Sewage sludge (SS) is a complex organic by-product of wastewater treatment plants. Deposition of large amounts of SS can increase the risk of soil contamination. Therefore, there is an increasing need for fast and accurate assessment of SS toxic potential. Toxic effects of SS were tested on earthworm Eisenia fetida tissue, at the subcellular and biochemical level. Earthworms were exposed to depot sludge (DS) concentration ratio of 30 or 70 %, to undiluted and to 100 and 10 times diluted active sludge (AS). The exposure to DS lasted for 24/48 h (acute exposure), 96 h (semi-acute exposure) and 7/14/28 days (sub-chronic exposure) and 48 h for AS. Toxic effects were tested by the measurements of multixenobiotic resistance mechanism (MXR) activity and lipid peroxidation levels, as well as the observation of morphological alterations and behavioural changes. Biochemical markers confirmed the presence of MXR inhibitors in the tested AS and DS and highlighted the presence of SS-induced oxidative stress. The MXR inhibition and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) concentration in the whole earthworm’s body were higher after the exposition to lower concentration of the DS. Furthermore, histopathological changes revealed damage to earthworm body wall tissue layers as well as to the epithelial and chloragogen cells in the typhlosole region. These changes were proportional to SS concentration in tested soils and to exposure duration. Obtained results may contribute to the understanding of SS-induced toxic effects on terrestrial invertebrates exposed through soil contact and to identify defence mechanisms of earthworms.

This study investigated estrogenic activity of water, sediment, and fish bile of the Pearl River in southern China by effect-directed analysis based on in vitro yeast screen assay and chemical analysis. Results showed higher estradiol equivalents (EEQ) for surface water in dry season than in wet season. Simple risk assessment suggested that high estrogenic risk would be expected in Shima River and Danshui River receiving discharge of effluents from cities in the region. Fractionation and effect-directed analysis showed that estrogenic activity mainly occurred in relatively polar fractions of surface water. Seven target estrogenic compounds (bisphenol A, 4-nonylphenol, 4-tert-octylphenol, 17α-ethynyl estradiol, estrone, diethylstilbestrol, and 17β-estradiol) only accounted for part of the measured estrogenic activity, with the rest contributions from other potential estrogenic chemicals such as phenols. Findings from this study suggest that fish in the river could be affected by those estrogenic chemicals. Proper measures should be taken to reduce the estrogenic activity in wastewaters before they are discharged into the riverine system in order to protect aquatic organisms.

Oil pollution in seawater, primarily visible on sea surface, becomes dispersed as an effect of wave mixing as well as chemical dispersant treatment, and forms spherical oil droplets. In this study, we examined the influence of oil droplet size of highly dispersed Petrobaltic crude on the underwater visible light flux and the inherent optical properties (IOPs) of seawater, including absorption, scattering, backscattering and attenuation coefficients. On the basis of measured data and Mie theory, we calculated the IOPs of dispersed Petrobaltic crude oil in constant concentration, but different log-normal size distributions. We also performed a radiative transfer analysis, in order to evaluate the influence on the downwelling irradiance E d , remote sensing reflectance R ᵣₛ and diffuse reflectance R, using in situ data from the Baltic Sea. We found that during dispersion, there occurs a boundary size distribution characterized by a peak diameter d ₀ = 0.3 μm causing a maximum E d increase of 40 % within 0.5-m depth, and the maximum E d decrease of 100 % at depths below 5 m. Moreover, we showed that the impact of size distribution on the “blue to green” ratios of R ᵣₛ and R varies from 24 % increase to 27 % decrease at the same crude oil concentration.

The extracellular polymeric substrate (EPS) extracted from Klebsiella sp. J1 was used to adsorb low concentrations of tetracycline, and the efficiency and mechanism of tetracycline adsorption by EPS from strain J1 were studied. Adsorption efficiency was evaluated at different conditions. Results showed that optimal adsorption efficiency was 71.68 % with 60 mg L⁻¹ of EPS from strain J1 and 90 μL of 10 % (w/v) CaCl₂ in 100 mL of tetracycline solution (80 μg L⁻¹) with pH of 8.0. Experimental data was fitted well with Langmuir, Freundlich isotherm, and pseudo-second-order models. Analyses of E value, Ea value, thermodynamics, zeta potential variation, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra proved that chemisorption was the main adsorption type and bridging was the main adsorption mechanism. Thermodynamic analysis indicated that adsorptive reaction was exothermic from 20 to 40 °C. In addition, humic acid (HA) showed little effect on the tetracycline adsorption by MFX.

