Short-term effects and economic burden of air pollutants on acute lower respiratory tract infections in children in Southwest China: a time-series study.

BACKGROUND: There are few studies on the effects of air pollutants on acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRI) in children. Here, we investigated the relationship of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), inhalable particulate matter (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) with the daily number of hospitalizations for ALRI in children in Sichuan Province, China, and to estimate the economic burden of disease due to exposure to air pollutants. METHODS: We collected records of 192,079 cases of childhood ALRI hospitalization between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018 from nine municipal/prefecture medical institutions as well as the simultaneous meteorological and air pollution data from 183 monitoring sites in Sichuan Province. A time series-generalized additive model was used to analyze exposure responses and lagged effects while assessing the economic burden caused by air pollutant exposure after controlling for long-term trends, seasonality, day of the week, and meteorological factors. RESULTS: Our single-pollutant model shows that for each 10 µg/m3 increase in air pollutant concentration (1 µg/m3 for SO2), the effect estimates of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2 for pneumonia reached their maximum at lag4, lag010, lag010, and lag07, respectively, with relative risk (RR) values of 1.0064 (95% CI, 1.0004-1.0124), 1.0168(95% CI 1.0089-1.0248), 1.0278 (95% CI 1.0157-1.0400), and 1.0378 (95% CI, 1.0072-1.0692). By contrast, the effect estimates of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2 for bronchitis all reached their maximum at lag010, with RRs of 1.0133 (95% CI 1.0025-1.0242), 1.0161(95% CI 1.0085-1.0238), 1.0135 (95% CI 1.0025-1.0247), and 1.1133(95% CI 1.0739-1.1541). In addition, children aged 5-14 years were more vulnerable to air pollutants than those aged 0-4 years (p < 0.05). According to the World Health Organization's air quality guidelines, the number of ALRI hospitalizations attributed to PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 pollution during the study period was 7551, 10,151, and 7575, respectively, while the incurring economic burden was CNY 2847.06, 3827.27, and 2855.91 million. CONCLUSION: This study shows that in Sichuan Province, elevated daily average concentrations of four air pollutants lead to increases in numbers of childhood ALRI hospitalizations and cause a serious economic burden.

Long-term spatiotemporal variation and lung cancer risk of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Yangtze River Delta, China.

The Yangtze River Delta (YRD), which is the most developed region in China, suffers from atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) pollution. However, the long-term spatiotemporal variation of atmospheric PAHs and the lung cancer risk caused by PAH exposure in the YRD remain unclear. Herein, we simulated the daily atmospheric concentration of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP, the most carcinogenic PAH) from 2001 to 2016 using an atmospheric transport model. During this period, the atmospheric BaP concentration showed a general trend of first increasing and then decreasing (average BaP concentration = 0.50 ± 0.12 ng/m3) and was highest in 2005 (0.72 ng/m3). Moreover, the BaP concentration in Jiangsu and Shanghai was 5.17- and 4.98-fold higher than that in Zhejiang. BaP pollution was severe in Jiangsu during the winter. The average area proportion of BaP exceeding the national standard in winter in Jiangsu was 69.09%. The population-weighted incremental lifetime cancer risk from 2001 to 2016 ranged 6.67 × 10-6-1.50 × 10-5, and the excess lung cancer cases ranged 1054-2130. Compared with 2005, excess lung cancer cases in the YRD decreased by 49.49% in 2016. Reducing BaP pollution in winter in Jiangsu is crucial for reducing lung cancer risk in the YRD.

Atmospheric benzo[a]pyrene in the Yangtze River Delta, China: pollution level and lung cancer risk in 2016 and future predictions.

