Nonferrous mine tailings have caused serious problems of co-contamination with metal(loid)s. It is still a global challenge to cost-effectively manage and mitigate the effect of the mining wastes. We conducted an in-situ bio-treatment of non-ferrous metal(loid) tailings using a microbial consortium of sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB). During the bio-treatment, the transformation of metal(loid)s (such as Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Sb, and Zn) into oxidizable and residual fractions in the subsurface tended to be higher than that observed in the surface. As well the mineral compositions changed becoming more complex, indicating that the sulfur reducing process of bio-treatment shaped the bio-transformation of metal(loid)s. The added SRB genera, especially Desulfotomaculum genus, colonized the tailings suggesting the coalescence of SRB consortia with indigenous communities of tailings. Such observation provides new insights for understanding the functional microbial community coalescence applied to bio-treatment. PICRUSt analysis revealed presence of genes involved in sulfate reduction, both assimilatory and dissimilatory. The potential for the utilization of both inorganic and organic sulfur compounds as S source, as well as the presence of sulfite oxidation genes indicated that SRB play an important role in the transformation of metal(loid)s. We advocate that the management of microorganisms involved in S-cycle is of paramount importance for the in situ bio-treatment of tailings, which provide new insights for the implementation of bio-treatments for mitigating the effect of tailings.

Graphene oxide (GO) has been demonstrated to be key component for diverse applications. However, their potential environmental reactivity, fate and risk have not been fully evaluated to date. In this study, we investigated the photochemical reactivity of four types of GO with different oxidation degrees in aqueous environment, and their related toxicity to two bacterial models Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) was further compared. After UV-irradiation, a large amount of oxygen functional groups on GO were reduced and the electronic conjugations within GO were restored as indicated by UV–visible absorption spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy analysis. Moreover, the higher the oxidation degree of the pristine GO was, the more obvious of the photo-transformation changes were. In order to further reveal the photochemical reactivity mechanisms, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation of GO was monitored. The quantity of ROS including singlet oxygen (1O2), superoxide anions (O2·-), and hydroxyl radicals (·OH) increased with increasing oxidation degree of GO, which was in accordance with the previous characterization results. Scanning electron microscopy and cell growth analyses of E. coli and S. aureus showed that the photochemical transformation enhanced the toxicity of GO, which might be due to an increase in functional group density. The higher conductivity of the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was responsible for its stronger toxicity than GO through membrane damage and oxidative stress to bacteria. This study revealed that the oxidation degrees play important roles in photochemical transformation and the resulting toxicity of GO, which is helpful for understanding the environmental behaviors and risks of GO in aquatic environments.

Iron fertilizers are worthy to be studied due to alleviate the Fe deficiency. Different forms of iron oxide nanoparticles are selected to better understand possible particle applications as an Fe source for crop plants. In this study, we assessed the different effects of γ-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 NPs on the physiology and fruit quality of muskmelon plants in a pot experiment for five weeks. Results showed that no increased iron content was found under NPs treatment in root, stem, leaf and fruit, except 400 mg/L Fe3O4 NPs had a higher iron content in muskmelon root. With the extension of NPs exposure, both γ-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 NPs began to promote plant growth. In addition, γ-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 NPs could increase chlorophyll content at a certain stage of exposure. Happily, 200 mg/L γ-Fe2O3 NPs and 100, 200 mg/L Fe3O4 NPs significantly increased fruit weight of muskmelon by 9.1%, 9.4% and 11.5%. It is noteworthy that both γ-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 NPs caused positive effects on VC content, particularly 100 mg/L Fe3O4 NPs increased the VC content by 46.95%. To the best of our knowledge, little research has been done on the effect of nanoparticles on the whole physiological cycle and fruit quality of melon. The assessment of physiology and fruit quality of muskmelon plants in vitro upon γ-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 NPs exposure could lay a foundation for NPs potential impact at every growth period of muskmelon plants.

