Abstract Chemical contaminants are a threat to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, with mercury (Hg) among the most prevalent causes of impairment. Despite this, large-scale patterns of Hg concentrations, and the potential risks to fish, wildlife, and humans across the watershed, are poorly understood. We compiled fish Hg data from state monitoring programs and recent research efforts to address this knowledge

As part of an effort to develop avian ecotoxicity information for poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) associated with aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) used by the Department of Defense, the subacute toxicity of PFOS, PFOA, PFOS + PFOA, 3M AFFF and Ansul AFFF to Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) chicks was determined

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are an important source of mercury (Hg) to surface waters, but little is known about temporal variability of efflux to aquatic systems. We found that Hg concentrations in effluent varied by about a factor of two on monthly, weekly, and hourly time scale comparisons. These results suggest that limited sampling can yield a representative concentration with reasonable

The commercialization of RNA-based agricultural products requires robust ecological risk assessments. Ecological risk is operationally defined as a function of exposure and adverse effects. Information on the environmental fate of RNA-based plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) is essential to define routes and duration of exposure to potentially sensitive non-target organisms (NTOs). Providing these

Elevated levels of lead have been found in waterfowl, due to human activities. Lead may cause immunomodulatory effects, but the mechanisms are largely unknown, especially upon viral challenges. To characterize avian immunomodulatory hazards of Pb2+ , we used chicken macrophage (HD-11) and B-lymphocyte (DT40) cell lines, as in vitro models for the innate and adaptive immune system respectively. The

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a broad class of environmentally persistent chemicals that include thousands of potentially toxic synthetic organic molecules. Some PFAS have been shown to cause adverse health effects including decreased total cholesterol, birth weight, and reproductive success in laboratory animals; however, a lack of chronic toxicity data exists for PFAS in avian ecological

Mitochondria was used to clarify the effects of Coolia malayensis strain UNR-02 crude extract by studying mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) generation and the fluctuations of ΔΨm associated with the induction of mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT). The cytoxicity of C. malayensis was also determined using both HepG2 and H9c2(2−1) cells. C. malayensis extract significantly depressed the

Abstract Mercury (Hg) is a potent neurotoxin that biomagnifies within food webs. Adverse effects have been documented for avian species related to exposure of elevated Hg levels. High elevation, boreal forests generally receive higher atmospheric Hg deposition and regional studies have subsequently identified elevated blood Hg concentrations in songbird species inhabiting these montane habitats. The

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are pervasive in aquatic systems globally and capable of causing detrimental effects on human and wildlife health. However, most studies are conducted under artificial conditions that are not representative of environmental exposures. Environmental exposures are characterized by multiple routes of exposure, low aquatic PFAS levels, and greater environmental variability

In ecotoxicology and aquatic ecology, we often ignore responses of individuals and focus on average responses. Yet, both terrestrial and aquatic animals display consistent behavioural differences between individuals. The distribution of behavioural differences within a population contains vital information for predicting population responses to novel environmental challenges. Currently, individual

Performing toxicity testing on multiple species with differing degrees of evolutionary relatedness can provide important information on how chemical sensitivity varies among species and can help pinpoint the biological drivers of species sensitivity. Such knowledge could ultimately be used to design better multi-species predictive ecological risk assessment models and identify particularly sensitive

Observations of microplastic particles (MPs) in the environment and their detection in the stomachs and intestines of aquatic organisms have been observed routinely over the last 50 years. In this review, the ingestion of plastic debris of varying sizes is collated, including data for >800 species representing approximately 87,000 individual organisms, for which plastic debris and MPs are observed

The current study pertains to a POCIS laboratory calibration to estimate the sampling rates (Rs) for 44 pharmaceuticals featuring a wide range of polarity (‐0.6 < logKow < 5.4). The calibration was performed at 16.0° ± 1.5°C for 4 water flow velocities (0, 2‐3, 6‐7 and 20 cm/s) in both a tank (for calibration at 0 cm/s) and a laboratory‐scale artificial river filled with 200 and 500 L of tap water

