Toxicity of the pyrethroid bifenthrin insecticide

Bifenthrin is a chiral synthetic pyrethroid insecticide that has been commonly used for agricultural and domestic pest control over the past decades. Due to its widespread application, residues of bifenthrin has been frequently detected in environmental media, residential areas and biota, thus posing potential risks to the health of wildlife and humans. In particular, bifenthrin exhibits high acute lethal toxicity to aquatic species, and it is the primary contributor to the toxicity of insecticides in waters. Additionally, bifenthrin can also cause sublethal toxic effects on various non-target organisms, including developmental toxicity, neurobehavioral toxicity, oxidative damage, immune toxicity and endocrine disrupting effects. Here we review recent studies about the fate of bifenthrin in the environment and biological systems, the toxicity of the chiral parent compound bifenthrin and the toxic effects of main metabolites. The adverse effects of bifenthrin, identified from both in vitro and in vivo studies, and the potential underlying mechanisms are presented. We discuss the enantiomeric difference in the toxicological effects of bifenthrin, since enantiomers of chiral compounds show different interactions with biological systems. Pyrethroid insecticides metabolites are not acutely toxic, but they have sublethal toxicity, such as endocrine disrupting effects and immunotoxicity. We provide emerging evidence for toxic effects of several main metabolites.     

Contamination characteristics of trace metals in dust from different levels of roads of a heavily air-polluted city in north China

Concentrations of eight trace metals (TMs) in road dust (RD) (particles?<?25 μm) from urban areas of Xinxiang, China, were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The geometric mean concentrations of Zn, Mn, Pb, As, Cu, Cr, Ni and Cd were 489, 350, 114, 101, 60.0, 39.7, 31.6, and 5.1 mg kg^?1, respectively. When compared with TM levels in background soil, the samples generally display elevated TM concentrations, except for Cr and Mn, and for Cd the enrichment value was 69.6. Spatial variations indicated TMs in RD from park path would have similar sources with main roads, collector streets and bypasses. Average daily exposure doses of the studied TMs were about three orders of magnitude higher for hand-to-mouth ingestion than dermal contact, and the exposure doses for children were 9.33 times higher than that for adults. The decreasing trend of calculated hazard indexes (HI) for the eight elements was As?>?Pb?>?Cr?>?Mn?>?Cd?>?Zn?>?Ni?>?Cu for both children and adults.     

Comparison of membrane fouling in ultrafiltration of down-flow and up-flow biological activated carbon effluents

The UF membrane fouling by down- and up-flow BAC effluents were compared. Up-flow BAC effluent fouled the membrane faster than down-flow BAC effluent. The combined effects dominated irreversible fouling. The extent of fouling exacerbated by inorganic particles was higher. The TMP, permeate flux, and normalized membrane flux during 21 days of UF of DBAC and UBAC effluents. Fouling during ultrafiltration of down- and up-flow biological activated carbon effluents was investigated to determine the roles of polysaccharides, proteins, and inorganic particles in ultrafiltration membrane fouling. During ultrafiltration of down- flow biological activated carbon effluent, the trans-membrane pressure was≤26 kPa and the permeate flux was steady at 46.7 L?m⁻²?h⁻¹. However, during ultrafiltration of up-flow biological activated carbon effluent, the highest trans-membrane pressure was almost 40 kPa and the permeate flux continuously decreased to 30 L?m⁻²?h⁻¹. At the end of the filtration period, the normalized membrane fluxes were 0.88 and 0.62 for down- and up-flow biological activated carbon effluents, respectively. The membrane removed the turbidity and polysaccharides content by 47.4% and 30.2% in down- flow biological activated effluent and 82.5% and 22.4% in up-flow biological activated carbon effluent, respectively, but retained few proteins. The retention of polysaccharides was higher on the membrane that filtered the down- flow biological activated effluent compared with that on the membrane that filtered the up-flow biological activated carbon effluent. The polysaccharides on the membranes fouled by up-flow biological activated carbon and down- flow biological activated effluents were spread continuously and clustered, respectively. These demonstrated that the up-flow biological activated carbon effluent fouled the membrane faster. Membrane fouling was associated with a portion of the polysaccharides (not the proteins) and inorganic particles in the feed water. When there was little difference in the polysaccharide concentrations between the feed waters, the fouling extent was exacerbated more by inorganic particles than by polysaccharides.     

