Pollen allergens, widely present in the atmosphere, are the main cause of seasonal respiratory diseases that affect millions of people worldwide. Although previous studies have reported that nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and ozone (O₃) promote pollen allergy, the specific biological processes and underlying mechanisms remain less understood. In this study, Platanus pollen grains were exposed to gaseous pollutants (NO₂ and O₃). We employed environmental electron microscopy, flow cytometry, western blot assay, enzyme-linked immunoassay, ultraviolet absorption spectrometry, circular dichroism, and protein mass spectrometry to characterise the subpollen particles (SPPs) released from pollen grains. Furthermore, we determined the immunogenicity and pathogenicity induced by Platanus pollen allergen a 3 (Pla a 3). Our results demonstrated that NO₂ and O₃ could damage the pollen cell membranes in SPPs and increase the amount of Pla a 3 allergen released into the atmosphere. Additionally, NO₂ and O₃ altered the structure of Pla a3 protein through nitrification and oxidation, which not only enhanced the immunogenicity of allergens but also increased the stability of the protein. In vivo analysis using an animal model indicated that NO₂ and O₃ greatly aggravated pollen-induced pneumonia. Thus, our study provides guidance for the prevention of pollen allergic diseases.

Seed coating (‘seed treatment’) is the leading delivery method of neonicotinoid insecticides in major crops such as soybean, wheat, cotton and maize. However, this prophylactic use of neonicotinoids is widely discussed from the standpoint of environmental costs. Growing soybean plants from neonicotinoid-coated seeds in field, we demonstrate that soybean aphids (Aphis glycines) survived the treatment, and excreted honeydew containing neonicotinoids. Biochemical analyses demonstrated that honeydew excreted by the soybean aphid contained substantial concentrations of neonicotinoids even one month after sowing of the crop. Consuming this honeydew reduced the longevity of two biological control agents of the soybean aphid, the predatory midge Aphidoletes aphidimyza and the parasitic wasp Aphelinus certus. These results have important environmental and economic implications because honeydew is the main carbohydrate source for many beneficial insects in agricultural landscapes.

140 contaminants belonging to various classes (organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticides, pyrethroid insecticides, carbamates, fungicides, acaricides, herbicides, synergists, insect growth regulators, polychlorobiphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) were simultaneously analysed by GC-MS/MS in marine sediments, aquatic plant leaves and fish tissues samples. A total of 260 samples from five stations along the coast of Tunisia were evaluated. The results highlight that only 28 residues (12 polychlorobiphenyls, 8 organochlorine pesticides, 7 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and triphenyl phosphate) were detected at levels higher than relative LOQ values. The amounts in sediment samples were compared with Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs) showing that the values are acceptable and no toxic effect is expected on aquatic organisms. A little variation of contaminant residues in sediment samples among coastal stations was recorded. Namely, with respect to almost all polychlorobiphenyls and organochlorine pesticides, higher values were recorder in summer. With respect to almost all polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, higher values were recorder in autumn. Aquatic plant leaves showed a residue accumulation higher than that of other compartments of marine system. The data about fish samples (Sparus aurata and Sarpa salpa, the two most frequently caught fish species at five sites on the central coast of Tunisia) do not pose direct hazard to human health because values were lower than protection limits.

Biomass of Java plum (JP) and amaltash (AT) seeds were employed to remove arsenic from synthetic wastewater, cost effectively. The prepared biomasses were characterized by FE-SEM, EDX, FTIR, XRD, and ICP techniques. Experimentation the optimization study has been carried out by using Design-software 6.0.8. Response surface methodology has been applied to design the experiments where we have used three factors and three levels Box-Behnken design (BBD). Arsenic removal ability of bio-sorbents was evaluated and optimized by varying pH, adsorbent dose concentration of arsenic in synthetic wastewater. For 2.5 mg/L arsenic concentration and 80 mg adsorbent dose at pH 8.8 Java plum seeds (JP) based bio-adsorbent removed ∼93% and amaltash seeds (AT) based bio-adsorbent removed ∼91% arsenic from synthetic wastewater. The adsorption behaviour better explained following Freundlich model (R² = 0.99) compared to Temkin model (R² = 0.986) for As (III) ions. The adsorption capacity was 1.45 mg g⁻¹ and 1.42 mg g⁻¹ for JP and AT, respectively after 80 min under optimal set of condition. The adsorption kinetics was explained by either pseudo-first order model or Elovich model.

