Moss as a passive biomonitoring tool for the atmospheric deposition and spatial distribution pattern of toxic metals in an industrial city.

Anthropogenic pollution impacts human and environmental health, climate change, and air quality. Karabük, an industrial area from the Black Sea Region in northern Türkiye, is vulnerable to environmental pollution, particularly soil and air. In this research on methodological aspects, we analyzed the concentrations of six potential toxic metals in the atmospheric deposition of the city using the passive method of moss biomonitoring. The ground-growing terrestrial moss, Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw., was collected during the dry season of August 2023 at 20 urban points. The concentrations of Cr, Cu, Cd, Ni, Pb, and Co were determined in mosses by the ICP-MS method. Descriptive statistical analysis was employed to evaluate the status and variance in the spatial distribution of the studied metals, and multivariate analysis, Pearson correlation, and cluster analysis were used to investigate the associations of elements and discuss the most probable sources of these elements in the study area. Cd and Co showed positive and significant inter-element correlations (r > 0.938), representing an anthropogenic association mostly present in the air particles emitted from several metal plants. The results showed substantial impacts from local industry, manufactured activity, and soil dust emissions. Steel and iron smelter plants and cement factories are the biggest emitters of trace metals in the Karabük area and the primary sources of Cr, Cd, Ni, and Co deposition.

Towards global insect biomonitoring with frugal methods.

None of the global targets for protecting nature are currently met, although humanity is critically dependent on biodiversity. A significant issue is the lack of data for most biodiverse regions of the planet where the use of frugal methods for biomonitoring would be particularly important because the available funding for monitoring is insufficient, especially in low-income countries. We here discuss how three approaches to insect biomonitoring (computer vision, lidar, DNA sequences) could be made more frugal and urge that all biomonitoring techniques should be evaluated for global suitability before becoming the default in high-income countries. This requires that techniques popular in high-income countries should undergo a phase of 'innovation through simplification' before they are implemented more broadly. We predict that techniques that acquire raw data at low cost and are suitable for analysis with AI (e.g. images, lidar-signals) will be particularly suitable for global biomonitoring, while techniques that rely heavily on patented technologies may be less promising (e.g. DNA sequences). We conclude the opinion piece by pointing out that the widespread use of AI for data analysis will require a global strategy for providing the necessary computational resources and training. This article is part of the theme issue 'Towards a toolkit for global insect biodiversity monitoring'.

Towards a toolkit for global insect biodiversity monitoring.

Insects are the most diverse group of animals on Earth, yet our knowledge of their diversity, ecology and population trends remains abysmally poor. Four major technological approaches are coming to fruition for use in insect monitoring and ecological research-molecular methods, computer vision, autonomous acoustic monitoring and radar-based remote sensing-each of which has seen major advances over the past years. Together, they have the potential to revolutionize insect ecology, and to make all-taxa, fine-grained insect monitoring feasible across the globe. So far, advances within and among technologies have largely taken place in isolation, and parallel efforts among projects have led to redundancy and a methodological sprawl; yet, given the commonalities in their goals and approaches, increased collaboration among projects and integration across technologies could provide unprecedented improvements in taxonomic and spatio-temporal resolution and coverage. This theme issue showcases recent developments and state-of-the-art applications of these technologies, and outlines the way forward regarding data processing, cost-effectiveness, meaningful trend analysis, technological integration and open data requirements. Together, these papers set the stage for the future of automated insect monitoring. This article is part of the theme issue 'Towards a toolkit for global insect biodiversity monitoring'.

Measuring the state of aquatic environments using eDNA-upscaling spatial resolution of biotic indices.

