Both occupational and environmental exposure to asbestos-mineral fibres can be associated with lung diseases. The pathogenic effects are related to the dimension, biopersistence and chemical composition of the fibres. In addition to the major mineral elements, mineral fibres contain trace elements and their content may play a role in fibre toxicity. To shed light on the role of trace elements in asbestos carcinogenesis, knowledge on their concentration in asbestos-mineral fibres is mandatory. It is possible that trace elements play a synergetic factor in the pathogenesis of diseases caused by the inhalation of mineral fibres. In this paper, the concentration levels of trace elements from three chrysotile samples, four amphibole asbestos samples (UICC amosite, UICC anthophyllite, UICC crocidolite and tremolite) and fibrous erionite from Jersey, Nevada (USA) were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). For all samples, the following trace elements were measured: Li, Be, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Y, Sb, Cs, Ba, La, Pb, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Th, U. Their distribution in the various mineral species is thoroughly discussed.The obtained results indicate that the amount of trace metals such as Mn, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn is higher in anthophyllite and chrysotile samples, whereas the amount of rare earth elements (REE) is higher in erionite and tremolite samples. The results of this work can be useful to the pathologists and biochemists who use asbestos minerals and fibrous erionite in-vitro studies as positive cyto- and geno-toxic standard references.

The present study aims to determine the associations of multiple plasma metal levels and plasma microRNAs (miRNAs) with diabetes risk, and further explore the mediating effects of plasma miRNAs on the associations of plasma metal with diabetes risk. We detected plasma levels of 23 metals by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) among 94 newly diagnosed and untreated diabetic cases and 94 healthy controls. The plasma miRNAs were examined by microRNA Array screening and Taqman real-time PCR validation among the same study population. The multivariate logistic regression models were employed to explore the associations of plasma metal and miRNAs levels with diabetes risk. Generalized linear regression models were utilized to investigate the relationships between plasma metal and plasma miRNAs, and mediation analysis was used to assess the mediating effects of plasma miRNAs on the relationships between plasma metals and diabetes risk. Plasma aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), selenium (Se), rubidium (Rb), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), and Thallium (Tl) levels were correlated with elevated diabetic risk while molybdenum (Mo) with decreased diabetic risk (P < 0.05 after FDR multiple correction). MiR-122–5p and miR-3141 were positively associated with diabetes risk (all P < 0.05). Ti, Cu, and Zn were positively correlated with miR-122–5p (P = 0.001, 0.028 and 0.004 respectively). Ti, Cu, and Se were positively correlated with miR-3141 (P = 0.003, 0.015, and 0.031 respectively). In addition, Zn was positively correlated with miR-193b-3p (P = 0.002). Ti was negatively correlated with miR-26b-3p (P = 0.016), while Mo and miR-26b-3p were positively correlated (P = 0.042). In the mediation analysis, miR-122–5p mediated 48.0% of the association between Ti and diabetes risk. The biological mechanisms of the association are needed to be explored in further studies.

We studied the size distribution of ions (Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, SO₄⁼, Na⁺, NH₄⁺, K⁺, Mg⁺⁺, Ca⁺⁺) and elements (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cs, Cu, Fe, Li, Mn, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Se, Sn, Sr, Ti, Tl, V, Zn) during the winter and summer seasons of seven consecutive years (2008–2014) in an area of the Po Valley (Northern Italy) characterised by industrial, agricultural and urban settings. The study included the collection and analysis of 41 series of size-segregated samples (MOUDI sampler, 10 stages, cut sizes from 0.18 to 18 μm). Ions were analysed by ion chromatography; elemental analysis was carried out by ICP-MS, by applying a chemical fractionation method able to increase the selectivity of PM source tracers.Our results indicate that important winter/summer variations occurred in both the concentration and size distribution of most PM components. These variations were explained in terms of variations in the strength of the prevailing sources of each component.The contribution of biomass burning for domestic heating was highlighted by the well-known tracer K⁺ but also by the soluble fraction of Rb, Cs and Li. Biomass burning contribution to atmospheric PM was mostly contained in the fine fraction, with a broad size-distribution from 0.18 to 1.8 μm. This source also appreciably increased the concentration of other elements in fine PM (As, Cd, Co, Mn, Pb, Sb, Sn).A few PM components (tracers of sea-spray, brake lining and some industries) did not show marked seasonal variations in concentration and size distribution. However, during winter, for brake lining and industry tracers we observed an upward shift in the dimension of fine particles and a downward shift in the dimension of coarse particles, due to the ageing of the air masses.

