Pyrethroids, a class of ubiquitous insecticides, have been recognized as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). A lot of studies have implied the endocrine-disrupting effects of pyrethroids on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. However, there are few review articles regarding the effects of pyrethroids on the HPG axis of mammal and human, especially new research progress made in this area. The present review sums up the effects of pyrethroids on the HPG axis-related reproductive outcomes, including epidemiological investigations based on human biomonitoring, animal studies and in vitro tests. Mechanisms have described that the endocrine-disrupting effects of pyrethroids on mammal can be mediated via the interaction with steroid receptors, the direct action on ion channels and signaling molecules. Finally, we summarize the current research gaps and suggest future directions in this topic.

Triclocarban (TCC) is used as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent, the intensive detection of TCC in aquatic environments and its potential risks to aquatic organisms are concerned worldwide. In this study, 8 Chinese resident aquatic organisms from 3 phyla and 8 families were used for the toxicity tests, and four methods were employed to derive the aquatic life criteria (ALC). A criterion maximum concentration (CMC) of 1.46 μg/L and a criterion continuous concentration (CCC) of 0.21 μg/L were derived according to the USEPA guidelines. The acute predicted no effect concentrations (PNECs) derived by species sensitivity distribution (SSD) methods based on log-normal, log-logistic and Burr Type Ⅲ models were 2.64, 1.88 and 3.09 μg/L, respectively. The comparisons of ALCs derived with resident and non-resident species showed that the CMC and CCC of TCC derived with Chinese resident species could provide a sufficient protection for non-resident species. The higher toxicity of TCC on aquatic organisms was found compared with other antimicrobial agents (except for Clotrimazole) in aquatic environment. The strong positive linear correlation was observed between the TCC and TCS concentrations in aquatic environment with a correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.8104, it is of great significance in environmental monitoring and risk assessment for TCC and TCS. Finally, the ecological risk assessment showed that the TCC in Yellow River basin and Pearl River basin had higher risk with the mean potential affected fractions (PAFs) of 9.27% and 7.09%, and 22.10% and 15.00% waters may pose potential risk for 5% aquatic organisms, respectively. In general, the risk of TCC in Asian waters was higher than that in Europe and North America.

The trophic balance of freshwater aquaculture activities has traditionally been monitored by chemical analysis of water; however, the parameters measured are usually characterized by high temporal variability. Aquatic mosses can be used as biomonitors as they integrate both continuous and episodic contamination events. Here we report, for the first time, a method for monitoring N enrichment in the surroundings of fish farms by measuring the N content and isotopic signal (δ15N) of transplanted living and devitalized specimens of the aquatic moss Fontinalis antipyretica. For this purpose, moss samples (“moss bags”) were exposed at increasing distances (10, 100, 300 and 1000 m) up- and downstream of the effluent discharge points of four trout farms, for 10 and 30 days. The low natural (background) variability in δ15N in upstream samples enabled detection of outlier values, caused by aquaculture discharges, at distances of 10 and 100 m downstream, especially in devitalized moss and after 10 days of exposure. However, the unexpectedly low N contents of moss samples exposed close to the discharge points complicates interpretation of the high levels of N forms detected by conventional physicochemical analysis of water. Although the mechanisms that modify N parameters in moss tissues were not clear, measurement of the isotopic signal δ15N in devitalized moss exposed for 10 days proved useful for monitoring the N pollution associated with intensive freshwater aquaculture.

Air pollution has been identified as a major cause of environmental and human health damage. O₃ is an oxidative pollutant that causes leaf symptoms in sensitive plants. This study aims to adjust a multilinear model for the monitoring of O₃ in subtropical climatic conditions by associating O₃ concentrations with measurements of morphological leaf traits in tobacco plants and different environmental variables. The plants were distributed into five areas (residential, urban or industrial) in the southern region of Brazil and exposed during 14 periods, of 14 days each, during the years of 2014 and 2015. The environmental variables and leaf traits during the exposure periods were described by mean, median, standard deviation and minimum and maximum values. Spearman correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were applied on data from exposure periods. Leaf injury index, leaf area, leaf dry mass, temperature, relative humidity, global solar radiation and accumulated rainfall were used in the regression analyses to select the best models for predicting O₃ concentrations. Leaf injury characteristically caused by O₃ was verified in all areas and periods of plant exposure. Higher values of leaf injury (24.5% and 27.7%) were registered in the 13th and 12th exposure periods during spring and in areas influenced by urban and industrial clutches. The VPD, temperature, global solar radiation and O₃ were correlated to leaf injury. Environmental variables [leaf area, leaf dry mass, global solar radiation and accumulated rainfall] and primarily the VPD were fundamental to improve the adjustments done in the bioindicator model (R² ≥ 0.73). Our research shows that biomonitoring employing the tobacco “Bel-W3” can be improved by measuring morphological leaf traits and meteorological parameters. Additionally, O₃ fumigation experiment should be performed with biomonitoring as conducted in this study, which are useful in understanding the role of other environmental factors.

