Maternal-Fetal Exposure to Antibiotics: Levels, Mother-to-Child Transmission, and Potential Health Risks.

Due to its widespread applications in various fields, antibiotics are continuously released into the environment and ultimately enter the human body through diverse routes. Meanwhile, the unreasonable use of antibiotics can also lead to a series of adverse outcomes. Pregnant women and developing fetuses are more susceptible to the influence of external chemicals than adults. The evaluation of antibiotic exposure levels through questionnaire surveys or prescriptions in medical records and biomonitoring-based data shows that antibiotics are frequently prescribed and used by pregnant women around the world. Antibiotics may be transmitted from mothers to their offspring through different pathways, which then adversely affect the health of offspring. However, there has been no comprehensive review on antibiotic exposure and mother-to-child transmission in pregnant women so far. Herein, we summarized the exposure levels of antibiotics in pregnant women and fetuses, the exposure routes of antibiotics to pregnant women, and related influencing factors. In addition, we scrutinized the potential mechanisms and factors influencing the transfer of antibiotics from mother to fetus through placental transmission, and explored the adverse effects of maternal antibiotic exposure on fetal growth and development, neonatal gut microbiota, and subsequent childhood health. Given the widespread use of antibiotics and the health threats posed by their exposure, it is necessary to comprehensively track antibiotics in pregnant women and fetuses in the future, and more in-depth biological studies are needed to reveal and verify the mechanisms of mother-to-child transmission, which is crucial for accurately quantifying and evaluating fetal health status.

Regulation of denitrification performance and microbial topology by lights: Insight into wavelength effects towards microbiota.

The low efficiency of conventional complete denitrification, as well as the unstable nitrite supply for partial-denitrification coupled anammox (PD/A) restrict the efficient removal of nitrogen from industrial wastewaters. Herein, we proposed an optical strategy to bidirectionally regulate denitrification by introducing lights at different wavelengths, and the underlying mechanisms were elucidated accordingly. It turned out that yellow light at wavelength of 590 nm accelerated denitrification by 35.4%, while blue light delayed denitrification with stable nitrite accumulation above 86.9% and high nitrate removal (99.8%). Microbial physiology and viability further supported the positive effects of yellow light on microbial activity. Additionally, despite the sluggish denitrification aroused by blue light, negligible cellular damage was observed. Antioxidant capability divergence, microbial community shifting and metabolic flux redirection contributed to the wavelength-dependent effects. Halomonas and Pseudomonas were identified as high-credit taxonomic biomarkers of yellow and blue light. As revealed by metabolomics, pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis, glutamate metabolism and alkaloid biosynthesis presented high impact values. Co-analysis of metabolomics and metagenomics based on microbial topology further distinguished pivotal metabolic pathways and genes. Oxidative phosphorylation contributed to the divergent denitrification performance through electron transfer chains, whereas glutamate and glutathione metabolism contributed to oxidative stress alleviation and mediated the metabolic flux between peroxisome and nitrogen metabolism. This study shed a light on the application of optical strategy to regulate denitrification performance and achieve either complete denitrification or PD/A.

Simultaneous removal of aromatic pollutants and nitrate at high concentrations by hypersaline denitrification:Long-term continuous experiments investigation.

If we can use toxic aromatic compounds as supplementary carbon source, the simultaneous removal of nitrate (NO3-) and aromatic compounds may be achieved at much lower chemical costs. This study uses the expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactors to investigate the hypersaline (> 3%) denitrification performance, the removal of aromatic compounds, i.e., aniline, phenol, and their mixture, and the mechanisms involved in. The four reactors exhibit high removal efficiency of NO3- (> 92.8%) and aromatic compounds (> 73.9%) at 0-1200 mg/L of aromatic compounds. The formation of toxic intermediates such as catechol and azo dyes is revealed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with and without N,O-Bis(trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) derivation, and their toxic effects lead to the lower cell survival ratios after exposing to phenol (64.2% ∼ 68.9%) than to aniline and mixture (72.7% ∼ 78.0%). The stable performance is associated with the more secretion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and the adsorption of pollutants on EPS, and this was indicated from the higher fluorescence intensity in three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D-EEM). Moreover, the Halomonas and Azoarcus show high abundance and play important roles in the removal of both NO3- and aromatic compounds. Besides, quantitative real time PCR (RT-qPCR) results demonstrate the key role of highly abundant nosZ and nirS genes in denitrification. The toxic organics in industrial wastewaters are potentially feasible carbon sources for denitrification even under high-salinity stress.

