthesis of tailored mesopore-enriched hierarchical porous carbon from food waste for rapid removal of aromatic VOCs.

Due to the large amount, environmental impact, and complex properties of accumulated food waste, its disposal and valorization has become a growing global concern and challenges. In this study, a series of mesopore-enriched hierarchical porous carbons were synthesized from a mixture of two food waste components (peptone and bone). The prepared materials were employed for the rapid adsorption of aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The pore structures, morphology and surface chemistry of the food waste-based microporous activated carbon (PCs) and mesopore-enriched hierarchical porous carbons (PC/BCs) were characterized and then compared. PC/BCs presented larger pore volume (2.45 cm3/g vs. 1.25 cm3/g) than the PCs because of their activation and the template effect of the bone, allowing them to exhibit satisfactory adsorption capacities (139.5 mg/g for benzene and 440.7 mg/g for toluene) and adsorption rate (0.285 min-1 for benzene and 0.236 min-1 for toluene) for aromatic VOCs. In addition, a strong linear relationship (R2 = 0.957) was also established between the adsorption rate k and total pore volume, highlighting the role of mesopores in PC/BCs, which contributed 60% to the total pore volume, during the rapid capture of VOCs. Further, PC/BCs also showed excellent thermal regeneration performance for more than four runs. The results of this study provide a feasible approach to fabricating mesopore-enriched hierarchical porous carbon from food waste, which could enable the rapid removal of VOCs.