The effect of polystyrene microplastic and biosolid application on the toxicity and bioaccumulation of cadmium for Enchytraeus crypticus.

Plastics smaller than 5 mm that end up in a soil environment are known as microplastics (MPs). Microplastics have become a common contaminant in agricultural areas in addition to metals. However, the effect of cadmium (Cd) on soil organisms has not been clearly defined in the presence of MPs. In addition to MPs, biosolid application as a soil amendment in agricultural lands is also leading to shifts in soil conditions, such as the concentrations of nutrients and organic matter. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the toxicity and bioaccumulation of Cd for Enchytraeus crypticus in the presence of polystyrene (PS)-MPs and biosolids to provide insight into their possible interactions. The lethal toxic concentration (LC50) for Cd was higher than 650 mg Cd/kg dry soil for all conditions. The presence of PS-MPs increased the toxicity of Cd for which EC50 was 102 and 38 mg Cd/kg dry soil without and with Cd, respectively, which may be the result of an increased exposure rate through adsorption of Cd on PS-MPs. On the contrary, the presence of biosolids decreased the toxicity of Cd where EC50 was 193 and 473 mg Cd/kg dry soil for the sets applied with 0.6 and 0.9 g biosolids, respectively. Coexistence of biosolids and PS-MPs decreased the reproduction toxicity of Cd, which is similar to the biosolid effect (EC50 is 305 mg Cd/kg dry soil). Bioaccumulation of Cd only positively correlated with its initial concentration in soil and was not affected by the presence of PS-MPs or biosolids. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:489-500. © 2022 SETAC.

Antioxidant Activity of Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa L.) Fruit Extract and Cytotoxic Effects on Various Cancer Cell Lines.

OBJECTIVE: Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa L. (Rosaceae) is a shrup whose fruits are consumed as food in Turkey. This study was aimed to evaluate antioxidant activity of methanol extract of P. spinosa and its cytotoxic effects on cancer cell lines. METHOD: Methanol extract of P. spinosa fruit was evaluated for its in vitro cytotoxic activity on multiform (GBM) brain cancer (LN229, U87 and T98G) and pancreas cancer (PANC-1 and AsPC-1) cell lines. Cell viability assays were performed by calculating the percentage of viable cells using a luminescence system, and spectrophotometrically. measuring its antioxidant ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activities. Differences were considered as statistically significant at p*<0.001 and p**<0.0005 according to unpaired student t-test. RESULTS: Methanol extract of P. spinosa fruit showed 2548±18 mg GAE/100 g correspon-ding to the total phenolic content, and moderate antioxidant activity (0.1896±0.1143 and 0.0729±0.0348) by ABTS� and DPPH� assays. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, after evaluating the results of brain and pancreas cancer cell lines, significant cytotoxic activities with 50-63% cell viability of GBM brain cancer cells were determined while no cytotoxicity was observed on pancreas cancer cell lines, PANC-1; and AsPC-1. The results of this study showed that the methanol extract of P. spinosa fruit has significant antioxidant capacity and leads to statistically significant decreased viability on glioblastoma brain cancer cells.