The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) has undergone widespread polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) pollution. In this study, we simulated the spatial distribution of atmospheric benzo[a]pyrene (BaP, the most carcinogenic PAH) in the YRD in 2016 and 2030 under different emission scenarios using a 3-D atmospheric transport model and evaluated the lung cancer risks posed by BaP during the study years. The purpose of this study is to suggest targeted policy recommendations for policy-makers to mitigate BaP pollution through numerical simulation. Our results showed that the average BaP concentration in the YRD was 0.30 ng/m3 in 2016; however, a significant spatial variation was observed, with the highest BaP concentration in Shanghai (0.59 ng/m3). The population-weighted incremental lifetime lung cancer risk (PILCR) was 6.67 × 10-6 in 2016, whereas it ranged from 2.70 × 10-6 to 1.05 × 10-5 in 2030 under the five emission scenarios. A higher future population density in the YRD region could increase lung cancer risk. In all scenarios, Shanghai had the highest number of lung cancer cases (range: 208-476). The results suggest that BaP pollution could be effectively improved through the synergistic effect of reducing activity levels and improving technology. Finally, we provide specific suggested pollution control strategies (e.g., accelerating the use of clean energy in rural areas) for atmospheric BaP in the YRD.

Short-term ambient ozone exposure increases the risk of hospitalization with depression: a multi-city time-stratified case-crossover study.

BACKGROUND: Depression, the most common mental illness worldwide, has been studied and air pollution has been found to increase the risk of depression hospitalization, but research results on ozone (O3) remain limited. In this context, we investigated the relationship between short-term O3 exposure and depression-related hospital admissions (HAs). METHODS: The 10,459 records of HAs for depression from medical institutions across in 9 cities, China, were collected between 1 January 2017, and 31 December 2018. Air pollutants and meteorological data was obtained from provincial ecological environment monitoring stations in the study area. Conditional Poisson regression was employed to estimate the association between O3 and hospitalizations for depression, with data stratification by sex, age, weather, and economic level. RESULTS: Short-term O3 exposure was positively associated with the number of depression-related hospitalizations (Relative risk: 1.04 [95% CI: 1.02, 1.05]). O3 had a significant effect on the risk of depression-related hospitalizations on warm days (P = 0.021, Relative risk: 1.05 [1.03, 1.08]). The high gross domestic product group was more likely to be affected by O3 exposure-associated depression-related hospitalizations (P = 0.005, Relative risk: 1.03 [1.01, 1.05]). CONCLUSIONS: Short-term changes to O3 exposure may increase the risk of depression related hospitalizations, especially on warm days.

Assessing Safety of Market-Sold Fresh Fish: Tracking Fish Origins and Toxic Chemical Origins.

Increasing global and domestic food trade and required logistics create uncertainties in food safety inspection due to uncertainties in food origins and extensive trade activities. Modern blockchain techniques have been developed to inform consumers of food origins but do not provide food safety information in many cases. A novel food safety tracking and modeling framework for quantifying toxic chemical levels in the food and the food origins was developed. By integrating chemicals' multimedia environment exchange, food web, and source tracking systems, the framework was implemented to identify short-chain chlorinated paraffin (SCCP) contamination of fresh hairtail fish sold by a Walmart supermarket in Xi'an, northwestern China, and sourced in Eastern China Sea coastal waters. The framework was shown to successfully predict SCCP level with a mean of 17.8 ng g-1 in Walmart-sold hairtails, which was comparable to lab-analyzed 21.9 ng g-1 in Walmart-sold hairtails. The framework provides an alternative and cost-effective approach for safe food inspection compared to traditional food safety inspection techniques. These encouraging results suggest that the approach and rationale reported here could add additional information to the food origin tracking system to enhance transparency and consumers' confidence in the traded food they consumed.

Globalization-Driven Industry Relocation Significantly Reduces Arctic PAH Contamination.

