Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

The goals of the present research were to determine the heavy metal contents in the water-soil-cauliflower samples in industrial wastewater irrigated areas and to assess the health risks of these metals to the people. Metal analyses were carried out using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer equipped with a graphite furnace. The metal readings in the cauliflower specimens ranged from 1.153 to 1.389, 0.037 to 0.095, 0.61 to 0.892, 0.625 to 0.921, 1.165 to 2.399, 0.561 to 0.652, 0.565 to 0.585, 0.159 to 0...

In aquatic ecosystem, metal pollution is an important environmental hazard. Mussels as a bioindicator species are often used for assessment the presence of potentially toxic metals. Hence, the present study aimed to assess the effect of seasonal variations on some heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Pb, As, Zn and Cu) accumulation in water and Dreissena polymorpha from lake habitat. Our result indicated that Zn accumulated at a very high level in the zebra mussels while As accumulated at a high level in water samples. Seasonal variations significantly affected Cu concentration in the water samples (P < 0...

Industrial chemical contamination is known to have immuno-toxic effects on birds. It may also interfere with natural stressful conditions to further disrupt the immune responses, but these possible interactive effects are still poorly documented in free-living birds. Using the phytohaemagglutinin skin-swelling test, we assessed how the T-cell mediated immune response varied according to the perceived risk of predation in hybrid sparrows, Passer domesticus × Passer hispaniolensis, originating from two sites differentially impacted by industrial chemical contamination, in southern Tunisia...

Plastic is an important part of today's human daily lifestyle, and it is classified as a "global pollutant" due to its durability. The natural degradation of plastic is extremely slow and will take a hundred years or more. The ultimate destinations of plastics as well as their effects on the ecosystem vary with the type of plastic and the rate of their degradation. In this study, an attempt was made to explain the degradation of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic beads with the help of selected bacterial isolates in both laboratory and field conditions...

In soil, chromium can be found in two main valence forms: hexavalent Cr (VI) and trivalent Cr (III). In terms of toxicity, the most toxic form to plants is Cr (VI). In the present study, we investigated the impact of Cr (VI) (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 ppm) on growth, physiological parameters and the translocation kinetics of Cr (VI) in the faba bean plant (Vicia faba L.). The results showed that Cr (VI) negatively affects growth parameters (- 15% to - 72%), tolerance index (- 34.05% to - 64...

This study assessed the concentrations of trace metals in tissues of Mytilus californianus from the west coast of Baja California, Mexico, during the cold and warm seasons. The concentrations of silver, cadmium, copper and zinc in mussel tissues were measured using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. Silver concentrations ranged from 0.03 to 0.48 µg/g dry weight (d.w.) with significantly higher values registered at sites close to densely populated areas. Cadmium, copper, and zinc concentrations ranged from 0...

Acetaminophen (N-acetyl-p-aminophenol; APAP) is one of the most widely used analgesics. To examine the toxicity of APAP, we used zebrafish embryos as model animals to detect the effect of APAP on the thyroid system of zebrafish embryos. The zebrafish embryos were exposed to APAP from 4 h post fertilization (4 hpf) until observation. The experimental results showed that APAP caused pericardial edema and decreased pigmentation in the zebrafish embryos or larvae. The APAP treatment caused a decrease in the expression of tpo and thrβ in the zebrafish at 36 and 72 hpf...

The adsorption/desorption of Rhodamine B (RhB) on Polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microplastics (MPs) was investigated in this study. The results showed that RhB adsorption on the selected MPs was fast. The adsorption coefficients (Kd ) of RhB were 2036 ± 129, 1557 ± 91, and 63 ± 8.5 L kg- 1 for PS, PP, and PVC, respectively. RhB adsorption on PS and PP increased with increasing temperature and decreasing ionic strength, whereas RhB adsorption on PVC showed a completely opposite trend...

This work evaluated the biochemical responses of the endogeic earthworm Balanteodrilus extremus exposed for 14 and 48 days (d) to soils collected from two tropical agricultural systems: maize-sorghum (MS) and soybean-sorghum (SS). A soil without agricultural management (WAM) and the use of pesticides was selected as a reference. The presence of organochlorine (OC) and organophosphate (OP) pesticide residues was quantified in MS and SS soils. Biomarkers of detoxification [glutathione S transferase (GST)], neurotoxicity [acetylcholinesterase (AChE)] and oxidative stress [superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and lipoperoxidation (LPO)] were evaluated in B...

Micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) have attracted growing global research attention due to their distinct environmental impacts, addressing escalating concerns. The diverse materials, sizes, and shapes of MNPs result in a range of environmental impacts. Size, a crucial characteristic of MNPs, influences their environmental behavior, affecting processes like migration, sedimentation, aggregation, and adsorption. Moreover, size modulates the biodistribution and toxicity of MNPs in aquatic organisms. This review delves into the comprehensive impacts of plastic size, with a primary focus on environmental behavior and toxic effects...