Twenty-six polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and four synthetic musk compounds (SMCs) accumulated by Masson pine needles from different areas of Shanghai were investigated in the present study. Concentrations of Σ26PAHs (sum of 26 PAHs) ranged from 234 × 10−3 to 5370 × 10−3 mg kg−1. Levels of Σ26PAHs in different sampling areas followed the order: urban areas (Puxi and Pudong) > suburbs > Chongming. Total concentrations of 16 USEPA priority PAHs ranged from 225 × 10−3 to 5180 × 10−3 mg kg−1, ranking at a relatively high level compared to other regions around the world. Factor analysis and multi-linear regression model has identified six sources of PAHs with relative contributions of 15.1% for F1 (vehicle emissions), 47.8% for F2 (natural gas and biomass combustion), 7.8% for F3 (oil), 10.6% for F4 (coal combustion), 15.7% for F5 (“anthracene” source) and 3.0% for F6 (coke tar). Total concentrations of 4 SMCs varied between 0.071 × 10−3 and 2.72 × 10−3 mg kg−1 in pine needles from Shanghai. SMCs with the highest detected frequency were Galaxolide and musk xylene, followed by musk ketone and Tonalide. The highest level of SMCs was found near industrial park and daily chemical plant. The results obtained from this study may have important reference value for local government in the control of atmospheric organic pollution.

The study was aimed to evaluate the ability of native lichen Xanthoria (X.) parietina to biomonitor and bioaccumulate some heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb), PAHs, PCDDs, PCDFs, PCBs and PBDEs and to evaluate the use of the native X. parietina as a multi-tracer tool for scenarios characterized by different anthropogenic pressures. Samples of native X. parietina were collected in six different sites (two green, two residential and two industrial areas, respectively) and analyzed for the target compounds.The results show that X. parietina was a useful tool for the biomonitoring of air quality in the selected areas, and was able to bioaccumulate all the studied metals and POPs. In particular, the total concentrations dry weight (dw) ranged between 8.1 and 103.4 mg kg⁻¹ for metals, from 113 × 10³ to 183 × 10³ ng kg⁻¹ for PAHs, from 868 to 7685 ng kg⁻¹ for PCBs, from 14.3 to 113.8 ng kg⁻¹ for PCDDs/Fs (∑TEq = 0.9–7.1), and from 194 to 554 ng kg⁻¹ for PBDEs.Besides, in general, the levels of analytes recovered in the different samples of lichen show an increasing trend from green to industrial sites, especially for PCBs (mean values equal to 1218, 4253 and 7192 ng kg⁻¹ respectively for green, residential and industrial areas).The statistical approach, based on Pearson's correlation and principal component analysis tests, showed that one of the industrial sites was well-separated from the others, that resulted grouped due to some similarities.

The quality of freshwater undoubtedly reflects the health of our surrounding environment, society, and economy, as these are supported by various freshwater ecosystems. Monitoring efforts have therefore been considered a vital means of ensuring the ecological health of freshwater environments. Nevertheless, most aquatic environmental monitoring strategies largely focus on bulk water sampling for analysis of physicochemical and key biological indicators, which for the most part do not consider pollution events that occur at any time between sampling events. Because benthic biofilms are ubiquitous in aquatic environments, pollution released during sporadic events may be absorbed by these biofilms, which can act as repositories of pollutants. The aim of this study was to assess whether benthic biofilm monitoring could provide an efficient way of properly characterizing the extent of pollution in aquatic environments. Here, bulk water and benthic biofilms were sampled from three Hong Kong streams having various pollution profiles, and subsequently compared via high-resolution microscopy, metagenomic analysis, and analytical chemistry. The results indicated that biofilms were, indeed, reservoirs of environmental pollutants, having different profiles compared with that of the corresponding bulk water samples. Moreover, the results also suggested that biofilms sampled in polluted areas were characterized by a higher species richness. While the analytical testing of benthic biofilms still needs further development, the integration of chemical-pollutant profiles and biofilm sequencing data in future studies may provide unique perspectives for understanding and identifying pollution-related biofilm biomarkers.

