To evaluate the effect from low-level exposure of antibiotics on the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes, unpolluted arable soils were treated with oxytetracycline (OTC)-containing manure, with OTC (0, 2, 20, or 70 μg kg⁻¹) added every 2 weeks on 10 occasions. Six tetracycline resistance genes [TRGs—tet(A), tet(L), tet(M), tet(Q), tet(O), and tet(W)] and the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene were monitored using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The relative abundance of tet(A), tet(L), tet(M), and tet(Q) genes in soil increased 10–1000 times after application of OTC-containing manure. Tet(A) abundance per unit of residual OTC on day 140 was 1.53–4.42 times higher than that on day 28, while tet(L) abundance was 1.04–1.74 times higher. Treatment with >40 μg kg⁻¹ OTC significantly increased abundance of tet(A) and tet(L), while tet(M) and tet(Q) abundance was positively correlated (R ² = 0.965 and 0.932, p < 0.01) with residual OTC concentrations. There was a significant accumulation of TRGs associated with low-level OTC exposure in arable soils. Besides OTC residual, the effects from exposure time and application frequencies should also be considered to limit the increase in abundance of tet(A) and tet(L).

To select suitable tree species associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) for phytoremediation of heavy metal (HM) contaminated area, we measured the AMF status and heavy metal accumulation in plant tissues in a lead–zinc mine area, Northwest China. All 15 tree species were colonized by AM fungi in our investigation. The mycorrhizal frequency (F%), mycorrhizal colonization intensity (M%) and spore density (SP) reduced concomitantly with increasing Pb and Zn levels; however, positive correlations were found between arbuscule density (A%) and soil total/DTPA-extractable Pb concentrations. The average concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd in plant samples were 168.21, 96.61, 41.06, and 0.79 mg/kg, respectively. Populus purdomii Rehd. accumulated the highest concentrations of Zn (432.08 mg/kg) and Cu (140.85 mg/kg) in its leaves. Considerable amount of Pb (712.37 mg/kg) and Cd (3.86 mg/kg) were concentrated in the roots of Robinia pseudoacacia Linn. and Populus simonii Carr., respectively. Plants developed different strategies to survive in HM stress environment: translocating more essential metals (Zn and Cu) into the aerial parts, while retaining more toxic heavy metals (Pb and Cd) in the roots to protect the above-ground parts from damage. According to the translocation factor (TF), bioconcentration factor (BCF), growth rate and biomass production, five tree species (Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle, Cotinus coggygria Scop., P. simonii, P. purdomii, and R. pseudoacacia) were considered to be the most suitable candidates for phytoextraction and/or phytostabilization purposes. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that the efficiency of phytoremediation was enhanced by AM symbioses, and soil pH, Pb, Zn, and Cd levels were the main factors influencing the HM accumulation characteristics of plants.

The aim of this study was to analyze the variation in sex ratio of White Stork Ciconia ciconia chicks from differentiated Poland environments. We took under a consideration the impact of Cd and Pb for establish differences among sex ratio in chicks. We also study multiplex PCR employment for establish gender considerations. We collected blood samples via venipuncture of brachial vein of chicks during 2006–2008 breeding seasons at the Odra meadows (SW-Poland; control), which were compared with those from suburbs (SW-Poland), and from copper smelter (S-Poland; polluted) and from swamps near Baltic Sea. We found differences among sex ratio in White Stork chicks from types of environment. Male participation in sex structure is importantly higher in each type of environment excluded suburban areas. Differences in White Stork sex ratio according to the degree of environmental degradation expressed by Cd and Pb and sex-environment-metal interactions testify about the impact of these metals upon sex ratios in storks. Simultaneously, as a result of multiplex PCR, 18S ribosome gene, which served as internal control of PCR, was amplified in male and female storks. It means that it is possible to use primers designed for chicken in order to replicate this fragment of genome in White Stork. Moreover, the use of Oriental White Stork Ciconia boyciana W- chromosome specific primers makes it possible to determine the sex of C. ciconia chicks. Many factors make sex ratio of White Stork changes in subsequent breeding seasons, which depend significantly on specific environmental parameters that shape individual detailed defense mechanisms.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an ubiquitous chemical, which is an endocrine disruptor. Recent epidemiological studies have suggested a relationship between BPA exposure and body weight. However, most of these studies were cross-sectional and not on elderly people. We conducted a panel study with repeated measurements to evaluate the relationship between BPA and overweight in elderly people. A total of 560 elderly participants aged ≥60 years were recruited in Seoul from 2008 to 2010. Urinary BPA levels and body mass index (BMI, kg/m²) were measured at every visit. We defined a BMI ≥25 as overweight and examined the relations between urinary BPA and BMI or overweight. Repeated measures analysis was performed after adjusting for age, sex, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, alcohol consumption, regular exercise, total calorie intake, fatty acid intake, urinary cotinine levels, and the status of diabetes mellitus. The geometric mean of BPA was 0.67 μg/g creatinine. The odds ratio (OR) of overweight was 1.17 (95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.04–1.32) per interquartile range increase of log-transformed BPA. When stratified based on sex, we observed a significant association in women (OR 1.25; 95 % CI 1.09–1.45) but not in men (OR 0.97; 95 % CI 0.77–1.22). The ORs of overweight increased with quartiles of BPA in women (quartile 2 vs 1: OR 1.54; 95 % CI 1.02–2.32, 3 vs 1: OR 1.70; 95 % CI 1.10–2.62, and 4 vs 1: OR 1.81; 95 % CI 1.13–2.92). Our results suggest that urinary BPA levels are significantly associated with overweight in elderly women but not elderly men.