Industry relocation under globalization has altered the origins and strength of emission sources of many air pollutants. We develop global emission inventories of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) embodied in the production and consumption of goods and services. We implement these inventories within a global atmospheric transport model and simulate spatial-temporal changes in atmospheric concentrations of benzo[α]pyrene (BaP), the most toxic congener in unsubstituted PAHs, and depositions across the Arctic subject to global trade and industry relocation. We show that interregional trade and industry relocation dramatically reduce the atmospheric levels and deposition of BaP in the Arctic. The most significant BaP decline occurs in the European and North American Arctic regions due to attenuated sources in the two well-developed continents proximate to the polar region induced by the relocation of high-PAH pollution industries to many developing countries far from the Arctic. Although BaP emissions embodied in industry relocations in China, India, and South and Southeast Asia resulted in increased BaP contamination in the Asian Arctic, such increases in pollution are minor compared to significant BaP reductions occurring in the European and North American Arctic regions. We find that "North-to-South" industry transfer could reduce trade-related BaP contamination by 60% in the Arctic.

The short-term effects and burden of particle air pollution on hospitalization for coronary heart disease: a time-stratified case-crossover study in Sichuan, China.

BACKGROUND: Coronary heart disease (CHD), the leading cause of death globally, might be developed or exacerbated by air pollution, resulting high burden to patients. To date, limited studies have estimated the relations between short-term exposure to air pollution and CHD disease burden in China, with inconsistent results. Hence, we aimed to estimate the short-term impact and burden of ambient PM pollutants on hospitalizations of CHD and specific CHD. METHODS: PM10 and PM2.5 were measured at 82 monitoring stations in 9 cities in Sichuan Province, China during 2017-2018. Based on the time-stratified case-crossover design, the effects of short-term exposure to particle matter (PM) pollution on coronary heart disease (CHD) hospital admissions were estimated. Meanwhile, the linked burden of CHD owing to ambient PM pollution were estimated. RESULTS: A total of 104,779 CHD records were derived from 153 hospitals from these 9 cities. There were significant effects of PM pollution on hospital admissions (HAs) for CHD and specific CHD in Sichuan Province. A 10 µg/m3 increase of PM10 and PM2.5 was linked with a 0.46% (95% CI: 0.08, 0.84%), and 0.57% (95% CI: 0.05, 1.09%) increments in HAs for CHD at lag7, respectively. The health effects of air pollutants were comparable modified by age, season and gender, showing old (≥ 65 years) and in cold season being more vulnerable to the effects of ambient air pollution, while gender-specific effects is positive but not conclusive. Involving the WHO's air quality guidelines as the reference, 1784 and 2847 total cases of HAs for CHD could be attributable to PM10 and PM2.5, separately. The total medical cost that could be attributable to exceeding PM10 and PM2.5 were 42.04 and 67.25 million CNY from 2017 to 2018, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that the short-term exposure to air pollutants were associated with increased HAs for CHD in Sichuan Province, which could be implications for local environment improvement and policy reference.

Short-term effects of air pollutants on hospital admissions for asthma among older adults: a multi-city time series study in Southwest, China.

Background: This study aimed to explore the relationship between air pollution and hospital admissions for asthma in older adults, and to further assess the health and economic burden of asthma admissions attributable to air pollution. Methods: We collected information on asthma cases in people over 65 years of age from nine cities in Sichuan province, as well as air pollution and meteorological data. The relationship between short-term air pollutant exposure and daily asthma hospitalizations was analyzed using the generalized additive model (GAM), and stratified by gender, age, and season. In addition, we assessed the economic burden of hospitalization for air pollution-related asthma in older adults using the cost of disease approach. Results: The single pollutant model showed that every 1 mg/m3 increase in CO was linked with an increase in daily hospitalizations for older adults with asthma, with relative risk values of 1.327 (95% CI: 1.116-1.577) at lag7. Each 10 µg/m3 increase in NO2, O3, PM10, PM2.5 and SO2, on asthma hospitalization, with relative risk values of 1.044 (95% CI: 1.011-1.078), 1.018 (95% CI: 1.002-1.034), 1.013 (95% CI: 1.004-1.022), 1.015 (95% CI: 1.003-1.028) and 1.13 (95% CI: 1.041-1.227), respectively. Stratified analysis shows that stronger associations between air pollution and asthma HAs among older adult in females, those aged 65-69 years, and in the warm season, although all of the differences between subgroups did not reach statistical significance. During the study period, the number of asthma hospitalizations attributable to PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 pollution was 764, 581 and 95, respectively, which resulted in a total economic cost of 6.222 million CNY, 4.73 million CNY and 0.776 million CNY, respectively. Conclusion: This study suggests that short-term exposure to air pollutants is positively associated with an increase in numbers of asthma of people over 65 years of age in Sichuan province, and short-term exposure to excessive PM and NO2 brings health and economic burden to individuals and society.

