Perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS), an aquatic pollutant of emerging concern, is found to disturb the neural signaling along gut-brain axis, whereas probiotic additives have been applied to improve neuroendocrine function of teleosts. Both PFBS and probiotics can commonly target nervous system. However, whether and how probiotic bacteria can modulate the neurotoxicities of PFBS remain not explored. It is thus necessary to elucidate the probiotic modulation of PFBS neurotoxicity, which can provide implications to the application of probiotic bacteria in aquaculture industry. In the present study, adult zebrafish were exposed to 0, 10 and 100 μg/L PFBS with or without dietary administration of probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus. Interaction between PFBS and probiotic along gut-brain axis was examined, covering three dominant pathways (i.e., neurotransmission, immune response and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis). The results showed that, compared to the single effects, PFBS and probiotic coexposure significantly altered the acetylcholinesterase activity and neurotransmitter profiles in gut and brain of zebrafish, with mild effects on neuronal integrity. Neurotransmitters closely correlated reciprocally in intestines, which, however, was distinct from the correlation profile in brains. In addition, PFBS and probiotic were combined to impact brain health through absorption of bacterial lipopolysaccharides and production of inflammatory cytokines. Relative to neurotransmission and immune signaling, HPA axis was not involved in the neurotoxicological interaction between PFBS and probiotic. Furthermore, it needs to point out that interactive modes between PFBS and probiotic varied a lot, depending on exposure concentrations, sex and toxic indices. Overall, the present study provided the first evidence that probiotic supplement could dynamically modulate the neurotoxicities of PFBS in teleost.

The presence of Eschericia coli O157:H7 in the natural environment is a serious threat to human health. The native microbial community in soil plays an important role in resisting E. coli O157:H7 invasion. This study examined the responses of soil microbial community to E. coli O157:H7 invasion during a 32-day incubation. The E. coli O157:H7 persisted longer in γ-irradiated soil than non-irradiated soil while glucose addition decreased its persistence in the irradiated soil which was associated with an increasing recovery of the native community. The invasion of E. coli O157:H7 increased soil organic carbon mineralization, an indicator of microbial activity, in both non-irradiated and irradiated soils, while glucose addition significantly promoted the carbon mineralization process. The 16S rRNA sequencing data showed the gradual recovery of the native bacterial population including specific taxa such as proteobacteria and actinobacteria following irradiation. It is concluded that soil microbial function and structure can affect persistence of E. coli O157:H7 and that lower biodiversity of the native community favors its persistence.

Studies of the chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols, rain water and snow in various regions of the globe quite often show the presence of pyridine and a number of its low mass derivatives. Nevertheless, the sources of those compounds in the environment have not yet been established and definitely require elucidation, supported by reliable experimental results. In the present work the chemical composition of peat combustion products as one of the important sources of atmospheric aerosol emission is studied by two-dimensional gas chromatography – high-resolution mass spectrometry with a focus on the detection of pyridine derivatives. Twenty-five compounds of this class were reliably identified and quantified in laboratory experiments on peat burning. Among them 3-hydroxypyridine predominates, while the rest analytes are mostly represented by alkyl derivatives: pyridine, 2-methylpyridine, 3-methylpyridine, 2,5-dimethylpyridine, 2,6-dimethylpyridine, 2-ethylpyridine, lutidines (in order of decreasing concentration). The distribution of these combustion products coincides with that obtained earlier in environmental studies carried out in Arctic, Central Russia and France. The experiments on peat thermal decomposition by pyrolysis GC-MS demonstrated that the maximum concentrations as well as the number of detected analytes were found under conditions of oxygen lack and a temperature of about 500 °C, i.e. characteristic conditions of peat wildfires. The observed levels of pyridines’ emission recalculated on the peat dry weight exceeded 200 mg kg⁻¹. Considering hundreds of millions tons of peat burning in megafires over 20,000 tons of pyridines penetrate the Earth atmosphere annually. The obtained results allow concluding that peat burning may be the major and still underestimated source of pyridine and lower alkylpyridines in the Earth atmosphere.

