The fungicide difenoconazole alters mRNA expression levels of human CYP3A4 in HepG2 cells

The fungicide difenoconazole has been frequently detected in agricultural products, soils and surface waters, causing increasingly public concern due to toxicological properties. Although systemic triazole fungicides can inhibit the enzymatic activity of many CYP450 isozymes, how difenoconazole affects the human CYP3A4 still remains largely unknown. We thus investigated the effect of difenoconazole on normal mRNA expression and protein expression of human CYP3A4 by real-time quantitative PCR and western blot, respectively. Results show that the exposure to difenoconazole from 0.01 to 0.5 μM for 24 h down-regulates mRNA expression levels of human CYP3A4 in HepG2 cells. We also found that difenoconazole could inhibit the enzymatic activity of human CYP3A4 in a concentration-dependent mode. The IC₅₀ of difenoconazole for inhibition of CYP3A4 activity is 0.41 µM, showing a stronger inhibitor in comparison with ketoconazole. Overall, our findings indicate the potential risk of difenoconazole for the disruption of human CYP3A4.     

Toxicity models of metal mixtures established on the basis of “additivity” and “interactions”

Observed effects of metal mixtures on animals and plants often differ from the estimates, which are commonly calculated by adding up the biological responses of individual metals. This difference from additivity is commonly referred to as being a consequence of specific interactions between metals. The science of how to quantify metal interactions and whether to include them in risk assessment models is in its infancy. This review summarizes the existing predictive tools for evaluating the combined toxicity of metals present in mixtures and indicates the advantages and disadvantages of each method. We intend to provide eco-toxicologists with background information on how to make good use of the tools and how to advance the methods for assessing toxicity of metal mixtures. It is concluded that statistically significant deviations from additivity are not necessarily biologically relevant. Incorporation of interactions between metals in a model does not on forehand mean that the model is more accurate than a model developed based on additivity only. It is recommended to first use a relatively simple method for effect prediction of uninvestigated metal mixtures. To improve the reliability of toxicity modeling for metal mixtures, further efforts should focus on balancing the relationship between the significance of statistics and the biological meaning, and unraveling the toxicity mechanisms of metals and their mixtures.

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Role of illumination intensity in microcystin development using Microcystis aeruginosa as the model algae

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) is one of the most common genera of cyanobacteria in algal blooms. In the present work, the impact of the...     

Effective sorption of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) on hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide immobilized mesoporous SiO2 hollow sphere

The hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMAB) immobilized hollow mesoporous silica spheres were prepared for the efficient removal of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) from aqueous solution. Besides the traditional sorption behavior including sorption kinetics as well as effect of solution pH and temperature, the effect of increasing volume which simulated the natural river where the rate of solute and solvent was relatively constant and solution volume was always changing was investigated. The result indicated that the residual PFOS concentrations in aqueous phase decreased with increasing solution pH and ionic strength, whereas they increased with increasing temperature. The HDTMAB immobilized material still maintained high efficiency after increasing volume, that is, the removal kept more than 99% after the treatment when the initial PFOS concentration was 1 mg L^?1. The uptake behavior and morphology of spheres which was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that the additional HDTMAB and mesoporous shell were responsible for the enhanced sorption of PFOS. It was concluded that electrostatic interaction and Ca-bridge role played an important role in the sorption of PFOS on the mesoporous SiO₂ hollow spheres, whereas, hydrophobic interaction contributed to the nice sorption performance of PFOS on the HDTMAB immobilized sorbent.     

不同粒径泥沙理化特性对磷吸附过程的影响

以北京大兴南海子湖表层沉积物为研究对象,测试分析了0.147～0.246 mm(细砂)、0.074～0.147 mm(极细砂)、0.0385～0.0740 mm(粉粒)和<0.0385 mm(粉粒粘粒混合物)4种粒径泥沙对磷的吸附行为,并采用相关分析及逐步回归分析探讨不同粒径沉积物中有机质(OM)、Fe、Al、Ca、Mn和TP含量对磷吸附过程的影响。结果表明,二级动力学方程和Langmuir模型能较好地描述南海子不同粒径泥沙的吸附动力学及等温吸附过程(R2>0.90)。粒径对单位质量泥沙吸附磷量具有明显影响,粉粒粘粒混合物>粉粒>细砂>极细砂。总体上,泥沙有机质(OM)、TP、Fe、Al、Ca和Mn含量随粒径的减小而增大,且粘粒对其影响较大。不同粒径泥沙(OM)、Fe、Al、Ca和Mn含量之间存在极显著正相关关系(P<0.01),且均对单位质量泥沙最大吸附量(Xm)和饱和吸附量(Cse)具有正效应,其中Al含量对该参数的影响更为显著。这说明泥沙对磷的吸附行为可能受到粒径和化学成分的共同影响。     

气相色谱法测定气田产出水中的甲醇含量

文章建立了使用气相色谱仪分析气田产出水中甲醇含量的方法。通过实验在设定不同分流比的情况下,能有效监测出气田产出水中不同浓度的甲醇含量,此方法灵敏度高,最低检出限为0.02%,测定气田产出水中甲醇加标回收率达到93%～94%。     

树脂固定床吸附含酚废水预测模型研究

针对应用于实际工业化的树脂固定床吸附研究较少,而与之相关的固定床吸附穿透曲线可以用来确定固定床吸附操作参数,为固定床的设计和实际操作提供指导。通过对恒定波振荡理论和吸附等温方程的联合,来预测固定床吸附穿透曲线;并研究了不同操作条件对大孔弱碱树脂吸附对硝基酚穿透曲线预测模型的影响。以期望为树脂固定床的设计和实际工业应用产生指导意义。     

Cosorption of organic chemicals with different properties: their shared and different sorption sites

Complementary sorption of different chemicals was expected and investigating the relationship between the sorption inhibition of primary sorbate (ΔQ(pri)) and sorption of secondary sorbate (Q(sec)) could provide a new angle to understand coadsorption of different chemicals. This study used bisphenol A (BPA) as the primary adsorbate, sulfamethoxazole (SMX) as the competitor, and carbon nanotubes as model adsorbents to study their complementary and competitive adsorption. At low BPA concentrations, the sorption of SMX (Q(sec)) exceeded BPA sorption inhibition (ΔQ(pri)), indicating that these two chemicals complementarily adsorbed on their respectively preferred sorption sites. At high BPA concentrations, higher ΔQ(pri) was observed in comparison to Q(sec), which may be resulted from different packing efficiencies of the adsorbed SMX and BPA. This study emphasized that both competitive and complementary sorption should be discussed in binary sorption system.     

污泥转移SBR工艺处理低浓度生活污水

污泥转移SBR工艺是一种通过内部污泥回流实现污泥在不同SBR隔室间转移,从而增加污泥利用效率,提高系统除污效能的新工艺。以设计规模为240 m3/d、处理低浓度生活污水的工艺系统为对象,研究了新工艺在不同泥转移量(污泥回流比)下的除污性能,并与系统以传统SBR方式运行的情况进行了对比。结果表明,新工艺可以有效提高SBR反应器的容积利用率;采用30%的污泥回流比进行污泥转移,新工艺的处理能力比传统SBR工艺提高近1/2,除磷效率从46%提升至85%。出水各项水质指标均能达到国家排放标准的要求。