The presence of anthropogenic drugs in the aquatic ecosystem is a reality nowadays, and a large number of studies have been reporting their putative toxic effects on wildlife. However, the majority of the studies published so far uses standard organisms, whose probability of becoming in contact with drugs in real scenarios of contamination is at least, low. The use of autochthonous organisms in ecotoxicity

Recent regulatory testing programs have been designed to evaluate whether a chemical has the potential to interact with the endocrine system and could cause adverse effects. Some endocrine pathways are highly conserved among vertebrates, providing a potential to extrapolate data generated for one vertebrate taxonomic group to others (i.e., biological read-across). To assess the potential for biological

Chlorination is commonly used to control biofouling organisms, but chlorine rapidly hydrolyzes in seawater to hypochlorite, which undergoes further reaction with bromide, and then with organic matter. These reaction products, collectively termed chlorine-produced oxidants (CPOs), can be toxic to marine biota. Because the lifetime of the most toxic forms is limited to several days, appropriate guideline

Microplastics are emerging threat contaminants that have been shown to provide toxic pollutants, either from the environment or from their inherent toxic monomers and additives, a pathway into the aquatic food web. In the present study, the occurrence, abundance, and composition of microplastic load in the surface water of Lake Naivasha (Kenya) was determined. The surface water physicochemical parameters

To accurately predict the environmental fate of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), high quality physicochemical property data is required. Since such data is often not available from experiment, the assessment of the accuracy of existing property estimation models is essential. In this work, the quality of predicted physicochemical data for a set of 25 PFASs is examined using COSMOtherm,

Water quality standards for cobalt (Co) have not been developed for the European Union or United States. The objective of the present study was to produce freshwater Co toxicity data that could be used by both the European Union and the United States to develop appropriate regulatory standards (i.e., environmental quality standards or predicted-no-effect concentrations in Europe and ambient water quality

It is often difficult to compare studies examining the effects of endectocides on dung fauna because of different experimental approaches, for example, active ingredients (eprinomectin, doramectin, ivermectin, moxidectin) and formulations (injectable, pour‐on, spiked). To gain a better understanding, we performed a quantitative meta‐analysis using 22 studies to assess the overall effect of endectocide

Determination of the median effective concentration (EC50) of Cu, on Mytilus galloprovincialis larvae, by diffusive gradient in thin-films (DGT) has been shown to effectively reduce the need to consider dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration and quality. Standard toxicity test protocol was used to validate previously modelled protective effects, afforded to highly sensitive marine larvae by ligand

Lead poisoning of scavenging birds is a global issue. However, the drivers of lead exposure of avian scavengers have been understood from the perspective of individual species, not cross-taxa assemblages. We analyzed blood (n = 285) and liver (n = 226) lead concentrations of 5 facultative (American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos), bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos)

Dried blood spots (DBS), created by applying and drying a whole blood sample onto filter paper, provide a simple and minimally invasive procedure for collecting, transporting, and storing blood. Because DBS are ideal for use in field and resource-limited settings, we aimed to develop a simple and accurate DBS-based approach for assessing mercury (Hg) exposure and dietary carbon sources for landlocked

Estrogen toxicity has been an area of priority in aquatic toxicology over the last 20 years. Currently, the estrogen toxicity is primarily linked to classical estrogen signalling, ERα and ERβ, interaction. Recent evidence has indicated that a rapid, non-genomic, non-classical estrogen signaling pathway exists via the G protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER). GPER is expressed in many biological systems

Predictive approaches to assessing the toxicity of contaminant mixtures have been largely limited to chemicals that exert effects through the same biological molecular initiating event. However, by understanding specific pathways through which chemicals exert effects, it may be possible to identify shared "downstream" nodes as the basis for forecasting interactive effects of chemicals with different

Establishment and maintenance of milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.) in agricultural landscapes of the North Central United States is needed to reverse the decline of North America's eastern monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) population. Due to lack of toxicity data it is unclear how insecticide use may reduce monarch productivity when milkweed habitat is placed near maize and soybean fields. To assess