Following the 16TAN Husky oil spill along the North Saskatchewan River (NSR), the occurrence and natural attenuation of the petroleum hydrocarbons were assessed by analyzing the littoral zone sediments/oil debris collected from July 2016 to October 2017. Husky oil-free, mixed sediment-Husky oil, and Husky oil debris samples were identified for all the collected samples. Shoreline sediments were contaminated by mixed biogenic, pyrogenic and petrogenic inputs prior to the spill. Oil stranded on the shoreline of NSR was moved or buried due to the very dynamic conditions of the shoreline, or cleaned through a series of cleanup activities after the spill. Most normal alkanes were naturally weathered, whereas most of the branched alkanes and all of the saturated petroleum biomarkers remained. Some lighter molecular weight (e.g., 2 to 3-ring) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were lost rapidly after the spill, whereas sulfur containing components, e.g., dibenzothiophenes and benzonaphthothiiophenes, and those having a heavier molecular weight did not change markedly even 15 months post-spill. Similarly, some light hydrocarbons (e.g., <C₁₀) were lost over the first kilometers from the point of entry (POE), while heavier hydrocarbons did not show any major differences away from the POE. Very large inter-site and inter-survey discrepancies were found for samples. Evaporation into the air and dissolution into water, combined with biodegradation, were together or independently the main contributors to the loss of the light molecular hydrocarbons.

Cadmium (Cd)-polluted soils were collected from wasteland, farmland, and slopeland surrounding a lead–zinc mine in Yunnan Province, Southwest China. Maize plants (the host) were inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in a dual-compartment cultivation system that included mycorrhizal and hyphal compartments as part of an AMF inoculation treatment and root and soil compartments as part of a the non-inoculation treatment. The effects of AMF on maize biomass and Cd uptake, soil aggregate composition, and Cd concentration in the interflow within two soil layers (0–20 and 20–40 cm) as well as the Cd leaching from these three Cd-polluted soils under simulated heavy rainfall (40 and 80 mm/h) were investigated. The results demonstrated that AMF led to increased maize biomass and Cd uptake. There were greater contents of total glomalin-related soil protein (T-GRSP) and >2.0 mm aggregates and lower Cd concentrations in the interflow and lower dissolved Cd leaching in the mycorrhizal and hyphal compartments than in the soil compartment. A two-way analysis of variance revealed that AMF significantly increased the contents of T-GRSP and >2.0 mm aggregates and reduced both Cd concentrations in the interflow and dissolved Cd leaching. Moreover, AMF interacted extensively with the roots and affected soil aggregate composition and Cd concentrations in the interflow. Under 40 mm/h of rainfall, the contents of T-GRSP and >2.0 mm aggregates were significantly negatively correlated with both Cd concentrations in the interflow and dissolved Cd leaching. In addition, the Cd concentrations in the interflow were significantly positively correlated with the amount of dissolved Cd leaching. Therefore, both AMF-reduced Cd concentrations in the interflow and Cd leaching from Cd-polluted soils were closely related to increased T-GRSP contents and macroaggregate proportion in the soils.

Kriging interpolation and land use regression (LUR) have characterized the spatial variability of long-term nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), but there has been little research on combining these two methods to capture small-scale spatial variation. Furthermore, studies predicting NO₂ exposure are almost exclusively based on traffic-related variables, which may not be transferable to Taiwan, a typical Asian country with diverse local emission sources, where densely distributed temples and restaurants may be important for NO₂ levels. To advance the exposure estimates in Taiwan, a hybrid kriging/LUR model incorporates culture-specific sources as potential predictors. Based on 14-year NO₂ observations from 73 monitoring stations across Taiwan, a set of interpolated NO₂ values were generated through a leave-one-out ordinary kriging algorithm, and this was included as an explanatory variable in the stepwise LUR procedures. Kriging interpolated NO₂ and culture-specific predictors were entered in the final models, which captured 90% and 87% of NO₂ variation in annual and monthly resolution, respectively. Results from 10-fold cross-validation and external data verification demonstrate robust performance of the developed models. This study demonstrates the value of incorporating the kriging-interpolated estimates and culture-specific emission sources into the traditional LUR model structure for predicting NO₂, which can be particularly useful for Asian countries.

