The presence of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) was analysed in air particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM₂.₅) and ≤10 μm (PM₁₀) collected in the Metropolitan Zone of Mexico Valley (MZMV), during 2013 and 2014, respectively. Spatial and seasonal distributions of PM and their organic content named solvent extracted organic matter (SEOM) were determined. PM mass concentration and SEOM/PM ratios were compared with previous studies in 2006 in Mexico City. PM₂.₅ concentration was like found in 2006, however, PM₁₀ decreased ∼43%. The SEOM/PM₁₀ ratio was kept constant, suggesting a decrease in SEOM as well as PM₁₀ emitted from natural sources, probably as a result of changes in the land use due to urban growth. A decrease ∼50% SEOM/PM₂.₅ ratio was observed in the same period, linked to adequate strategies and public policies applied by the local and federal governments to control the organic matter emitted from anthropogenic sources.Seven out of sixteen OCPs and five out of six PBDEs were found. The most common POPs were endosulfan I, endosulfan II, endosulfan sulfate, BDE-47 and BDE-99, present on >90% of the sampling days. OCPs in PM₂.₅ and PBDEs in PM₁₀ showed seasonal variability. Higher PBDEs concentration in both particle sizes were observed at east and southeast of the MZMV, where one of the biggest landfills and wastewater treatment plants are located. OCPs in PM₁₀ were mainly emitted from agricultural areas located to the southwest, southeast and east of the MZMV. OCPs in PM₂.₅ showed a regional contribution from the north and introduced into the valley. OCP degradation products were dominant over native OCPs, indicating no fresh OCP use. POPs comparison with other cities was made. Agreements and commissions created by the Mexican government reduced OCPs emissions, however, more effort must be made to control PBDE emission sources.

The exposure risk of metal-based nanoparticles (NPs) to marine organisms and related food safety have attracted increasing attention, but the actual concentrations of these NPs in seawater and marine organisms are unknown. In this work, single particle inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (spICP-MS) was used to quantify the concentrations and size distributions of NPs in different marine mollusks (oysters, mussels, scallops, clams, and ark shells) from an offshore aquaculture farm. Results showed that Ti, Cu, Zn, and Ag bearing NPs were detected in all the five mollusks with the mean sizes at 65.4–70.9, 72.2–89.6, 97.8–108.3, and 42.9–51.0 nm, respectively. The particle concentrations of Ti, Cu, Zn, and Ag bearing NPs in all mollusks (0.88–3.26 × 10⁷ particles/g fresh weight) were much higher than that in the seawater (0.46–0.79 × 10⁷ particles/mL), suggesting bio-accumulation of NPs. For all the five mollusks, Ag bearing NPs had the highest number-based bioconcentration factors (NBCFs) in all the tested NPs due to the smallest mean size of Ag bearing NPs in seawater (30.5 nm). In addition, the clams exhibited the lowest NBCFs of the four NPs than other mollusks. All four NPs were mainly accumulated in the gill and digestive gland, and could transfer to adductor muscle of all mollusks. Although all the four metals (Ti, Cu, Zn, Ag) in mollusks were safe for human consumption by the estimated daily intake (EDI) analysis, the risk of NPs remaining in the mollusks should be further considered when evaluating the toxicity of metals for human health. The findings could improve our understanding on the distribution and health risk of NPs in marine mollusks under offshore aquaculture.

Soil pollution is growing at an alarming rate in today’s industrialized world as a result of increasing anthropogenic activities, either intentional (e.g., use of fertilizers and pesticides, irrigation with untreated wastewater, or land application of sewage sludge) or accidental (e.g., oil spills or leaching from landfills). Terrestrial soil pollution from transportation fuels such as Diesel or Biodiesel is inevitable as they are part of life’s necessities. Biodiesel is considered an environmental friendly fuel due to its non-hydrocarbon composition and low particulate matter emission. However, there are still some controversies regarding biodiesel environmental toxicity to terrestrial life. Little is known about the ecotoxicity of plant-based biodiesels to soil organisms. In the present study, three ecotoxicological tests including an earthworm (Eisenia fetida) 14-day soil toxicity test, a filter paper contact toxicity test, and a cocoon hatchability test were performed to examine the toxic effects of three plant-based biodiesels - safflower methyl ester (SaME), castor methyl ester (CME), and castor ethyl ester (CEE), with Diesel fuel. Unlike Diesel, the biodiesels were less toxic based on low earthworm mortality in the soil toxicity test. However significant morbidity responses (e.g., weight loss, coiling, posterior and anterior fragmentation, and excessive discharge of coelomic fluid) were observed in earthworms exposed to biodiesel. Further, in the cocoon hatchability test, biodiesels were equally toxic to Diesel at 2% and 5% soil concentrations, with no hatching success.