Toxicity reference values for PFAS vary even when the same test organism is studied. While the need to confirm dosing solution concentrations is widely accepted, there are no experimental data to inform best practices when preparing PFAS solutions. Laboratory data indicate that dissolution time of PFAS solids cause statistically significant deviations between nominal and measured concentrations. Mixing

Passive sampling has emerged as a promising tool to assess the presence of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOC) in water, sediment and biota, such as polychlorinated dibenzo‐p‐dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Previous work evaluated the ability of passive samplers to predict bioavailability of sedimentary HOCs mostly in the laboratory, often for marine organisms. The

Abstract The chive maggot, Bradysia odoriphaga (Yang and Zhang) is an economically important insect pest, affecting many key vegetables, including Chinese chive, especially in northern China. Chlorfenapyr, a halogenated pyrrole insecticide that interferes with mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation is widely used against B. odoriphaga. In this study, we evaluated selection-induced resistance to chlorfenapyr

Bisphenol A (BPA) is considered as ubiquitous xenooestrogen and an endocrine disrupting chemical which has deleterious effects on endocrine functions. Human populations are continuously exposed to BPA as it is abundant in daily life. It has been found to be associated with wide range of metabolic disorders notably type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Numerous epidemiological studies have been conducted to

Abstract Many migratory songbirds are at high risk of methylmercury (MeHg) exposure due to their trophic position and foraging in and around wetland habitats. Methylmercury has the potential to alter migratory behaviors and physiology via neurological impairment or reduced flight performance and can be remobilized from songbird muscle tissue during migration, increasing the risk of acute MeHg exposure

Abstract Daya Bay is facing the influence of human activities and nature changes, which result in phytoplankton adjusting to the changing environment. The data about environmental changes and phytoplankton were obtained from four seasonal cruises in 2013 in the bay. It is helpful to explore seasonal succession of phytoplankton driven by the determining environmental factors in this bay. Temperature

Abstract Soils can be contaminated with substances arising from anthropogenic sources, but also with natural bioactive compounds produced by plants, such as terpenes and flavonoids. While terpenes and flavonoids have received much less attention from research studies than metals, the effects that phytocompounds can have on soil organisms such as beneficial microorganisms should not be neglected. Herein

Abstract Filamentous cyanobacteria have been observed to become the dominant species in reservoirs, especially in small reservoirs for drinking water supply in southern China. The occurrences of filamentous cyanobacteria blooms in such reservoirs add additional costs for water plants by decreasing the filtration efficiency and the potential of toxin production. To serve the purpose of drinking water

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from industrial use, discharged via the land application of sewage sludge, are interacting with soil biota, including earthworms. In affected organisms, excessive production of reactive oxygen species can result in lipid peroxidation, shifting the balance between oxidants and antioxidants to cause oxidative stress. We determined selected lower tier biomarkers such as antioxidant

In an effort to determine contaminant presence, concentrations, and movement from a low‐level radioactive waste (LLRW) burial disposal site to ecosystems in the surrounding area, a study was developed to assess concentrations of per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and tritium. To complete this assessment small mammals, vegetation, soil, and insect samples

Low‐Density polyethylene (PE) sheets are used as passive samplers for aquatic environmental monitoring to measure the freely dissolved concentration (Cfree) of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs). Freely dissolved HOCs in water will partition into the PE until a thermodynamic equilibrium is achieved; that is, the HOC's activity in the passive sampler is the same as its activity in the surrounding

Abstract Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant that affects biota in remote settings due to atmospheric deposition of inorganic Hg, and its conversion to methylmercury (MeHg), the bioaccumulating and toxic form. Characterizing biotic MeHg is important for evaluating aquatic ecosystem responses to changes in Hg inputs. Aquatic insects possess many qualities desired for MeHg biomonitoring, but are not widely

