Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and heavy metals are two key groups of electric and electronic equipment contaminants. Despite their co-occurrence in aquatic environments, their combined effects remain largely unknown, particularly under a chronic exposure regime. In the present study, adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of BDE-209 and lead (Pb), or their binary mixtures, for 3 months. After chronic parental exposure, increased transfer of BDE-209 and Pb to the offspring eggs was activated in the coexposure groups, with BDE-197 being the predominant PBDE congener, indicating the dynamic metabolism of BDE-209 in parental zebrafish. In the presence of Pb, culturing the eggs in clean water until 5 days post-fertilization (dpf) further accelerated the debromination of BDE-209 towards BDE-197 in the offspring, caused by the preferential removal of bromine atoms at meta positions. BDE-209 and Pb combinations induced reproductive and thyroid endocrine disruption in adults, which resulted in an imbalanced deposition of hormones in the eggs. However, compared with single chemical exposure, the larval offspring at 5 dpf from the coexposure groups had reversed the adverse influences from maternal origin. In addition, the interaction between BDE-209 and Pb led to transgenerational developmental neurotoxicity in the larval offspring, where inhibited neuronal growth and neurotransmitter signaling, disorganized muscular assembly, and impaired visual function contributed to the observed neurobehavioral deficits. Overall, depending on specific biological events, the complex interaction between BDE-209 and Pb under chronic exposure resulted in significant alterations in their environmental fate and toxicological actions, thus complicating the accurate evaluation of ecological risks and constituting an unquantified threat to environmental safety.

Heavy metals are the most commonly encountered toxic substances that increase susceptibility to various diseases after prolonged exposure. We have previously shown that healthy volunteers living near a mining area had significant contamination with heavy metals associated with significant changes in the expression of some detoxifying genes, xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes, and DNA repair genes. However, alterations of most of the molecular target genes associated with diseases are still unknown. Thus, the aims of this study were to (a) evaluate the gene expression profile and (b) identify the toxicities and potentially relevant human disease outcomes associated with long-term human exposure to environmental heavy metals in mining area using microarray analysis. For this purpose, 40 healthy male volunteers who were residents of a heavy metal-polluted area (Mahd Al-Dhahab city, Saudi Arabia) and 20 healthy male volunteers who were residents of a non-heavy metal-polluted area were included in the study. Total RNA was isolated from whole blood using PAXgene Blood RNA tubes and then reversed transcribed and hybridized to the gene array using the Affymetrix U219 GeneChip. Microarray analysis showed about 2129 genes were identified and differentially altered, among which a shared set of 425 genes was differentially expressed in the heavy metal-exposed groups. Ingenuity pathway analysis revealed that the most altered gene-regulated diseases in heavy metal-exposed groups included hematological and developmental disorders and mostly renal and urological diseases. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction closely matched the microarray data for some genes tested. Importantly, changes in gene-related diseases were attributed to alterations in the genes encoded for protein synthesis. Renal and urological diseases were the diseases that were most frequently associated with the heavy metal-exposed group. Therefore, there is a need for further studies to validate these genes, which could be used as early biomarkers to prevent renal injury.

Phytate is abundant in soils, which is stable and unavailable for plant uptake. However, it occurs in root exudates of As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata (PV). To elucidate its effect on As uptake and growth, P. vittata was examined on agar media (63 μM P) containing 50 μM As and/or 50 or 500 μM phytate with non As-hyperaccumulator Pteris ensiformis (PE) as a congeneric control. Phytate induced efficient As and P uptake, and enhanced growth in PV, but had little effects on PE. The As concentrations in PV fronds and roots were 157 and 31 mg kg−1 in As50+phytate50, 2.2- and 3.1-fold that of As50 treatment. Phosphorus uptake by PV was reduced by 27% in As treatment than the control (P vs. P + As) but increased by 73% comparing phytate500 to phytate500+As, indicating that PV effectively took up P from phytate. Neither As nor phytate affected Fe accumulation in PV, but phytate reduced root Fe concentration in PE (46–56%). As such, the increased As and P and the unsuppressed Fe uptake in PV probably promoted PV growth. Thus, supplying phytate to As-contaminated soils may promote As uptake and growth in PV and its phytoremediation ability.

