Modulation of steroidogenesis by coastal waters and sewage effluents of Hong Kong, China, using the H295R assay

BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE: The presence of a variety of pollutants in the aquatic environment that can potentially interfere with the production of sex steroid hormones in wildlife and humans has been of increasing concern. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of extracts from Hong Kong marine waters, and influents and effluents from wastewater treatment plants on steroidogenesis using the H295R cell bioassay. After exposing H295R cells to extracts of water, the expression of four steroidogenic genes and the production of three steroid hormones were measured. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Water samples were collected during the summer of 2005 from 24 coastal marine areas and from the influents and effluents of two major waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) in Hong Kong, China. Samples were extracted by solid phase extraction (SPE). H295R cells were exposed for 48 h to dilutions of these extracts. Modulations of the expression of the steroidogenic genes CYP19, CYP17, 3betaHSD2, and CYP11beta2 were determined by measuring mRNA concentrations by real-time polymerase chain reaction (Q-RT-PCR). Production of the hormones progesterone (P), estradiol (E2), and testosterone (T) was quantified using enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). RESULTS: Extracts from samples collected in two fish culture areas inhibited growth and proliferation of H295R cells at concentrations greater or equal to 10(5) L equivalents. The cells were exposed to the equivalent concentration of active substances in 10,000 L of water. Thus, to observe the same level of effect as observed in vitro on aquatic organisms would require a bioaccumulation factor of this same magnitude. None of the other 22 marine samples affected growth of the cells at any dilution tested. Twelve of the marine water samples completely inhibited the expression of CYP19 without affecting E2 production; inhibition of CYP17 expression was observed only in one of the samples while expression of CYP11beta2 was induced as much as five- and ninefold after exposure of cells to extracts from two locations. The expression of the progesterone gene 3betaHSD2 was not affected by any of the samples; only one sample induced approximately fourfold the production of E2. Although more than twofold inductions were observed for P and T production, none of these values were statistically significant to conclude effects on the production of these two hormones. While influents from WWTPs did not affect gene expression, an approximately 30% inhibition in the production of E2 and a 40% increase in P occurred for the exposure with influents from the Sha Tin and Stonecutters WWTPs, respectively. Effluents from WWTPs did not affect the production of any of the studied hormones, but a decrement in the expression of the aldosterone gene CYP11beta2 was observed for the Sha Tin WWTP exposure. No direct correlation could be established between gene expression and hormone production. DISCUSSION: Observed cytotoxicity in the two samples from fish culture areas suggest the presence of toxic compounds; chemical analysis is required for their full identification. Although effluents from WWTPs did not affect hormone production, other types of endocrine activity such as receptor-mediated effects cannot be ruled out. Interactions due to the complexity of the samples and alternative steroidogenic pathways might explain the lack of correlation between gene expression and hormone production results. CONCLUSIONS: Changes observed in gene expression and hormone production suggest the presence in Hong Kong coastal waters of pollutants with endocrine disruption potential and others of significant toxic effects. The aromatase and aldosterone genes seem to be the most affected by the exposures, while E2 and P are the hormones with more significant changes observed. Results also suggest effectiveness in the removing of compounds with endocrine activity by the WWTPs studied, as effluent samples did not significantly affect hormone production. The H295R cell showed to be a valuable toll in the battery required for the analysis of endocrine disrupting activities of complex environmental samples. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: Due to the intrinsic complexity of environmental samples, a combination of analytical tools is required to realistically assess environmental conditions, especially in aquatic systems. In the evaluation of endocrine disrupting activities, the H295R cell bioassay should be used in combination with other genomic, biological, chemical, and hydrological tests to establish viable modes for endocrine disruption and identify compounds responsible for the observed effects.     

环境保护利益博弈分析与实证——以长寿湖渔业养殖污染防治为例

运用博弈论和利益相关理论构建的环境保护利益博弈分析框架,剖析长寿湖渔业养殖污染中的利益相关者及其博弈。通过分析政府、企业、渔民之间的六种利益博弈形式,得出结论：在渔场的各种利益博弈中,渔民的驱利行为导致了长寿湖的“公地悲剧”;守法成本高于违法成本是环境执法不力的主要原因;对渔场企业的环境管理职能缺乏有效的激励和约束;现行的政绩考核制度导致政府部门在环境保护行为中政治利益失衡;环保政策必须与相应经济利益挂钩,用激励机制把环保内化为自觉的经济行为;合理引导环境主体的群体行为,会使环保工作更加有效开展。     

增强环境影响评价公众参与有效性的研究

本文结合《环境影响评价公众参与暂行办法》的内容和要求,根据从事环境影响评价的工作经验,提出当前环评中公众参与存在的信息公开及听证主体不尽合理等问题,并加以分析。针对如何更好地做好公众参与工作,提出诸如扩大并完善公众可以参与评价的方式和媒体参与等一系列对策建议。     