Abstract Africanized and wild bees are sensitive to synthetic insecticides, but may not be sensitive to botanical extracts. In this work, we evaluated the toxicity of botanical extracts with homemade preparations used in agroecological crops and their constituents on the bees Apis mellifera and Partamona helleri. Toxicity bioassays of adult bees were done by means of oral exposure and ingestion, using

Herbicides have been shown to reduce flower production and to delay flowering with results varying among herbicides and tested plant species. Here, we investigated the effects of herbicides on flowering in an extensive greenhouse study conducted in Canada and Denmark. The effects of low doses of five different herbicides (bromoxynil, ioxynil + bromoxynil, metsulfuron‐methyl, clopyralid, and glyphosate)

Odontocetes are considered ideal sentinel species to monitor environmental trace element concentrations. While frozen tissues are preferable for trace element analysis, often formalin‐fixed tissues are the only samples available; however, it is uncertain if formalin fixation alters tissue trace element concentrations. To explore whether formalin‐fixed tissues could be utilized for toxicology studies

Studies of poly‐ and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) toxicity on amphibians, especially post metamorphosis, are limited. We examined effects of dermal PFAS exposure (30 d) on survival and growth of juvenile American toads (Anaxyrus americanus), eastern tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) and northern leopard frogs (Rana pipiens). Exposures included perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane

Phthalate (PAE) derivatives with low oestrogenic activity, high infrared spectrum signals, high Raman characteristic vibration spectrum, high fluorescence intensity and high ultraviolet sensitivity were selected as precursors from our previous works, so that the changes in their toxicity and oestrogenic activity during biological metabolism, ozone oxidation, photocatalytic degradation, photodegradation

Abstract Hypoxia and mercury contamination often co-occur in tropical freshwater ecosystems, but the interactive effects of these two stressors on fish populations are poorly known. The effects of mercury (Hg) on recorded changes in the detailed form of the electrocardiogram (ECG) during exposure to progressive hypoxia were investigated in two Neotropical freshwater fish species, matrinxã, Brycon amazonicus

Abstract The use of wastewater for irrigation in agroforestry is cost-effective for water management. It is well established that rhizospheric microorganisms such as N2-fixing bacteria are able to modulate rhizobioaugmention and to boost phyoremediation process. To date, no study has been conducted to evaluate biological effects of rhizobioaugmentation in Casuarina glauca trees induced by their symbiont

Abstract Seagrass meadows are among the four most productive marine natural ecosystems in the world. Zostera japonica (Z. japonica) is the most widely distributed species of seagrass in China. Nucleotide exchange factors (NEFs) promote the release of ADP during heat stress, accelerating the rate-limiting step of Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70). Although NEFs play an important role in abiotic stress tolerance

Fertilizers containing phosphate (PO4 3- ) are commonly used within the agricultural industry and are known to increase the bioavailability and mobility of metalloids like arsenic (As). This may increase plant uptake of As and hence pose a risk to human health. Arsenic and antimony (Sb) often co-occur in contaminated soils, however, little is known about the interactions between As and Sb with PO4

During clarification processes of raw water a vast amount of by‐product known as drinking water treatment residuals (WTRs) are produced, being principally composed of hydroxides of the Al or Fe salts added during water treatment plus the impurities they remove. Aluminium‐based (Al‐WTR) and iron‐based (Fe‐WTR) materials were applied at 10% w/w to degraded, bare (un‐vegetated) soils from a restored coal

The environmental risk assessment of rare earth elements (REE) requires data on their potential toxicity. In this study, the toxicity of lanthanum (La) and cerium (Ce) was studied in relation to metal speciation in solution. For both La and Ce, the use of organic ligands demonstrated that the calculated free ion concentration was a good indicator of toxicity. Whether in the absence or presence of organic

Type B trichothecene mycotoxins comprise deoxynivalenol (“Vomitoxin”, DON) and four structually related congeners: 15-acetyl- and 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15-ADON and 3-ADON), nivalenol (NIV), 4-acetyl-nivalenol (fusarenon X, FX). These foodborne mycotoxins has been linked to food poisoning leading to anorexic response in human and several animal species. However, the pathophysiological basis for anorexic