Geographically based investigations into atmospheric bio-monitoring usually provide information on concentration or occurrence data and spatial trends of specific contaminants over a specified study area. In this work, an original approach based on geographic information system (GIS) was used to establish metal contents (Hg, Cu, Pb, and Cd) in epiphytic lichens from 90 locations as atmospheric bio-monitors over a meso-scale area (Pyrénées-Atlantiques, southwestern France). This approach allows the integration of the heterogeneity of the territory and optimization of the sampling sites based on both socioeconomical and geophysical parameters (hereafter defined as urban, industrial, agricultural, and forested areas). The sampling strategy was first evaluated in several sites (n = 15) over different seasons and years in order to follow the temporal variability of the atmospheric metal input in lichens. The results demonstrate that concentration ranges remain constant over different sampling periods in “rural” areas (agricultural and forested). Higher variability is observed in the “anthropized” urban and industrial areas in relation to local atmospheric inputs. In this context, metal concentrations in lichens over the whole study show that (1) Hg and Cd are homogeneous over the whole territory (0.14 ± 0.04 and 0.38 ± 0.26 mg/kg, respectively), whereas (2) Cu and Pb are more concentrated in “anthropized” areas (9.3 and 11.9 mg/kg, respectively) than in “rural” ones (6.8 and 6.0 mg/kg, respectively) (Kruskall-Wallis, K(Cu) = 13.7 and K(Pb) = 9.7, p < 0.00001). They also showed a significant local enrichment for all metals in many locations in the Pays Basque (West) mainly due to metal and steel industrial activities. This confirms the local contribution of this contamination source over a wider geographic scale. A multiple linear regression model was applied to give an integrated spatialization of the data. This showed significant relationships for Pb and Cu (adjusted r ² of 0.39 and 0.45, respectively), especially with regards to variables such as industry and road densities (source factors) and elevation or water balance (remote factors). These results show that an integrated GIS-based sampling strategy can improve biomonitoring data distribution and allows better differentiation of local and long-range contamination.

Blast furnace sludge (BFS) is an industrial waste with elevated mercury (Hg) contents due to the enrichment during the production process of pig iron. To investigate the potential pollution status of dumped BFS, 14 samples with total Hg contents ranging from 3.91 to 20.8 mg kg⁻¹ from five different locations in Europe were sequentially extracted. Extracts used included demineralized water (fraction 1, F1), 0.1 mol L⁻¹ CH₃COOH + 0.01 mol L⁻¹ HCl (F2), 1 mol L⁻¹ KOH (F3), 7.9 mol L⁻¹ HNO₃ (F4), and aqua regia (F5). The total recovery ranged from 72.3 to 114 %, indicating that the procedure was reliable when adapted to this industrial waste. Mercury mainly resided in the fraction of “elemental” Hg (48.5–98.8 %) rather being present as slightly soluble Hg species associated with sludge particles. Minor amounts were found as mercuric sulfide (F5; 0.725–37.3 %) and Hg in crystalline metal ores and silicates (F6; 2.21–15.1 %). The ecotoxically relevant fractions (F1 and F2) were not of significance (F1, <limit of quality; F2, 0.509–9.61 %, n = 5). Thus, BFS dumped for many years has a rather low environmental risk potential regarding Hg.