审时度势创新发展全方位推进环境监测现代化建设

回顾了环境监测的发展历程,指出环境监测还面临着定位不明、服务单一、投入不足、监测能力建设滞后的问题。阐述了环境监测现代化建设的总体目标和要求,提出面向“十一五”,围绕建设环境友好型社会、构建和谐社会的时代要求,环境监测必须抓住战略发展机遇,努力开拓创新,健全法制,理顺体制,多元投入。激活机制。强化科研。拓展领域,增强能力。发展事业。全方位推进现代化建设。     

环境监测机构体制改革设想

指出了环境监测机构存在的问题，提出环境监测机构体制改革应从3方面考虑：机构改革应实行垂直管理，政，事分开，职能改革应体现环境监测站以环境质量监测为基本职能；内部管理改革需建立以聘任制为基础的用人制度，岗位管理和竞争上岗制度，适当的分配激励机制。     

企业建设项目竣工环境保护自主验收工作初探

简述了企业建设项目竣工环境保护自主验收政策的出台背景,介绍了自主验收目前取得的成效。针对现阶段工作中存在的自主验收缺乏有效监管及配套的技术支撑、企业主体责任意识不强等问题,提出了完善监督管理制度、提高企业主体责任意识、加强第三方验收监测机构管理、开展验收技术培训、规范建设项目变动认定管理等建议。     

环境监测实验室信息管理系统建设——以上海市环境监测中心为例

简述了实验室信息管理系统(LIMS)的概念和建设LIMS的现实意义,着重介绍了上海市环境监测中心实施LIMS的过程和体会,分析了环境监测实验室在LIMS选型和实施过程中需要注意的问题及LIMS对现行工作的影响,并对需进一步完善的功能提出了建议.     

Awareness of environmental legislation as a deterrent for wildlife crime: A case with Masaai pastoralists,poison use and the Kenya Wildlife Act

Illegal wildlife crime is a global phenomenon, accelerating the ongoing biodiversity crisis. In the Old World, and particularly in Africa, illegal use of poisons to eliminate carnivores is the main driver of the continental vulture crisis. Knowledge about the underlying source and drivers of this threat is lacking for most areas, including Kenya, a global vulture and biodiversity hotspot. An extensive questionnaire survey of over 1300 respondents was run, using a specialized questioning technique and quantitative analytical approaches. Results show that, while pastoralists have a positive attitude towards vultures, over 20% of them use poisons to eliminate predators. Poisoning was largely driven by livestock losses to predators, and by negative attitude towards predators. Poisoning was less prevalent among respondents aware of the Kenya Wildlife Act. Overall, we suggest that a combination of top-down, e.g. legislation, and bottom-up (such as corrals or compensation) along with awareness campaigns may help reduce poisoning on the ground.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01695-8.     

微塑料与污染物相互作用的研究进展

微塑料广泛存在于环境中,其比表面积大、吸附性强,可吸附环境中的重金属、有机物、微生物等污染物,并改变它们在环境中的归趋;同时,这些污染物也会影响微塑料的性质及其在环境中的吸附、迁移、降解等行为,进而对生态环境产生潜在风险.开展微塑料与污染物的相互作用研究是进行微塑料环境风险评价的基础.当前相关研究多集中于微塑料的分布及...     

Characterization of biological responses under different environmental conditions: A hierarchical modeling approach

A natural river system is organized as a nested hierarchy of interconnected habitats with specific environmental conditions to which the biological community has adapted. Due to this hierarchical structure, identifying the role of different stressors on the biological community is a formidable task. Efforts trying to link stressors to biological integrity have always been bound to the geographic scale of the selected study area, leading to scale-specific results. In this research, an attempt is made to lift this limitation and develop a hierarchical, scale-sensitive methodology that can identify the significant environmental stressors to the biological community at different scales. Sites with similar background environmental conditions are clustered using self-organizing maps (SOM). This is used to identify stressors which affect the biological community throughout the area of study - called environmental gradients or large-scale stressors. Subsequently, these clusters of similar observations (sampling sites) are progressively sub-divided using environmental variables with a significant but localized effect on the biological community - called small-scale stressors. A parent group of sites is split only when the resulting sub-groups have significantly different biological responses. At the end of this recursive sites decomposition procedure, the original set of observations is organized as a tree of environmentally homogeneous groups of observations characterized by unique biological responses to multiple stressors with different geographic extents. The developed hierarchical analysis methodology has been validated using a large-size dataset of environmental observations from the State of Ohio. Our results show that habitat degradation and increased nutrient loading are the large-scale stressors with a widespread impact in Ohio. Other stressors, such as heavy metals, pH or nitrate concentrations have significant albeit localized effects on biological integrity.