Attributable risk and economic burden of pneumonia among older adults admitted to hospital due to short-term exposure to airborne particulate matter: a time-stratified case-crossover study from China.

Many studies have proven the relationship between air pollutants and respiratory diseases, but few studies have assessed the impacts of air particulate matter exposure on older patients with pneumonia. This study aimed to reveal the impacts of short-term exposure to air particulate matter on the daily number of older adult patients hospitalized due to pneumonia and calculate the economic costs attributable to this exposure. We collected inpatient data from 9 city hospitals in Sichuan Province, China, from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2019, and calculated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals using a time-stratified case-crossover study design and an attributable risk model to calculate the economic burden due to particulate matter pollution. It was found that for every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations, the daily number of older adult pneumonia inpatients increased by 1.5% (95% CI: 1.010-1.021) and 1.0% (95% CI: 1.006-1.014), respectively. Those 65 ~ 79 years old were more susceptible to air particulate pollutants (P < 0.05). During the study period, the total hospitalization costs and out-of-pocket expenses attributable to PM2.5 and PM10 exposure were 44.60 million CNY (6.22%) and 16.03 million CNY (6.21%), respectively, with PM2.5 being the primary influencing factor. This study revealed the relationship between particulate matter pollution and pneumonia among older adults. The role of policies to limit particulate matter concentrations in reducing disease burden among older adults can be further explored.

The Short-Term Effects and Burden of Ambient Air Pollution on Hospitalization for Type 2 Diabetes: Time-Stratified Case-Crossover Evidence From Sichuan, China.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), a complicated metabolic disease, might be developed or exacerbated by air pollution, resulting in economic and health burden to patients. So far, limited studies have estimated associations between short-term exposure to air pollution and disease burden of T2DM in China. Hence, we aimed to estimate the associations and burden of ambient air pollutants (NO2, PM10, PM2.5, SO2, and CO) on hospital admissions (HAs) for T2DM using a time-stratified case-crossover design. Data on HAs for T2DM during 2017-2019 were collected from hospital electronic health records in nine cities in Sichuan Province using conditional poisson regression. Totally, 92,381 T2DM hospitalizations were recorded. There were significant short-term effects of NO2, PM10, PM2.5, SO2 and CO on HAs for T2DM. A 10 µg/m3 increment of NO2, PM10, PM2.5, SO2 and CO as linked with a 3.39% (95% CI: 2.26%, 4.54%), 0.33% (95% CI: 0.04%, 0.62%), 0.76% (95% CI: 0.35%, 1.16%), 12.68% (95% CI: 8.14%, 17.42%) and 79.00% (95% CI: 39.81%, 129.18%) increase in HAs for T2DM at lag 6. Stratified analyses modified by age, sex, and season showed old (≥65 years) and female patients linked with higher impacts. Using WHO's air quality guidelines of NO2, PM10, PM2.5, and CO as the reference, the attributable number of T2DM HAs exceeding these pollutants exposures were 786, 323, 793, and 2,127 during 2017-2019. Besides, the total medical costs of 25.83, 10.54, 30.74, and 67.78 million China Yuan were attributed to NO2, PM10, PM2.5, and CO. In conclusion, short-term exposures to air pollutants were associated with higher risks of HAs for T2DM.