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution has been implicated in the development of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. However, evidence on the effects of PM2.5-derived chemical constituents on gestational blood pressure (BP) is limited, and the potential mechanisms underlying the association remain unclear. In this study, we repeated three consecutive 72-h personal air sampling and BP measurements in 215 pregnant women for 590 visits during pregnancy. Individual PM2.5 exposure level was assessed by gravimetric method and 28 PM2.5 chemical constituents were analyzed by ED-XRF method. Plasma biomarkers of endothelial function and inflammation were measured using multiplexed immunoassays. Robust multiple linear regression models were used to estimate the associations among personal PM2.5 exposure and chemical constituents, BP changes (compared with pre-pregnancy BP) and plasma biomarkers. Mediation analyses were performed to evaluate underlying potential pathways. Result showed that exposure to PM2.5 was significantly associated with increases in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) in the early second trimester. Meanwhile, elevated concentration of lead (Pb) constituent in PM2.5 was significant associated with increases in DBP and MAP after adjusting for PM2.5 total mass. PM2.5 and Pb constituent also presented positive associations with plasma biomarkers of endothelial function (ET-1, E-selectin, ICAM-1) and inflammation (IL-1β, IL-6, TNFα) significantly. After multiple adjustment, elevated ET-1 and IL-6 were significantly correlated with increased gestational BP, and respectively mediated 1.24%–25.06% and 7.01%–10.69% of the increased BP due to PM2.5 and Pb constituent exposure. In conclusion, our results suggested that personal exposure to PM2.5 and Pb constituent were significantly associated with increased BP during pregnancy, and the early second trimester might be the sensitive window of PM2.5 exposure. The endothelial dysfunction and elevated inflammation partially mediated the effect of PM2.5 and Pb constituent on BP during pregnancy.

Exposure to atmospheric pollutants has been recognized as a major risk factor of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Fine particles (PM2.5) and a coarser fraction (PM>2.5) sampled at an urban site in Dakar (HLM), characterized by high road traffic emissions, were compared with particles sampled at a rural area, Toubab Dialaw located about 40 km from Dakar. The physicochemical characteristics of samples revealed that PMs differ for their physical (surface area) and chemical properties (in terms of CHN, metals, ions, paraffins, VOCs and PAHs) that were 65–75% higher in urban samples. Moreover the fine PMs contain higher amounts of anthropogenic related pollutants than the PM>2.5 one. These differences are sustained by the ratios reported for the analysed PAHs which suggest as predominant primary emission sources vehicle exhausts at urban site and biomass combustion at the rural site. The inflammatory response and the oxidative damages were evaluated in BEAS-2B cells by the quantification of 4 selected inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8) and of total carbonylated proteins and the oxidative DNA adduct 8-OHdG after 8 or 24 h exposure. In accordance with the different sources and different physical and chemical properties, the inflammatory response and the oxidative damages were found higher in bronchial cells exposed to urban PMs. These data confirm the importance, also for West African countries, to evaluate the correlation between PM physico-chemical properties and potential biological impacts.

Di(n-butyl) phthalate (DBP) is extensively used in industrial applications as plasticizer and stabilizer and its presence in the environment may present health risks for human. Previous studies have demonstrated its mutagenic, teratogenic, and carcinogenic ability. However, its effect on mammalian oocyte maturation remains unknown. In this study, we examined the effect of DBP on oocyte maturation both in vitro and in vivo. Our results showed that DBP could significantly reduce mice oocyte germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and polar body extrusion (PBE) rates. In addition, oocyte cytoskeleton was damaged and cortical granule-free domains (CGFDs) were also disrupted. Finally, DBP induced early apoptosis of oocyte and granulosa cells (GCs). Collectively, these data demonstrate that DBP could reduce meiosis competence and mouse oocyte development.

Appropriately characterizing spatiotemporal individual mobility is important in many research areas, including epidemiological studies focusing on air pollution. However, in many retrospective air pollution health studies, exposure to air pollution is typically estimated at the subjects’ residential addresses. Individual mobility is often neglected due to lack of data, and exposure misclassification errors are expected. In this study, we demonstrate the potential of using location history data collected from smartphones by the Google Maps application for characterizing historical individual mobility and exposure. Here, one subject carried a smartphone installed with Google Maps, and a reference GPS data logger which was configured to record location every 10 s, for a period of one week. The retrieved Google Maps Location History (GMLH) data were then compared with the GPS data to evaluate their effectiveness and accuracy of the GMLH data to capture individual mobility. We also conducted an online survey (n = 284) to assess the availability of GMLH data among smartphone users in the US. We found the GMLH data reasonably captured the spatial movement of the subject during the one-week time period at up to 200 m resolution. We were able to accurately estimate the time the subject spent in different microenvironments, as well as the time the subject spent driving during the week. The estimated time-weighted daily exposures to ambient particulate matter using GMLH and the GPS data logger were also similar (error less than 1.2%). Survey results showed that GMLH data may be available for 61% of the survey sample. Considering the popularity of smartphones and the Google Maps application, detailed historical location data are expected to be available for large portion of the population, and results from this study highlight the potential of these location history data to improve exposure estimation for retrospective epidemiological studies.

