The synthetic polycyclic musks HHCB (Galaxolide®) and AHTN (Tonalide®) were monitored in fathead minnows (FHMs) caged for a month at various locations in the North Saskatchewan River (NSR), upstream and downstream of the Gold Bar wastewater treatment plant that serves the city of Edmonton, AB, Canada. In addition, the distribution of these musk compounds in the river was predicted using the fugacity-based Quantitative Water Air Sediment Interface (QWASI) model. In FHMs caged 0.15 km downstream of the wastewater outfall, mean concentrations of HHCB and AHTN were 7.4 and 0.4 μg g−1 wet weight, respectively. These are among the highest reported concentrations of these musk compounds in fish exposed to treated wastewater. The musk concentrations in FHMs were significantly lower further downstream of the outfall. High bioconcentration factors (BCFs) in FHMs that exceeded 104 higher than estimated concentrations in water indicated that there were low rates of biotransformation of the musks in the fish. In the FHMs caged at the site closest to the wastewater outfall, HHCB concentrations in FHMs were comparable to the body burdens that have been reported to moderate expression of vitellogenin in female rainbow trout, indicating that fish in the NSR downstream of the wastewater outfall may be at risk of anti-estrogenic effects. The QWASI model applied to six individual river sections of the NSR predicted that the largest fluxes of HHCB and AHTN would be for downstream transport in water, which explains why FHMs accumulated elevated concentrations of the musks at the furthest downstream site, 9.9 km from the wastewater discharge.

Total mercury (T-Hg) and cadmium (Cd) were measured in twenty species of fish to study their bioaccumulation patterns and trophodynamics in the Augusta Bay food web. Adult and juvenile fish were caught in 2012 in Priolo Bay, south of the Augusta harbour (Central Mediterranean Sea), which is known for the high trace element and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination level. T-Hg concentration was found to significantly increase along δ15N and from pelagic to benthic sedentary fish, revealing a marked influence of trophic position and habitat use (sensu Harmelin 1987) on T-Hg accumulation within ichthyofauna. Cd showed the opposite pattern, in line with the higher trace element (TE) excretion rates of high trophic level fish and the lower level of Cd environmental contamination.Trophic pathways were first characterised in the Priolo Bay food web using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) and a single main trophic pathway characterised the Priolo Bay food web. Biomagnification was then assessed, including basal sources (surface sediment, macroalgae), zooplankton, benthic invertebrates and fish. T-Hg and Cd were found to biomagnify and biodilute respectively based on the significant linear regressions between log[T-Hg] and log[Cd] vs. δ15N of sources and consumers and the trophic magnification factors (TMFs) of 1.22 and 0.83 respectively. Interestingly, different Cd behaviour was found considering only the benthic pathway which leads to the predatory gastropod Hexaplex trunculus. The positive slope and the higher TMF indicated active biomagnification in this benthic food web due to the high bioaccumulation efficiency of this benthic predator. Our findings provide new evidences about the role of Priolo sediments as a sources of pollutants for the food web, representing a threat to fish and, by domino effect, to humans.

Cadmium (Cd) accumulation in rice and its subsequent transfer to food chain is a major environmental issue worldwide. Understanding of Cd transport processes and its management aiming to reduce Cd uptake and accumulation in rice may help to improve rice growth and grain quality. Moreover, a thorough understanding of the factors influencing Cd accumulation will be helpful to derive efficient strategies to minimize Cd in rice. In this article, we reviewed Cd transport mechanisms in rice, the factors affecting Cd uptake (including physicochemical characters of soil and ecophysiological features of rice) and discussed efficient measures to immobilize Cd in soil and reduce Cd uptake by rice (including agronomic practices, bioremediation and molecular biology techniques). These findings will contribute to ensuring food safety, and reducing Cd risk on human beings.