Aquatic macroinvertebrates, including many aquatic insect orders, are a diverse and ecologically relevant organismal group yet they are strongly affected by anthropogenic activities. As many of these taxa are highly sensitive to environmental change, they offer a particularly good early warning system for human-induced change, thus leading to their intense monitoring. In aquatic ecosystems there is a plethora of biotic monitoring or biomonitoring approaches, with more than 300 assessment methods reported for freshwater taxa alone. Ultimately, monitoring of aquatic macroinvertebrates is used to calculate ecological indices describing the state of aquatic systems. Many of the methods and indices used are not only hard to compare, but especially difficult to scale in time and space. Novel DNA-based approaches to measure the state and change of aquatic environments now offer unprecedented opportunities, also for possible integration towards commonly applicable indices. Here, we first give a perspective on DNA-based approaches in the monitoring of aquatic organisms, with a focus on aquatic insects, and how to move beyond traditional point-based biotic indices. Second, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept for spatially upscaling ecological indices based on environmental DNA, demonstrating how integration of these novel molecular approaches with hydrological models allows an accurate evaluation at the catchment scale. This article is part of the theme issue 'Towards a toolkit for global insect biodiversity monitoring'.

Monitoring aerial insect biodiversity: a radar perspective.

In the current biodiversity crisis, populations of many species have alarmingly declined, and insects are no exception to this general trend. Biodiversity monitoring has become an essential asset to detect biodiversity change but remains patchy and challenging for organisms that are small, inconspicuous or make (nocturnal) long-distance movements. Radars are powerful remote-sensing tools that can provide detailed information on intensity, timing, altitude and spatial scale of aerial movements and might therefore be particularly suited for monitoring aerial insects and their movements. Importantly, they can contribute to several essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) within a harmonized observation system. We review existing research using small-scale biological and weather surveillance radars for insect monitoring and outline how the derived measures and quantities can contribute to the EBVs 'species population', 'species traits', 'community composition' and 'ecosystem function'. Furthermore, we synthesize how ongoing and future methodological, analytical and technological advancements will greatly expand the use of radar for insect biodiversity monitoring and beyond. Owing to their long-term and regional-to-large-scale deployment, radar-based approaches can be a powerful asset in the biodiversity monitoring toolbox whose potential has yet to be fully tapped. This article is part of the theme issue 'Towards a toolkit for global insect biodiversity monitoring'.

Biomonitoring urinary pesticide metabolites in preschool children by supported liquid extraction and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and their association with oxidative stress.

Investigating pesticide exposure and oxidative stress in preschool children is essential for elucidating the determinants of environmental health in early life, with human biomonitoring of urinary pesticide metabolites serving as a critical strategy for achieving this objective. This study demonstrated biomonitoring of 2 phenoxyacetic acid herbicides, 2 organophosphorus pesticide metabolites, and 4 pyrethroid pesticide metabolites in 159 preschool children and evaluated their association with oxidative stress biomarker 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine. An enzymatic deconjugation process was used to release urinary pesticide metabolites, which were then extracted and enriched by supported liquid extraction, and quantified by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with internal standard calibration. Dichloromethane: methyl tert­butyl ether (1:1, v/v) was optimized as the solvent for supported liquid extraction, and we validated the method for linear range, recovery, matrix effect and method detection limit. Method detection limit of the pesticide metabolites ranged from 0.01 µg/L to 0.04 µg/L, with satisfactory recoveries ranging from 70.5 % to 95.5 %. 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid was not detected, whereas the other seven pesticide metabolites were detected with frequencies ranging from 10.1 % to 100 %. The concentration of urinary pesticide metabolites did not significantly differ between boys and girls, with the median concentrations being 9.39 µg/L for boys and 4.90 µg/L for girls, respectively. Spearman correlation analysis indicated that significant positive correlations among urinary metabolites. Bayesian kernel machine regression revealed a significant positive association between urinary pesticide metabolites and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine. Para-nitrophenol was the pesticide metabolite that contributed significantly to the elevated level of oxidative stress.

Urinary biomonitoring of fuel ether oxygenates using a needle trap device packed with a novel molecularly imprinted polymer surface modified Zeolite Y.