Inhibition of SLC7A11-GPX4 signal pathway is involved in aconitine-induced ferroptosis in vivo and in vitro.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Aconitum species, with a long history of traditional application, were applied to treat rheumatism, arthritis, stroke, and pain in Chinese medical practice. However, misuse of Aconitum species may induce central nervous toxic effects, such as numbness, vomiting, and even coma. Aconitine has been proved to be the main toxic component of Aconitum plants. Neurotoxicity is the main toxic effect of aconitine, while the underlying mechanism of aconitine remains unclear. AIM OF THE STUDY: The purpose of the study is to explore the effects and molecular mechanism of ferroptosis caused by aconitine in vivo and in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six-dpf zebrafish larvae and SH-SY5Y cells were treated with different concentrations of aconitine for 24 h. Inhibitors treatment, e.g. pretreatment with Necrostain-1 (Nec-1) and Z-VZD-FMK for 12 h, or with Ferrostain-1 (Fer-1) for 4 h, were involved in the identification of aconitine-induced ferroptosis. Transient transfection experiment was conducted to explore the effects of SLC7A11 in the process of aconitine-induced ferroptosis. The effects of aconitine on morphological changes, lipid peroxidation, ferrous ion, and ferroptosis were detected by transmission electron microscope, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and western blotting. RESULTS: In SH-SY5Y cells, morphological changes including shrunken mitochondria, increased mitochondrial membranes density and ruptured mitochondrial membranes were captured in aconitine-treated group. The cell viability and GSH content dose-dependently declined, levels of lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), and ferrous ion significantly increased after aconitine exposure for 24 h. Ferroptosis inhibitor Fer-1 pretreatment effectively increased cell viability, GSH content, and decreased levels of MDA and lipid peroxidation, suggesting that aconitine induced ferroptosis. In addition, the protein expression of SLC7A11 and GPX4 were improved after Fer-1 preincubation, which indicated that aconitine triggered ferroptosis via the inhibition of SLC7A11 and the inactivation of GPX4. Ferroptotic characteristics, including GSH depletion and lipid peroxidation accumulation, were alleviated via overexpression of SLC7A11 to increase protein expression of GPX4. In zebrafish experiment, GSH depletion, lipid peroxidation accumulation, iron overload, and the decreased protein expression of SLC7A11 and GPX4 were also induced in zebrafish larvae after aconitine exposure. Taken together, aconitine triggered ferroptotic cell death via inhibiting SLC7A11/GPX4 signal pathway in vivo and in vitro. CONCLUSION: All results indicated that aconitine triggered ferroptosis of SH-SY5Y cells and zebrafish larvae nerve cells, which involved the inhibition of SLC7A11/GPX4 signal pathway mediated by lipid peroxidation damage and iron overload.

moreThanANOVA: A user-friendly Shiny/R application for exploring and comparing data with interactive visualization.

In the case of comparing means of various groups, data exploration and comparison for affecting factors or relative indices would be involved. This process is not only complex requiring extensive statistical knowledge and methods, but also challenging for the complex installation of existing tools for users who lack of statistical knowledge and coding experience. Like, the normal distribution and equal variance are crucial premises of parametric statistical analysis. But some studies reported that associated data from various industries violated the normal distribution and equal variance, parametric analysis still involved leading to invalid results. This is owing to that the normal distribution tests and homogeneity of variance test for different variables are time-cost and error-prone, posing an urgent need for an automatic and user-friendly analysis application, not only integrating normal distribution tests and homogeneity of variance test, but also associated the following statistical analysis. To address this, we developed a Shiny/R application, moreThanANOVA, which is an interactive, user-friendly, open-source and cloud-based visualization application to achieve automatic distribution tests, and correlative significance tests, then customize post-hoc analysis based on the considerations to the trade-off of Type I and Type II errors (deployed at https://hanchen.shinyapps.io/moreThanANOVA/). moreThanANOVA enables novice users to perform their complex statistical analyses quickly and credibly with interactive visualization and download publication-ready graphs for further analysis.

Attributable risk and economic cost of hospital admissions for depression due to short-exposure to ambient air pollution: A multi-city time-stratified case-crossover study.

