F–53B and PFOS are two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) widely utilized in the metal plating industry as mist suppressants. Recent epidemiological studies have linked PFASs to cardiovascular diseases and alterations in heart geometry. However, we still have limited understanding of the effects of F–53B and PFOS on the developing heart. In this study, we employed a human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based cardiac differentiation system and whole transcriptomics analyses to evaluate the potential developmental cardiac toxicity of F–53B and PFOS. We utilized F–53B and PFOS concentrations of 0.1–60 μM, covering the levels detected in human blood samples. We demonstrated that both F–53B and PFOS inhibited cardiac differentiation and promoted epicardial specification via upregulation of the WNT signaling pathway. Most importantly, the effects of F–53B were more robust than those of PFOS. This was because F–53B treatment disrupted the expression of more genes and led to lower cardiac differentiation efficiency. These findings imply that F–53B may not be a safe replacement for PFOS.

Tobacco is the most widespread non-food crop in the world. In Brazil, tobacco cultivation is one of the main commodities of the southern region. However, its production is associated with environmental impacts and risks to human health, which have yet to be quantified. This paper uses midpoint and endpoint life cycle assessment (LCA) to analyze the potential environmental damage and human health risk associated with agricultural production of conventional Virginia (CV), organic Virginia (OV), and Burley (BU) tobacco varieties. Organic tobacco production substitutes synthetic fertilizers and pesticides with organic compounds in the cropping stage. The results show that for one ton of dried tobacco, BU, CV, and OV emit 1,610, 1,426, and 1,091 kg CO₂ eq, respectively. For organic production, greater impacts are linked to the land use (LU) impact category. The endpoint results showed that OV production resulted in a higher potential for human and environmental damage than BU and CV. The drying of green OV and CV tobacco requires the burning of firewood, which emits high levels of particulate matter and is associated with human health (HH) damage. Overall, the HH damage category accounts for 68%, 82%, and 78% of the total score points associated with the production of BU, CV, and OV.

Aspergillus fumigatus is the primary agent of invasive aspergillosis (IA) causing high morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. Triazole resistance in A. fumigatus and its sources have gained wide attention. For several years, environmental fungicides use has been proposed as the major cause for triazole resistance in A. fumigatus. However, there are few studies on azole-resistant A. fumigatus (ARAF) selected by triazole fungicides in agricultural systems. We studied the possible emergence of ARAF in the field after exposure to triazole fungicide tebuconazole. Our results showed that exposure to tebuconazole in soil selects for resistance to triazoles in A. fumigatus. The probability of ARAF developing in soils depends upon the concentrations of tebuconazole after application. We suggest that tebuconazole applications should be minimized to reduce selective pressure for the generation of ARAFs.

The removal of antibiotics has attracted much attention due to their extremely high adverse impacts on the environment. However, the potential risks of degradation intermediates are seldom reported. In this work, the influence of different factors on the electro-catalytic degradation efficiency of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) by the prepared carbon nanotubes/agarose/indium tin oxide (CNTs/AG/ITO) electrode was investigated. Under optimal conditions (10 wt% CNTs dosage, pH = 7), the maximum degradation efficiency for TCH (10 mg L⁻¹) reached up to 96% within 30 min treatment with 4 V potential. Superoxide anions (•O₂⁻) played an important role in the electro-catalytic degradation. Totally 10 degradation intermediates were identified using HPLC-MS/MS, and the degradation pathway was proposed. Toxicities of the parent antibiotic and the identified intermediates were calculated using the ECOSAR (Ecological Structure Activity Relationship) program in EPISuite, and results showed that more toxic intermediates were generated. The maximal chronic toxicity for green algae of the intermediate increased 1439.92 times. Furthermore, antimicrobial activity was further verified by disk agar biocidal tests with Escherichia coli ATCC25922 and higher biotoxicity intermediates compared with parent compounds were confirmed to be formed. Therefore, more attention should be paid on the potential risk of degradation intermediates in the treatment of wastewater containing antibiotics.

The extensive use of neonicotinoids (NEOs) has caused the release of wide-ranging of residues to the environment and food, and their potential health risks are now receiving more attention. In this study, three surveys were conducted to obtain the overall profiles of NEO residue levels (seven NEOs and one metabolite) in Chinese tea over a period of seven years. A total of 726 tea samples were tested, and nearly 87% of the samples were found to have detectable NEO residues. The overall average detection frequency of acetamiprid was the highest, reaching 73%. Imidacloprid residues in 4.6% of the samples exceeded the Chinese maximum residue limits, whereas clothianidin and nitenpyram had been detected in Chinese tea samples since 2014. The applications of thiacloprid and thiamethoxam gradually increased, and some tea samples with high residue levels appeared in China. These findings signal the replacement of new and old varieties of NEOs in China. Both long- and short-term cumulative exposures to NEOs were calculated based on optimistic and pessimistic models recommended in the EFSA guidelines. In the three survey periods, the average total imidacloprid-equivalent concentrations were 484.63, 1713.36, and 1148.34 μg/kg, respectively. Combined with the refined point estimates and probabilistic models used in this study, the hazard quotients of NEO residues in tea for Chinese tea consumers were found to be low and within the bounds of safety.

Land use/Land cover (LULC) associated with Cryptosporidium sp. and Giardia sp. quantification and distribution can provide identification of the environmental circulation patterns of these parasites. The aim of this research was to relate the occurrence and circulation of these parasites to the LULC watershed with poor sanitation infrastructure and livestock as important economic activity. The study involved 11 municipalities in the state of São Paulo, located in southeastern Brazil. Sampling was carried out at the catchment sites of each water supply on a monthly basis, starting in December 2014 and lasting until November 2015, totalizing 128 samples. Protozoans were quantified according to the 1623.1 US. EPA Method. For watershed delimitation, the hydrographic network was extracted from the hydrology tool of ArcGIS 10.1. The frequency of occurrence of these pathogens and the high concentrations were evidenced in the municipality with the largest urban area (16.2%) and intense livestock activity (39%) near the catchment site. The municipality that showed the lowest frequency of occurrence presented the smallest urban area (0.87%) and absence of livestock activity near the catchment site. The high concentration of pathogens suggests a correlation between the impact on water supply networks and river basin degradation caused by urban activity and livestock.