Ecotoxicology provides data to inform environmental management. Many testing protocols do not consider offspring fitness and toxicant sensitivity. Cadmium (Cd) is a well-studied and ubiquitous toxicant but little is known about the effects on offspring of exposed parents (transgenerational effects). This study had three objectives: to identify endpoints related to offspring performance; to determine whether parental effects would manifest as a change in Cd tolerance in offspring and how parental exposure duration influenced the manifestation of parental effects. Adult snails were exposed to Cd 0, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 400 μg Cd/L for eight weeks. There were effects on adult endpoints (e.g., growth, reproduction) but only at the highest concentrations (>100 μg/L). Alternatively, we observed significant transgenerational effects at all Cd concentrations. Surprisingly, we found increased Cd tolerance in hatchlings from all parental Cd exposure concentrations even though eggs and hatchlings were in Cd-free conditions for 6 weeks. Explicit consideration of offspring performance adds value to current toxicity testing protocols. Parental exposure duration has important implications for offspring effects and that contaminant concentrations that are not directly toxic to parents can cause transgenerational changes in resistance that have significant implications for toxicity testing and adaptive responses.

Overburden and tailings materials from oil sands production were used as construction materials as part of a novel attempt to create a self-sustaining, peat accumulating fen-upland ecosystem. To evaluate the potential for elemental release from the construction materials, total elemental concentrations in the tailings sand, petroleum coke and peat used to construct a fen ecosystem were determined using microwave-assisted acid digestions and compared to a leaching experiment conducted under environmentally-relevant conditions. A comparison of solid phase to aqueous Na, Ca, S and Mg concentrations showed they were highly leachable in the materials. Given that the concentrations of these elements can affect plant community structure, it is important to understand their leachability and mobility as they migrate between materials used to construct the system. To that end, a mass balance of aqueous Na, Ca, S and Mg was conducted based on leaching experiments and materials analysis coupled with existing data from the constructed system. The data indicate that there is a large pool of leachable Na, Ca, S and Mg in the system, estimated at 27 t of Na, 14 t of Ca, 37.3 t of S and 8.8 t of Mg. Since recharge mainly drives the fen-upland system water regime, and discharge in the fen, evapo-accumulation of these solutes on the surface may occur.

The causation between bioavailability of heavy metals and environmental factors are generally obtained from field experiments at local scales at present, and lack sufficient evidence from large scales. However, inferring causation between bioavailability of heavy metals and environmental factors across large-scale regions is challenging. Because the conventional correlation-based approaches used for causation assessments across large-scale regions, at the expense of actual causation, can result in spurious insights. In this study, a general approach framework, Intervention calculus when the directed acyclic graph (DAG) is absent (IDA) combined with the backdoor criterion (BC), was introduced to identify causation between the bioavailability of heavy metals and the potential environmental factors across large-scale regions. We take the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in China as a case study. The causal structures and effects were identified based on the concentrations of heavy metals (Zn, As, Cu, Hg, Pb, Cr, Ni and Cd) in soil (0–20 cm depth) and vegetable (lettuce) and 40 environmental factors (soil properties, extractable heavy metals and weathering indices) in 94 samples across the PRD. Results show that the bioavailability of heavy metals (Cd, Zn, Cr, Ni and As) was causally influenced by soil properties and soil weathering factors, whereas no causal factor impacted the bioavailability of Cu, Hg and Pb. No latent factor was found between the bioavailability of heavy metals and environmental factors. The causation between the bioavailability of heavy metals and environmental factors at field experiments is consistent with that on a large scale. The IDA combined with the BC provides a powerful tool to identify causation between the bioavailability of heavy metals and environmental factors across large-scale regions. Causal inference in a large system with the dynamic changes has great implications for system-based risk management.

Silvopastoral systems aim to enhance economic, cultural and social principles by sustainably combining forest management with agriculture. In these typically high-nitrogen (N) environments, plant species selection can profoundly influence N fluxes. For grazed pastures, plants may be exposed to urine patches that have received the equivalent of up to 1000 kg N ha−1. We aimed to determine the growth and N fluxes in three potential trees that may be used in silvopastoral systems: L. scoparium, K. robusta and P. radiata. Plants were grown in a greenhouse lysimeter experiment, with controlled irrigation and temperature and exposed to N at rates of 200 kg ha−1 equiv. for 15 weeks, followed by the addition of 800 kg ha−1 N equiv, to simulate a urine patch. Urea produced a positive growth response of all plant species. Treatments containing L. scoparium and K. robusta leached lower amounts of nitrate (NO3−) (2 kg ha−1 NO3−) compared to P. radiata (53 kg ha−1). Measurements of N2O over 20 days after the application of 800 kg N ha−1 indicated an inhibitory effect of L. scoparium and K. robusta on denitrification, hence loss of N via N2O. Both L. scoparium and K. robusta demonstrated that they have potential to reduce N-losses in silvopastural systems, while producing valuable biomass.