This study introduces an innovative needle trap device (NTD) featuring a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) surface-modified Zeolite Y. The developed NTD was integrated with gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and employed for analysis of fuel ether oxygenates (methyl tert­butyl ether, MTBE, ethyl tert­butyl ether, ETBE, and tert­butyl formate, TBF) in urine samples. To optimize the key experimental variables including extraction temperature, extraction time, salt concentration, and stirring speed, a central composite design-response surface methodology (CCD-RSM) was employed. The optimal values for extraction in the study were found to be 51.2 °C extraction temperature, 46.2 min extraction time, 27 % salt concentration, and 620 rpm stirring speed. Under the optimized conditions, the calibration curves demonstrated excellent linearity within the range of 0.1-100 µg L-1, with correlation coefficients (R2) exceeding 0.99. The limits of detection (LODs) for MTBE, ETBE, and TBF were obtained 0.06, 0.08, and 0.09 µg L-1, respectively. Moreover, the limits of quantification (LOQs) for MTBE, ETBE, and TBF were obtained 0.18, 0.24, and 0.27 µg L-1, respectively. The enrichment factor was also found to be in the range of 98-129.The NTD-GC-FID procedure demonstrated a high extraction efficiency, making it a promising tool for urinary biomonitoring of fuel ether oxygenates with improved sensitivity and selectivity compared to current methods.

Establishment of a headspace-thermal desorption and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method (HS-TD-GC-MS) for simultaneous detection of 51 volatile organic compounds in human urine: Application in occupational exposure assessment.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a group of ubiquitous environment pollutants especially released into the workplace. Assessment of VOCs exposure in occupational populations is therefore a crucial issue for occupational health. However, simultaneous biomonitoring of a variety of VOCs is less studied. In this study, a simple and sensitive method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 51 prototype VOCs in urine by headspace-thermal desorption coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-TD-GC-MS). The urinary sample was pretreated with only adding 0.50 g of sodium chloride to 2 mL of urine and 51 VOCs should be determined with limits of detection (LODs) between 13.6 ng/L and 24.5 ng/L. The method linearity ranged from 0.005 to 10 µg/L with correlation coefficients (r) of 0.991 to 0.999. The precision for intraday and inter-day, measured by the variation coefficient (CV) at three levels of concentration, was below 15 %, except for 4-isopropyl toluene, dichloromethane, and trichloromethane at low concentration. For medium and high levels, recoveries of all target VOCs were within the standard range, but 1,1-dichloropropene and styrene, which were slightly under 80 % at low levels. In addition, the proposed method has been used to determine urine samples collected in three times (before, during and after working) from 152 workers at four different factories. 41 types of prototype VOCs were detected in workers urine. Significant differences (Kruskal-Wallis chi-squared = 117.18, df = 1, P < 0.05) in the concentration levels of VOCs between the exposed and unexposed groups were observed, but not between the three sampling times (Kruskal-Wallis chi-squared = 3.39, df = 2, P = 0.183). The present study provides an alternative method for biomonitoring and assessing mixed exposures to VOCs in occupational populations.

The goose barnacle Pollicipes pollicipes as a tool for trace metal biomonitoring and health risk assessment for human consumers in northwestern Atlantic coast of Morocco.

The bioaccumulation of trace metals Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, and Zn in soft tissues of the barnacle Pollicipes pollicipes was investigated seasonally along the Atlantic coast of northwestern Morocco. Average concentrations (µg g-1 dry weight) exhibited a decreasing order: Fe (548.15 ± 132.43) > Zn (430.80 ± 181.68) > Cd (17.46 ± 9.99) > Cu (7.72 ± 1.26) > Cr (3.12 ± 0.80), with the highest levels during wet seasons. The "Metal Pollution Index" and "Individual Multimetal Bioaccumulation Index" revealed a substantial barnacle contamination in industrialized areas. Additionally, Cd and Zn concentrations surpassed permissible guideline limits. While the "Target Hazard Quotient" and "Hazard Index" unveiled no significant health risks associated with barnacle consumption for humans, Cd posed potential risks, particularly for children consuming barnacles from polluted locations. Regarding the "Maximum Safe Consumption", Cd demonstrated potential harm across all sex and age groups. These findings contribute valuable data on the safety of barnacle consumption, marking the initial assessment of such risks in Morocco. The study offers evidence of metal pollution occurrence and proposes the barnacle species as a reliable biomonitor of trace metal bioavailabilities in marine coastal areas. To our knowledge, this investigation is the first comprehensive report of metal contamination biomonitoring using barnacles from Moroccan Atlantic waters.

