The waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerator plant located in the Turin area (Italy) started to recover energy from the combustion of municipal solid waste in 2013. A health surveillance program was implemented to evaluate the potential health effects on the population living near the plant. This program included a longitudinal biomonitoring to evaluate temporal changes of some environmental pollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in residents living in areas near the Turin incinerator (exposed group, E) compared to those observed in subjects living far from the plant (not exposed group, NE). Ten monohydroxy-PAHs (OH-PAHs), consisting in the principal metabolites of naphthalene, fluorine, phenanthrene, and pyrene, were analyzed in urines collected from the E and NE subjects after one (T₁) and three years (T₂) of plant activity and compared with those determined in the same cohort established before the plant start-up (T₀). Spearman correlation analysis was undertaken to explore possible associations between OH-PAHs and personal characteristics, lifestyle variables, and dietary habits. A linear mixed model (LMM) approach was applied to determine temporal trends of OH-PAHs observed in the E and NE subjects and to evaluate possible differences in trend between the two groups. Temporal trends of OH-PAHs determined by LMM analysis demonstrated that, at all times, the E group had concentrations lower than those assessed in the NE group, all other conditions being equal. Moreover, no increase in OH-PAH concentrations was observed at T₁ and T₂ either in E or in NE group. Significant positive correlations were found between all OH-PAHs and smoking habits. Regarding variables associated to outdoor PAH exposure, residence near high traffic roads and daily time in traffic road was positively correlated with 1-hydroxynaphthalene and 1-hydroxypyrene, respectively. In conclusion, no impact of the WTE plant on exposure to PAHs was observed on the population living near the plant.

Goethite is a commonly found iron (hydr)oxide in soils and sediments that has been proven to possess abundant defects in structures. However, the underlying impact of these defects in goethite on arsenic immobilization remains unclear. In this study, goethite samples with abundant, moderate, and sparse defects were synthesized to evaluate their arsenic adsorption capacities. The characteristics of the defects in goethite were investigated by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), high angle annular dark field-scanning transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersion spectrum (HAADF-STEM-EDS) mapping, vibrating-sample magnetometry (VSM), and electron spin resonance (ESR). The characterization analysis revealed that the defects in as-synthesized goethite primarily existed in the form of Fe vacancies. Batch experiments demonstrated that the adsorption capacities of defect-rich goethite for As(V) and As(III) removal were 10.2 and 22.1 times larger than those of defect-poor goethite, respectively. The origin of the impact of Fe defects on arsenic immobilization was theoretically elucidated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The enhanced adsorption of goethite was attributed to the improvement of the arsenic affinity due to the Fe vacancy defect, thus considerably promoting arsenic immobilization. The findings of this study provide important insight into the migration and fate of arsenic in naturally occurring iron (hydr)oxides.

Under intensive human activity, sewage discharge causes eutrophication-driven cyanobacteria blooms as well as nanomaterial pollution. In biological control of harmful cyanobacteria, top-down effect of protozoan has great potentials for removing cyanobacterial populations, degrading cyanotoxins, and improving phytoplankton community. ZnO nanoparticles as a kind of emerging contaminants have attracted increasing attention because of wide application and their high bio-toxicity effects on reducing the ingestion of aquatic animals including Paramecium, thereby possibly disturbing top-down control of cyanobacteria. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of ZnO nanoparticles at environmental-relevant concentrations on the protozoan Paramecium removing toxic Microcystis. Results showed Paramecium effectively eliminated all the Microcystis, despite exposure to ZnO nanoparticles. However, their ingestion rate was significantly reduced at more than 0.1 mg L⁻¹ ZnO nanoparticles, thereby delaying Microcystis removal. Nevertheless, at 0.1 mg L⁻¹ ZnO nanoparticles, the time to Microcystis extinction decreased compared to the group without ZnO nanoparticles, because Microcystis populations were reduced under this circumstance, while ingestion rate of Paramecium was unaffected. Furthermore, ZnO nanoparticles obviously accumulated in food vacuoles of Paramecium, and the size of nanoparticles aggregates and zinc concentrations in Paramecium were increased with ZnO nanoparticles concentrations. At the end of experiment, these food vacuoles were not dissipated. Overall, these findings suggest that ZnO nanoparticles impair protozoan top-down effects through reducing Microcystis and ingestion rate as well as disturbing functions of their digestive organelles, and highlight the need to consider the interfering effects of environmental pollutants on cyanobacterial removal efficiency by protozoans in natural waters.