Electrochemical removal and recovery of uranium: Effects of operation conditions, mechanisms, and implications.

Removing and recovering uranium (U) from U-mining wastewater would be appealing, which simultaneously reduces the adverse environmental impact of U mining activities and mitigates the depletion of conventional U resources. In this study, we demonstrate the application of a constant-voltage electrochemical (CVE) method for the removal and recovery of U from U-mining wastewater, in an ambient atmosphere. The effects of operation conditions were elucidated in synthetic U-bearing water experiments, and the cell voltage and the ionic strength were found to play important roles in both the U extraction kinetics and the operation cost. The mechanistic studies show that, in synthetic U-bearing water, the CVE U extraction proceeds exclusively via a single-step one-electron reduction mechanism, where pentavalent U is the end product. In real U-mining wastewater, the interference of water matrices led to the disproportionation of the pentavalent U, resulting in the formation of tetravalent and hexavalent U in the extraction products. The U extraction efficacy of the CVE method was evaluated in real U-mining wastewater, and results show that the CVE U extraction method can be efficient with operation costs ranging from $0.55/kgU ~ $64.65/kgU, with varying cell voltages from 1.0 V to 4.0 V, implying its feasibility from the economic perspective.

Hydrodynamics Regulate Longitudinal Plankton Community Structure in an Alpine Cascade Reservoir System.

Previous studies report significant changes on biotic communities caused by cascade reservoir construction. However, factors regulating the spatial-temporal plankton patterns in alpine cascade reservoir systems have not been fully explored. The current study explored effects of environmental factors on the longitudinal plankton patterns, through a 5-year-long study on the environmental factors and communities of phytoplankton and zooplankton in an alpine cascade reservoir system located upstream of Yellow River region. The findings showed that phytoplankton and zooplankton species numbers in the studied cascade reservoir system were mainly regulated by the hydrological regime, whereas nutrient conditions did not significantly affect the number of species. Abundance and biovolume of phytoplankton in cascade reservoirs were modulated by the hydrological regime and nutrient conditions. The drainage rate, N:P ratio, and sediment content in cascade reservoirs were negatively correlated with abundance and biovolume of phytoplankton. Abundance and biovolume of zooplankton were not significantly correlated with the hydrological regime but showed a strong positive correlation with nutrient conditions in cascade reservoirs. Shannon-Wiener index (H') and the Pielou index (J) of phytoplankton were mainly regulated by the hydrological regime factors, such as drainage rate and sediment content in cascade reservoirs. However, temperature and nutrient conditions were the main factors that regulated the Shannon-Wiener index (H') and the Pielou index (J) of zooplankton. Species number, abundance, and biovolume of phytoplankton showed a significant positive correlation with those of zooplankton. Hydrodynamics and nutrient conditions contributed differently in regulating community structure of phytoplankton or zooplankton. These findings provide an understanding of factors that modulate longitudinal plankton community patterns in cascade reservoir systems.

Pre-oxidation enhanced cyanobacteria removal in drinking water treatment: A review.

Cyanobacterial bloom has many adverse effects on source water quality and drinking water production. The traditional water treatment process can hardly achieve satisfactory removal of algae cells. This review examines the impact of pre-oxidation on the removal of cyanobacteria by solid-liquid separation processes. It was reported that the introduction of chemical oxidants such as chlorine, potassium permanganate, and ozone in algae-laden water pretreatment could improve algae removal by the subsequent solid-liquid separation processes. However, over dosed oxidants can result in more serious water quality risks due to significant algae cell lysis and undesirable intracellular organic matter release. It was suggested that moderate pre-oxidation may enhance the removal of cyanobacteria without damaging algae cells. In this article, effects of moderate pretreatment on the solid-liquid separation processes (sedimentation, dissolved air flotation, and membrane filtration) are reviewed.