Quantitative macroinvertebrate bioassessment in seasonally astatic aquatic habitats, Part II. Applying the method.

Seasonally astatic aquatic habitats are important ecologically, municipally, and agriculturally. Regulatory agencies and conservation organizations have developed various plans for protecting or constructing temporary wetlands, resulting in habitat monitoring requirements, particularly as relates to restoration and constructed habitats. Unfortunately, there has been no effort to develop a unified, consistent method for wetland biological monitoring. In Part I, we presented a quantifiable, replicable method for assessing seasonally astatic wetlands, which would allow for direct comparison between individual wetlands, wetland sites, and wetland types. Here in Part II, we apply the method and present the results from more than a decade of a data on two disparate sites that support California vernal pool habitats. These habitats include natural, restored, and constructed vernal pools. Our results demonstrate that the method we present yields reliable, statistically useful, and actionable data and provides a better method for assessing astatic wetland ecological health and the persistence of federally listed vernal pool crustaceans than other methods so far employed.

Simultaneous detection of mycotoxins and pesticides in human urine samples: A 24-h diet intervention study comparing conventional and organic diets in Spain.

Pesticides and mycotoxins, prominent chemical hazards in the food chain, are commonly found in plant-based foods, contributing to their pervasive presence in the human body, as evidenced by biomonitoring programs. Despite this, there is limited knowledge about their co-occurrence patterns. While intervention studies have demonstrated that organic diets can significantly reduce pesticide levels, their impact on mycotoxin exposure has been overlooked. To address this gap, this study pursued two objectives: first, to characterize the simultaneous presence of mycotoxins and pesticides in human urine samples by means of the control of the biomarkers of exposure, and second, to investigate the influence of consuming organic foods on these co-exposure patterns. A pilot study involving 20 healthy volunteers was conducted, with participants consuming either exclusively organic or conventional foods during a 24-h diet intervention in autumn 2021 and spring 2022 to account for seasonal variability. Participants provided detailed 24-h dietary records, and their first-morning urine samples were collected, minimally treated and analysed using LC-Q-ToF-MS by means of a multitargeted method in order to detect the presence of these residues. Results indicated that among the 52 screened compounds, four mycotoxins and seven pesticides were detected in over 25% of the samples. Deoxynivalenol (DON) and the non-specific pesticide metabolite diethylphosphate (DEP) exhibited the highest frequency rates (100%) and concentration levels. Correlations were observed between urine levels of mycotoxins (DON, ochratoxin alpha [OTα], and enniatin B [ENNB]) and organophosphate pesticide metabolites DEP and 2-diethylamino-6-methyl-4-pyrimidinol (DEAMPY). The pilot intervention study suggested a reduction in ENNB and OTα levels and an increase in ß-zearalenol levels in urine after a short-term replacement with organic food. However, caution is advised due to the study's small sample size and short duration, emphasizing the need for further research to enhance understanding of the human chemical exposome and refine chemical risk assessment.

