Search results for "POLLUTANTs"
showing 10 items of 1125 documents
Wood-derived estrogens: studies in vitro with breast cancer cell lines and in vivo in trout.
1996
The wood-derived compound, beta-sitosterol (purity > 90%), was shown to be estrogenic in fish. It induced the expression of the vitellogenin gene in the liver of juvenile and methyltestosterone-treated rainbow trout. Structural similarities to beta-sitosterol notwithstanding, cholesterol, citrostadienol, beta-sitostanol, and 5-androstene-3 beta,17 beta-diol, an estrogenic member of the androstenic steroid group, were inactive. An abietic acid mixture (37% abietic acid, 6% dehydroabietic acid, and a remainder of unknown compounds) showed slight hormonal activity in feed, but it was completely inactive when given intraperitoneally in implants. The estrogenic component of the abietic acid prep…
Inorganic Mercury Sequestration by a Poly(ethylene imine) Dendrimer in Aqueous Solution
2015
The interaction of the G-2 poly(ethylene imine) dendrimer L, derived from ammonia as initiating core, with Hg(II) and HgCl4 2− was studied in aqueous solution by means of potentiometric (pH-metric) measurements. Speciation of these complex systems showed that L is able to form a wide variety of complexes including 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 and 3:2 metal-to-ligand species, of different protonation states, as well as the anion complexes ((H7L)HgCl4) 5+ and ((H8L)HgCl4) 6+ . The stability of the metal complexes is very high, making L an excellent sequestering agent for Hg(II), over a large pH range, and a promising ligand for the preparation of functionalized activated carbons to be employed in the remedi…
Comparison of Exposure Techniques and Vitality Assessment of Mosses in Active Biomonitoring for Their Suitability in Assessing Heavy Metal Pollution …
2021
The most widespread and used technique is the moss-bag method in active biomonitoring of air pollution using mosses. In the literature, we can find various studies on the standardization of this method, including attempts to standardize treatments and preparation procedures for their universal application. Few works comprehensively focus on other methods or compare other techniques used in active biomonitoring with mosses, especially including measurements of their vital parameters. Our experiment aimed to assess air pollution by selected heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Mn, Fe, and Hg) using three moss species (Pleurozium schreberi, Sphagnum fallax, and Dicranum polysetum) during a 12-week ex…
Evaluation of waterborne exposure to heavy metals in innate immune defences present on skin mucus of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata)
2015
Aquatic animals are continuously exposed to chemical pollutants but the effects evoked in skin surfaces, which receive the most direct contact with them, are poorly investigated. Terminal carbohydrate composition and immunological components present in skin mucus of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) specimens exposed to waterborne sublethal dosages of heavy metals [arsenic (As2O3), cadmium (CdCl2) and mercury (CH3HgCl) at 5, 5 and 0.04 μM, respectively for 2, 10 and 30 days were analysed. Moreover, the presence of a fucose binding lectin (FBL) was evaluated by western blot and the protein profiles were by SDS-PAGE and HPLC. Results showed little effects of heavy metals in the presence of…
Elemental and microbiota content in indoor and outdoor air using recuperation unit filters
2021
Detection and quantification of engineered nanomaterials in environmental systems require precise knowledge of the elemental composition, association, and ratios in homologous natural nanomaterials (NNMs). Here, we characterized soil NNMs at the single particle level using single particle-inductively coupled plasma-time of flight-mass spectrometer (SP-ICP-TOF-MS) in order to identify the elemental purity, composition, associations, and ratios within NNMs. Elements naturally present as a major constituent in NNMs such as Ti, and Fe occurred predominantly as pure/single metals, whereas elements naturally present at trace levels in NNMs occurred predominantly as impure/multi-metal NNMs such as…
Prenatal air pollution exposure and growth and cardio-metabolic risk in preschoolers
2020
Objectives: We investigated the association between outdoor air pollutants exposure in the first trimester of pregnancy, and growth and cardio-metabolic risk at four years of age, and evaluated the mediating role of birth weight. Methods: We included mother-child pairs (N = 1,724) from the Spanish INMA birth cohort established in 2003-2008. First trimester of pregnancy nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particles (PM2.5) exposure levels were estimated. Height, weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, and lipids were measured at four years of age. Body mass index (BMI) trajectories from birth to four years were identified. Results: Increased PM2.5 exposure in the first trimester of pregnanc…
Influence of aryl hydrocarbon- (Ah) receptor and genotoxins on DNA repair gene expression and cell survival of mouse hepatoma cells
2009
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) mediates toxicity of a variety of environmental pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and dioxins. However, the underlying mechanisms and genetic programmes regulated by AhR to cause adverse effects but also to counteract poisoning are still poorly understood. Here we analysed the effects of two AhR ligands, benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), a DNA damaging tumour initiator and promotor and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), a pure tumour promoter, on cell survival and on nucleotide excision repair (NER) gene expression. NER deals with so called "bulky" DNA adducts including those generated by enzymatically activated B[a]P. Therefore, t…
Concentrations of PAHs, PCBs and OC pesticides in intertidal marine gastropods of Sicily (Mediterranean Sea).
2009
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are toxic organic compounds able to persist in the Environment for long time. They can be accumulated through food webs and this could be a risk to some extent to threat human health and environmental quality. Marine currents represent further important distribution way of POPs through marine habitats and organisms. In Sicily, no much attention has been paid on POPs distribution on coastal habitats, important reservoirs of biodiversity, even if these are strongly influenced by anthropogenic pressure. In this study, concentrations of PCBs…
New Evidence of the Enhanced Elimination of a Persistent Drug Used as a Lipid Absorption Inhibitor by Advanced Oxidation with UV-A and Nanosized Cata…
2019
This work demonstrates new evidence of the efficient destruction and mineralization of an emergent organic pollutant using UV-A and titanium nanosized catalysts. The target compound considered in this work is the primary metabolite of a lipid regulator drug, clofibrate, identified in many studies as refractory during conventional wastewater treatment. The photocatalytic performance study was carried out in batch mode at laboratory scale, in aqueous suspension. Kinetic data showed that titanium dioxide P25 Aeroxide® exhibits the highest photocatalytic efficiency compared to the other investigated catalysts. Pollutant degradation and mineralization efficiencies strongly increased when decreas…