Roles of acid-producing bacteria in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge

Three acid-producing strains, AFB-1, AFB-2 and AFB-3, were isolated during this study, and their roles in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS) were evaluated. Data of 16S rRNA method showed that AFB-1 and AFB-2 were Bacillus coagulans, and AFB-3 was Escherichia coli. The removal in terms of volatile solids (VS) and total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) was maximized at 42.7% and 44.7% by inoculating Bacillus coagulans AFB-1. Besides, the optimal inoculum concentration of Bacillus coagulans AFB-1 was 30% (v/v). Solubilization degree experiments indicated that solubilization ratios (SR) of WAS reached 20.8%±2.2%, 17.7%±1.48%, and 11.1%±1.53%. Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) concentrations and compositions were also explored with a gas chromatograph. The results showed that VFAs improved by 98.5%, 53.0% and 11.6% than those of the control, respectively. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) experiments revealed that biogas production increased by 90.7% and 75.3% when inoculating with Bacillus coagulans AFB-1 and AFB-2. These results confirmed that the isolated acid-producing bacteria, especially Bacillus coagulans, was a good candidate for anaerobic digestion of WAS.

Open image in new window

     

An extraction-assay system: Evaluation on flavonols in plant resistance to Pb and Cd by supercritical extraction-gas chromatography

In this research, supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SFE) showed better extraction effect when compared with Solid- liquid extraction (SLE), Soxhlet extraction (SE) and Ultrasonic extraction (UE), not only in the rate but also the time. The comparison among these three extraction modifiers, including acetone, ethanol and methanol demonstrated that ethanol was preferred to SFE due to its high extraction effect and low toxicology. In addition, parameter of SFE, influence of temperature and pressure were investigated, and the best extraction effect was achieved at the optima conditions, temperature of 40°C and the pressure of 35 MPa. Thus, SFE is a highly effective method for flavonols extraction, requiring minimum energy and producing non-toxic byproduct. SFE-GC system is applied for the evaluation on flavonols that plays a key role in plant resistance to heavy metal, with its content and synthetase gene expression significantly increasing in plant when threatened by heavy metal. Besides, results indicated that flavonols can improve plant resistance to oxidative stress by quenching the redundant ROS in matrix.

Open image in new window

     

Historical trends of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) recorded in sediments across the Tibetan Plateau

Sediment cores from four lakes across the Tibetan Plateau were used as natural archives to study the time trends of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). The total concentrations of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (ΣDDT) and hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (ΣHCH) were in the range of 0.04–1.61 and 0.08–1.88 ng/g based on dry weight (dw), while the input fluxes were in the range of 0.3–236 and 0.7–295 pg/cm²/y in the core sediments, respectively. The input fluxes of ΣDDT and ΣHCH generally peaked in sediment layers corresponding to the 1970s–1990s and peaked in top sediment layers. The ratio of α/γ-HCH decreased in the top layer sediments, implying that the contribution of lindane (pure γ-HCH) has been increasing in recent years. In addition, the ratio of o,p′-DDT/p,p′-DDT increased significantly over the last 15–20 years, suggesting that dicofol (characterized by high ratio of o,p′-DDT/p,p′-DDT about 7.0) has recently become a relatively more important source of DDT compared to technical DDT itself. The time trends of OCPs recorded in lake sediments examined the impact on such remote alpine regions by human activities.     

洱海流域湖泊湖滨带福寿螺时空分布

福寿螺是世界100种恶性入侵物种中唯一的水生螺,已对大理及周边地区造成了不可估量的经济损失和生态安全问题。为探究洱海流域湖泊湖滨带福寿螺时空分布及与水环境因子、季节之间的关系,探索福寿螺在大理地区的入侵机制,为大理地区高效防治福寿螺提供建设性建议,并为福寿螺时空分布格局的相关研究积累资料,于2016年冬季和2017年夏季在大理洱海及其上游水源地海西海、西湖、茈碧湖、绿玉池,以及罗时江湿地进行系统抽样,利用统计软件分析福寿螺分布与水质关系,结合GIS,分析福寿螺的时空分布以及潜在入侵危害。结果表明,从空间尺度上,洱海流域福寿螺有进一步扩散的趋势;从时间尺度上,福寿螺的密度随季节性水位的改变而变化;洱海流域的福寿螺分布和水质因子之间基本无相关性。     

环境DNA(eDNA)宏条形码技术对枝角类浮游动物物种鉴定及其生物量监测研究

环境DNA(eDNA)宏条形码(Metabarcoding)技术越来越多地被应用于环境中物种定性识别,但如何定量监测物种在环境中的丰度尚未得到解决。本研究以太湖流域常见的5种浮游动物拟同形溞、大型溞、蚤状溞、多刺裸腹溞、老年低额溞为研究对象,建立了一种基于eDNA宏条形码技术的物种定量方法,并与实时荧光定量PCR(qPCR)相比较,研究了eDNA宏条形码技术多物种定量的准确性。结果表明,PCR引物对eDNA宏条形码的物种检测和定量影响显著。313 bp COI313引物对浮游动物物种覆盖度高,但是物种间DNA扩增的偏好性大,不适用于eDNA宏条形码定量检测。基于COI序列重新设计的短COI116引物能够同时检测出所有5个物种。荧光定量PCR(qPCR)物种拷贝数与物种相对占比呈正相关。eDNA宏条形码所检出每个物种的序列数与qPCR定量拷贝数高度一致。综上,eDNA宏条形码技术可实现对浮游动物物种的半定量检测,在生物多样性监测和生物完整性评价有显著的应用价值。     