An investigation of 3M Cordova, IL production worker's per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances biomonitoring results and mortality experience.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a wide-ranging group of chemicals that have been used in a variety of polymer and surfactant applications. While 3M Cordova, Illinois was not one of 3M's primary manufacturing facilities for the legacy long-chain PFAS (PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS), it has been a major manufacturing site for short-chain PFAS (compounds that are or may degrade to PFBS or PFBA). The purpose of this research focused on: 1) an analysis of biomonitoring data of employees and retirees, and 2) an analysis of the cohort mortality of workers from 1970 to 2018. Employees had higher PFBS and PFBA serum concentrations than the retirees, while retirees had higher concentrations for PFOS, PFOA, and PFHxS. Compared to the 2017-2018 NHANES data, employees' PFOS and PFHxS concentrations in 2022 were two-fold higher, with PFOA levels comparable. These NHANES data did not include serum PFBS or PFBA. Cross-sectional trends of PFOS and PFOA levels from 1997 to 2022 showed PFOS declined from 151 ng/mL to 10.4 ng/mL. Similarly, PFOA decreased from 100 ng/mL to 1.5 ng/mL. A longitudinal analysis of 48 participants with measurements in both 2006 and 2022 showed concentrations decreased by 74% for PFOS and 90% for PFOA. In the mortality study, 1707 employees who worked 1 day or longer were followed for an average of 25.6 years and had 143 (8%) deaths. There were no significantly elevated risks for any specific cause of death, regardless of latency period (0 or 15 years). While no specific PFAS exposures were examined, worker mortality experience (1970-2018) was analyzed by major departments representing primary work areas. Employees and retirees at the Cordova facility continue to have elevated PFOS and PFHxS serum concentrations compared to the general population, however, their legacy PFAS concentrations have declined over time, consistent with the estimated serum elimination half-lives of these PFAS in humans assuming nominal ambient exposures. For PFBS and PFBA, the results indicated no long-term accumulation in the blood likely due to their short serum elimination half-lives. After nearly 50 years of follow-up, this Cordova workforce showed no increased risk of mortality from cancer or any other specific cause of death.

Associations between antibiotic exposure and abnormal cardiac enzyme profiles in older Chinese adults.

Biomonitoring methods can be used to measure exposure to antibiotics in the general population; however, epidemiological data on the associations between urinary antibiotic levels and the cardiac profiles of enzymes lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, and creatine kinase isoenzyme in older adults remain sparse. We investigated these associations in 990 individuals from the Cohort of Elderly Health and Environment Controllable Factors. Antibiotic residues in urine samples were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Urinary levels of 34 antibiotics were measured. The participants' cardiac enzyme profiles were influenced by sex, age, marital status, education level, cohabitation status, physical activity, dietary structure, body mass index, depression presence and salt, sugar, and oil consumption (P < 0.05). Oxytetracycline, tetracycline, doxycycline, sulfaclozine, and, florfenicol concentrations were negatively associated with the risk of having an abnormal cardiac enzyme profile. Older adults exposed to higher concentrations of norfloxacin had a higher risk of LDH anomalies. After antibiotics were classified, we identified associations between exposure to chloramphenicols, sulfonamides, or veterinary antibiotics and a lower risk of having an abnormal cardiac enzyme profile. Obtaining an accurate epidemiological profile of antibiotic exposure is indispensable for the prevention and detection of cardiac enzyme profile abnormalities in older adults.

No long-term variation of 240Pu/239Pu atom ratio in liver of Japanese common squid (Todarodes pacificus) collected from seven sea areas around Japan during 2003-2018.

The 239+240Pu concentrations and 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios were determined to trace the temporal variability in concentration and atom ratio in liver of the Japanese common squid during 2003-2018. The differences in their concentrations and atom ratios and the dependency on the collection areas and migratory history were compared. The organ affinity of Pu in mantle, limb, liver, and internal organs except liver was also investigated. The average 239+240Pu concentrations were the highest in liver followed in order by internal organs except liver, limb, and mantle. The Pu accumulation in liver could be explained by a mechanism for foreign substance processing. A significant difference in the average 239+240Pu concentrations in liver was found among the sea areas for specimen collection during 2003-2018. In spite of a noticeable difference in the average 239+240Pu concentrations, the 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios showed no significant temporal variability around Japan; thus, they were continuously uniform during 2003-2018.

Implementation and coordination of an ethics framework in HBM4EU - Experiences and reflections.