Mammalian polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) metabolism has not been systematically explored with nontarget high-resolution mass spectrometry (Nt-HRMS). Here we investigated the importance of the gut microbiome in PCB biotransformation by Nt-HRMS analysis of feces from conventional (CV) and germ-free (GF) adult female mice exposed to a single oral dose of an environmental PCB mixture (6 mg/kg or 30 mg/kg in corn oil). Feces were collected for 24 h after PCB administration, PCB metabolites were extracted from pooled samples, and the extracts were analyzed by Nt-HRMS. Twelve classes of PCB metabolites were detected in the feces from CV mice, including PCB sulfates, hydroxylated PCB sulfates (OH-PCB sulfates), PCB sulfonates, and hydroxylated methyl sulfone PCBs (OH-MeSO₂-PCBs) reported previously. We also observed eight additional PCB metabolite classes that were tentatively identified as hydroxylated PCBs (OH-PCBs), dihydroxylated PCBs (DiOH-PCBs), monomethoxylated dihydroxylated PCBs (MeO-OH-PCBs), methoxylated PCB sulfates (MeO-PCB sulfates), mono-to tetra-hydroxylated PCB quinones ((OH)ₓ-quinones, x = 1–4), and hydroxylated polychlorinated benzofurans (OH-PCDF). Most metabolite classes were also detected in the feces from GF mice, except for MeO-OH-PCBs, OH-MeSO₂-PCBs, and OH-PCDFs. Semi-quantitative analyses demonstrate that relative PCB metabolite levels increased with increasing dose and were higher in CV than GF mice, except for PCB sulfates and MeO-PCB sulfates, which were higher in GF mice. These findings demonstrate that the gut microbiome plays a direct or indirect role in the absorption, distribution, metabolism, or excretion of PCB metabolites, which in turn may affect toxic outcomes following PCB exposure.

Children’s respiratory health are particularly vulnerable to outdoor air pollution, but evidence is lacking on the very acute effects of air pollution on the risk of acute upper respiratory infections (AURI) and acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) in children. This study aimed to evaluate the risk of cause-specific AURI and ALRI, in children within 24 h of exposure to air pollution. We obtained data on emergency cases, including 11,091 AURI cases (acute pharyngitis, acute tonsillitis, acute obstructive laryngitis and epiglottitis, and unspecified acute upper respiratory infections) and 11,401 ALRI cases (pneumonia, acute bronchitis, acute bronchiolitis, unspecified acute lower respiratory infection) in Brisbane, Australia, 2013–2015. A time-stratified case-crossover analysis was used to examine the hourly association of AURI and ALRI with high concentration (95th percentile) of four air pollutants (particulate matters with aerodynamic diameter <10 μm (PM₁₀) and <2.5 μm (PM₂.₅), ozone (O₃), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂)). We observed increased risk of acute tonsillitis associated with PM₂.₅ within 13–24 h (odds ratio (OR), 1.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02–2.06) and increased risk of unspecified acute upper respiratory infections related to O₃ within 2–6 h (OR, 1.38, 95%CI, 1.12–1.70), NO₂ within 1 h (OR, 1.19; 95%CI, 1.01–1.40), and PM₂.₅ within 7–12 h (OR, 1.21; 95%CI, 1.02–1.43). Cold season and nigh-time air pollution has greater effects on AURI, whereas greater risk of ALRI was seen in warm season and daytime. Our findings suggest exposures to particulate and gaseous air pollution may transiently increase risk of AURI and ALRI in children within 24 h. Prevention measures aimed at protecting children’s respiratory health should consider the very acute effects of air pollution.

Since the urbanization and industrialization are wildly spread in recent decades, the concentration of Zn in soil has increased in various regions. Although the interactions between P and Zn has long been recognized, the effect of high level of Zn on P uptake, translocation and distribution in rice and its molecular mechanism are not fully understood. In this study, we conducted both hydroponic culture and field trial with different combined applications of P and Zn to analyze the rice growth and yield, the uptake, translocation and distribution of P and Zn, as well as the P- and Zn-related gene expression levels. Our results showed that high level of Zn decreased the rice biomass and yield production, and inhibited the root-to-shoot translocation and distribution of P into new leaves by down-regulating P transporter genes OsPT2 and OsPT8 in shoot, which was controlled by OsPHR2-OsmiR399-OsPHO2 module. High Zn supply triggered P starvation signal in root, thereafter increased the activities of both root-endogenous and -secreted acid phosphatase to release more Pi, and induced the expression OsPT2 and OsPT8 to uptake more P for plant growth. On the other hand, high level of P significantly decreased the Zn concentrations in both root and shoot, and the root uptake ability of Zn through altering the expression levels of OsZIPs, which were further confirmed by the P high-accumulated mutant osnla1-2 and OsPHR2-OE transgenic plant. Taken together, we revealed the physiological and molecular mechanisms of P–Zn interactions, and proposed a working model of the cross-talk between P and Zn in rice plants. Our results also indicated that appropriate application of P fertilizer is an effective strategy to reduce rice uptake of excessive Zn when grown in Zn-contaminated soil.

