Polystyrene nanoplastics affect growth and microcystin production of Microcystis aeruginosa

Nanoplastics are widely distributed in freshwater environments, but few studies have addressed their effects on freshwater algae, especially on harmful algae. In this study, the effects of polystyrene (PS) nanoplastics on Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) growth, as well as microcystin (MC) production and release, were investigated over the whole growth period. The results show that PS nanoplastics caused a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on M. aeruginosa growth and a dose-dependent increase in the aggregation rate peaking at 60.16% and 46.34%, respectively, when the PS nanoplastic concentration was 100 mg/L. This caused significant growth of M. aeruginosa with a specific growth rate up to 0.41 d^?1 (50 mg/L PS nanoplastics). After a brief period of rapid growth, the tested algal cells steadily grew. In addition, the increase in PS nanoplastics concentration promoted the production and release of MC. When the PS nanoplastic concentration was 100 mg/L, the content of the intracellular (intra-) and extracellular (extra-) MC increased to 199.1 and 166.5 μg/L, respectively, on day 26, which was 31.4% and 31.1% higher, respectively, than the control. Our results provide insights into the action mechanism of nanoplastics on harmful algae and the potential risks to freshwater environments.

     

Revealing the impact of water conservancy projects and urbanization on hydrological cycle based on the distribution of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in water

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In recent years, the development and utilization of water resources have imposed great impacts on hydrological characteristics and ecological...     

Risk assessment of particulate matter by considering time-activity-pattern and major microenvironments for preschool children living in Seoul,South Korea

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Preschool children aged 3–6 years are vulnerable to exposed to particulate matter (“PM10” and “PM2.5”). It is required...     

Long-term study of heavy metal pollution in the northern Hangzhou Bay of China: temporal and spatial distribution,contamination evaluation,and potential ecological risk

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Coastal ecosystem is vulnerable to heavy metal contamination. The northern Hangzhou Bay is under intensifying impact of anthropogenic activities. To...     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and n-alkane pollution characteristics and structural and functional perturbations to the microbial community: a case-study of historically petroleum-contaminated soil

Characterization of the typical petroleum pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and n-alkanes, and indigenous microbial community structure and function in historically contaminated soil at petrol stations is critical. Five soil samples were collected from a petrol station in Beijing, China. The concentrations of 16 PAHs and 31 n-alkanes were measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The total concentrations of PAHs and n-alkanes ranged from 973 ± 55 to 2667 ± 183 μg/kg and 6.40 ± 0.38 to 8.65 ± 0.59 mg/kg (dry weight), respectively, which increased with depth. According to the observed molecular indices, PAHs and n-alkanes originated mostly from petroleum-related sources. The levels of ΣPAHs and the total toxic benzo[a]pyrene equivalent (ranging from 6.41 to 72.54 μg/kg) might exert adverse biological effects. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing was employed to investigate the indigenous microbial community structure and function. The results revealed that Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were the most abundant phyla, and Nocardioides and Microbacterium were the important genera. Based on COG and KEGG annotations, the highly abundant functional classes were identified, and these functions were involved in allowing microorganisms to adapt to the pressure from contaminants. Five petroleum hydrocarbon degradation-related genes were annotated, revealing the distribution of degrading microorganisms. This work facilitates the understanding of the composition, source, and potential ecological impacts of residual PAHs and n-alkanes in historically contaminated soil.

     

Delayed association of acute particulate matter 2.5 air pollution exposure with loss of complexity in cardiac rhythm dynamics: insight from detrended fluctuation analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - There is a delayed (lag 1 to 2 days) correlation between acute PM 2.5 (particulate matter <?2.5 μm in aerodynamic...     

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...     

Combined toxic impacts of thiamethoxam and four pesticides on the rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus)

To examine pesticide mixture toxicity to aqueous organisms, we assessed the single and combined toxicities of thiamethoxam and other four pesticides (chlorpyrifos, beta-cypermethrin, tetraconazole, and azoxystrobin) to the rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus). Data from 96-h semi-static toxicity assays of various developmental phases (embryonic, larval, juvenile, and adult phases) showed that beta-cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos, and azoxystrobin had the highest toxicities to G. rarus, and their LC₅₀ values ranged from 0.0031 to 0.86 mg a.i. L^?1, from 0.016 to 6.38 mg a.i. L^?1, and from 0.39 to 1.08 mg a.i. L^?1, respectively. Tetraconazole displayed a comparatively high toxicity, and its LC₅₀ values ranged from 3.48 to 16.73 mg a.i. L^?1. By contrast, thiamethoxam exhibited the lowest toxic effect with LC₅₀ values ranging from 37.85 to 351.9 mg a.i. L^?1. Rare minnow larvae were more sensitive than embryos to all the pesticides tested. Our data showed that a pesticide mixture of thiamethoxam–tetraconazole elicited synergetic toxicity to G. rarus. Moreover, pesticide mixtures containing beta-cypermethrin in combination with chlorpyrifos or tetraconazole also had synergetic toxicities to fish. The majority of pesticides are presumed to have additive toxicity, while our data emphasized that the concurrent existence of some chemicals in the aqueous circumstance could cause synergetic toxic effect, leading to severe loss to the aqueous environments in comparison with their single toxicities. Thence, the synergetic impacts of chemical mixtures should be considered when assessing the ecological risk of chemicals.

     

The interaction effects of FEN1 rs174538 polymorphism and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure on damage in exon 19 and 21 of EGFR gene in coke oven workers

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure and genetic susceptibility were conductive to genotoxic effects including gene damage, which can increase mutational probability. We aimed to explore the dose-effect associations of PAH exposure with damage of exons of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1), as well as their associations whether modified by Flap endonuclease 1 (FEN1) genotype. Two hundred eighty-eight coke oven male workers were recruited, and we detected the concentration of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OH-pyr) as PAH exposure biomarker in urine and examined base modification in exons of EGFR and BRCA1 respectively, and genotyped FEN1 rs174538 polymorphism in plasma. We found that the damage indexes of exon 19 and 21 of EGFR (EGFR-19 and EGFR-21) were both significantly associated with increased urinary 1-OH-pyr (both P_trend < 0.001). The levels of urinary 1-OH-pyr were both significantly associated with increased EGFR-19 and EGFR-21 in both smokers and nonsmokers (both P < 0.001). Additionally, we observed that the urinary 1-OH-pyr concentrations were linearly associated with both EGFR-19 and EGFR-21 only in rs174538 GA+AA genotype carriers (both P < 0.001). Moreover, FEN1rs rs174538 showed modifying effects on the associations of urinary 1-OH-pyr with EGFR-19 and EGFR-21 (both P_interaction < 0.05). Our findings revealed the linear dose-effect association between exon damage of EGFR and PAH exposure and highlight differences in genetic contributions to exon damage and have the potential to identify at-risk subpopulations who are susceptible to adverse health effects induced by PAH exposure.

     

Facile in situ synthesis of silver nanocomposites based on cellulosic paper for photocatalytic applications

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this work, various photocatalysts were synthesized with an impregnation-precipitation process to in situ decorate Ag-based nanoparticles (NPs,...