Innovative aspects of environmental chemistry and technology regarding air,water, and soil pollution

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -     

Synthesis of Ni-doped anatase TiO2 single crystals loaded on wood-based activated carbon for enhanced photodegradation of triphenylmethane dyes

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this work, the Ni-doped anatase TiO2 single crystals loaded on activated carbon (Ni-T/AC) were synthesized by a sol–gel method. The chemical...     

Glyphosate concentrations in global freshwaters: are aquatic organisms at risk?

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Glyphosate is the most used herbicide worldwide. Many studies have reported glyphosate risks to aquatic organisms of different trophic levels....     

CHO cell cytotoxicity and genotoxicity analyses of disinfection by-products: An updated review

The disinfection of drinking water is an important public health service that generates high quality, safe and palatable tap water. The disinfection of drinking water to reduce waterborne disease was an outstanding public health achievement of the 20th century. An unintended consequence is the reaction of disinfectants with natural organic matter, anthropogenic contaminants and bromide/iodide to form disinfection by-products (DBPs). A large number of DBPs are cytotoxic, neurotoxic, mutagenic, genotoxic, carcinogenic and teratogenic. Epidemiological studies demonstrated low but significant associations between disinfected drinking water and adverse health effects. The distribution of DBPs in disinfected waters has been well defined by advances in high precision analytical chemistry. Progress in the analytical biology and toxicology of DBPs has been forthcoming. The objective of this review was to provide a detailed presentation of the methodology for the quantitative, comparative analyses on the induction of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of 103 DBPs using an identical analytical biological platform and endpoints. A single Chinese hamster ovary cell line was employed in the assays. The data presented are derived from papers published in the literature as well as additional new data and represent the largest direct quantitative comparison on the toxic potency of both regulated and emerging DBPs. These data may form the foundation of novel research to define the major forcing agents of DBP-mediated toxicity in disinfected water and may play an important role in achieving the goal of making safe drinking water better.     

Tissue distribution of perfluoroalkyl acids and health status in wild Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) from Loskop Dam, Mpumalanga, South Africa

This study examined concentrations of 15 perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in tissues from male Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) collected at Loskop Dam, Mpumalanga, South Africa in 2014 and 2016. Nine of the 15 PFAAs were detected frequently and were included in statistical analysis and included two of the most commonly known PFAAs, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) (median, 41.6 ng/g) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) (median, 0.0825 ng/g). Of the tissues measured, plasma (2016 and 2014 median, 22.2 ng/g) contained the highest PFAA burden followed by (in descending order): liver (median, 11.6 ng/g), kidney (median, 9.04 ng/g), spleen (median, 5.92 ng/g), adipose (median, 2.54 ng/g), and muscle (median, 1.11 ng/g). Loskop Dam tilapia have been affected by an inflammatory disease of the adipose tissue known as pansteatitis, so this study also aimed to investigate relationships between PFAA tissue concentrations and incidence of pansteatitis or fish health status. Results revealed that healthy tilapia exhibited an overall higher (p-value < 0.05) PFAA burden than pansteatitis-affected tilapia across all tissues. Further analysis showed that organs previously noted in the literature to contain the highest PFAA concentrations, such as kidney, liver, and plasma, were the organs driving the difference in PFAA burden between the two tilapia groups. Care must be taken in the interpretations we draw from not only the results of our study, but also other PFAA measurements made on populations (human and wildlife alike) under differing health status.     

Revisiting chronodisruption: when the physiological nexus between internal and external times splits in humans

In this Concepts & Synthesis paper, we expand the definition of chronodisruption in humans by proposing that it can be operationalized as the split nexus of internal and external times. With this premise, we suggest how chronotype may be used as a temporal marker (chronomarker) of exposure to chronodisruption in studies of cancer, and beyond, offer cancer risk predictions for observational research on the basis of a chronotype-related hypothesis and corollary, and point to first empirical data in humans. In an a priori way, we examine possible outcomes and perspectives for preventive measures following from our rationale and the suggested chronobiology-driven studies and close with overall advances of chronodisruption research.     

Tolerating an infection: an indirect benefit of co-founding queen associations in the ant Lasius niger

Pathogens exert a strong selection pressure on organisms to evolve effective immune defences. In addition to individual immunity, social organisms can act cooperatively to produce collective defences. In many ant species, queens have the option to found a colony alone or in groups with other, often unrelated, conspecifics. These associations are transient, usually lasting only as long as each queen benefits from the presence of others. In fact, once the first workers emerge, queens fight to the death for dominance. One potential advantage of co-founding may be that queens benefit from collective disease defences, such as mutual grooming, that act against common soil pathogens. We test this hypothesis by exposing single and co-founding queens to a fungal parasite, in order to assess whether queens in co-founding associations have improved survival. Surprisingly, co-foundresses exposed to the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium did not engage in cooperative disease defences, and consequently, we find no direct benefit of multiple queens on survival. However, an indirect benefit was observed, with parasite-exposed queens producing more brood when they co-founded, than when they were alone. We suggest this is due to a trade-off between reproduction and immunity. Additionally, we report an extraordinary ability of the queens to tolerate an infection for long periods after parasite exposure. Our study suggests that there are no social immunity benefits for co-founding ant queens, but that in parasite-rich environments, the presence of additional queens may nevertheless improve the chances of colony founding success.     

三峡库区大宁河枯水期藻细胞的时空分布

本研究旨在为三峡库区大宁河藻华预警提供基础数据,于2011年4～9月期间在大宁河流域选择4个取样点开展藻细胞时空变化研究.藻细胞在时间序列表现为:4～9月,藻种主要以蓝藻、绿藻和硅藻为主,藻密度呈逐步递增趋势;在此期间4个取样点的蓝藻比重均逐步增大,硅藻比重逐步降低,绿藻比重变化不显著.藻细胞在空间分布上表现为:藻密度与水温和叶绿素呈极显著相关,相关系数分别为0.97和0.95,与光照、溶解氧、pH值和可溶性磷盐呈显著相关,相关系数分别为0.87、0.83、0.82、0.82;菜子坝在整个试验期间0 m处藻密度比其他水层的藻密度高,白水河在6月和7月的2.0 m处藻密度最高,双龙在7、8和9月的0 m和2.0 m处藻密度较高,大昌在整个试验期间,藻密度变化不大;不同藻细胞在垂向水层中的比重也随时间的变化而改变,可能是不同藻细胞适合不同生态环境所致.     

滇池水葫芦规模化控养生态环境效应分析

水葫芦规模化控养是"十二五"期间滇池治理的重要措施之一。首先介绍了滇池水葫芦规模化控养现状,比较了滇池草海和外海在水葫芦控养前后水质的变化情况,指出滇池水葫芦规模化控养对草海水体生态恢复效果显著,可以在滇池选择适宜水葫芦生长的水域继续扩大水葫芦控养面积,使水葫芦在滇池生态治理中发挥更大的作用。