Efficient and durable uranium extraction from uranium mine tailings seepage water via a photoelectrochemical method.

Current photocatalytic uranium (U) extraction methods have intrinsic obstacles, such as the recombination of charge carriers, and the deactivation of catalysts by extracted U. Here we show that, by applying a bias potential on the photocatalyst, the photoelectrochemical (PEC) method can address these limitations. We demonstrate that, owing to efficient spatial charge-carriers separation driven by the applied bias, the PEC method enables efficient and durable U extraction. The effects of multiple operation conditions are investigated. The U extraction proceeds via single-step one-electron reduction, resulting in the formation of pentavalent U, which can facilitate future studies on this often-overlooked U species. In real seepage water the PEC method achieves an extraction capacity of 0.67 gU m-3·h-1 without deactivation for 156 h continuous operation, which is 17 times faster than the photocatalytic method. This work provides an alternative tool for U resource recovery and facilitates future studies on U(V) chemistry.

Applications of anodized TiO2 nanotube arrays on the removal of aqueous contaminants of emerging concern: A review.

The presence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in various water bodies and the associated threats to eco-system and human society have raised increasing concerns. To fight against such a problem, TiO2 photocatalysis is considered to be a powerful tool. In recent decades, TiO2 nanotube array (TNA) fabricated by electrochemical anodization emerged as a viable immobilized catalyst and its applications on CECs removal have gained a considerable amount of research interest. We herein present a critical review on the development of TNA and its applications on the removal of aqueous CECs. In this work, the CECs removal in different TNA based processes, the CECs removal mechanisms, the role of TNA properties, the role of operational parameters, and the role of water matrices are discussed. Moreover, perspectives on the current research progress are presented and recommendations on future research are elaborated.

Long-term and longitudinal nutrient stoichiometry changes in oligotrophic cascade reservoirs with trout cage aquaculture.

The potential nutrient stoichiometry changes caused by trout cage aquaculture is concerned especially in oligotrophic waters. Long-term total nitrogen (N), total phosphorus (P) and N:P ratio changes in 6 cascade reservoirs with rainbow trout cage aquaculture in the oligotrophic upstream Yellow River (UYR) were studied from 2013 to 2017 in this paper. The 5-year monitoring results showed that N, P and N:P ratio levels showed no obvious long-term changes in high-altitude oligotrophic waters with rainbow trout cage aquaculture. No obvious longitudinal N, P and N:P ratio level changes were observed in the 6 cascade reservoirs from upstream Longyangxia Reservoir (LYR) to downstream Jishixia Reservoir (JSR). The increased N and P resulting from the cage aquaculture accounted only for 1.74% and 5.2% of the natural N and P levels, respectively, with a fish production of 10,000 tonnes. The upstream Yellow River remained oligotrophic and phosphorus-limited. Results in this study proved that trout cage aquaculture do not necessarily cause nitrogen, phosphorus and N:P ratio changes even in oligotrophic waters. Phosphorus should be considered first when identifying priority nitrogen and phosphorus sources and the corresponding control measures in waters with high N:P ratio.

Microbial community structures and functions of hypersaline heterotrophic denitrifying process: Lab-scale and pilot-scale studies.

High-nitrate wastewaters are known pose substantial risks to human and environmental health, while their effective treatment remains difficult. The denitrification of saline, high-NO3- wastewaters was investigated at the laboratory- and pilot-scale experiment. Complete denitrification was achieved for three different realistic wastewaters, and the maximum influent [NO3-]0 and salinity were as high as 20,500 mg/L and 7.8%, respectively. The results of microbial community structure analyses revealed that the sequences of denitrifying functional bacteria accounted for 96.2% of all sequences, and the functional genes for denitrification in bacteria were enriched with elevated salinity and [NO3-]0. A significant difference was observed in the dominant bacterial genus between synthetic and realistic wastewaters. Thauera and Halomonas species evolved to be the most common dominant genera contributing to the processes of nitrate, nitrite, and nitrous oxide reductase. This study is practically valuable for the treatment of realistic, saline, high-NO3- wastewaters via denitrification by heterotrophic bacteria.