滨海滩涂不同围垦年代垦区农作物重金属累积特征及其与氮、磷的关系

为探明滨海滩涂围垦区农作物重金属累积特征及其与围垦年代、作物氮磷含量及化学计量比的关系,采集盐城地区不同围垦年代(围垦20、30、40、60年)农田4种主要作物(大麦、小麦、油菜、蚕豆)样品63个,测定了其根、茎叶和籽粒中Cd、Cu、Zn、Pb、Hg、As及全氮(N)、全磷(P)和粗蛋白(CP)含量,分析了重金属累积特征及与围垦年代、N、P、CP及N/P比的关系,并采用单因子污染指数法和内梅罗综合污染指数法对重金属污染程度和安全水平进行了评价。结果表明,1)围垦农田作物整株各指标含量分别为Cd (0.52±0.94)、Cu (12.98±16.00)、Zn (34.93±27.91)、Pb (3.50±5.88)、Hg (0.0063±0.0063)、As (1.94±3.72) mg·kg~(-1)及N(13.69±8.27)、P (5.98±2.24)、CP (79.55±49.54) g·kg~(-1);籽粒中则分别为(0.0059±0.020)、(1.83±1.48)、(11.13±4.45)、(0.09±0.30)、(0.0023±0.0036)、(0.0021±0.0048) mg·kg~(-1)及(19.21±7.68)、(6.04±1.64)、(111.78±47.81) g·kg~(-1); 2)作物重金属均表现为根茎叶籽粒,N和CP与之相反,表现为根茎叶籽粒,而P则表现为根籽粒茎叶; 3)不同围垦年代之间作物重金属、N、P、CP含量、N/P比及综合污染指数(Pz)均没有显著差异(P0.05); 4)各作物籽粒6种重金属单因子污染指数均值均小于1,除个别样品Pb超标(超标率11%)外,其他重金属均未超标; 5)作物籽粒重金属Pz均值为0.38,表明该地区作物重金属总体处于安全级,但大麦、小麦、油菜籽粒均有样品Pb含量超过警戒线,个别样品甚至达到重度污染水平; 6)作物整株各重金属之间、重金属与P之间均存在显著正相关(P0.01),而重金属与N、CP、N/P存在显著负相关(P0.01),在籽粒中则相关性均不显著(P0.05)。以上结果显示,盐城滨海滩涂围垦区作物重金属累积与围垦时间关系不大,其含量目前尚处于可接受范围内,但Pb污染值得关注,作物重金属与P之间存在一定的相互促进作用,而与N存在一定的拮抗作用,高氮低磷的机体养分状况有助于降低重金属含量。     

The origin of high hydrocarbon groundwater in shallow Triassic aquifer in Northwest Guizhou,China

Original high hydrocarbon groundwater represents a kind of groundwater in which hydrocarbon concentration exceeds 0.05 mg/L. The original high hydrocarbon will significantly reduce the environment capacity of hydrocarbon and lead environmental problems. For the past 5 years, we have carried out for a long-term monitoring of groundwater in shallow Triassic aquifer in Northwest Guizhou, China. We found the concentration of petroleum hydrocarbon was always above 0.05 mg/L. The low-level anthropogenic contamination cannot produce high hydrocarbon groundwater in the area. By using hydrocarbon potential, geochemistry and biomarker characteristic in rocks and shallow groundwater, we carried out a comprehensive study in Dalongjing (DLJ) groundwater system to determine the hydrocarbon source. We found a simplex hydrogeology setting, high-level water–rock–hydrocarbon interaction and obviously original hydrocarbon groundwater in DLJ system. The concentration of petroleum hydrocarbon in shallow aquifer was found to increase with the strong water–rock interaction. Higher hydrocarbon potential was found in the upper of Guanling formation (T₂g³) and upper of Yongningzhen formation (T₁yn⁴). Heavily saturated carbon was observed from shallow groundwater, which presented similar distribution to those from rocks, especially from the deeper groundwater. These results indicated that the high concentrations of original hydrocarbon in groundwater could be due to the hydrocarbon release from corrosion and extraction out of strata over time.