Freshwater contamination with mining waste can result with high concentrations of toxic metals in the water and in fish organs. In North-Eastern Macedonia, several rivers (e.g., Zletovska, Kriva) are exposed to acid mine drainage from active Pb/Zn mines. Previous studies confirmed high concentrations of dissolved metals in their water. This study was performed in liver and gills of Vardar chub (Squalius vardarensis Karaman, 1928) from three Macedonian rivers (Bregalnica, Kriva and Zletovska) in spring and autumn 2012. The aim was to establish if increased exposure to certain metals have resulted with their increased bioaccumulation. The concentrations of 19 elements were measured in cytosolic tissue fractions, to obtain information on metabolically available metal species. The following ranges of cytosolic concentrations of highly toxic elements were measured in the Vardar chub liver (in μg/L): Cd, 1.18–184; Cs, 0.25–25.4; Tl, 0.02–5.80; Pb, 0.70–61.1. Their ranges measured in the gills (in μg/L) were the following: Cd, 0.24–59.2; Cs, 0.39–24.4; Tl, 0.01–1.00; Pb, 0.65–87.2. Although the water of the mining impacted Zletovska River was highly contaminated with several essential metals, especially with Mn and Zn, the majority of essential elements (Na, K, Ca, Mg, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, and Zn) did not reflect the exposure level. In contrast, seven nonessential elements reflected the level of exposure in the water. Significantly increased hepatic and gill concentrations of Cs, Rb, Sr, and Tl were detected in Vardar chub from the Zletovska River compared to the other two rivers, of Cd and Pb in the Zletovska and Kriva River compared to Bregalnica, and of V in the Bregalnica River compared to Zletovska and Kriva rivers. Observed significant metal bioaccumulation, in particular of highly toxic elements, as a consequence of exposure to water contaminated with mining waste points to necessity of intensified supervision of mining impacted rivers.

The rice ingestion rate in Madagascar is among the highest globally; however studies concerning metal(loid) concentrations in Madagascar rice are lacking. For Madagascar unpolished rice (n = 51 landraces), levels of toxic elements (e.g., total mercury, methylmercury, arsenic and cadmium) as well as essential micronutrients (e.g., zinc and selenium) were uniformly low, indicating potentially both positive and negative health effects. Aside from manganese (Wilcoxon rank sum, p < 0.01), no significant differences in concentrations for all trace elements were observed between rice with red bran (n = 20) and brown bran (n = 31) (Wilcoxon rank sum, p = 0.06–0.91). Compared to all elements in rice, rubidium (i.e., tracer for phloem transport) was most positively correlated with methylmercury (Pearson's r = 0.33, p < 0.05) and total mercury (r = 0.44, p < 0.05), while strontium (i.e., tracer for xylem transport) was least correlated with total mercury and methylmercury (r < 0.01 for both), suggesting inorganic mercury and methylmercury were possibly more mobile in phloem compared to xylem.

Most studies of metals exposure focus on the heavy metals. There are many other metals (the transition, alkali and alkaline earth metals in particular) in common use in electronics, defense industries, emitted via combustion and which are naturally present in the environment, that have received limited attention in terms of human exposure. We analysed samples of whole blood (172), urine (173) and drinking water (172) for antimony, beryllium, bismuth, cesium, gallium, rubidium, silver, strontium, thallium, thorium and vanadium using ICPMS. In general most metals concentrations were low and below the analytical limit of detection with some high concentrations observed. Few factors examined in regression models were shown to influence biological metals concentrations and explained little of the variation. Further study is required to establish the source of metals exposures at the high end of the ranges of concentrations measured and the potential for any adverse health impacts in children.

It is widely recognized that apex predators, such as large sharks with highly migratory behavior, are particularly vulnerable to pollution, mainly due to biomagnification processes. However, in highly impacted areas, mesopredator sharks with resident behavior can be as vulnerable as apex sharks. In this context, this study evaluated cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), and rubidium (Rb) concentrations, as well as the potentially protective effects of selenium (Se) and the behavior of two non-enzymatic biomarkers, metallothionein (MT) and reduced glutathione (GSH), employing the Atlantic nurse shark Ginglymostoma cirratum as a study model and compared the results with other resident benthic sharks, as well as highly mobile apex sharks. Muscle tissue samples from 28 nurse sharks opportunistically sampled from the Brazilian Amazon Coast were analyzed. Lower metal concentrations were observed for Pb, Rb and Se in the rainy season, while statistically significant correlations between metals were observed only between Hg and Cd and Pb and Se. Molar ratio calculations indicate potential protective Se effects against Pb, but not against Cd and Hg. No associations between MT and the determined metals were observed, indicating a lack of detoxification processes via the MT detoxification route. The same was noted for GSH, indicating no induction of this primary cellular antioxidant defense. Our results indicate that benthic/mesopredator sharks with resident behavior are, in fact, as impacted as highly mobile apex predators, with the traditional detoxification pathways seemingly inefficient for the investigated species. Moreover, considering the studied population and other literature data, pollution should be listed as a threat to the species in future risk assessments.