The accident of the Prestige oil tanker in 2002 contaminated approximately 900 km of the coastline along the northern Spanish shore, as well as parts of Portugal and France coast, with a mixture of heavy crude oil consisting of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, alkanes, asphaltenes and resins. The capacity of the autochthonous bacterial communities to respond to the oil spill was assessed indirectly by determining the hydrocarbon profiles of weathered oil samples collected along the shore, as well as through isotope ratios of seawater-dissolved CO₂, and directly by analyses of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprints and 16S rRNA gene libraries. Overall, the results evidenced biodegradation of crude oil components mediated by natural bacterial communities, with a bias towards lighter and less substituted compounds. The changes observed in the Proteobacteria, the most abundant phylum in marine sediments, were related to the metabolic profiles of the sediment. The presence of crude oil in the supratidal and intertidal zones increased the abundance of Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria, dominated by the groups Sphingomonadaceae, Rhodobacteraceae and Chromatiales, whilst Gamma- and Deltaproteobacteria were more relevant in subtidal zones. The phylum Actinobacteria, and particularly the genus Rhodococcus, was a key player in the microbial response to the spill, especially in the degradation of the alkane fraction. The addition of inorganic fertilizers enhanced total biodegradation rates, suggesting that, in these environments, nutrients were insufficient to support significant growth after the huge increase in carbon sources, as evidenced in other spills. The presence of bacterial communities able to respond to a massive oil input in this area was consistent with the important history of pollution of the region by crude oil.

Different types of rice grains imported from 11 different countries and available on the Kuwaiti retail market were collected for heavy metal analysis. The surveyed rice samples were grouped according to their country of origin into four different regions namely Asia, Europe, Middle East, and North America. The samples were analyzed for total arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The data showed that the highest geometric means (GMs) of total As, Cd, Pb, and Hg contents were in rice samples imported from Europe, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, respectively. The total As, Cd, Pb, and Hg concentrations in the analyzed rice samples were compared to the heavy metal content of 5800 rice samples from 25 different countries reported in the literature; furthermore, the heavy metal (total As, Cd, Pb, and Hg) concentrations determined in this study were implemented to calculate the daily dietary intake of toxic metals for the general population in the state of Kuwait, while the collected ones from the literature were implemented to calculate and then compare the daily dietary intake of toxic metals for the general population in 29 different countries around the world.

Tetracyclines (TCs), a class of antibiotics with a broad spectrum, are the most frequently used antibiotics in animal production. The major concern is that the widespread use of the antibiotics may lead to the emergence of new strains of bacteria that are resistant to these antibiotics. The objective of this study was to determine the residual levels of oxytetracycline and tetracycline in 80 animal manure samples that were collected from the livestock and poultry feedlots in Khuzestan Province. The residual levels of the antibiotics in the samples were extracted by using solid-phase extraction (SPE) method and subsequently were measured by liquid chromatography. Recoveries from the spiked poultry manure samples ranged from 65 to 113 % for tetracycline and 86 to 132 % for oxytetracycline. Relative standard deviations of the recoveries were less than 5.7 % within the same day. Method detection limit (MDL) measured for oxytetracycline and tetracycline in the manure were 0.011 and 0.01 mg/kg, respectively. Analysis of the collected 50 chickens and 30 cow manure samples showed that the highest concentration of tetracycline was related to Behbahan City (5.36 mg/kg) and the lowest concentration was detected for Ramhormoz (0.05 mg/kg). The highest and lowest concentrations of oxytetracycline were respectively observed for Behbahan (13.77 mg/kg) and Ramhormoz (0.047 mg/kg). Based on the results, in chicken manure, there was significant statistical difference between the residual TC concentrations among five cities (p ᵥₐₗᵤₑ < 0.05). However, no significant relationship was observed between oxytetracyclin (OTC) residual concentrations among five cities (p ᵥₐₗᵤₑ > 0.05).

This paper illustrates the usefulness of pre-screening methods for an effective characterization of polluted sites. We applied a sequence of site characterization methods to a former Soviet military airbase with likely fuel and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) contamination in shallow groundwater and subsoil. The methods were (i) phytoscreening with tree cores; (ii) soil gas measurements for CH₄, O₂, and photoionization detector (PID); (iii) direct-push with membrane interface probe (MIP) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) sensors; (iv) direct-push sampling; and (v) sampling from soil and from groundwater monitoring wells. Phytoscreening and soil gas measurements are rapid and inexpensive pre-screening methods. Both indicated subsurface pollution and hot spots successfully. The direct-push sensors yielded 3D information about the extension and the volume of the subsurface plume. This study also expanded the applicability of tree coring to BTEX compounds and tested the use of high-resolution direct-push sensors for light hydrocarbons. Comparison of screening results to results from conventional soil and groundwater sampling yielded in most cases high rank correlation and confirmed the findings. The large-scale application of non- or low-invasive pre-screening can be of help in directing and focusing the subsequent, more expensive investigation methods. The rapid pre-screening methods also yielded useful information about potential remediation methods. Overall, we see several benefits of a stepwise screening and site characterization scheme, which we propose in conclusion.