Human biomonitoring involves the use of human samples and data to investigate exposure to environmental chemicals and their impact on human health. HBM4EU developed a coordinated and harmonized approach involving 29 countries in Europe plus Israel. Addressing ethical issues has been an indispensable prerequisite, from the application phase, grant agreement, project performance to the closing of the project. HBM4EU has established a better understanding of the ethics in such projects and the need for a standardised way of reporting and handling of ethics and data exchange, securing compliance with ethics standards, transparency, transferability and sustainability. The main reflections were: KNOWLEDGE: Ethics awareness, norms and practices are dynamic and increased throughout the project, much learning and experience is achieved by practice and dialogue. ATTITUDE: Rules and standards were very diversely known and needed to adhere to local practices. ASSISTANCE: Good results achieved from webinars, training, help desk, and individual consultations. STANDARDISATION: Was achieved by templates and naming convention across documents. MANAGEMENT: The establishment of the SharePoint directory with uploading of all requested documents assisted collaboration and exchange. Also, a designated task for ethics within the management/coordination work package and the enthusiasm of the task leader were essential. COMPLIANCE: Some, but not all partners were very good at complying with deadlines and standards. TRANSFERABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY: All documents are archived in the SharePoint directory while a system assuring updating is recommended. TRANSPARENCY: Assured by public access to annual ethics reports. The ethics reports bridged to the annual work plans (AWPs). EVALUATION: The Ethics Check by the Commission was successful.

Comparación de cuatro métodos para contar peces en una bahía tropical: el caso del Área Marina de Manejo Bahía Santa Elena en el Pacífico de Costa Rica / Comparison of four methods to count fish in a tropical bay: the case of the Santa Elena Bay Marine Management Area in the Pacific of Costa Rica

Resumen Introducción: La naturaleza tropical está experimentando una amenaza sin precedentes que incluye comunidades de peces costeros que requieren un constante seguimiento de la presencia de especies. El uso simultáneo de varios métodos de monitoreo debería reducir el sesgo causado por la selectividad de cada método. Objetivo: Este estudio uso cuatro diferentes métodos de muestreo a lo largo de dos años para evaluar y comparar los ensamblajes de peces en el Área Marina de Manejo Bahía Santa Elena, Pacífico de Costa Rica. Métodos: Examinamos los cambios en la riqueza y composición de especies entre épocas de afloramiento y no afloramiento entre julio de 2019 y febrero de 2020. Aplicamos censos visuales, cámaras remotas submarinas; líneas de fondo; y pesca deportiva. Resultados: Identificamos 140 especies de peces (54 familias); las cámaras submarinas remotas detectaron el 83 %, seguido por los censos visuales submarinos (65 %), la pesca deportiva (16 %) y las líneas de fondo (14 %). Solo el método de pesca deportiva detectó diferencias en la riqueza y composición de especies entre temporadas. Conclusión: Las cámaras remotas parecen ser el mejor método para el conteo de especies y la pesca deportiva para detectar diferencias estacionales en las costas tropicales similares a la aquí estudiada.

Abstract Introduction: Tropical nature is experiencing an unprecedented threat that includes coastal fish communities that requires a close monitoring of species presence. The simultaneous use of several monitoring methods should reduce the bias caused by the selectivity of each method. Objective: This study used four different sampling methods over two years to assess and compare fish assemblages in the Santa Elena Bay Marine Management Area (AMM-BSE), North Pacific of Costa Rica. Methods: We examined changes in species richness and composition between upwelling and non-upwelling seasons from July 2019 and February 2020. We applied visual censuses, underwater remote cameras; bottom lines; and sport fishing. Results: We identified 140 species of fish (54 families); remote underwater cameras detected 83 %, followed by underwater visual censuses (65 %), sport-fishing (16 %) and bottom lines (14 %). Only the sport-fishing method detected differences in species richness and composition between seasons. Conclusion: Remote cameras appear to be the best method for species counts, and sport-fishing to detect seasonal differences in tropical coasts similar to the one studied here.

Mediterranean Sea shelters for the gold coral Savalia savaglia (Bertoloni, 1819): An assessment of potential distribution of a rare parasitic species.