Application of bioash from biofuel combustion to soil supports nutrient recycling, but may have unwanted and detrimental ecotoxicological side-effects, as the ash is a complex mixture of compounds that could affect soil invertebrates directly or through changes in their food or habitat conditions. To examine this, we performed laboratory toxicity studies of the effects of wood-ash added to an agricultural soil and the organic horizon of a coniferous plantation soil with the detrivore soil collembolans Folsomia candida and Onychiurus yodai, the gamasid predaceous mite Hypoaspis aculeifer, and the enchytraeid worm Enchytraeus crypticus. We used ash concentrations spanning 0–75 g kg⁻¹ soil. As ash increases pH we compared bioash effects with effects of calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2, the main liming component of ash. Only high ash concentrations above 15 g kg⁻¹ agricultural soil or 17 t ha⁻¹ had significant effects on the collembolans. The wood ash neither affected H. aculeifer nor E. crypticus. The estimated osmolalities of Ca(OH)2 and the wood ash were similar at the LC50 concentration level. We conclude that short-term chronic effects of wood ash differ among different soil types, and osmotic stress is the likely cause of effects while high pH and heavy metals is of minor importance.

Seasonal patterns of birth outcomes have been observed worldwide, and there was increasing evidence that ambient temperature played as a trigger of adverse birth outcomes, such as preterm birth (PTB), low birth weight (LBW), and stillbirth. To systematically review updated epidemiological evidence about the relationship between temperature exposure during pregnancy and PTB, LBW, and stillbirth, we searched for related studies published in English from electronic databases and references of identified papers. We only included original articles that directly reported the effects of prenatal temperature exposure on birth outcomes. The characteristics and main findings of included studies were examined. A total of 36 epidemiological studies were finally included in this review. Most of these studies focused on PTB and LBW, while less attention has been paid to stillbirth that was relatively rare in the occurrence. Several designs including ecological (e.g., descriptive and time-series) and retrospective cohort studies (e.g., case-crossover and time-to-event) were applied to assess temperature effects on birth outcomes. Temperature metrics and exposure windows varied greatly in these investigations. Exposure to high temperature was generally found to be associated with PTB, LBW, and stillbirth, while several studies also reported the adverse impact of low temperature on birth outcomes of PTB and LBW. Despite no conclusive causality demonstrated, the current evidence for adverse effect on birth outcomes was stronger for heat than for cold. In summary, the evidence linking birth outcomes with ambient temperature was still very limited. Consequently, more related studies are needed worldwide and should be conducted in diversified climate zones, so as to further ascertain the association between temperature and birth outcomes. Future studies should focus on more sophisticated study designs, more accurate estimation of temperature exposure during pregnancy, and more efficient methods to find out the exposure windows, as well as cold-related effects on birth outcomes.

Because of heterogeneous properties, dissolved organic matter (DOM) is known to control the environmental fate of a variety of organic pollutants and trace metals in aquatic systems. Here we report absorptive and fluorescence properties of DOM, in concurrence with concentrations of dissolved mercury (Hg), along the Xiaoqing River-Laizhou Bay estuary system located in the Bohai Sea of China. A mixing model consisting of the two end-members terrestrial and aquatic DOM demonstrated that terrestrial signatures decreased significantly from the river into the estuary. Quasi-conservative mixing behavior of DOM sources suggests that the variations in the average DOM composition were governed by physical processes (e.g., dilution) rather than by new production and/or degradation processes. In contrast to some previous studies of river-estuary systems, the Xiaoqing River-Laizhou Bay estuary system displayed a non-significant correlation between DOM and Hg quantities. Based on this and the variation of Hg concentration along the salinity gradient, we concluded that Hg showed a non-conservative mixing behavior of suggested end-member sources. Thus, rather than mixing, Hg concentration variations seemed to be controlled by biogeochemical processes.

Since the ban of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) excluding deca-BDE in China, new halogenated flame retardants (NHFRs), such as new brominated flame retardants and Dechlorane Plus, have become widely used. In this study, we assessed the atmospheric gaseous and particulate levels of eight NHFRs in nine urban areas in China. We detected high mean atmospheric (vapour plus particle phases) concentrations of tetrabromophthalate (TBPH) (74.8 pg m⁻³) and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) (68.8 pg m⁻³), two major NHFRs. Most of the gaseous and particulate NHFR concentrations presented seasonal variations (from summer to autumn), possibly driven by temperature. Spatially, concentrations and patterns of the NHFRs differed among the nine cities. Significantly higher concentrations were detected in cities with higher gross domestic products. The composition, especially the DBDPE/TBPH ratio (S), were clearly different among the cities, which pattern in each city are likely driven by variations in the type of industries operating in each city. Based on the temporal analysis of other researches and our data, PBDE levels have decreased markedly, while NHFRs levels have increased. Since high NHFR levels had detrimental effects on public health, NHFRs research warrants more attention.