BACKGROUND: Depression has become the most common mental disease globally and is a strong predictor for suicide. Studies have indicated that exposure to high levels of air pollution increased the risk of depression, but evidence in human populations is still limited. At present, a few studies estimated the impact of multi-pollutants on hospitalization for depression in multi-city in areas with severe air pollution. We aimed to examine the association between short-term exposure to common ambient air pollutants and hospital admissions (HAs) for depression based on statistics of inpatients with depression in multi-city. METHODS: The 10,459 records of HAs for depression from medical institutions in nine cities/prefectures, Sichuan Province, China, between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018 were collected. Air pollutant data including PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and NO2 from provincial ecological environment monitoring stations were obtained. Based on a time-stratified case-crossover design, we estimated the impact on relative risk (RR) of short-term exposure to air pollutants on hospitalization for depression, with stratification by sex, age, and economic level. The cost of illness method was used to further assess hospitalization costs. RESULTS: The short-term exposure to air pollutants was positively associated with hospitalization for depression. The increase of air particulate matter (PM) had the strongest effect on lag 0 day (PM2.5:1.037 (95% CI:1.022,1.052), PM10:1.024 (95% CI:1.013,1.036)). The effects of SO2 reached the peak on lag 2 day (1.317 (95% CI:1.151,1.507)). Women and older people were more likely to be affected by air pollutants and prone to depression (P = 0.013, P = 0.006). During the study period, the economic cost of hospitalization for depression caused by PM pollution was US$ 8.36 million. LIMITATIONS: The air pollutant concentration level of the monitoring stations in the study area was regarded as personal pollutant exposure, which may not accurately reflect the patient's exposure level, resulting in a certain measurement error. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term changes to ambient air pollution exposure may increase the risk of hospital admissions for depression and cause economic costs due to hospitalization.

Short-term effects of air pollutants on hospital admissions for acute bronchitis in children: a multi-city time-series study in Southwest China.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the effects of air pollutants on children with acute bronchitis. This study aimed to explore the acute effects of four air pollutants [fine particulate matter (PM2.5), inhalable particulate matter (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2)] on the daily number of children admitted to the hospital for acute bronchitis in Sichuan Province, China. METHODS: The 49,975 records of hospitalized children with acute bronchitis from medical institutions in nine cities/prefectures, Sichuan Province, China, as well as the simultaneous meteorological data and air pollution data from 183 monitoring sites, were collected from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018. A generalized additive model was adopted to analyze the exposure-response and lag effects of hospitalizations of children with acute bronchitis to air pollutants. Stratified analyses were conducted based on sex, age, and season. RESULTS: The single-pollutant model showed that a 10 µg/m3 increase at lag07 of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2 corresponded to an increase of 1.23% [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.21-2.26%], 1.33% (95% CI 0.62-2.05%), 23.52% (95% CI 11.52-36.81%), and 12.47% (95% CI 8.46-16.64%) in daily hospitalizations for children with acute bronchitis, respectively. Children aged 0-2 were more prone to PM2.5 (P < 0.05). Interestingly, the effects were stronger in the warm season than in transition seasons and the cool season for PM2.5 and PM10 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The higher daily average concentrations of four pollutants in Sichuan Province can result in an increased number of children hospitalized for acute bronchitis.

Aconitine induces mitochondrial energy metabolism dysfunction through inhibition of AMPK signaling and interference with mitochondrial dynamics in SH-SY5Y cells.

Aconitine, a highly toxic alkaloid derived from Aconitum L., affects the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system. However, the underlying mechanism of aconitine-induced neurotoxicity remains unclear. This study investigates the effects and mechanism of aconitine on mitochondrial energy metabolism in SH-SY5Y cells. Results demonstrated that aconitine exposure suppressed cell proliferation and led to an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and excessive lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. Aconitine (400 µmol/L) induced abnormal mitochondrial energy metabolism that quantified by the significant decrease in ATP production, basal respiration, proton leak, maximal respiration, and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity. Phosphorylation of AMPK was significantly reduced in aconitine-treated SH-SY5Y cells. The AMPK activator AIACR pretreatment effectively promoted ATP production to ameliorate mitochondrial energy metabolism disorder caused by aconitine. Mitochondrial biosynthesis was inhibited after treatment with 400 µmol/L aconitine, which was characterized by mitochondria number, TFAM expression, and mtDNA copy number. Moreover, aconitine prompted the down-regulation of mitochondrial fusion proteins OPA1, Mfn1 and Mfn2, and the up-regulation of mitochondrial fission proteins p-Drp1 and p-Mff. These results suggest that aconitine induces mitochondrial energy metabolism dysfunction in SH-SY5Y cells, which may involve the inhibition of AMPK signaling and abnormal mitochondrial dynamics.