The present study was performed to determine the effect of Zn exposure influencing endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, explore the underlying molecular mechanism of Zn-induced hepatic lipolysis in a fish species of significance for aquaculture, yellow catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco. We found that waterborne Zn exposure evoked ER stress and unfolded protein response (UPR), and activated cAMP/PKA pathway, and up-regulated hepatic lipolysis. The increase in ER stress and lipolysis were associated with activation of cAMP/PKA signaling pathway. Zn also induced an increase in intracellular Ca2+ level, which could be partially prevented by dantrolene (RyR receptor inhibitor) and 2-APB (IP3 receptor inhibitor), demonstrating that the disturbed Ca2+ homeostasis in ER contributed to ER stress and dysregulation of lipolysis. Inhibition of ER stress by PBA attenuated UPR, inhibited the activation of cAMP/PKA pathway and resulted in down-regulation of lipolysis. Inhibition of protein kinase RNA-activated-like ER kinase (PERK) by GSK2656157 and inositol-requiring enzyme (IRE) by STF-083010 differentially influenced Zn-induced changes of lipolytic metabolism, indicating that PERK and IRE pathways played different regulatory roles in Zn-induced lipolysis. Inhibition of PKA by H89 blocked the Zn-induced activation of cAMP/PKA pathway with a concomitant inhibition of ER stress-mediated lipolysis. Taken together, our findings highlight the importance of the ER stress–cAMP/PKA axis in Zn-induced lipolysis, which provides new insights into Zn toxicology in fish and probably in other vertebrates.

Selenium (Se) speciation in soil is critically important for understanding the solubility, mobility, bioavailability, and toxicity of Se in the environment. In this study, Se fractionation and chemical speciation in agricultural soils from seleniferous areas were investigated using the elaborate sequential extraction and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. The speciation results quantified by XANES technique generally agreed with those obtained by sequential extraction, and the combination of both approaches can reliably characterize Se speciation in soils. Results showed that dominant organic Se (56–81%) and lesser Se(IV) (19–44%) were observed in seleniferous agricultural soils. A significant decrease in the proportion of organic Se to the total Se was found in different types of soil, i.e., paddy soil (81%) > uncultivated soil (69–73%) > upland soil (56–63%), while that of Se(IV) presented an inverse tendency. This suggests that Se speciation in agricultural soils can be significantly influenced by different cropping systems. Organic Se in seleniferous agricultural soils was probably derived from plant litter, which provides a significant insight for phytoremediation in Se-laden ecosystems and biofortification in Se-deficient areas. Furthermore, elevated organic Se in soils could result in higher Se accumulation in crops and further potential chronic Se toxicity to local residents in seleniferous areas.

Nine N-nitrosamines (i.e., N-nitrosomethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosodi-n-propylamine (NDPA), N-nitrosomorpholine (NMor), N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPyr), N-nitrosopiperidine (NPip), N-nitorosodi-n-butylamine (NDBA), and N-nitrosodiphenylamine (NDPhA) in atmospheric PM2.5 collected in the fall season from an roadside site and a residential in Seoul, Korea have been analyzed using a newly developed method consisting of simple direct liquid extraction assisted by ultrasonication and subsequent quantification using a gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-TQMS). Excellent recovery values (92–100%) and method detection limits for the target compounds atmospheric PM samples could be achieved even without an evaporation step for sample concentration. The concentration of total N-nitrosamines in PM2.5 was ranged from 0.3 to 9.4 ng m−3 in this study; NDMA, NDEA, NDBA, NPyr, and NMor in PM2.5 were found to be the most frequently encountered compounds at the sampling sites. Since no industrial plant is located in Seoul, vehicle exhausts were considered major cause of the formation of nitrosamines in this study. The mechanisms how these compounds are formed and detected in the atmosphere are explained from the viewpoint of secondary organic aerosol. Considering the concentrations of N-nitrosamines and their associated potential health risks, a systematic monitoring of nitrosamines present in both ambient air and PM2.5 including seasonal and diurnal variations of selected sites (including potential precursor sources) should be carried out in the future. The proposed sample pretreatment method along with the analytical method will definitely help us perform the monitoring study.