In the previous publication “Can atmospheric pollution be considered a co-factor in extremely high level of SARS-CoV-2 lethality in Northern Italy?” Conticini et al. hypothesized that the surplus of lethality of the novel SARS-CoV-2 in Northern Italy may be at least in part explained by the evidence of highest pollution reported in this area, as both severe COVID-19 and smog exposure are correlated to an innate immune system hyper-activation with subsequent lung inflammation and injury. Since this hypothesis alone does not fully explain why specific subgroups of patients are at major risk, we hypothesized that obesity may be one of the links between COVID-19 severity and high level of air pollution. First, obesity is a predisposing factor for SARS-Cov-2 infection and worse COVID-19 outcomes, and unequivocal evidence demonstrated that fat mass excess is independently associated with several pulmonary diseases and lung inflammation. Moreover, it has been shown that obesity may intensify the detrimental effects of air pollution on the lungs, and this is not surprising if we consider that these conditions share an excessive activation of the immune system and a lung inflammatory infiltrate. Finally, fat mass excess has also been speculated to be itself a consequence of air pollutants exposure, which has been proved to induce metabolic disruption and weight gain in murine models. In conclusion, although many variables must be taken into account in the analysis of the pandemic, our observations suggest that obesity may act as effect modifier of smog-induced lung-injury, and the concomitant presence of these two factors could better explain the higher virulence, faster spread and greater mortality of SARS-CoV-2 in Northern Italy compared to the rest of the country.

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are a class of emerging contaminants commonly detected in environmental waters worldwide. Although reports about their detection in aquatic environments are increasing, limited studies show their effects on holometabolous insects. In this study, acute and chronic exposure to naproxen (0.02, 41, 82, 164, 382, 656, and 1312 mg L⁻¹) and propylparaben (0.02, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, and 1000 mg L⁻¹) were evaluated in Aedes aegypti L. Acute exposure to naproxen (≥0.02 mg L⁻¹) and propylparaben (≥0.02 mg L⁻¹) reduced egg eclosion. Propylparaben (≥250 mg L⁻¹) caused significant larval mortality but naproxen did not even at the highest experimental concentration used. LC₅₀ for naproxen and propylparaben in larvae were 1100 mg L⁻¹ and 182.6 mg L⁻¹, respectively. Naproxen (≥0.02 mg L⁻¹) and propylparaben (≥0.02 mg L⁻¹) reduced pupation. Emergence was also reduced by naproxen (≥164 mg L⁻¹) and propylparaben (≥0.02 mg L⁻¹). The fecundity of females was significantly reduced due to chronic exposure to naproxen (≥0.02 mg L⁻¹). There was also a reduction in the fecundity of females due to chronic propylparaben exposure but it was statistically insignificant in the concentrations used. In the F1 generation eggs, only 100 mg L⁻¹ propylparaben reduced eclosion. Eclosion and larval survival were sensitive to acute exposure, particularly to propylparaben. The reduced pupation and emergence indicated a delay in the progression of the life cycle. Chronic exposure also indicated a reduction in fecundity. F1 eggs exhibited tolerance to the negative effect of subsequent exposure. Our findings suggest that propylparaben can affect Ae. aegypti more negatively than naproxen.

Fossil fuels still prevail over other energy sources in the world’s consumption energy matrix. Thus, oil transportation and operations over maritime routes have been in high demand for a long time. Although oil spill accidents caused by these activities have reduced significantly over the last few decades, they still cause great concern. From this perspective, this paper presents simulation analyses of oil spill case studies using TELEMAC-3D hydrodynamic model coupled with an oil model. Hence a location susceptible to such accidents was selected and three real oil spills were simulated, for each of which there were official technical monitoring reports available. The obtained results contribute to the knowledge of oil pollution susceptibility in environmentally sensitive areas, as well as provide information concerning oil slick behaviour. Additionally, similarities between the modelled results and the technical reports were confirmed. These findings are useful for contingency planning and responding to these probable accidents.

Microplastics (MPs) are new persistent organic pollutants derived from the degradation of plastics. They can accumulate along the food chain and enter the human body through oral administration, inhalation and dermal exposure. To identify the impact of Polystyrene (PS) MPs on the cardiovascular system and the underlying toxicological mechanism, 32 male Wister rats were divided into control group and three model groups, which were exposed to 0.5 μm PS MPs at 0.5, 5 and 50 mg/L for 90 days. Our results suggested that PS MPs exposure increased Troponin I and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) levels in serum, resulted in structure damage and apoptosis of myocardium, and led to collagen proliferation of heart. Moreover, PS MPs could induce oxidative stress and thus activate fibrosis-related Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. These results suggested that PS MPs could lead to cardiovascular toxicity by inducing cardiac fibrosis via activating Wnt/β-catenin pathway and myocardium apoptosis triggered by oxidative stress. The present study provided some novelty evidence to elucidate the potential mechanism of cardiovascular toxicity induced by PS MPs.