Multiple exposure pathways of first-year university students to heavy metals in China: Serum sampling and atmospheric modeling.

In this study, we collected 308 serum samples from 17 to 20 year old first-year university students who were recruited from Lanzhou University in China a few days after their enrollment to measure the serum Pb, Cd, Hg, and As levels, and specific questionnaires for age, sex, settlement and dietary structure were designed. A 3-D atmospheric transport model was used to simulate the atmospheric concentration and dry deposition across China based on gridded Pb emission inventory to examine the association between the spatial distribution of serum concentrations and environmental fates of Pb. The mean serum Pb, Cd, Hg, and As concentrations averaged over all participating young students were 21.38, 1.46, 3.86, and 4.69 µg/L, respectively. The Pb, Cd, and Hg levels in 3%, 7%, and 20% serum samples exceeded the standards. The minimum serum As and Hg concentrations and the maximum serum Pb and Cd concentrations occurred in urban areas. Seafood diet habits (P < 0.05), sex (P < 0.05), and relocation (P < 0.01) caused significant differences in serum As, Pb, and Cd concentrations. A cluster analysis was carried out to classify the exposure pathways for target contaminants. The results indicated that 4 heavy metals in the serum of volunteers from northern China could be grouped into the same category, in which significant positive correlations were found between the serum heavy metal levels and background concentrations of surface soil. However, in other provinces and metropolises, the atmospheric pollution level played a critical role involving in the inhalation exposure pathway. We demonstrated that serum Pb levels in freshman students were related to the atmospheric transport and dry deposition of Pb.

Tagged sources of short-chain chlorinated paraffins in China's marine environment and fish.

Most emitters of short chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) in China are located in eastern China, posing potential risks to the marine environment and food web. Here we employed a comprehensive atmospheric transport model combined with multiple environmental compartment exchange modules and a marine food web model to simulate levels and risks of SCCPs in the marine environment and fish in the Yellow Sea (YS), East China Sea (ECS), and South China Sea (SCS). Results unveiled a decreasing SCCP level in seawaters and sediments towards offshore. The modeled SCCP total (dry + wet) loadings to the three seawater bodies ranged from 0.0013 to 0.1635 mg/m2/season and gaseous diffusive deposition ranged from 43 to 4443 kg/month. The meteorological factors and secondary emission contributing to seasonal changes in SCCPs were also discussed. A tagging technique was used to trace origins of SCCPs, demonstrating that source proximity contributes most in SCCP contamination to these seawater bodies. Modeled SCCP levels in 5 marine fish in the YS, ECS, and SCS ranged from 23 to 111 ng/g. Our results showed the current SCCP levels in the marine environment and fish did not pose exposure risks to fish consumers for different age groups and genders. However, if consumed fish were harvested and imported from more seriously contaminated seawaters by SCCPs, the estimated dietary intake (EDI) would considerably increase.

Flux and source-sink relationship of heavy metals and arsenic in the Bohai Sea, China.

