Triclosan (TCS) is a suspected endocrine disrupting chemical which is widely used in consumer products as an antibacterial agent. But findings in human studies focusing on the fetal developmental effects of prenatal TCS exposure were rare and inconsistent. This study aimed to determine maternal urinary TCS and investigate its association with birth outcomes. Pregnant women (n = 1006) were randomly selected from the prospective Healthy Baby Cohort (HBC) enrolled in 2014. TCS levels were determined in maternal urine samples collected at delivery and recorded birth outcomes were obtained from the medical records. Multiple linear regressions were applied to evaluate associations of maternal urinary TCS levels with birth outcomes including birth weight, birth length, and gestational age. Logistic regressions were used to evaluate associations with preterm birth, late term birth, and low birth weight. The geometric mean concentrations for TCS and specific gravity (SG) adjusted TCS in maternal urines were 0.73, 0.78 ng/mL, respectively. In the crude model, one ln-unit increase of urinary SG-adjusted TCS concentration was associated with a 0.30-day [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.00, 0.60] increase in gestational age; however, the associations were not statistically significant after adjustment for covariates. No significant associations of SG-adjusted TCS concentrations with birth weight and birth length were observed. Maternal SG-adjusted TCS concentrations were not related to preterm birth, late term birth, and low birth weight (all p > 0.10). Our findings reported a relatively low level of TCS among Chinese pregnant women. With such exposure level, we did not find strong evidence for associations between maternal TCS exposure and birth outcomes. Longitudinal studies concerning about different potential effects of TCS on perinatal health are necessary.

The bioremediation of historic industrial contaminated sites is a complex process. Co-contamination, often with lead which was commonly added to gasoline until 16 years ago is one of the biggest challenges affecting the clean-up of these sites. In this study, the effect of heavy metals, as co-contaminant, together with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) is reported, in terms of remaining soil toxicity and the structure of the microbial communities. Contaminated soil samples from a relatively hot and dry climate in Western Australia were collected (n = 27). Analysis of soils showed the presence of both contaminants, TPHs and heavy metals. The Microtox test confirmed that their co-presence elevated the remaining ecotoxicity. Toxicity was correlated with the presence of lead, zinc and TPH (0.893, 0.599 and 0.488), respectively, assessed using Pearson Correlation coefficient factor. Next Generation Sequencing of soil bacterial 16S rRNA, revealed a lack of dominate genera; however, despite the variation in soil type, a few genera including Azospirillum spp. and Conexibacter were present in most soil samples (85% and 82% of all soils, respectively). Likewise, many genera of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria were identified in all soil samples. Streptomyces spp. was presented in 93% of the samples with abundance between 7% and 40%. In contrast, Acinetobacter spp. was found in only one sample but was a dominant member of (45%) of the microbial community. In addition, some bacterial genera were correlated to the presence of the heavy metals, such as Geodermatophilus spp., Rhodovibrio spp. and Rubrobacter spp. which were correlated with copper, lead and zinc, respectively. This study concludes that TPH and heavy metal co-contamination significantly elevated the associated toxicity. This is an important consideration when carrying out risk assessment associated with natural attenuation. This study also improves knowledge about the dynamics of microbial communities in mixed contamination scenarios.

Chemical mass balance (CMB) modeling and radiocarbon measurements were combined to evaluate the sources of carbonaceous fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Shenzhen, China during and after the 2011 summer Universiade games when air pollution control measurements were implemented to achieve air quality targets. Ambient PM2.5 filter samples were collected daily at two sampling sites (Peking University Shenzhen campus and Longgang) over 24 consecutive days, covering the controlled and uncontrolled periods. During the controlled period, the average PM2.5 concentration was less than half of what it was after the controls were lifted. Organic carbon (OC), organic molecular markers (e.g., levoglucosan, hopanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), and secondary organic carbon (SOC) tracers were all significantly lower during the controlled period. After pollution controls ended, at Peking University, OC source contributions included gasoline and diesel engines (24%), coal combustion (6%), biomass burning (12.2%), vegetative detritus (2%), biogenic SOC (from isoprene, α-pinene, and β-caryophyllene; 7.1%), aromatic SOC (23%), and other sources not included in the model (25%). At Longgang after the controls ended, similar source contributions were observed: gasoline and diesel engines (23%), coal combustion (7%), biomass burning (17.7%), vegetative detritus (1%), biogenic SOC (from isoprene, α-pinene, and β-caryophyllene; 5.3%), aromatic SOC (13%), and other sources (33%). The contributions of the following sources were smaller during the pollution controls: biogenic SOC (by a factor of 10–16), aromatic SOC (4–12), coal combustion (1.5–6.8), and biomass burning (2.3–4.9). CMB model results and radiocarbon measurements both indicated that fossil carbon dominated over modern carbon, regardless of pollution controls. However, the CMB model needs further improvement to apportion contemporary carbon (i.e. biomass burning, biogenic SOC) in this region. This work defines the major contributors to carbonaceous PM2.5 in Shenzhen and demonstrates that control measures for primary emissions could significantly reduce secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation.

