Phthalate ester (PAE) accumulation in crops poses great risks to human health and has aroused great concern. Here, we investigated variations in di-n-butylphthalate (DBP) and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) accumulation by various Chinese flowering cabbage cultivars and revealed their variation mechanism. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in shoot PAE concentrations of 28 cultivars. Moreover, significant positive correlations between DBP and DEHP concentrations in shoots of all cultivars indicated that they could be taken up simultaneously by various cultivars. Due to the lower translocation factor of low-PAE accumulator, its shoot PAEs concentrations were much lower than root compared to high-PAE accumulator. Further, subcellular distribution showed that PAE concentrations of root cell walls and organelles were much higher than those of shoots in low-PAE accumulator. Therefore, lower translocation from root to shoot and more PAEs accumulating in cell walls and organelles of root might act as main formation mechanism of low-PAE accumulator.

Four genotypes of snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were selected to study the effects of ambient ozone concentration at a cropland area around Beijing by using 450 ppm of ethylenediurea (EDU) as a chemical protectant. During the growing season, the 8h (9:00–17:00) average ozone concentration was very high, approximately 71.3 ppb, and AOT40 was 29.0 ppm.h. All genotypes showed foliar injury, but ozone-sensitive genotypes exhibited much more injury than ozone-tolerant ones. Compared with control, EDU significantly alleviated foliar injury, increased photosynthesis rate and chlorophyll a fluorescence, Vcmax and Jmax, and seed and pod weights in ozone-sensitive genotypes but not in ozone-tolerant genotypes. EDU did not significantly affect antioxidant contents in any of the genotypes. Therefore, EDU effectively protected sensitive genotypes from ambient ozone damage, while protection on ozone-tolerant genotypes was limited. EDU can be regarded as a useful tool in risk assessment of ambient ozone on food security.

We synthesized the effects of ozone on wheat quality based on 42 experiments performed in Asia, Europe and North America. Data were analysed using meta-analysis and by deriving response functions between observed effects and daytime ozone concentration. There was a strong negative effect on 1000-grain weight and weaker but significant negative effects on starch concentration and volume weight. For protein and several nutritionally important minerals (K, Mg, Ca, P, Zn, Mn, Cu) concentration was significantly increased, but yields were significantly decreased by ozone. For other minerals (Fe, S, Na) effects were not significant or results inconclusive. The concentration and yield of potentially toxic Cd were negatively affected by ozone. Some baking properties (Zeleny value, Hagberg falling number) were positively influenced by ozone. Effects were similar in different exposure systems and for spring and winter wheat. Ozone effects on quality should be considered in future assessments of food security/safety.

Climate projections over the next century include disproportionately warmer nighttime temperatures (“asymmetrical warming”). Cool nighttime temperatures lower metabolic rates of aquatic ectotherms. In contaminated waters, areas with cool nights may provide thermal refugia from high rates of daytime contaminant uptake. We exposed Cope's gray tree frogs (Hyla chrysoscelis), southern leopard frogs (Lithobates sphenocephalus), and spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) to five concentrations of a mixture of cadmium, copper, and lead under three to four temperature regimes, representing asymmetrical warming. At concentrations with intermediate toxicosis at test termination (96 h), temperature effects on acute toxicity or escape distance were evident in all study species. Asymmetrical warming (day:night, 22:20 °C; 22:22 °C) doubled or tripled mortality relative to overall cooler temperatures (20:20 °C) or cool nights (22:18 °C). Escape distances were 40–70% shorter under asymmetrical warming. Results suggest potentially grave ecological impacts from unexpected toxicosis under climate change.

We evaluated the occurrence of 12 veterinary antibiotics and a beta agonist over spatial and temporal scales in Shell Creek, an intensively agricultural watershed in Nebraska, using Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Samplers (POCIS). Twelve pharmaceuticals were detected with concentrations ranging from 0.0003 ng/L to 68 ng/L. The antibiotics measured at the highest time-weighted average concentrations were lincomycin (68 ng/L) and monensin (49 ng/L), and both compounds were detected at increased concentrations in summer months. Analysis of variance indicates that mean concentrations of detected pharmaceuticals have no significant (p > 0.01) spatial variation. However, significant temporal differences (p < 0.01) were observed. This study demonstrates the utility of passive samplers such as POCIS for monitoring ambient levels of pharmaceuticals in surface waters.