To understand the underlying molecular mechanisms, mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and zebrafish embryos were exposed to the control group and Tributyltin (TBT) group (10 ng/L, environmental concentration) for 48 h, respectively. The expression profiles of RNAs were investigated using whole-transcriptome analysis in mouse BMSCs or zebrafish embryos after TBT exposure. For mouse BMSCs, the results showed 2,449 differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs, 59 DE miRNAs, 317 DE lncRNAs, and 15 circRNAs...

Abundant iron and sulfate resources are present in acid mine drainage. The synthesis of schwertmannite from AMD rich in iron and sulfate could achieve the dual objectives of resource recovery and wastewater purification. However, schwertmannite cannot emerge spontaneously due to the Gibbs free energy greater than 0. This results in the iron and sulfate in AMD only being able to use the energy generated by oxidation in the coupling reaction to promote the formation of minerals, but this only achieved partial mineralization, which limited the remediation of AMD through mineralization...

In this work, the characteristics and mechanisms for atrazine adsorption-desorption with 9 types of soils were investigated with batch equilibrium studies, elemental analyses, infrared spectroscopy, and UV‒visible spectroscopy. The atrazine sorption data for the 9 soils showed better fits with the Freundlich model than the Langmuir model, except with Red earth in Jiangxi (REJ) The results showed that the adsorption capacity was positively correlated with the organic matter (OM) content and negatively correlated with cation-exchange capacity (CEC) and pH...

Airborne particulate matter is one of the air pollutants which can have detrimental health effects in the human body. Radionuclides adsorb onto air particles and make their way to humans primarily through inhalation. Naturally-occurring radionuclides, 210 Pb and 210 Po, are of notable health concern due to their relatively elevated ingestion and inhalation doses. In the current study, activity concentrations of 7 Be, 210 Pb and 210 Po were determined in air particulate matter (PM). PM2.5 was collected on the European side, while PM10 was collected on the Anatolian side of Istanbul...

In this study, the morphological characteristics of early juvenile shells of Anodonta woodiana, which were exposed to different concentrations of aqueous copper, were analyzed using 10 landmarks to determine morphological changes in the shells. Morphological changes mainly occurred at the top of the shell and front and back ends of the central axis. Stepwise discriminant analysis proved shape differences among experimental and control groups. The results of this study demonstrate for the first time that environmentally relevant copper concentrations cause stress-related morphological changes in A...

Traffic borne pollutants negatively affect organisms. This study aimed to determine the impact of traffic pollution on Auchenorrhyncha species and their usage as biomonitor for metal pollution. The study was carried out in the cherry orchard near the Amasya-Samsun D100/E80 motorway in Amasya, Türkiye. Metal concentrations in specimens tended to decrease with the increasing distance from the motorway. Significant variations were determined in some metal concentrations based on distance from the motorway...

Little is known about microplastics (MPs) in adult frogs. We investigated MPs in adult Common River Frogs (Amietia delalandii) from Potchefstroom, South Africa. Five kinds of samples were analysed: natural water, water used to rinse the skin, skin, intestine, and the remainder of the body (corpus). Tissues were digested. Microplastics occurred in all frogs and sample types (1128 MPs counted). Fibres were the most prevalent MP. Fibre lengths were between 28 and 4300 μm, either polyester or polyvinyl alcohol...

This study focused on constructing iron(III)-tetraamidomacrocyclic ligand (FeIII -TAML)-based magnetic nanostructures via a surfactant-assisted self-assembly (SAS) method to enhance the reactivity and recoverability of FeIII -TAML activators, which have been widely employed to degrade various organic contaminants. We have fabricated FeIII -TAML-based magnetic nanomaterials (FeIII -TAML/CTAB@Fe3 O4 , CTAB refers to cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) by adding a mixed solution of FeIII -TAML and NH3 ·H2 O into another mixture containing CTAB, FeCl2 and FeCl3 solutions...

There are growing concerns about elevated lead (Pb) levels in lip cosmetics, yet in China, the largest lip cosmetic market, recent Pb contamination in lip cosmetics and associated Pb exposure remain unclear. Here, we measured Pb levels of 29 popular lip cosmetics in China and conducted the bioaccessibility-corrected carcinogenic risk assessments and sensitivity analysis regarding Pb exposure for consumers using Monte Carlo simulation. The Pb concentrations of collected samples ranged from undetectable (< 0...

This study investigated the influence of soil water status on the toxicokinetics of phenanthrene in the springtail Folsomia candida allowing estimation of uptake and elimination rates at two contrasting soil water potentials. Fitting a three-phase model to the observations showed that uptake rate (ku ) was almost two times higher in moist soil (-2 kPa) than in dry soil (-360 kPa). During the first days of the exposure, elimination rate (ke ) was not significantly different in moist and dry soil, but after eight days ke had increased significantly more in moist soil than in dry soil...