There is a lack of appropriate models to delineate the toxicity of rare earth elements (REEs) while taking into account the factors that affect bioavailability. Here, standardized wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) root elongation tests were conducted to examine the impact of exposure conditions (i.e., varying Ca, Mg, Na, K and pH levels) on Y and Ce toxicity. Cation competition and electrostatic theory were examined for their applicability in explaining the observed variations in toxicity. Only Ca2+ and Mg2+ significantly alleviated the toxicity of Y3+ and Ce3+, while Na+, K+ and H+ showed no significant effects. Based on the cation competition, the derived binding constants for the hypothetical biotic ligands of wheat logKCaBL, logKMgBL, logKYBL, and logKCeBL were 3.87, 3.59, 6.70, and 6.48, respectively. The biotic ligand model (BLM) succeeded in predicting toxicities of Y and Ce, with more than 93% of the variance in toxicity explained. Given the BLM requires large data sets for deriving model parameters, attempts were further made to explore a simpler electrostatic based model to quantify REEs toxicity. The results demonstrated that the predictive capacity of the electrostatic approach, which considers ion activities at the plasma membrane surface, was comparable to that of BLM with at least 87% of the variations in toxicity explained. This suggested that the electrostatic theory can serve as a surrogate to BLM in modeling Y and Ce toxicities. Therefore, we recommend the BLM and electrostatic-based model as effective approaches to incorporate bioavailability in quantifying REEs toxicity in the presence of various levels of other major cations.

Bisphenol S (BPS) has replaced bisphenol A (BPA), a known non-persistent endocrine disrupting chemical, in several products. Considering that little is known regarding BPS effects, especially during critical windows of ontogenetic development, and that BPA, which is quite similar to BPS, is know to be transferred to the offspring via the placenta and milk, in the present study we investigated the behavioral, biochemical and endocrine profiles of Wistar rats born from dams that were BPS-exposed [groups: BPS10 (10 μg/kg/day), BPS50 (50 μg/kg/day)] during pregnancy and lactation. Due to the non-monotonic dose-response effect of bisphenol, the data of both BPS groups were directly compared with those of the controls, not to each other. Males and females were analyzed separately. At weaning, male BPS50 offspring had hypotriglyceridemia and hyperthyroxinemia, whereas BPS50 females showed higher 25(OH)D levels. At adulthood, BPS offspring of both sexes had lower food intake. BPS males showed lower visceral adiposity. BPS50 females had smaller fat droplets in brown adipocytes. BPS males showed higher anxiety and higher locomotor activity, while BPS10 females showed lower exploration. During a food challenge test at adulthood, BPS males consumed more high-fat diet at 30 min. BPS10 females initially (at 30 min) consumed more high-fat diet but, after 12 h, less of this diet was consumed. BPS50 males had hypertriglyceridemia and lower plasma T3, while BPS females showed lower plasma T4. BPS10 females had lower progesterone, whereas BPS50 females had higher plasma 25(OH)D. Maternal BPS exposure has adverse effects on the triacylglycerol, hormones levels and behavior of the progeny. Furthermore, the increased preference for the fat-enriched diet suggests an increased risk for obesity and its health consequences in the long term.

We studied the size distribution of ions (Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, SO₄⁼, Na⁺, NH₄⁺, K⁺, Mg⁺⁺, Ca⁺⁺) and elements (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cs, Cu, Fe, Li, Mn, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Se, Sn, Sr, Ti, Tl, V, Zn) during the winter and summer seasons of seven consecutive years (2008–2014) in an area of the Po Valley (Northern Italy) characterised by industrial, agricultural and urban settings. The study included the collection and analysis of 41 series of size-segregated samples (MOUDI sampler, 10 stages, cut sizes from 0.18 to 18 μm). Ions were analysed by ion chromatography; elemental analysis was carried out by ICP-MS, by applying a chemical fractionation method able to increase the selectivity of PM source tracers.Our results indicate that important winter/summer variations occurred in both the concentration and size distribution of most PM components. These variations were explained in terms of variations in the strength of the prevailing sources of each component.The contribution of biomass burning for domestic heating was highlighted by the well-known tracer K⁺ but also by the soluble fraction of Rb, Cs and Li. Biomass burning contribution to atmospheric PM was mostly contained in the fine fraction, with a broad size-distribution from 0.18 to 1.8 μm. This source also appreciably increased the concentration of other elements in fine PM (As, Cd, Co, Mn, Pb, Sb, Sn).A few PM components (tracers of sea-spray, brake lining and some industries) did not show marked seasonal variations in concentration and size distribution. However, during winter, for brake lining and industry tracers we observed an upward shift in the dimension of fine particles and a downward shift in the dimension of coarse particles, due to the ageing of the air masses.