Landfills are considered an anthropogenic source of arsenic (As). The As species mediated by microbes in landfills vary significantly in toxicity. Based on random matrix theory, 16S rRNA genes were used to construct four microbial networks associated with different stages over 12 years of landfill ages. The results indicated that network size and microbial structure varied with landfill age. According to the network scores, about 208 taxa were identified as putative keystones for the whole landfill; the majority of them were Firmicutes, which accounted for 66.8% of all specialists. Random Forest analysis was performed to predict the keystone taxa most responsible for As species distribution under different landfill conditions; 17, 10 and 14 keystone taxa were identified as drivers affecting As species distribution at early, middle, and later landfill stages, respectively.

Numerous studies reported that BPA could cause oxidative damage to different tissues in rats/mice. This study aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of BPA exposure on oxidative damage in rats/mice. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases from their inception date until July 18, 2020. 20 eligible articles were included in this study. The results showed that BPA could significantly increase the level of MDA (SMD, 16.88; 95%CI, 12.06–21.71), but there was a significant reduction in the contents of antioxidants, such as GR (−10.46, −13.91 ∼ −7.02), CAT (−8.48, −11.66 ∼ −5.30), GPx (−9.37, −11.95 ∼ −6.80), GST (−7.59, −14.51 ∼ −0.67), GSH (−10.64, −13.96 ~ −7.33), and SOD (−6.48, −8.37 ∼ −4.58) in rats/mice. Our study provided clear evidence that BPA exposure could significantly induce oxidative damage in rats/mice. And we also found that the degree of oxidative damage was related to BPA dose, target tissue, intervention means, and exposure duration of BPA.

Submersed macrophytes accumulate large amounts of macro- and trace elements from the environment and, therefore, are frequently used as indicators of water pollution and tools to remove pollutants from contaminated waters. This study provides evidences that the quantity of macro- and trace elements accumulated in the macrophyte Ceratophyllum demersum depends strongly on the seasonality, on the vertical position of the plant material and on the biofilm cover. Element contents of macrophytes with and without biofilm cover and that of vertical plant sections were investigated by an ICP-MS technique in three different habitats, at the beginning and at the end of the vegetation period. Results demonstrated that the element concentrations of Ceratophyllum demersum dropped to one-half and one-eighth by the end of the summer; and the amount of certain elements in the lower part of plants were up to six times higher than in the upper and in plants with well-developed epiphytic microbial community 2-5-fold higher than in plants without biofilm.These results help in phytoremediation practice and in setting up future biomonitoring studies. When it is necessary to calculate the exact amount of elements which can be accumulated by plants in a polluted environment or should be removed from a contaminated water by harvesting macrophytes, it is of high importance to consider the month of the study, the plant parts harvested and the biofilm cover.

Bisphenol A (BPA), as a major component of some plastic products, is abundant environmental pollutant. Due to its ability to bind to several types of estrogen receptors, it can trigger multiple cellular responses, which can contribute to various manifestations at the organism level. The most studied effect of BPA is endocrine disruption, but recently its prooxidative potential has been confirmed. BPA ability to induce oxidative stress through increased ROS production, altered activity of antioxidant enzymes, or accumulation of oxidation products of biomacromolecules is observed in a wide range of organisms – estrogen receptor-positive and -negative. Subsequently, increased intracellular oxidation can lead to DNA damage induction, represented by oxidative damage, single- and double-strand DNA breaks. Importantly, BPA shows several mechanisms of action and can trigger adverse effects on all organisms inhabiting a wide variety of ecosystem types. Therefore, the main aim of this review is to summarize the genotoxic effects of BPA on organisms across all taxa.