Transcriptional and metabolic response against hydroxyethane-(1,1-bisphosphonic acid) on bacterial denitrification by a halophilic Pannonibacter sp. strain DN.

Biological denitrification is an environmentally sound pathway for the elimination of nitrogen pollution in wastewater treatment. Extreme environmental conditions, such as the co-existence of toxic organic pollutants, can affect biological denitrification. However, the potential underlying mechanism remains largely unexplored. Herein, the effect of a model pollutant, hydroxyethane-(1,1-bisphosphonic acid) (HEDP), a widely applied and consumed bisphosphonate, on microbial denitrification was investigated by exploring the metabolic and transcriptional responses of an isolated denitrifier, Pannonibacter sp. strain DN. Results showed that nitrate removal efficiency decreased from 85% to 50% with an increase in HEDP concentration from 0 to 3.5 mM, leading to nitrite accumulation of 204 mg L-1 in 3.5 mM HEDP. This result was due to the lower bacterial population count and reduction in the live cell percentage. Further investigation revealed that HEDP caused a decrease in membrane potential from 0.080 ±â€¯0.005 to 0.020 ±â€¯0.002 with the increase in HEDP from 0 to 3.5 mM. This hindered electron transfer, which is required for nitrate transformation into nitrogen gas. Moreover, transcriptional profiling indicated that HEDP enhanced the genes involved in ROS (O2-) scavenging, thus protecting cells against oxidative stress damage. However, the suppression of genes responsible for the production of NADH/FADH2 in tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), NADH catalyzation (NADH dehydrogenase) in (electron transport chain) ETC system and denitrifying genes, especially nor and nir, in response to 2.5 mM HEDP were identified as the key factor inhibiting transfer of electron from TCA cycle to denitrifying enzymes through ETC system.

Moderate KMnO4-Fe(II) pre-oxidation for alleviating ultrafiltration membrane fouling by algae during drinking water treatment.

Although ultrafiltration (UF) membranes are highly beneficial for removing algae, the removal process causes serious UF membrane fouling. To avoid the unfavorable effects of algal cells that have been damaged by oxidants, our previous study reported a novel, moderate pre-oxidation method (KMnO4-Fe(II) process) that aimed to achieve a balance between the release of intracellular organic matter and enhanced algae removal. This study further investigated the performance of a UF membrane with KMnO4-Fe(II) pretreatment in the presence of algae-laden reservoir water after a long running time. We found that algae could be completely removed, membrane fouling was significantly alleviated, and the overall performance was much better than that of Fe(III) coagulation alone. The transmembrane pressure (TMP) during Fe(III) coagulation increased to 42.8 kPa, however, that of the KMnO4-Fe(II) process only increased to 25.1 kPa for after running for 90 d. The slower transmembrane pressure was attributed to the larger floc size, higher surface activity, and inactivation of algae. Although there was little effect on microorganism development, lower microorganism abundance (20.7%) was observed during the KMnO4-Fe(II) process than during coagulation alone (44.9%) due to the release of extracellular polymeric substances. We also found that the floc cake layer was easily removed by washing, and many of the original membrane pores were clearly observed. Further analysis demonstrated that the effluent quality was excellent, especially its turbidity, chromaticity, and Mn and Fe concentrations. Based on the outstanding UF membrane performance, it may be concluded that the KMnO4-Fe(II) process exhibits considerable potential for application in the treatment of algae-laden water.

Simultaneous surface-adsorbed organic matter desorption and cell integrity maintenance by moderate prechlorination to enhance Microcystis aeruginosa removal in KMnO4Fe(II) process.