Arsenic, cadmium and lead in aerosols, dusts and surface soils from Australia's oldest continuous lead mining town of Broken Hill were compared to standardised national childhood developmental (year 1) and education performance measures (years 3,5,7,9). Contaminants close to mining operations were elevated with maximum lead levels in soil: 8900 mg/kg; dust wipe: 86,061 μg/m2; dust deposition: 2950 μg/m2/day; aerosols: 0.707 μg/m3. The proportion of children from Broken Hill central, the area with the highest environmental contamination, presented with vulnerabilities in two or more developmental areas at 2.6 times the national average. Compared with other school catchments of Broken Hill, children in years 3 and 5 from the most contaminated school catchment returned consistently the lowest educational scores. By contrast, children living and attending schools associated with lower environmental contamination levels recorded higher school scores and lower developmental vulnerabilities. Similar results were identified in Australia's two other major lead mining and smelting cities of Port Pirie and Mount Isa.

The effects of chironomid larvae bioturbation on the lability of phosphorus (P) in sediments were investigated through sediment incubation for 140 days. High-resolution dialysis (HR-Peeper) and diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) techniques were applied to obtain soluble and labile P/Fe profiles at a millimeter resolution, respectively. The larvae bioturbation decreased concentrations of soluble/labile P and Fe by up to over half of the control at the sediment depths of influence up to 70 and 90 mm respectively. These effects continued over 116 days and disappeared on the 140th days due to eclosion of chironomid larvae. Labile P was highly correlated with labile Fe, while a weak correlation was observed between soluble P and soluble Fe. It was concluded that Fe(II) oxidation and its enhanced adsorption were the major mechanisms responsible for the decreases of soluble and labile P.

Phenanthrene (PHE) is a priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) which is toxic to aquatic organisms. However, there has been no paper dealing with water quality criteria (WQC) of PHE due to the shortage of toxicity data of different taxonomic levels. In the present study, toxicity data were obtained from 8 acute toxicity tests and 3 chronic toxicity tests using 8 Chinese native aquatic species from different taxonomic levels, and the water quality criteria was derived using 3 methods. Furthermore, differences of species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) between native and non-native species were compared. A criterion maximum concentration of 0.0514 mg/L and a criterion continuous concentration of 0.0186 mg/L were developed according to the US EPA guidelines. Finally, by using risk quotient (RQ) to assess the site-specific ecological risk in Liao River, the results indicated that the PHE might pose no risk to local aquatic species.

To implement metabolic activation by S9 rat liver homogenate in the selection of candidate promutagens in effect-directed analysis, we critically assessed the capability of LC-HRMS measurements to detect depletion and formation of metabolites by S9 exposure. The exposure of a reference mixture to S9 led to a depletion by >70% for most compounds. Other processes than metabolism were excluded as significant contribution to compound depletion. Metabolites formed by S9 exposure were identified and S9 metabolism was incorporated in the identification of candidate promutagens in a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent with mutagenic activity only after metabolic activation by S9. The metabolism by S9 in the WWTP effluent was confirmed. Based on a candidate exclusion of all peaks not depleted, thus not activated by the S9 mix, the number of candidate promutagens was reduced by 40%. Selected remaining candidates were evaluated and identified, but could not be confirmed as promutagens.

Cyhalofop-butyl is a selective herbicide widely employed in paddy field, which can transfer into aquatic environments. However, details of the environmental risk and aquatic toxicity of cyhalofop-butyl have not been fully investigated. In this study, zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were exposed to a range of cyhalofop-butyl until 120 hour post-fertilization (hpf) to assess embryonic toxicity of the chemical. Our results demonstrated that cyhalofop-butyl was highly toxic to zebrafish embryos, with concentration-dependent negative effects in embryonic development. In addition, exposure to cyhalofop-butyl resulted in significant increases in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cell apoptosis in heart area. The mRNA levels of the genes related to oxidative stress and apoptosis were also altered significantly after cyhalofop-butyl exposure. Moreover, the activity of capspase-9 and caspase-3 were significantly increased. Therefore, we speculated that oxidative stress-induced apoptosis should be responsible for abnormal development during embryogenesis after cyhalofop-butyl exposure.