To compare the health risks of multiple metal(loid)s in groundwater, and discuss the feasibility of drinking water standards, 66 groundwater samples were collected from the Hetao Plain in October 2017. Eighteen metal(loid) species (boron (B), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), lithium (Li), scandium (Sc), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), selenium (Se), rubidium (Rb), molybdenum (Mo), uranium (U)) were analyzed, and the related non-carcinogenic risks were assessed. The results showed that 83.3% of the groundwater samples had As and Fe contents above the maximum allowed contaminant levels (MCLs) in drinking water standards, followed by Mn (70.2%), B (65.2%), Se (60.6%), U (18.2%), Ni (18.2%) and Mo (1.50%). Compared with the dermal exposure pathway, oral ingestion made a risk contribution of more than 99% for all target metal(loid)s. Site-specific hazard quotient (HQ) values ranged from 2.30E+00 to 1.75E+02, indicating that multiple metal(loid)s in the drinking groundwater cause a serious non-carcinogenic risk to the local people. The risk contributions (mean value) were ranked as As (55.2%) > U (25.5%) > Li (10.8%) > other total metal(loid)s (8.60%), and the contributions of U and Li could reach 91.7% (site 20) and 69.8% (site 56), respectively. The calculation of specific health risks further indicated that the MCLs of metal(loid)s do not match the corresponding health risk well. Some metal(loid)s such as Li that showed high exposure risks in this study, still have no MCL values until now. Therefore, current drinking water standards need to be updated.

The Atrato watershed is a rainforest that supports exceptional wildlife species and is considered one of the most biodiversity-rich areas on the planet, currently threatened by massive gold mining. Aimed to protect this natural resource, the Constitutional Court of Colombia declared the river subject to rights. The objective of this study was to quantify trace elements in sediments and fish from Atrato watershed, assessing their environmental and human health risk. Forty-two trace elements were quantified using ICP-MS. Thirty-one elements increased their concentration downstream the river. Concentration Factors (CF) suggest sediments were moderately polluted by Cr, Cu, Cd, and strongly polluted by As. Most stations had Cr (98%) and Ni (78%) concentrations greater than the Probable Effect Concentration (PEC) criteria. Together, toxic elements generate a Pollution Load Index (PLI) and a Potential Ecological Risk Index (RI) that categorized 54% of the sediments as polluted, and 90% as moderate polluted, respectively. Hemiancistrus wilsoni, a low trophic guild fish species, had the greater average levels for Ni, Cu, As and Cd, among other elements. Rubidium and Cs showed a positive correlation with fish trophic level, suggesting these two metals biomagnify in the food chain. The Hazard Quotient (HQ) for As was greater than 1 for several species, indicating a potential risk to human health. Collectively, data suggest gold mining carried out in this biodiversity hotspot releases toxic elements that have abrogated sediment quality in Atrato River, and their incorporation in the trophic chain constitutes a large threat on environmental and human health due to fish consumption. Urgent legal and civil actions should be implemented to halt massive mining-driven deforestation to enforce Atrato River rights.

Air pollution remains a major global public health and environmental issue. We assessed the levels of PM₂.₅ and delineated the major sources in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) sampling was performed from February 26, 2014–January 27, 2015 in four cycles/seasons. Samples were analyzed for black carbon (BC) and trace elements (TEs). PM₂.₅ source apportionment was performed by computing enrichment factors (EFs) and positive matrix factorization (PMF). Backward-in time trajectories were used to assess the long-range transport. Significant seasonal variations in PM₂.₅ were observed, Spring: 113 ± 67.1, Summer: 88.3 ± 36.4, Fall: 67.8 ± 24, and Winter: 67.6 ± 36.9 μg m⁻³. The 24-h PM₂.₅ exceeded the WHO (25 μg m⁻³) and Saudi Arabia's (35 μg m⁻³) guidelines, with an air quality index (AQI) of “unhealthy to hazardous” to human health. Most delta–C computations were below zero, indicating minor contributions from bio-mass burning. TEs were primarily Si, Ca, Fe, Al, S, K and Mg, suggesting major contributions from soil (Si, Ca, Fe, Al, Mg), and industrial and vehicular emissions (S, Ca, Al, Fe, K). EF defined two broad categories of TEs as: anthropogenic (Cu, Zn, Eu, Cl, Pb, S, Br and Lu), and earth-crust derived (Al, Si, Na, Mg, Rb, K, Zr, Ti, Fe, Mn, Sr, Y, Cr, Ga, Ca, Ni and Ce). Notably, all the anthropogenic TEs can be linked to industrial and vehicular emissions. PMF analysis defined four major sources as: vehicular emissions, 30.1%; industrial-mixed dust, 28.9%; soil/earth-crust, 24.7%; and fossil-fuels/oil combustion, 16.3%. Plots of wind trajectories indicated wind direction and regional transport as major influences on air pollution levels in Makkah. In collusion, anthropogenic emissions contributed >75% of the observed air pollution in Makkah. Developing strategies for reducing anthropogenic emissions are paramount to controlling particulate air pollution in this region.