In health-oriented air pollution control, it is vital to rank the contributions of different emission sources to the health risks posed by hazardous components in airborne fine particulate matters (PM₂.₅), such as trace metals. Towards this end, we investigated the PM₂.₅-associated metals in two densely populated regions of China, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Pearl River Delta (PRD) regions, across land-use gradients. Using the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model, we performed an integrated source apportionment to quantify the contributions of the major source categories underlying metal-induced health risks with information on the bioaccessibility (using simulated lung fluid) and speciation (using synchrotron-based techniques) of metals. The results showed that the particulate trace metal profiles reflected the land-use gradient within each region, with the highest concentrations of anthropogenically enriched metals at the industrial sites in the study regions. The resulting carcinogenic risk that these elements posed was higher in the YRD than in the PRD. Chromium was the dominant contributor to the total excessive cancer risks posed by metals while manganese accounted for a large proportion of non-carcinogenic risks. An elevated contribution from industrial emissions was found in the YRD, while traffic emissions and non-traffic combustion (the burning of coal/waste/biomass) were the common dominant sources of cancer and non-cancer risks posed by metals in both regions. Moreover, the risk-oriented source apportionment of metals did not mirror the mass concentration-based one, suggesting the insufficiency of the latter to inform emission mitigation in favor of public health. While providing region-specific insights into the quantitative contribution of major source categories to the health risks of PM₂.₅-associated trace metals, our study highlighted the need to consider the health protection goal-based source apportionment and emission mitigation in supplement to the current mass concentration-based framework.

Odontarrhena muralis is one of the most promissing plant species for Ni phytomining, and soil amendments can further increase its Ni phytoextraction ability. Here we investigated whether Ni phytomining/phytoremediation using this Ni hyperaccumulator can benefit from applying citric acid to a serpentine soil that is naturally enriched in Ni (>1000 mg kg⁻¹). Synchrotron micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-SXRF) was used to image Ni and other metal distributions in whole fresh leaves of O. muralis. Leaf Ni accumulation in plants grown on citric acid-amended soil increased up to 55% while Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, and Zn concentrations were 4-, 14-, 6-, 7- and 1.3-fold higher than the control treatment. O. muralis presented high bioconcentration factors (leaf to soil concentration ratio) to Ni and Zn whereas Cr was seemingly excluded from uptake. The μ-SXRF images showed a uniform distribution of Ni, preferential localization of Co in the leaf tip, and clear concentration of Mn in the base of trichomes. The citric acid treatments strongly increased the Co fluoerescence intensity in the leaf tip and altered the spatial distribution of Mn across the leaf, but there was no difference in Ni fluorescence counts between the trichome-base region and the bulk leaf. Our data from a serpentine soil suggests that citrate treatment enhances Ni uptake, but Co is excreted from leaves even in low leaf concentrations, which can make Co phytoming using O. muralis unfeasible in natural serpentine soils.

Oxidative stress is considered a main commonly reported mechanism of nanoparticles toxicity, so this study aimed to evaluate oxidative stress and biochemical alterations in the haemolymph and digestive gland of snail, Monacha cartusiana exposed to sublethal concentrations of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) for 14 days (d). The results indicated that, ZnONPs induced significant increases in lipid peroxidation (LPO) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in treated animals and did not return to normal levels after recover period. A significant decline of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activities, and glutathione (GSH) content in the haemolymph and digestive gland of snails was observed when compared with control. A significant increase was observed in catalase (CAT), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities of treated animals. In general, nano-materials are able to induce oxidative stress in exposed animals. The present findings indicate that, alterations of antioxidant enzyme activities, increase of LPO, LDH, and reducing of GSH content and GST, GPx activities are recognized to oxidative stress and cell damage. This species could be considered a good bioindicator to assess nano-materials exposure.

Data (N = 10644) for US adults aged ≥20 years for 2003–2016 from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed to evaluate the impact of co-occurrence of obesity with diabetes, anemia, albuminuria, and hypertension on concentrations of five perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA), namely, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA). For the total population, males, and females, co-occurrence of obesity with hypertension, albuminuria, anemia, and diabetes was found to be associated with lower adjusted geometric means (AGM) than nonobese for every PFAA. For example for females, for PFOS, AGMs for obese with no diseases, hypertension, albuminuria, anemia, and diabetes were 8.2, 10.8, 5.8, 4.6, and 7.7 ng/mL respectively. In comparison, for PFOS, for nonobese females, AGMs for those with no diseases, hypertension, albuminuria, anemia, and diabetes were found to be 8.9, 13.4, 7.7, 6.0, and 10.2 ng/mL respectively. This implies obesity is associated with higher excretion rates. Females, in general, had lower AGMs than males for both obese and nonobese for every PFAA for every disease group. For example, percent ratios of obese females to males AGMs for PFOA were 66.7%, 87.1%, 88.2%, 70.6%, and 90% for those with no diseases, hypertension, albuminuria, anemia, and diabetes respectively. The ratios of obese to nonobese AGMs for females were lower than males for every PFAA for those with no diseases and hypertension only. For example, for PFOA for those with no diseases, obese to nonobese AGM ratios were 87% for females and 100% for males. Thus, additional excretion of certain PFAAs due to obesity is higher in females than males for those with no diseases and hypertension only.