The KMnO4Fe(II) process was proved to have good application potential in Microcystis aeruginosa removal, although at relatively high doses. This study aims to improve the algae removal in KMnO4Fe(II) process by moderate prechlorination, which can realize the desorption of surface-adsorbed organic matter (S-AOM) from algae cells without damaging cell integrity. S-AOM was proved to not only inhibit algae removal but also maintain cell integrity, using various dilution methods for algal suspension preparation. The dilution after filtration method mainly removed the dissolved organics in cultured M. aeruginosa, while the dilution after centrifugal cleaning method could also remove the S-AOM on algae cells. Compared with the S-AOM-removed algal suspension, the lower algae removal in KMnO4Fe(II) process and the reduced proportion of damaged cells during prechlorination of algal suspension without S-AOM removed indicated the inhibitory role of S-AOM in algae removal and the protective function of S-AOM toward cell integrity, respectively. Moderate prechlorination of directly diluted M. aeruginosa could be realized at chlorine doses of below 0.5 mg/L, and the damaged cell ratios were below 4% after 5-min prechlorination. The ability of the KMnO4Fe(II) process to remove algae was dramatically enhanced by the elevation of chlorine dose from 0 to 0.5 mg/L, as more S-AOM was desorbed during prechlorination. Additionally, algae cells were easily captured by flocs after moderate prechlorination, which benefited the floc aggregation for formation of tightly bounded algae flocs. Therefore, the desorption of S-AOM without damaging cell integrity is the key feature of moderate prechlorination, which can be applied in improving the algae removal of KMnO4Fe(II) process.

Prechlorination of algae-laden water: The effects of transportation time on cell integrity, algal organic matter release, and chlorinated disinfection byproduct formation.

The prechlorination-induced algal organic matter (AOM) released from Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) cells has been reported to serve as a source of precursors for chlorinated disinfection byproducts (DBPs). However, previous studies have mainly focused on the precursors either extracted directly from the cell suspension or derived immediately after algal suspension prechlorination. This study aims to investigate the impacts of water transportation time after algal suspension prechlorination on cell integrity, AOM release, and DBP formation during the dissolved phase chlorination. The damage to cell integrity after prechlorination was indicated to depend not only on chlorine dose but also on transportation time. The highest dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) values were observed at 2 mg/L chlorine preoxidation before transportation, but were obtained at 0.4 mg/L chlorine after 480-min simulated transportation. The variation of DON with transportation time was indicated to be mainly influenced by the small molecular weight nitrogenous organic compounds, such as amino acids. Additionally, formation of the corresponding chlorinated carbonaceous disinfection byproducts (C-DBPs) and nitrogenous disinfection byproducts (N-DBPs) during the dissolved phase chlorination showed the same variation tendency as DOC and DON respectively. The highest C-DBP (98.4 µg/L) and N-DBP (5.5 µg/L) values were obtained at 0.4 mg/L chlorine preoxidation after 480-min simulated transportation. Therefore, when prechlorination is applied for algae-laden water pretreatment, not only chlorine dose but also transportation time needs to be considered with regard to their effects on cell integrity, AOM release, and chlorinated DBP formation.

KMnO4-Fe(II) pretreatment to enhance Microcystis aeruginosa removal by aluminum coagulation: Does it work after long distance transportation?

KMnO4-Fe(II) pretreatment was proposed to enhance Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) removal by aluminum (Al) coagulation in drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) in our previous study. This study aims to optimize this process and evaluate the feasibility of using the process at water sources, which are usually far away from DWTPs. The optimum molar ratio of KMnO4 to Fe(II) [Formula: see text] is observed to be 1:3 with respect to algae removal and residual manganese (Mn) control. As indicated from flow cytometer analysis, KMnO4 at <20 µM promisingly maintains cell integrity, with damaged cell ratios of below 10%. KMnO4 at 30 and 60 µM damages M. aeruginosa cells more significantly and the damaged cell ratios increase to 21% and 34% after 480 min. The intracellular organic matter (IOM) release can be controlled by the subsequent introduction of Fe(II) to quench residual KMnO4. KMnO4-Fe(II) pretreatment at the KMnO4 dose of 10 µM dramatically enhances the algae removal by over 70% compared to that by Al coagulation, even if KMnO4 and Fe(II) are introduced 480 min prior to the addition of Al2(SO4)3. The Al doses can be reduced by more than half to achieve the same algae removal. Furthermore, the deposition of the tiny Fe-Mn precipitates formed rarely occurs, as indicated by a settleability evaluation prior to Al addition. The KMnO4-Fe(II) process can be sequentially dosed at intake points in water sources to achieve moderate inactivation of algae cells and to enhance algae removal in DWTPs thereafter.