The current study investigates the concentration of eleven trace elements in biomaterials including hair (85) and nails (85) along with seventy five (75) road dust samples collected from a healthy population of habitable urban-industrial areas of Hefei, China. The samples were acid digested and analyzed using ICP-MS for trace elements content. The mean concentration of Elements followed descending order of Zn > Mg > Fe > Cr > Al > Sn > Sr > Ti > Cu > As > Cd and Mg > Zn > Fe > Cr > Al > Sn > Ti > Cu > Sr > As > Cd in hair and nails, respectively. Overall, the concentration of elements was found to be high in female subject as compared to male. The concentration of trace elements in hair and nail exceeded the maximum permissible limits in most cases. The corresponding mean values from dust samples were fairly high as compared to background values of trace elements. Middle age groups (21–30 years and 31–40 years) were observed to be the most vulnerable there-by posing a high health risk, as the concentration of trace elements was significantly high in these groups except for Al, which was detected high in age < 20 in case of both male and female. A significantly high correlation was found between trace elements in biomaterials and those detected in dust samples. In hair samples, a significantly positive correlation was noticed for As with Mg, Zn, Sn and Fe, Sn/Mg and Mg/Ti. In the case of nails, a significant correlation was observed for elements like Al, Mg, Zn, Cr, and Cu. The Cluster and principal component analysis revealed industrial and vehicular emissions as main sources for trace elements exposure in humans.

Measurements of biological responses on living organisms are essential in aquatic biomonitoring. In freshwaters, Dreissena polymorpha is an invasive bivalve commonly used in ecotoxicological studies and considered as a model organism. However, D. polymorpha abundances are declining while another species colonizes most of the freshwaters: Dreissena rostriformis bugensis. This species has already been studied in ecophysiology but there is still a lack of data concerning its responses to stressors before its use as a bioindicator of environmental pollution. This study aims to compare the responses of the two species exposed to metal stress. Responses at different levels of biological organization were targeted with measurement of sub-cellular and individual biomarkers following an exposure of up to 7 days to cadmium at 10 μg.L−1. At the individual level, the scope for growth (SFG) was measured. It corresponds to the energy allocated to growth and reproduction. D. polymorpha exhibits variations in biomarker measurements as well as in the SFG in presence of Cd. D. r. bugensis shows no variation in its responses at the different targeted levels. According to the present results, energy metabolism seems to have an essential role for these species when facing a metal stress. Different energy allocation strategies were evidenced between the two species, although the link with biochemical biomarkers is more evident for D. polymorpha than for D. r. bugensis.

Various environmental studies have employed the biomonitoring of fish in their aquatic ecosystems in order to identify potential metabolic responses to the exposome. In this study, we applied in vivo solid-phase microextraction (SPME) to perform non-lethal sampling on the muscle tissue of living fish to extract toxicants and various endogenous metabolites. Sixty white suckers (Catastomus commersonii) were sampled from sites upstream, adjacent, and downstream from the oil sands development region of the Athabasca River (Alberta, Canada) in order to track their biochemical responses to potential contaminants. In vivo SPME sampling facilitated the extraction of a wide range of endogenous metabolites, mainly related to lipid metabolism. The obtained results revealed significant changes in the levels of numerous metabolites, including eicosanoids, linoleic acids, and fat-soluble vitamins, in fish sampled in different areas of the river, thus demonstrating SPME's applicability for the direct monitoring of exposure to different environmental toxicants. In addition, several classes of toxins, including petroleum-related compounds, that can cause serious physiological impairment were tentatively identified in the extracts. In vivo SPME, combined with the analysis of contaminants and endogenous metabolites, provided important information about the exposome; as such, this approach represents a potentially powerful and non-lethal tool for identifying the mechanisms that produce altered metabolic pathways in response to the mixtures of different environmental pollutants.