On May 17–18,  Gan, Shizhen, and several members of the Air-Omics group attended the 19th Forum on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), held in Chongqing.

Prof. Gan delivered two invited presentations in separate sessions. In the session on Environmental Behavior and Transformation of Organic Pollutants, chaired by Prof. Sun Hongwen, he presented on the observational study of the coupling between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), optical properties, and toxicity in atmospheric particles. In the session on Environmental Fate of Emerging Pollutants in the Atmosphere and Ocean, chaired by Shizhen, Prof. Gan gave a second talk on regional source–sink processes of emerging atmospheric pollutants.

Shizhen shared her latest work on the environmental fate of organophosphate esters (OPEs) in urban air. Lele presented on 6PPD-quinone as a robust marker for tire wear particles: validation and application using nationwide road air samples. Jianchu reported on pollution characteristics and sources of micro/nanoplastics and chlorinated paraffins in Chinese roadside airborne particles. Yifan discussed pollution characteristics, deposition fluxes, and influencing factors of micro/nanoplastics in urban snowfall. Meanwhile, Weiru presented a study on the potential sources and aquatic fate of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in typical Chinese salt lakes, in a session focused on short- and ultra-short-chain PFASs.

We were especially delighted to reconnect with several former group members, including Tian Lin, Zhen Zhao, and Ruijie Zhang—turning this academic forum into a warm reunion. For us, the  POPs Forum felt not only like a platform for scientific exchange but also a moment of shared memories and lasting bonds. We sincerely appreciated the heartfelt hospitality from Fengwen Wang and thoroughly enjoyed our time in Chongqing, both academically enriching and personally memorable.