This study conducted a field campaign to collect atmospheric deposition samples of heavy metals and arsenic, a metalloid element with typical chemical-physical characteristics (HMA), from 12 sampling sites and water samples from 37 rivers across the Bohai Sea (BS) and North Yellow Sea (NYS) in China. The HMA budgets in the BS and NYS were quantified by a budget model, which was developed based on the HMA inputs from atmospheric deposition and riverine discharge, sequestration to sediment, and interexchange among the BS's four subareas and the NYS. Statistical analyses of 76 deposition samples and 109 water concentration samples showed that atmospheric deposition was a main pathway of Pb entering the BS and NYS, whereas riverine discharge dominated the input of Cr, Cu, Zn, Cd, and As into the marine environment. Modeled results showed that the fractions of HMA in the water bodies compared with their total burdens were 86.6 ±â€¯4.55% in the Liaodong Bay, 60.5 ±â€¯10.5% in the Bohai Bay, 20.9 ±â€¯9.05% in the Laizhou Bay, 95.1 ±â€¯2.06% in the Central BS, and 94.3 ±â€¯1.93% in the NYS. The lowest fraction of HMA in the Laizhou Bay was attributed to high sedimentation rates and higher suspended particulate matter concentrations due to inputs from the Yellow River. The modeled 1-, 10- and 100- year mass budgets indicated that the Liaodong Bay in the north of the BS was a sink of HMA, the Bohai Bay and Laizhou Bay in the west and south of the BS acted as sources, and the Central BS and NYS were a transition area for most HMA.

Contamination of short-chain chlorinated paraffins to the biotic and abiotic environments in the Bohai Sea.

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) have been produced and emitted intensively around the Bohai Sea, potentially causing risks to this unique ecosystem and one of primary fishery resources in China and busiest seaways in the world. Little is known about fate, cycling, and sources of SCCPs in the Bohai Sea biotic and abiotic environment. In this study, we combined a marine food web model with a comprehensive atmospheric transport-multiple phase exchange model to quantify SCCPs in the biotic and abiotic environment in the Bohai Sea. We performed multiple modeling scenario investigations to examine SCCP levels in water, sediment, and phytoplankton. We assessed numerically dry and wet depositions, biomagnification and bioaccumulation of SCCPs in the Bohai Sea marine food web. Results showed declining SCCP levels in water and sediment with increasing distance from the coastline, and so do dry and wet depositions. The net deposition overwhelmed the water-air exchange of SCCPs due to their current use in China, though the diffusive gas deposition fluctuated monthly subject to mean wind speed and temperature. A risk assessment manifests that SCCPs levels in the Bohai Sea fish species are at present not posing risks to the residents in the Bohai Sea Rim region. We identified that the SCCP emission sources in the south of the Bohai Sea made a primary contribution to its loadings to the seawater and fish contamination associated with the East Asian summer monsoon. In contrast, the SCCP emissions from the north and northwest regions of the Bohai Sea were major sources contributing to their loading and contamination to Bohai Sea food web during the wintertime, potentially driven by the East Asian winter monsoon.

Gridded emission inventory of short-chain chlorinated paraffins and its validation in China.

China produces approximately 20%-30% of the total global chlorinated paraffins (CPs). The establishment of a short-chain CP (SCCP) emission inventory is a significant step toward risk assessment and regulation of SCCPs in China and throughout the globe. This study developed a gridded SCCPs emission inventory with a 1/4° longitude by 1/4° latitude resolution from 2008 to 2012 for China, which was based on the total annual CPs emissions for the nation. The total national SCCPs emission during this 5-year period was 5651.5 tons. An additive in metal cutting fluids was a major emission source in China, contributing 2680.2 tons to the total atmospheric emissions of SCCPs from 2008 to 2012, followed by the production of CPs (2281.8 tons), plasticizers (514.3 tons), flame retardants (108.6 tons), and net import (66.6 tons). Most of these emission sources are located along the eastern seaboard of China and southern China. A coupled atmospheric transport model was employed to simulate environmental contamination by SCCPs using the gridded emission inventory of SCCPs from 2008 to 2012 as the model initial conditions. Simulated atmospheric and soil concentrations were compared with field monitoring data to validate the emission inventory. The results showed good consistency between modeled and field sampling data, supporting the reliability and credibility of the gridded SCCPs emission inventory that was developed in the present study.