Contamination, ecological, and health risk assessment of heavy metals and organophosphorus pesticides in single, double, and ratoon cropping of rice: a case study in Mazandaran, North of Iran.

This study investigated the contamination and health risk assessment of heavy metals and organophosphorus pesticides in single, double, and ratoon cropping of rice in Mazandaran province, north of Iran. A total of 17 sampling locations in rice farms were selected and soil and rice samples were collected from farms in 5 counties of Mazandaran. Soil and rice samples were then transferred to the lab for further analysis. The concentration of pesticides and heavy metals was then analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), respectively. Mercury was analyzed using a Leco mercury analyzer. Target hazard quotient (THQ), total target hazard quotient (TTHQ), carcinogenic risk (CR), and total carcinogenic risk (TCR) in children and adults were used. Potential ecological risk also was used to test the possible hazards of heavy metals to the environment. Heavy metals concentration in rice and soil samples in different farming steps revealed different levels. THQ showed no considerable risk in consuming contaminated rice to adults and children considered, while TTHQ revealed potential non-carcinogenic risks. Ni had the most carcinogenic risks to target human groups, and TCR showed carcinogenicity for carcinogenic heavy metals in all stations. Findings showed no ecological risks of metals to the environment. In conclusion, rice farmers in Mazandaran use the lands multiple times during the year to increase the performance, function, quality, and quantity of rice, but the possible toxic effects of heavy metals and pesticides on consumers and the environment should not be overlooked.

Possible health risk assessment for heavy metal concentrations in water, sediment, and fish species and Turkmen pregnant women's biomonitoring in Miankaleh Peninsula, Iran.

This study investigated the human biomonitoring of heavy metals in the water, sediments, and tissues of mostly consumed fish species using Turkmen pregnant women's biomarkers in winter 2019, at the Miankaleh Peninsula, north of Iran. Metal concentrations were measured in various fish organs as well as pregnant women's blood, hair, and nail as biological indicators. For this purpose, a total of 20 water and sediment, 14 fish, and 16 human samples were collected. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to evaluate the concentration of Cr, Co, Cu, As, Hg, and Pb. Results showed metals with the highest concentrations as Cu and Cr in water (93.35 and 80.91 µg/l, respectively), Hg and Pb in sediment (7.40 µg/g for both), Cu and Pb in the liver (27.00 and 18.9 µg/g for C. carpio; 1414 and 31.7 µg/g for L. auratus), muscle (10.00 and 18.80 for C. carpio; 37.20 and 8.27 µg/g for L. auratus), and skin (26.40 and 9.90 for C. carpio; 10.80 and 11.74 µg/g for L. auratus). In addition, Cu, in pregnant women samples, had the highest values at 2.53 mg/l, 8.87, 36.46, and 29.04 µg/g for blood, hair, fingernail, and toenail, respectively. However, Co showed the lowest concentration in all studied samples. Fish liver and fingernail of pregnant women did reveal the highest heavy metal accumulation, whereas fish muscle and blood of pregnant women had the lowest accumulated heavy metals. The concentration of Hg in water, sediment, fish muscle, and women's blood and hair exceeded the limits suggested by various organizations. Therefore, this study highlighted that heavy metal concentration, in particular Hg, in water, sediments, and fish is a serious risk to the health of local inhabitants who rely on fisheries products and recommended that necessary information should be provided to warn Turkmen pregnant women in consumption of Hg-contaminated fish in this area.

Removal of lead from aqueous solutions using three biosorbents of aquatic origin with the emphasis on the affective factors.

The biosorptive potentials of three aquatics-based biosorbents, including shells of a bivalve mollusk and scales of two fish species for Pb removal from aqueous solutions were evaluated, for the first time. A Box-Behnken design with the response surface methodology was used to investigate the effects of the seven important variables (contact time, temperature, initial concentration, dosage, size, salinity and pH) on the sorption capacity of the sorbents. Among the seven studied factors, the effects of biosorbent dosage, initial concentration and pH were significant for all the response variables, while biosorbent size was not significant for any of the responses. The initial concentration was the most influential factor. The presence of Pb ions on the surfaces of the biosorbents after the adsorption was clearly confirmed by the SEM-EDX and XRF analyses. The maximum sorption capacities of the biosorbents were comparable to the literature and the descending order was as follows: scales of Rutilus kutum and Oncorhynchus mykiss and the shells of Cerastoderma glaucum. The isotherm studies revealed Langmuir model applicability for the Pb adsorption by R. kutum and O. mykiss scales, while Freundlich model was fitted to the adsorption C. glaucum shells.

Purified compounds from marine organism sea pen induce apoptosis in human breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231 and cervical cancer cell Hela.