Biodegradation of triphenylmethane dyes by microorganisms is hampered by the transport barrier imposed by cell membranes. On the other hand, cell-free systems using enzyme-based biodegradation strategy are costly. Therefore, an efficient and inexpensive approach circumventing these problems is highly desirable. Here, we constructed a self-sufficient system for synthetic dye removal by coupling of spore surface-displayed triphenylmethane reductase (TMR) and glucose 1-dehydrogenase (GDH) for the first time. Display of both TMR and GDH significantly enhanced their stability under conditions of extreme pH and temperature. These engineered spores also exhibited more robust long-term stability than their purified counterparts. Furthermore, we observed that a high ratio of spore-displayed GDH is necessary for high dye degradation efficiency. These results indicate that this continuous dye removal system with cofactor regeneration offers a promising solution for dye biodegradation applications.

This study investigated the occurrence of tetracycline antibiotics in soils from different organic vegetable farms in Guangzhou, a subtropical city, South China and evaluated their ecological risk. Four tetracycline compounds (oxytetracycline, tetracycline, chlortetracycline, and doxycycline) were extracted ultrasonically from soil samples (n = 69), with a solid-phase extraction cleanup, and were then measured by high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The results showed that four compounds were detected in all samples, with the concentrations of the individual compounds ranging from 0.04 to 184.8 μg/kg (dry weight). The concentrations of tetracycline compounds in the soils from different vegetable farms varied greatly, but their patterns of distribution were similar. Doxycycline was the predominant compound with a mean of 21.87 μg/kg, followed by chlortetracycline. The concentrations of doxycycline and chlortetracycline in 7.46 % of the samples were higher than the ecotoxic effect trigger value (100 μg/kg) set by the Steering Committee of Veterinary International Committee on Harmonization. Additionally, the concentrations of tetracyclines in greenhouse soils were significantly lower than those in open-field soils. Risk assessment based on single compound exposure showed that doxycycline could pose medium or high risks. Compared with other studies, the levels of tetracyclines in this study were relatively low. The hypothesis that antibiotic residues in the soil of organic farms fertilized with manure are higher than in the soils of conventional farms was not supported in the area studied due to the high levels of moisture, temperature, and microbial activity.

The contamination of water bodies by heavy metals and ionizing radiation is a critical environmental issue, which can affect water quality and, thus, human health. This study aimed to evaluate the water quality of the Boqueirão de Parelhas Dam in the Brazilian semiarid region. A 1-year study (2013–2014) was performed through the assessment of physicochemical parameters, heavy metal content, and radioactivity along with the mutagenicity potential of water using micronuclei test in Orechromis niloticus (in vivo) and the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay in human lymphocytes (in vitro). A deterioration of water organoleptics characteristics by the presence of high levels of sulfate and total solids was observed. High concentrations of aluminum, nickel, silver, and lead along with the alpha particle content were higher than the limits suggested by the World Health Organization and Brazilian legislation for drinking water. An increase in the frequency of micronuclei and nuclear abnormalities was observed in both experimental models. The results obtained confirmed the mutagenic potential present in water samples. This study highlights that geogenic agents affect water quality becoming a human health concern to be taken into account due to the relevance that this water reservoir has in the region.

The paper presents the studies on ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb activity determination in red-capped scaber (Leccinum aurantiacum (Bulliard) Gray) collected in northern Poland. The aims of the studies were to determine ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb content in analyzed mushrooms, evaluate the bioconcentration levels, and estimate possible related annual effective radiation dose to mushrooms consumers. The activities of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb in red-capped scaber were un-uniform and depended on sampling sites. But ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb activity concentrations did not reflect their concentrations in topsoil. The results showed that the consumption of analyzed mushrooms should not increase significantly the total effective radiation dose from ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb decay.

Imidacloprid (IMI) is a commonly used pesticide against aphids and accumulates in plant parts, maximum in leaves. Present study was conducted to check the efficiency of seed pre-soaking with 24-epibrassinolide (24-EBL) for reduction of this pesticide in the leaves of Brassica juncea L. plants raised from 24-EBL pre-soaked seeds and grown in soils supplemented with IMI. Leaves were analyzed for IMI residues using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Activities of guaiacol peroxidase (POD), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione S-transferase (GST), and glutathione (GSH) content were determined by spectrophotometry. Soil containing 350 mg IMI/kilogram soil resulted in 88.66 μg/g fresh weight (FW) of IMI residue in the leaves, which was maximum decrease to 35.31 μg/g FW (60.17 %), when seeds were pre-soaked in 100 nM 24-EBL. In this treatment (350 mg IMI/kilogram soil + 100 nM 24-EBL), GSH content, GR, POD, and GST activities were increased by 42.30, 34.5, 20.5, and 13.4 %, respectively, as compared to plants grown in soils amended with 350 mg IMI/kilogram soil.