Assessing a New Method for Measuring Fetal Exposure to Mercury: Newborn Bloodspots.

BACKGROUND: Measuring mercury in newborn bloodspots to determine fetal exposures is a novel methodology with many advantages. Questions remain, however, about its reliability as an estimate of newborn exposure to mercury. METHODS: We studied mercury concentrations in paired bloodspots and cord blood from a convenience sample of 48 Minnesota women and infants. RESULTS: The limit of detection for bloodspots was higher than for cord blood (0.7 and 0.3 µg/L in bloodspots and cord blood, respectively) with the result that mercury was detected in only 38% of newborn bloodspots compared to 62% of cord blood samples. The geometric mean mercury concentration in cord blood was 0.6 µg/L. Mercury concentrations were almost uniformly lower in bloodspots than in cord blood (mean ratio (±SD) = 0.85 ± 0.4), their mean value was significantly less than that for the cord blood (p = 0.02), and the two methods were highly correlated (r = 0.82). CONCLUSION: These preliminary findings indicate that newborn bloodspot mercury measurements have utility; however, until bloodspot analyses are more sensitive, they are likely to underestimate in utero exposure.

Disentangling the interactions between photochemical and bacterial degradation of dissolved organic matter: amino acids play a central role.

Photochemical and bacterial degradation are important pathways to carbon mineralization and can be coupled in dissolved organic matter (DOM) decomposition. However, details of several mechanisms of the coupled photochemical and biological processing of DOM remain too poorly understood to achieve accurate predictions of the impact of these processes on DOM fate and reactivity. The aim of this study was to evaluate how photochemical degradation of amino acids affects bacterial metabolism and whether or not photochemical degradation of DOM competes for amino acids with biological processes. We examined the interactions between photochemical and bacterial degradation dynamics using a mixture of 18 amino acids and examined their dynamics and turnover rates within a larger pool of allochthonous or autochthonous DOM. We observed that photochemical exposure of DOM containing amino acids led to delayed biomass production (even though the final biomass did not differ), most likely due to a need for upregulation of biosynthetic pathways for amino acids that were damaged by photochemically produced reactive oxygen species (ROS). This response was most pronounced in bacterial communities where the abundance of photosensitive amino acids was highest (amended treatments and autochthonous DOM) and least pronounced when the abundance of these amino acids was low (unamended and allochthonous DOM), likely because these bacteria already had these biosynthetic pathways functioning. We observed both a cost and benefit associated with photochemical exposure of DOM. We observed a cost associated with photochemically produced ROS that partially degrade key amino acids and a benefit associated with an increase in the availability of other compounds in the DOM. Bacteria growing on DOM sources that are low in labile amino acids, such as those in terrestrially influenced environments, experience more of the benefits associated with photochemical exposure, whereas bacteria growing in more amino acid-rich environments, such as eutrophic and less terrestrially influenced waters, experience a higher cost due to the increased necessity of salvage pathways for these essential amino acids. Finally, we propose a conceptual model whereby the effects of DOM photochemical degradation on microbial metabolism result from the balance between two mechanisms: One is dependent on the DOM sources, and the other is dependent on the DOM concentration in natural systems.

Indirect photodegradation of dissolved free amino acids: the contribution of singlet oxygen and the differential reactivity of DOM from various sources.

The role of photochemically generated singlet oxygen (1O2) in the DOM-sensitized degradation of eighteen dissolved free amino acids was investigated. The fraction of total sensitized degradation due to reaction with 1O2 was determined through a kinetic analysis based on a measured reaction rate constant for each amino acid coupled with measured 1O2 concentrations and was confirmed through quenching experiments. Only four of the eighteen free amino acid residues examined were found to be photolabile under environmentally relevant conditions: histidine, methionine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. The fraction of Suwannee River Humic Acid (SRHA)-sensitized degradation due to reaction with 1O2 ranged from an upper value of 110 +/- 10% for histidine to 8 +/- 1% for tryptophan, with 26 +/- 3% contribution for methionine and 33 +/- 4% for tyrosine. In addition to degradation through reaction with 1O2, other reactive intermediates involved in the SRHA-photosensitized degradation of these amino acids were identified. Methionine was thought to be additionally degraded through reaction with H2O2 and triplet excited-state DOM, and 67% of tyrosine's indirect photodegradation was assigned to an oxygen-dependent type I photooxidation reaction. The majority of tryptophan indirect degradation was due to reaction with 3DOM. Photodegradation experiments with various DOM sources including Pony Lake (Antarctica) fulvic acid and a synthetic estuarine sample, as well as Minnesota freshwater samples (lakes Itasca, Superior, Josephine, and the St Louis River), demonstrated distinct reactivity patterns, indicating that DOM's 1O2-generation efficiency is not strongly coupled to its ability to promote other photooxidation pathways. These four amino acids highlightthe differential photoreactivity of DOM from various sources.

Aquatic photochemistry of nitrofuran antibiotics.

The aquatic photochemical degradation of a class of pharmaceuticals known as the nitrofuran antibiotics (furaltadone, furazolidone, and nitrofurantoin) was investigated. Direct photolysis is the dominant photodegradation pathway for these compounds with the formation of a photostationary state between the syn and the anti isomers occurring during the first minutes of photolysis. The direct photolysis rate constant and quantum yield were calculated for each of the three nitrofurans. Reaction rate constants with reactive oxygen species (ROS), 102 and *OH, were also measured, and half-lives were calculated using environmentally relevant ROS concentrations. Half-lives calculated for reaction with 1O2 and *OH are in the ranges of 120-1900 and 74-82 h, respectively. When compared to the direct photolysis half-lives, 0.080-0.44 h in mid-summer at 45 degrees N latitude, it is clear that indirect photochemical processes cannot compete with direct photolysis. The major photodegradation product of the nitrofurans was found to be nitrofuraldehyde, which is also photolabile. Upon photolysis, nitrofuraldehyde produces NO, which is easily oxidized to nitrous acid. The acid produced further catalyzes the photodegradation of the parent nitrofuran antibiotics, leading to autocatalytic behavior. Natural waters were found to buffer the acid formation.

Singlet oxygen production in the reaction of superoxide with organic peroxides.

[reaction: see text] A selective chemiluminescent probe for singlet oxygen has been employed to detect and quantify singlet oxygen in the reactions of superoxide with organic peroxides. The production of singlet oxygen has been quantified in the reaction of superoxide with benzoyl peroxide (BP). No singlet oxygen was detected in the reactions of superoxide with cumyl peroxide, tert-butyl peroxide, or tert-butyl hydroperoxide. On the basis of these results and on the temperature dependence of the reaction, we proposed a mechanism for singlet oxygen formation in the reaction of superoxide with BP.