Susceptibility of the freshwater pulmonate snail Lymnea luteola L. to copper oxide nanoparticle

Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONP) are among the most widely used engineered nanoparticles and thus likely to permate the environment predominantly in sediments. The present study was designed to examine the adverse effects of CuONP in freshwater snail Lymnea luteola L. (L. luteola) exposed for 5 days. Induction of oxidative stress in digestive gland was evidenced by a decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH) levels, and activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) whereas lipid peroxidation levels were increased at CuONP 7 or 21 µg/L. Superoxide dismutase activity was numerically higher at lower concentration of CuONP at 1 day but significantly decreased at 5 days. Catalase activity was reduced at 2 days but elevated at lower concentration of CuONP at 5 days. DNA impairment was noted in L. luteola based upon comet assay findings and expressed in terms of % tail DNA and olive tail moment. Results indicate that interaction of CuONP with snail produces toxicity, which is mediated by oxidative stress.     

Nanosilica exerts cytotoxicity and apoptotic response via oxidative stress in mouse embryonic fibroblasts

Nanoscale silica is an important industrial material and extensively used in medicines. The objective of this study was to determine potential cytotoxicity and genotoxic effects attributed to nanosilica exposure in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (L929) cells. Nanosilica produced mild cytotoxicity in L929 cells. Results showed that nanosilica increased thiobarbituric acid reactive substance levels and enhanced superoxide dismutase activity but decreased levels of glutathione. This was accompanied by a concomitant generation of reactive oxygen species, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and activation of caspase-3 activity. In addition, in the single-cell gel test, nanosilica (50–300 μg/ml) at two treatment times 24 and 48 hr produced concentration- and time-dependent increase of DNA damage. Therefore, the obtained results indicate that nanosilica may induce genotoxic effects in cultured L929 cells associated with induction of oxidative stress.     

Acute toxicity formation potential of benzophenone-type UV filters in chlorination disinfection process

Benzophenones （BPs） are a class of widely used UV filters, which have been frequently detected within multiple environmental matrices. Disinfection is a necessary process in water treatment processes. The transformation behaviors and toxicity changes of 14 BP-type UV filters during chlorination disinfection treatment were investigated in this study. A new index, the acute toxicity formation potential, was proposed to evaluate the toxicity changes and potential risks of BP-type UV filters during chlorination treatment. It was found that 13 of 14 BP-type UV filters exhibited toxicity decreases in the chlorination disinfection process, more or less, while one showed a toxicity increase. The toxicity changes were dependent on substitution effects, such that 2,4-di-hydroxylated or 3-hydroxylated BPs exhibited significant toxicity decreases after chlorination treatment due to the ready cleavage of the aromatic ring. Importantly, the acute toxicity changes could be duplicated in an ambient water matrix.     

Genotoxicity evaluation of water soil leachates by Ames test, comet assay, and preliminary Tradescantia micronucleus assay

Combining genotoxicity/mutagenicity tests and physico-chemical methodologies can be useful for determining the potential genotoxic contaminants in soil samples. The aim of our study was to evaluate the genotoxicity of soil by applying an integrated physico-chemical-biological approach. Soil samples were collected at six sampling points in a Slovenian industrial and agricultural region where contamination by heavy metals and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) are primarily caused by a nearby power plant. The in vitro alkaline version of the comet assay on water soil leachates was performed with Caco-2 and HepG2 cells. A parallel genotoxicity evaluation of the samples was performed by Ames test using Salmonella typhimurium and the Tradescantia micronucleus test. Pedological analyses, heavy metal content determination, and different physico-chemical analyses, were also performed utilizing standard methodology. Water leachates of soil samples were prepared according to standard methods. Since only a battery of biotests with prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms or cells can accurately estimate the effects of (geno)toxicants in soil samples and water soil leachates, a combination of three bioassays, with cells or organisms belonging to different trophic levels, was used. Genotoxicity of all six water soil leachates was proven by the comet assay on both human cell lines, however no positive results were detected by bacterial assay, Ames test. The Tradescantia micronucleus assay showed increase in micronuclei formation for three samples. According to these results we can assume that the comet assay was the most sensitive assay, followed by the micronucleus test. The Ames test does not appear to be sensitive enough for water soil leachates genotoxicity evaluations where heavy metal contamination is anticipated.     