Direct utilization of waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from the environment to form highly porous aerogel technology for oil absorption is an attractive approach from the view point of green chemistry. However, the oil absorption reaction is limited by low oil absorption capacity and less stability. For now, silica aerogel are used to solve these problem. Our goal is to substitute to these silica aerogel with PET aerogel technology. Herein, we have prepared an environmental waste PET based aerogel with 1.0:0.5 wt% PET, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and glutaraldehyde (GA) 0.2% v/v were dispersed in 10 mL DI water, followed by homogenization (30 min), sonication (10 min), and ageing (2 h) at 70 °C. To escape macroscopic cracking, cooling (8 h) at 4 °C was followed by freezing (6 h), freeze drying at −80 °C, and 5 mTorr for 18 h. The hybrid PET aerogel displays excellent performance towards oil absorption. Notably it showed high absorption capacity towards the different oils about 21–40 times its own weight, depending on the viscosity and density of the oil and solvents within 15–35 s, 25 °C, and 2 × 2 cm aerogel size. In addition, the aerogel shows there is no change in structure after several recycles due to high mechanical strength. Furthermore, because of the PET aerogel's high porosity (99.74%) and low density (0.0311 g/cm³), close bonding between PET-PVA occurs. Therefore, aerogel shows hydrophobic nature, good mechanical strength, high thermal stability, arrangement of the interconnected fibrillar pore network offers a high surface to volume ratio, low surface energy, high surface roughness, and more reusability. All these parameters are responsible for high oil absorption.

As filter feeders, bivalve mollusks have a high potential risk of contamination by microplastics (MPs), which can be considered a transfer vector for humans through their consumption. Spatial-temporal differences in the MP concentration were evaluated in the cultured oyster Magallana gigas in Todos Santos Bay (TSB) and San Quintin Bay (SQB) during winter and summer (2019). MPs were found in all samples in both seasons, where microfibers were the most abundant particles observed. Only in winter, statistically significant differences were observed in the average concentration of ingested MPs between oysters from TSB and SQB. In each bay, the highest concentrations were observed during winter. Seasonal differences between MP concentrations were only found in TSB. During summer, the content of MPs was compared between the digestive system and the rest of the soft tissue in organisms from each site, and statistically significant differences were not observed, except by one site in SQB. Polymers were identified via μ-FTIR-ATR spectrometry. Polyester, polyacrylonitrile, and rayon were the most common plastics detected. However, due to the low concentration of MPs found in oysters, its consumption does not represent a risk to human health. Moreover, MP concentrations in organisms appear to respond to variables, such as temporality and the water circulation dynamics within the bays.

Herbicides improve the productivity of a monoculture by eliminating weeds, although they may also be toxic and have negative effects on non-target organisms, such as amphibians. The present study evaluated the genotoxic, mutagenic, and histopathological hepatic responses of Dendropsophus minutus tadpoles to acute exposure (96 h) to the herbicide glyphosate (GLY, 65, 130, 260 and 520 μg/L) and the surfactant polyoxyethylene amine (POEA, 1.25, 2.5, 5 and 10 μg/L). On average, 174 % more genomic damage was observed in the tadpoles exposed to all concentrations of POEA in comparison with the control, while up to seven times more micronuclei were recorded, on average, at a concentration of 5 μg/L of POEA. All the individuals exposed to 10 μg/L of POEA died. The tadpoles exposed to GLY presented 165 % more DNA damage than the control, on average, at the highest concentrations (260 and 520 μg/L), and up to six times more micronuclei at 520 μg/L. The Erythrocyte Nuclear Abnormality test (ENA) detected a relatively high frequency of cells with lobed nuclei in the tadpoles expose to POEA at 5 μg/L and binucleated cells in those exposed to GLY at 520 μg/L. The hepatic histopathological observations revealed several types of lesions in the tadpoles exposed to both GLY and POEA. Overall, then, the results of the study indicate that both GLY and POEA have potential genotoxic, mutagenic, and hepatotoxic effects in D. minutus tadpoles. We emphasize the need for further studies to monitor the amphibian populations, such as those of D. minutus, which breed in aquatic environments associated with agricultural areas. The release of pollutants into natural habitats may have significant long-term impacts on the survival of anuran tadpoles.