Pharmaceuticals have been considered ‘contaminants of emerging concern’ for more than 20 years. In that time, many laboratory studies have sought to identify hazard and assess risk in the aquatic environment, whilst field studies have searched for targeted candidates and occurrence trends using advanced analytical techniques. However, a lack of a systematic approach to the detection and quantification of pharmaceuticals has provided a fragmented literature of serendipitous approaches. Evaluation of the extent of the risk for the plethora of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals available requires the reliable measurement of trace levels of contaminants across different environmental compartments (water, sediment, biota - of which biota has been largely neglected). The focus on pharmaceutical concentrations in surface waters and other exposure media have therefore limited both the characterisation of the exposome in aquatic wildlife and the understanding of cause and effect relationships. Here, we compile the current analytical approaches and available occurrence and accumulation data in biota to review the current state of research in the field. Our analysis provides evidence in support of the ‘Matthew Effect’ and raises critical questions about the use of targeted analyte lists for biomonitoring. We provide six recommendations to stimulate and improve future research avenues.

Earthworms improve the soil fertility and they are also sensitive to soil contaminants. Earthworms (Eisenia fetida), standard reference species, were usually chosen to culture and handle for toxicity tests. Metabolic responses in earthworms exposed to 2, 2′, 4, 4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) and decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) were inhibitory and interfered with basal metabolism. In this study, 1H-NMR based metabolomics was used to identify sensitive biomarkers and explore metabolic responses of earthworms under sub-lethal BDE-47 and BDE-209 concentrations for 14 days. The results revealed that lactate was accumulated in earthworms exposed to BDE-47 and BDE-209. Glutamate increased significantly when the concentration of BDE-47 and BDE-209 reached 10 mg/kg. The BDE-47 exposure above 50 mg/kg concentration decreased the content of fumarate significantly, which was noticed different from that of BDE-209. Whereas, the BDE-207 or BDE-209 exposure increased the protein degradation into amino acids in vivo. The increased betaine content indicated that earthworms may maintain the cell osmotic pressure and protected enzyme activity by metabolic regulation. Moreover, the BDE-47 and BDE-209 exposure at 10 mg/kg changed most of the metabolites significantly, indicating that the metabolic responses were more sensitive than growth inhibition and gene expression. The metabolomics results revealed the toxic modes of BDE-47 and BDE-209 act on the osmoregulation, energy metabolism, nerve activities, tricarboxylic acid cycle and amino acids metabolism. Furthermore, our results highlighted that the 1H-NMR based metabolomics is a strong tool for identifying sensitive biomarkers and eco-toxicological assessment.

The prothrombotic effects of particulate matter (PM) may underlie the association of air pollution with increased risks of cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to investigate the association between long-term exposure to PM with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) and platelet counts, a marker of coagulation profiles.The study participants were from a cohort consisting of 362,396 Taiwanese adults who participated in a standard medical examination program between 2001 and 2014. Platelet counts were measured through Complete Blood Count tests. A satellite-based spatio-temporal model was used to estimate 2-year average ambient PM2.5 concentration at each participant's address. Mixed-effects linear regression models were used to investigate the association between PM2.5 exposure and platelet counts.This analysis included 175,959 men with 396,248 observations and 186,437 women with 397,877 observations. Every 10-μg/m3 increment in the 2-year average PM2.5 was associated with increases of 0.42% (95% CI: 0.38%, 0.47%) and 0.49% (95% CI: 0.44%, 0.54%) in platelet counts in men and women, respectively. A series of sensitivity analyses, including an analysis in participants free of cardiometabolic disorders, confirmed the robustness of the observed associations. Baseline data analyses showed that every 10-μg/m3 increment in PM2.5 was associated with higher risk of 17% and 14% of having elevated platelet counts (≥90th percentile) in men and women, respectively.Long-term exposure to PM2.5 appears to be associated with increased platelet counts, indicating potential adverse effects on blood coagulability.