Growing evidence suggests that anthropogenic noise has deleterious effects on the behavior and physiology of free-living animals. These effects may be particularly pronounced early in life, when developmental trajectories are sensitive to stressors, yet studies investigating developmental effects of noise exposure in free-living populations remain scarce. To elucidate the effects of noise exposure during development, we examined whether noise exposure is associated with shorter telomeres, duller carotenoid-based coloration and reduced body mass in nestlings of a common urban bird, the great tit (Parus major). We also assessed how the noise environment is related to reproductive success. We obtained long-term measurements of the noise environment, over a ∼24-h period, and characterized both the amplitude (measured by LAₑq, LA₉₀, LA₁₀, LAₘₐₓ) and variance in noise levels, since more stochastic, as well as louder, noise regimes might be more likely to induce stress. In our urban population, noise levels varied substantially, with louder, but less variable, noise characteristic of areas adjacent to a highway. Noise levels were also highly repeatable, suggesting that individuals experience consistent differences in noise exposure. The amplitude of noise near nest boxes was associated with shorter telomeres among smaller, but not larger, brood members. In addition, carotenoid chroma and hue were positively associated with variance in average and maximum noise levels, and average reflectance was negatively associated with variance in background noise. Independent of noise, hue was positively related to telomere length. Nestling mass and reproductive success were unaffected by noise exposure. Results indicate that multiple dimensions of the noise environment, or factors associated with the noise environment, could affect the phenotype of developing organisms, that noise exposure, or correlated variables, might have the strongest effects on sensitive groups of individuals, and that carotenoid hue could serve as a signal of early-life telomere length.

The molecular mechanism of evaluating 17β-estradiol (E₂)-induced toxicity in female Daphnia magna has not been determined. In this study, the transcriptome of D. magna was analyzed after exposure to three different concentrations (0, 10, and 100 ng L⁻¹) of E₂ at 3, 6, and 12 h. The results showed 351–17,221 significantly up-regulated and 505–10,282 significantly down-regulated genes (P < 0.05). Overall, the selected largest 10,282 (10 ng L⁻¹vs control at 12 h) down-regulated and 17,221 (100 vs 10 ng L⁻¹) up-regulated genes were identified; following annotation, pathways in cancer and RNA transport were found to be enriched according to the interaction network. Among all completed comparisons, KEGG pathways related to the immune system, cancer, disease infection, and active compound metabolism were identified by short time series expression miner analysis. A different set of genes fluctuated in a “U”-shaped pattern over time and at different concentrations of E₂, whereas some genes associated with disintoxication showed a reverse “U”-shaped response as E₂ administration was increased. These results suggest that E₂ exposure caused transcriptional changes in the immune system, disintoxication, disease prevention, and the protein degradation pathway.

There is a lack of evidence regarding the association of short-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) with renal function in children and its underlying mechanism. We included 105 children aged 4–13 years from a panel study conducted in Wuhan, China with up to 3 repeated visits across 3 seasons from October 9, 2017 to June 1, 2018. We measured personal real-time PM₂.₅ exposure concentration continuously for 72 h preceding each round of health examinations that included serum creatinine and cytokines. Linear mixed-effects models were performed to estimate the effects of PM₂.₅ on estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) over various lag times, and a mediation analysis was applied for the role of cytokines in association between PM₂.₅ and eGFR. Results showed that personal exposure to PM₂.₅ was dose-responsive related to decreased eGFR within lag 2 days. The effect was the strongest at lag 0 day with estimation of −1.69% [95% confidence interval (CI): -2.27%, −1.10%] in eGFR by a 10-μg/m³ increase in PM₂.₅, and reached peak at lag 3 h, then declined over time. Such inverse relationships were more evident among children aged 4–6 years, or boys or those who lived proximity to major roadways <300 m. Notably, eGFR still held on to decrease even when PM₂.₅ was below Class II Chinese ambient air quality standard at lag 0 day. Moreover, the effect of PM₂.₅ on eGFR was significantly reduced in children with high and medium levels of serum chemokine ligand 27 (CCL27), but not in those with low CCL27. Furthermore, CCL27 was positively relevant to PM₂.₅, and mediated proportion of CCL27 ranged from 3.75% to 6.61% in relations between PM₂.₅ and decreased eGFR over various lag times. In summary, short-term PM₂.₅ exposure might be dose-responsive associated with reduced eGFR whereby a mechanism partly involving CCL27 among healthy children.