Savalia savaglia is an ecosystem engineer listed as Near-Threatened by the IUCN, even though effective management and proper monitoring efforts to assess its distribution is still lacking. The record of large, long-established colonies can indicate the occurrence of areas with limited human local pressure. These areas may be considered as proxies for the creation of baselines of reference useful to design restoration strategies. The aim of this work was to update the distribution of S. savaglia Mediterranean populations to develop an Ecological Niche Model, highlighting potential areas for future monitoring programs. Occurrence data were collected and harmonized into a single dataset using the scientific literature and validated observations to feed a presence-only MaxEnt model, obtaining a basin-level potential distribution of the species. The results of our study can support decision-makers in marine spatial planning measures including the preservation of mesophotic environments and prioritizing areas for conservation.

Effect of silver nanoparticles on gene transcription of land snail Helix aspersa.

Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) are extremely useful in a diverse range of consumer goods. However, their impact on the environment is still under research, especially regarding the mechanisms involved in their effect. Aiming to provide some insight, the present work analyzes the transcriptional activity of six genes (Hsp83, Hsp17.2, Hsp19.8, SOD Cu-Zn, Mn-SOD, and BPI) in the terrestrial snail Helix aspersa in the presence of different concentrations of Ag-NPs. The animals were exposed for seven days to Lactuca sativa soaked for one hour in different concentrations of Ag-NPs (20, 50, 100 mg/L). The results revealed that the highest concentration tested of Ag-NPs (100 mg/L) led to a statistically significant induction of the Hsp83 and BPI expression in the digestive gland compared to the control group. However, a trend to upregulation with no statistical significance was observed for all the genes in the digestive gland and the foot, while in the hemolymph, the trend was to downregulation. Ag-NPs affected the stress response and immunity under the tested conditions, although the impact was weak. It is necessary to explore longer exposure times to confirm that the effect can be maintained and impact on health. Our results highlight the usefulness of the terrestrial snail Helix aspersa as a bioindicator organism for silver nanoparticle pollution biomonitoring and, in particular, the use of molecular biomarkers of pollutant effect as candidates to be included in a multi-biomarker strategy.

Phthalate exposure among U.S. college-aged women: Biomonitoring in an undergraduate student cohort (2016-2017) and trends from the National Health and Examination Survey (NHANES, 2005-2016).

IMPORTANCE: Phthalates are ubiquitous and many are known or suspected human reproductive and endocrine-disrupting toxicants. A data gap exists in reporting on biomonitoring of phthalate biomarkers in college-aged adults. OBJECTIVE: To analyze phthalate exposure in a cross-sectional sample of female college students using urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations and compare to reference populations including college-aged women sampled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). METHODS: Nine monoester phthalate metabolites were analyzed in spot urine collected from 215 female undergraduates (age 18-22, 2016-2017) at a public university in Charleston, SC USA and a subset of participants completed a questionnaire detailing demographics and behaviors including personal care and cosmetic product use (e.g. in the past 6 or 24 hrs). Urine specific gravity was used to assess effect of urine dilution. Phthalate metabolite concentrations were compared to reference populations and the temporal trends of the same age-group in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were analyzed. RESULTS: Total urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations in individuals ranged three orders of magnitude (geometric mean 56.6 ng/mL, IQR 26.6-114 ng/mL). A third of urine samples had relatively high urine specific gravity levels indicating potential dehydration status. All geometric mean concentrations were similar to the U.S. female population in the most recent NHANES cycle (2015-2016) except for MEP and mono-isobutyl phthalate (MiBP). Relatively low MEP and MiBP may be explained by a time trend of declining MEP in the general U.S. population, the sociocultural character of this cohort, and the time of day of spot sampling in evening. NHANES data indicate a significant effect of sample timing on phthalate metabolite concentrations and decline in most, but not all, phthalate metabolites sampled in women aged 18-22 years over the decade (2005-2016). SIGNIFICANCE: This study reports phthalate metabolites in college-aged women, an understudied group, emphasizes the benefit of survey information for interpreting biomonitoring data, and is a useful case study for communicating phthalate chemical exposure risks to college students.