A sensitive monoclonal antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for chlorpyrifos residue determination in Chinese agricultural samples

A monoclonal antibody-based competitive antibody-coated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed and optimized for determining chlorpyrifos residue in agricultural products. The IC₅₀ and IC₁₀ of this ELISA were 3.3 ng/mL and 0.1 ng/mL respectively. The average recoveries in six agricultural products were between 79.5% and 118.0%, with the intra-assay coefficient of variation being less than 8 %. The limit of detection for all tested products was 30 ng/g. To the best of our knowledge, this assay has the best specificity among all the published research on ELISAs for chlorpyrifos.     

Determination of the carbon content of biomass—A prerequisite to estimate the complete biodegradation of polymers

This article presents a method to determine the carbon content of biomass, which is formed when degrading biodegradable polymers in an aerobic aqueous test system. Existing methods for determining the carbon content of biomass (e.g., fumigazation, protein assays, dry solids) have several disadvantages when applied for polymer degradation tests. In this work a protein assay based on the Lowry method was used. It was shown that the ratio between protein and carbon content is not constant but depends on the composition of the microbial population, the growth phase, and the substrate supply. This effect was used for the method presented in this article. For determining the carbon content of biomass the absorbance obtained by the Lowry test is correlated directly with the carbon content of biomass in dependence on the duration of the degradation test. The calibration curves are obtained by a mixed population of microorganisms during the course of a degradation test.     

Prescreening teratogenic potential of chlorinated drinking water disinfection by products by using Hydra regeneration assay

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Evaluation of mixture effects in a crude extract of compost using the CALUX bioassay and HPLC fractionation

Potential synergistic interactions between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a household sewage sludge compost extract were investigated using the Dioxin-Responsive Chemical-Activated Luciferase gene eXpression (DR-CALUX) assay and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) fractionation. The biological activity of the crude extract was measured in vitro using the CALUX assay. The CALUX activity of the extract was as potent as 360-pg CALUX-TEQ (2,3,7,8-TCDD equivalent value) per g sample, this was 70 times above the WHO-TEQ value which was derived from chemical analyses of dioxins/furans and dioxin-like PCBs of the mixture. The CALUX activity pattern of the crude extract and the retention times of 26 polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs), as determined by RP-HPLC on an octadecylsilica column, suggested that the dioxin-like compounds with the log K(OW) (n-octanol/water partition coefficient) values corresponding to 6.0-7.0 contributed highly to the whole activity. The CALUX activity of the crude extract was three times the sum of the CALUX activities of the RP-HPLC separated fractions. Mixture effects were assessed by co-exposure of each HPLC fraction and 2,3,7,8-TCDD to the cells. The four concentration levels of added 2,3,7,8-TCDD corresponded to the TEQ value in the original compost sample. The experimental CALUX activity was higher than the predicted CALUX activity for some fractions. It was demonstrated that some compounds in the compost sample interacted synergistically with 2,3,7,8-TCDD in terms of dioxin-like activity. This finding points out the necessity for detailed investigation of synergistic effects in environmental samples.     

彗星试验的改良及其在工业废水监测中的应用

为了探讨彗星试验在工业废水监测中的应用,本文将常规的细胞暴露方式改良为浸泡染毒,既提高了实验的敏感性,又使得该试验直接用于监测工业废水的遗传毒性成为可能．作者用改良彗星试验直接检测了几种工业废水所引起的V79细胞DNA损伤．结果表明,所测的各种工业废水均含有DNA损伤剂,能够诱发培养的V79细胞DNA链断裂,其中以制革厂废水的DNA损伤作用最强．本研究显示出改良彗星试验在综合评价各种废水遗传毒性方面的广阔应用前景．     

长江南京段水体中有机污染物的遗传毒性研究

运用人外周血淋巴细胞彗星试验和蚕豆根尖细胞微核试验对长江南京段水体中有机污染物的遗传毒性进行了研究. 结果表明:长江南京段水体中的有机污染物对人外周血淋巴细胞和蚕豆根尖细胞均产生了不同程度的损伤,存在明显的遗传毒性,有机物是导致水体遗传毒性的主要因素. 试验结果与水体的有机污染状况基本一致. 彗星试验结果及趋势与微核试验相吻合,但前者更为敏感. 彗星试验和微核试验的结合使用在水环境的遗传毒性监测方面具有较大的应用价值.