International audience | Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent compounds that are massively used in industry, consumer goods and fire-fighting foams. Soil contamination by PFAS is a major environmental concern, and there is a lack of knowledge on both their ecotoxicological mechanisms and the concentrations that induce adverse effects especially to non-target organisms, particularly in the case of PFAS mixtures. This study contributes to filling these gaps by assessing and modelling the effects of PFAS (in single and in mixtures for PFOS and PFOA at different environmental doses) on juvenile endogeic earthworms of a common species in European soils (Aporrectodea caliginosa) at different levels of biological organization (sub-individual and individual). The results showed for the first time combined strong ecotoxicological effects of PFAS on earthworm survival, integumental integrity, growth, sexual maturity and on genomic stability notably with the induction of DNA breaks associated with no abnormal oxidative DNA-lesion levels. Our results demonstrated significant effects at 0.3 mg kg − 1 and additive effects in case of mixtures. ☆ This paper has been recommended for acceptance by Jiayin Dai.

International audience | There is increasing evidence that sunscreen, more specifically the organic ultraviolet filters (O-UVFs), are toxic for aquatic organisms. In the present study, we simulated an environmental sunscreen exposure on the teleost fish, Chelon auratus. The first objective was to assess their spatial avoidance of sunscreen products. Our results showed that the fish did not avoid the contaminated area. Therefore, the second objective was to evaluate the toxicological impacts of such pollutants. At the individual level, O-UVFs increased the hepatosomatic index which suggests pathological alterations of the liver. At the cellular level, a significant increase of malondialdehyde was measured in the muscle of fish exposed to O-UVFs which suggests a failure of antioxidant defences and/or an excess 2 of reactive oxygen species. Although our study highlighted some of the toxicological effects due to O-UVFs contamination, further investigations are needed for a better understanding of the impact of these contaminants upon marine teleosts.

International audience | The proliferation of wireless and other telecommunications equipment brought about by technological advances in the communication industry has substantially increased the radiofrequency radiation levels in the environment. The emphasis is, therefore, placed on investigating the potential impacts of radiofrequency radiation on biota. In this work, the impact of 2850 MHz electromagnetic field radiation (EMF-r) on early development, photosynthetic pigments, and the metabolic profile of two Brassica oleracea L. cultivars (red and green cabbage) was studied. On a daily basis for seven days, seedlings were exposed to homogeneous EMF-r for one, two, and four hours, and observations were carried out at 0-h, 1-h, and 24-h following the final dose. Irrespective of the duration of harvest, exposure to EMF-r resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in both root (from 6.3 cm to 4.0 cm in red; 6.1 cm to 3.8 cm in green) and shoot lengths (from 5.3 cm to 3.1 cm in red; 5.1 cm to 3.1 cm in green), as well as a decrease in biomass (from 2.9 mg to similar to 1.1 mg in red; 2.5 to 0.9 mg in green) of the seedlings when compared to control samples. Likewise, the chlorophyll (from 6.09 to similar to 4.94 mg g(-1) d.wt in red; 7.37 to 6.05 mg g(-1) d.wt. in green) and carotenoid (from 1.49 to 1.19 mg g(-1) d.wt. in red; 1.14 to 0.51 mg g(-1) d.wt. in green) contents of both cultivars decreased significantly when compared to the control. Additionally, the contents of phenolic (28.99-45.52 mg GAE g(-1) in red; 25.49-33.76 mg GAE g(-1) in green), flavonoid (21.7-31.8 mg QE g(-1) in red; 12.1-19.0 mg QE g(-1) in green), and anthocyanin (28.8-43.6 mg per 100 g d.wt. in red; 1.1-2.6 mg per 100 g d.wt. in green) in both red and green cabbage increased with exposure duration. EMF-r produced oxidative stress in the exposed samples of both cabbage cultivars, as demonstrated by dose-dependent increases in the total antioxidant activity (1.33-2.58 mM AAE in red; 1.29-2.22 mM AAE in green), DPPH activity (12.96-78.33% in red; 9.62-67.73% in green), H2O2 content (20.0-77.15 nM g(-1) f.wt. in red; 14.28-64.29 nM g(-1) f.wt. in green), and MDA content (0.20-0.61 nM g(-1) f.wt. in red; 0.18-0.51 nM g(-1) f.wt. in green) compared to their control counterparts. The activity of antioxidant enzymes, i.e., superoxide dismutases (3.83-8.10 EU mg(-1) protein in red; 4.19-7.35 EU mg(-1) protein in green), catalases (1.81-7.44 EU mg(-1) protein in red; 1.04-6.24 EU mg(-1) protein in green), and guaiacol peroxidases (14.37-47.85 EU mg(-1) protein in red; 12.30-42.79 EU mg(-1) protein in green), increased significantly compared to their control counterparts. The number of polyphenols in unexposed and EMF-r exposed samples of red cabbage was significantly different. The study concludes that exposure to 2850 MHz EMF-r affects the early development of cabbage seedlings, modifies their photosynthetic pigments, alters polyphenol content, and impairs their oxidative metabolism.