Marine organisms are an important source of chemical compounds which are appropriate for use as therapeutic agents. Among them, Sea pens produce valuable chemical compounds being used as anti-cancer drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate anti-cancer property of extracted and purified compounds from marine organism Sea pen and evaluate their effects on inducing of apoptosis. The extracts were prepared from dried colony of Virgularia gustaviana. The compounds (3ß)-Cholest,5en,3ol (cholesterol) (15 mg), Hexadecanoic acid (2.5 mg) and 2-Hexadecanol (10.7 mg) were identified by GC-MS and NMR. The cytotoxic effects of the compounds were evaluated on Hela and MDA-Mb-231 human cancer cell lines with MTT assay. Immunocytochemistry and Western Blot analyses were used to evaluate the expression of apoptosis related markers Caspase 3, Caspase 8, Bax and BCL2 in cancer cells after treating with three compounds. The purified compounds reduced viability of human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 and human cervical cancer cell line Hela concentration-dependently. 2-Hexadecanol reduced significantly the viability of both cancer cell lines in comparison to the other purified compounds. Treatment of cancer cells with the three purified compounds increased the expression of caspase-3, caspase-8 and Bax proteins and decreased the relative Bcl-2/Bax ratio, demonstrating induction of apoptosis as possible mechanism of action. According to the results, three purified compounds inhibit the growth of cancer cells by inducing of apoptosis pathway; an effect which needs to be further investigated in the future studies.

A simple and effective synthesis of magnetic γ-Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2-Ag microspheres as a recyclable photocatalyst: dye degradation and antibacterial potential.

PURPOSE AND METHODS: In this study, an effective technique for synthesizing γ-Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2-Ag magnetically separable photocatalyst was introduced by combining co-precipitation, sol-gel, and photo-deposition methods. A series of analyses including FTIR, SEM, EDS, XRD, and VSM were applied to characterize the prepared materials and the investigations on photocatalytic activity of the prepared composites were accomplished. RESULTS: Compared to bare γ-Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2, the Ag-doped composite was more active in terms of photocatalytic characteristics. By applying γ-Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2-Ag, the decomposition rate of the Basic blue 41 reached to about 94% after 3 h of UV irradiation; this rate was 63% for pure γ-Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2. The results indicated that the dye degradation kinetics followed first-order kinetic model. During the five cycles of separation, it was observed that the Ag-doped composite was greatly effective and stable in terms of recycling. Moreover, the results indicated that antibacterial activity of γ-Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2-Ag was remarkably stronger than that of pure Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2 particles. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that by modifying magnetic TiO2 by silver nanoparticles, charge separation was eased by catching photo-generated electrons, resulted in an enhanced photo- and biological activity. Graphical abstract.

Seasonal variation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the surface sediments of the southern Caspian Sea.

The concentrations of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in sediments from the southern Caspian Sea in fall 2015 and winter 2016. The sum of 16 PAH (ΣPAH) concentrations varied from 17.3±3.05 to 926.7±157.37ngg-1 dry weight and 14.3±0.58 to 85.8±4.41ngg-1 dry weight in fall and winter, respectively. There was no significant correlation between PAH and total organic carbon contents (p>0.05). PAH source identification showed that the PAHs in the sediments originated from petroleum and petroleum combustion. When classified according to the pollution levels, sediments from the southern Caspian Sea could be considered to be low to moderately polluted with PAHs.

Analgesic effect of Persian Gulf Conus textile venom.

OBJECTIVES: Cone snails are estimated to consist of up to 700 species. The venom of these snails has yielded a rich source of novel peptides. This study was aimed to study the analgesic effect of Persian Gulf Conus textile and its comparison with morphine in mouse model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Samples were collected in Larak Island. The venom ducts were Isolated and kept on ice then homogenized. The mixture centrifuged at 10000 × g for 20 min. Supernatant was considered as extracted venom. The protein profile of venom determined using 15% sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Venom was administered intraperitoneally (IP) to evaluate the LD50 in Swiss albino mice. Different concentrations of Conus textile venom were injected intrathecally to mice to evaluate their analgesic effect in comparison to morphine. Injection was carried out between the L5 and L6 vertebrae. Differences between groups in the first and second phase were tested with Two-Way analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: SDS-PAGE indicated 12 bands ranged between 6 and 180 KDa. Finally, ten ng of Conus crude venom showed the best analgesic activity in formalin test. No death observed up to 100 mg/kg. Analgesic activity of crude venom was more significant (P<0.05) in acute pain than inflammatory pain. The analgesic effect of 10 ng Conus venom was the same as morphine for reduction of inflammatory pain (P=0.27). CONCLUSION: The venom of Persian Gulf Conus textile contains an analgesic component for reliving of acute pain which can lead to find an analgesic drug.