Due to their longevity and extensive migration areas, marine turtles are able to accumulate diverse contaminants over many years and as a consequence they represent an interesting bioindicator species for marine ecosystem pollution. Metals provoke toxicological effects in many aquatic animal species, but marine turtles have been under-investigated in this area. Thus, we have determined the presence of certain inorganic elements (As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn) in olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) and related them to metallothionein (MT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione reductase (GR) transcription and/or enzymatic activities. Gene expression of sod, cat and gr was found to be higher in blood than liver or kidney but most of the significant relationships were found in liver, not only for gene expression but also for enzyme activities. This must be related to the role the liver has as the first filter organ. Several positive relationships of sod, cat and gr gene expression in the different tissues were found in this population, as well as very high Cd concentrations. This could mean that these turtles are adapting to the metals-production of ROS and damage through a high transcription of these antioxidants. Multiple positive relationships with GR seem to be part of its compensatory effect due to the decrease of SOD production against the high and chronic exposure to certain xenobiotics. CAT, on the other hand, seems not to be used much, and glutathione detoxification of H₂O₂ may be more important in this species. Finally, despite the very high Cd concentrations found in this population, no significant relationship was found in any tissue with metallothionein gene expression. These results, along with very high Cd concentrations and a negative relationship with Cu, lead us to consider some kind of disruption in mt gene expression in these turtles.

Contamination of soils by metals and metalloids is an important environmental problem in many residential and industrial sites around the world. Lead is a common contaminant, which enters the soil through mining, industrial activities and waste disposal. A range of technologies can be used to remediate soil lead, however most remediation technologies adversely affect the environment and particularly soil biota. We have assessed the efficacy of vermiremediation (the use of earthworms for remediation) to reduce water extractable lead concentrations in soil. Earthworms were introduced to a sandy soil spiked with the common lead minerals cotunnite (PbCl2), cerussite (PbCO3), massicot (PbO) or galena (PbS) at 1000 mg (Pb) kg−1. Lead concentrations in pore water extracted during the experiment were not significantly different in contaminated soil with and without worms. However, concentrations of lead in water from a deionised water extraction (washing) of contaminated soil were significantly lower in soil with earthworms than in soil without. Earthworms accumulated on average (±1 standard deviation) 276 ± 118, 235 ± 66, 241 ± 58 and 40 ± 30 mg kg−1 (dry weight of earthworms) of lead in their bodies, in PbCl2, PbCO3, PbO and PbS-dosed soils, respectively. During the experiment, earthworms lost weight in all contaminated soils, except those containing PbS.

Methodology to quantify and distinguish the spatial distribution of the risks from multiple pollutants within the region was developed in this paper. An integrated quantitative risk assessment was conducted by utilizing a large amount of information available to explore spatial distribution of risk by single and multiple pollutants, and the magnitude of the overall risk from multiple pollutants based on the current concentrations of pollutants and toxicity data. Two target criteria levels – level I (NOEC/LOEC based) and level II (LC/EC/IC₅₀ based) – were employed, and thus, the regional and sub-regional risks were evaluated according to these two levels. The risk of multiple toxic metals (As, Cd, Cr, Hg and Pb) to a terrestrial ecosystem for the region around the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea were evaluated as a case. The total overall ecological risks from heavy metals in the region for level I and level II were 21.73% and 12.53%, respectively. The risks were ranked in the order of Cr > As > Pb > Cd > Hg with Cr posing the greatest ecological risk, which was 61.12% for level I. The top three cities according to the level II ecological risk were Cangzhou > Lianyungang > Panjin, while the top three cities of level I ecological risk were Cangzhou > Panjin > Lianyungang. This method provides a quantitative risk assessment with multiple and clear protection levels for risk management.

A time-distance-dependent deposition model is built to investigate the effects of hydrodynamic forces on the transport and deposition of polydispersed particles and the evolution of deposition rates with time and distance. Straining and the heterogeneity of the particle population are considered to play important roles in the decreasing distribution of deposition rates. Numerical simulations were applied in a series of sand column experiments at different fluid velocities for three different porous media. The effects of hydrodynamics forces are elaborated with the systematic variations of deposition dynamic parameters of the proposed model. With retention distributions with particle size as well as temporal and spatial evolutions of deposition rates, the transport and deposition mechanisms of polydispersed particles will be elucidated through the interplay of the variation of the particle size distribution of mobile particle populations and the geometrical change of the porous medium due to retention (straining and blocking).