Although a large body of literature exists on the use of transplanted mosses for biomonitoring of air pollution, no article has addressed so far the use and the accumulation performance of a cloned moss for this purpose. In this work, a direct comparison of metal accumulation between bags filled with a Sphagnum palustre L. clone or with native Pseudoscleropodium purum Hedw., one of the most used moss species in biomonitoring surveys, was investigated. The test was performed in sites with different atmospheric contamination levels selected in urban, industrial, agricultural and background areas of Italy and Spain. Among the eighteen elements investigated, S. palustre was significantly enriched in 10 elements (Al, Ba, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Pb, Sr, V and Zn), while P. purum was enriched only in 6 elements (Al, Ba, Cu, Hg, Pb and Sr), and had a consistently lower uptake capacity than S. palustre. The clone proved to be more sensitive in terms of metal uptake and showed a better performance as a bioaccumulator, providing a higher accumulation signal and allowing a finer distinction among the different land uses and levels of pollution. The excellent uptake performance of the S. palustre clone compared to the native P. purum and its low and stable baseline elemental content, evidenced in this work, are key features for the improvement of the moss bag approach and its large scale application.

According to the WHO, 3 million deaths are attributable to air pollution due to particulate matter (PM) world-wide. However, there are no specific updated studies which calculate short-term PM-related cause specific mortality in Spain. The objective is to quantify the relative risks (RRs) and attributable risks (ARs) of daily mortality associated with PM10 concentrations, registered in Spanish provinces and to calculate the number of PM-related deaths. We calculated daily mortality due to natural (ICD-10: A00 R99), circulatory (ICD-10: I00 I99) and respiratory causes (ICD-10: J00 J99) for each province across the period 2000–2009. Mean daily concentrations of PM10, NO2 and O3 was used. For the estimate of RRs and ARs, we used generalised linear models with a Poisson link. A meta-analysis was used to estimate RRs and ARs in the provinces with statically significant results. The overall RRs obtained for these provinces, corresponding to increases of 10 μ g/m³ in PM10 concentrations were 1.009 (95% CI: 1.006 1011) for natural, 1.026 (95% CI: 1.019 1033) for respiratory, and 1.009 (95% CI: 1.006 1012) for circulatory-cause mortality. This amounted to an annual overall total of 2683 deaths (95% CI: 852 4354) due to natural, 651 (95% CI: 359 1026) due to respiratory, and 556 (95% CI: 116 1012) due to circulatory causes, with 90% of this mortality lying below the WHO guideline values. This study provides an updated estimate of the effect had by this type of pollutant on causes of mortality, and constitutes an important basis for reinforcing public health measures.

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are pollutants that tend to accumulate in the environment and organisms. The animal and human studies to date have focused on thyroid function, but the results are inconsistent.A sample of 118 mother-infant pairs was obtained from the Taiwan Birth Panel Study (TBPS). Cord blood PFASs levels were evaluated using the Waters ACQUITY UPLC system coupled with a Waters Quattro Premier XE triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, and cord blood thyroid hormones were assessed using a Roche Analytics E170 modular analyser (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany). PFASs concentrations were analysed in the final models to examine the associations between cord blood PFASs levels and thyroid hormone concentrations.The cord blood perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) concentration was negatively associated with the cord blood thyroxine (T4) concentration [per ln unit: adjusted β (95% confidence interval, CI) = −0.458(−0.916, −0.001)]. Moreover, the level of cord blood thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was positively associated with the cord blood PFOS concentration [per ln unit: adjusted β (95% confidence interval, CI) = 0.346(0.101, 0.592)]. The sex stratified effects of PFOS on T4 were suggestive of differential effects in high-exposure groups compared with low-exposure group in boys.We found that cord blood thyroid hormone levels are affected by PFASs, with a negative association between T4 and PFOS and a positive association between TSH and PFOS. The causal associations of thyroid hormones and PFASs require further exploration.