Incomplete combustion processes in diesel engines produce particulate matter (PM) that significantly contributes to air pollution. Currently, there remains a knowledge gap in relation to the physical and chemical characteristics and also the biological reactivity of the PM emitted from old- and new-generation diesel vehicles. In this study, the emissions from a Euro 3 diesel vehicle were compared to those from a Euro 6 car during the regeneration of a diesel particulate filter (DPF). Different driving cycles were used to collect two types of diesel exhaust particles (DEPs). The particle size distribution was monitored using an engine exhaust particle sizer spectrometer and an electrical low-pressure impactor. Although the Euro 6 vehicle emitted particulates only during DPF regeneration that primarily occurs for a few minutes at high speeds, such emissions are characterized by a higher number of ultrafine particles (<0.1 μm) compared to those from the Euro 3 diesel vehicle. The emitted particles possess different characteristics. For example, Euro 6 DEPs exhibit a lower PAH content than do Euro 3 samples; however, they are enriched in metals that were poorly detected or undetected in Euro 3 emissions. The biological effects of the two DEPs were investigated in human bronchial BEAS-2B cells exposed to 50 μg/mL of PM (corresponding to 5.2 μg/cm²), and the results revealed that Euro 3 DEPs activated the typical inflammatory and pro-carcinogenic pathways induced by combustion-derived particles, while Euro 6 DEPs were less effective in regard to activating such biological responses. Although further investigations are required, it is evident that the different in vitro effects elicited by Euro 3 and Euro 6 DEPs can be correlated with the variable chemical compositions (metals and PAHs) of the emitted particles that play a pivotal role in the inflammatory and carcinogenic potential of airborne PM.

Indoor light environment has altered dramatically and exposure to light at night (LAN) potential leads to the progression of cardiometabolic conditions. However, few studies have investigated the effect of bedroom LAN exposure on cardiometabolic risk. To estimate the associations between multi-period bedroom LAN exposure with cardiometabolic risk among Chinese young adults. We objectively measured multi-period bedroom LAN intensity using portable illuminance meter in an ongoing prospective cohort (n = 484). At one-year follow-up, 230 young adults provided fasting blood samples for quantification of cardiometabolic parameters. Cardiometabolic (CM)-risk score was derived as the sum of standardized sex-specific z-scores for waist circumference (WC), mean arterial pressure (MAP), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride (TG) and homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), with HDL-C multiplied by – 1. Multivariate and univariable linear regression models were used to examine associations of multi-period bedroom LAN exposure with cardiometabolic risk. Exposure to higher bedroom LAN intensity is associated with 1.47-unit increase in CM-risk score (95% CI: 0.69–2.25; P < 0.001). Besides, post-bedtime light exposure was associated with elevated fasting insulin (PBL-1h: β = 0.06, 95% CI: 0.01–0.10; PBL-4h: β = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.19–0.47) and HOMA-IR (PBL-1h: β = 0.013, 95% CI: 0–0.03; PBL-4h: β = 0.07, 95% CI: 0.04–0.11) while pre-awake light exposure was associated with elevated total cholesterol (PAL-1h: β = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.02–0.04; PAL-2h: β = 0.02, 95% CI: 0.01–0.03), triglyceride (PAL-1h: β = 0.015, 95% CI: 0.01–0.02; PAL-2h: β = 0.01, 95% CI: 0–0.02) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (PAL-1h: β = 0.02, 95% CI: 0.01–0.03; PAL-2h: β = 0.02, 95% CI: 0.01–0.03). Among young adults, bedroom LAN exposure was significantly associated with higher cardiometabolic risk. Furthermore, different periods of bedroom light exposure have time-dependent effect on cardiometabolic risk. Further research is needed to confirm our findings and to elucidate potential mechanisms.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are easily influenced by increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentration and heavy metals including cadmium (Cd), which can regulate antioxidant enzyme in host plants. Although the effect of AMF under individual conditions such as elevated CO₂ (ECO₂) and Cd on antioxidant enzyme in host plants has been reported widely, the effect of AMF under ECO₂ + Cd receives little attention. In this study, a pot experiment was conducted to study the effect of AMF community in roots on superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD) activities in leaves of 135-d Robinia pseudoacacia L. seedlings under ECO₂ + Cd. The activities of SOD and CAT increased and POD activity and the richness and diversity of AMF community decreased under ECO₂ + Cd relative to Cd alone. The richness and diversity of AMF were negatively related to Cd content in roots and leaves. The richness and OTUs of AMF community positively and AMF gene abundance negatively affected POD activity under the combined treatments. Superoxide dismutase and POD activities were negatively and positively related to Archaeospora and Scutellospora, respectively, under ECO₂ + Cd. Cadmium in roots and leaves was negatively and significantly related to Glomus, Scutellospora, and Claroideoglomus abundance under ECO₂ + Cd. Overall, AMF diversity and Archaeospora and Scutellospora in roots significantly influenced SOD, POD, and CAT activities. The response of AM symbiosis to ECO₂ might regulate antioxidant capacity in host plants upon Cd exposure. Glomus, Scutellospora, and Claroideoglomus might be applied to phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soils.