Municipal waste incineration plants (MWIPs) are a source of emission of diverse pollutants that have been associated with environmental and health effects, mainly in relation to premises that are old and not well equipped or maintained. As a result, the public usually holds a negative view of such plants and tends to react adversely to construction of new plants. Understanding a population’s perceptions is key to ensuring the correct development of such infrastructure and adequately managing population health concerns and behaviours. In this study, we surveyed 173 residents living close (≤ 10 km) to an MWIP being built in San Sebastian (Gipuzkoa, Spain) and 164 living further away (>10 km). The questionnaire included sociodemographic and psycho-environmental measures. Answers to the questionnaire revealed a fairly low acceptance rate and the perception of a high risk for human health and the environment (average scores of 0.57, 3.07 and 2.89 respectively in a 0 to 4 scale), with no statistically significant differences between people living nearby and further afield. A hierarchical regression model built to explore the public’s acceptance of the MWIP explained 59% of the variance. Dominance and relative weight analyses revealed that the most important predictors of acceptance were trust in the information provided by the local government and perceived risk for human health, which accounted for 33.7% and 27.4% of the variance explained by the model respectively. Preference for landfilling and MWIP acceptance in a farther location made a less relevant contribution.

Soluble iron (FeS) in aerosols contributes to free oxygen radical generation with implications for human health, and potentially catalyzes sulfur dioxide oxidation. It is also an important external source of micronutrients for ocean ecosystems. However, factors controlling FeS concentration and its contribution to total iron (FeT) in aerosols remain poorly understand. Here, FeS and FeT in PM₂.₅ was studied at four urban sites in eastern China from 21 to 31 December, 2017. Average FeT (869–1490 ng m⁻³) and FeS (24–68 ng m⁻³) concentrations were higher in northern than southern China cities, but Fe solubility (%FeS, 2.7–5.0%) showed no spatial pattern. Correlation analyses suggested %FeS was strongly correlated with FeS and PM₂.₅ instead of FeT concentrations. Individual particle observations confirmed that more than 65% of nano-sized Fe-containing particles were internally mixed with sulfates and nitrates. Furthermore, there was a high correlation between sulfates or nitrates/FeT molar ratio and %FeS. We also found that the sulfates/nitrates had weaker effects on %FeS at RH < 50% than at RH > 50%, suggesting RH as indirect factor can influence %FeS in PM₂.₅. These results suggest an important role of chemical processing in enhancing %FeS in the polluted atmosphere.

Antibiotics are emerging organic pollutants posing high health risks to humans by causing human intestinal microbial disorders with increasing abundances of opportunistic pathogens, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been confirmed to restore the dysbiosis of gut flora in many kinds of intestinal disease. However, to date, few studies have focused on the bloomed opportunistic pathogens associated human disease-related pathways as well as antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) after vancomycin exposure, and there is limited information on using FMT for restoration of intestinal microbiome affected by antibiotics. Therefore, this study investigated effects of vancomycin on the opportunistic pathogens, human disease-related pathways as well as ARGs in human gut, and the restoration of intestinal microbiome by FMT. Results indicated that vancomycin treatment substantially increased human disease-related pathways and decreased abundances of ARGs. Besides, the bloomed opportunistic pathogens including Achromobacter, Klebsiella, and Pseudomonas, caused by vancomycin exposure, were positively correlated with human disease-related pathways. The microbiota abundance and genes of human disease-related pathways and antibiotic resistance showed a remarkable return towards baseline after FMT, but not for natural recovery. These findings suggest that impacts of vancomycin on human gut are profound and FMT will be a promising strategy in clinical application that can restore the dysbiosis of gut microbiota, which may be valuable for directing future work.

Chromium (Cr) poses serious consequences on human and animal health due to its potential carcinogenicity. The present study aims at preparing a novel biochar derived from Chenopodium quinoa crop residues (QBC), its activation with magnetite nanoparticles (QBC/MNPs) and strong acid HNO₃ (QBC/Acid) to evaluate their batch and column scale potential to remove Cr (VI) from polluted water. The QBC, QBC/MNPs and QBC/Acid were characterized with SEM, FTIR, EDX, XRD as well as point of zero charge (PZC) to get an insight into their adsorption mechanism. The impact of different process parameters including dose of the adsorbent (1–4 g/L), contact time (0–180 min), initial concentration of Cr (25–200 mg/L) as well as solution pH (2–8) was evaluated on the Cr (VI) removal from contaminated water. The results revealed that QBC/MNPs proved more effective (73.35–93.62-%) for the Cr (VI) removal with 77.35 mg/g adsorption capacity as compared with QBC/Acid (55.85–79.8%) and QBC (48.85–75.28-%) when Cr concentration was changed from 200 to 25 mg/L. The isothermal experimental results follow the Freundlich adsorption model rather than Langmuir, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption isotherm models. While kinetic adsorption results were well demonstrated by pseudo second order kinetic model. Column scale experiments conducted at steady state exhibited excellent retention of Cr (VI) by QBC, QBC/MNPs and QBC/Acid at 50 and 100 mg Cr/L. The results showed that this novel biochar (QBC) and its modified forms (QBC/Acid and QBC/MNPs) are applicable with excellent reusability and stability under acidic conditions for the practical treatment of Cr (VI) contaminated water.