Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

PLoS One 2020 3;15(6):e0233297. Epub 2020 Jun 3.

Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, United States of America.

Metal contamination of food and water resources is a known public health issue in Arctic and sub-Arctic communities due to the proximity of many communities to mining and drilling sites. In addition, permafrost thaw may release heavy metals sequestered in previously frozen soils, potentially contaminating food and water resources by increasing the concentration of metals in freshwater, plants, and wildlife. Here we assess the enrichment of selected heavy metals in Alaskan soils by synthesizing publicly available data of soil metal concentrations. Read More

Environ Sci Technol 2020 Jun 3. Epub 2020 Jun 3.

To advance the scientific understanding of bacteria-driven mercury (Hg) transformation processes in natural environments, thermodynamics and kinetics of divalent mercury Hg(II) chemical speciation need to be understood. Based on Hg L-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopic information, combined with competitive ligand exchange (CLE) experiments, we determined Hg(II) structures and thermodynamic constants for Hg(II) complexes formed with thiol functional groups in bacterial cell-membranes of two extensively studied Hg(II) methylating bacteria: PCA and . The Hg EXAFS data suggest 5% of the total number of membrane thiol functionalities (Mem-RS = 380 ± 50 µmol g C) are situated closely enough to be involved in a 2-coordinated Hg(Mem-RS) structure in . Read More

Geohealth 2020 May 21;4(5):e2019GH000222. Epub 2020 May 21.

Global Health Institute Duke University Durham NC USA.

Children living near artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) are at risk of exposure to mercury, a neurotoxicant. It is not certain whether such exposures are harming development, as they occur in underresourced contexts entwined with other stressors, such as malnutrition and enteric infection. This study sought to investigate the association between hair-mercury levels and visual-motor, cognitive, and physical development among children living near ASGM in the Peruvian Amazon. Read More

Environ Geochem Health 2020 Jun 2. Epub 2020 Jun 2.

Food Safety Division, Department of Food Toxicology, ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, Jamai Osmania PO, Tarnaka, Hyderabad, India.

Groundwater is one of the most important sources of water for drinking and cooking in rural India. A total of 382 groundwater samples were collected from 58 villages and analyzed for HMs and Sr by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The average concentrations of HMs and Sr in water was in the order of strontium (Sr) > arsenic (As) > chromium (Cr) > lead (Pb) > mercury (Hg) > cadmium (Cd). Read More

Environ Geochem Health 2020 Jun 2. Epub 2020 Jun 2.

Laboratory of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Department of Biological Chemistry, Regional University of Cariri, Av. Cel. Antônio Luiz, 1161. Pimenta, Crato, CE, 63105-000, Brazil.

Human activities, especially in industry, have contributed to soil contamination with heavy or toxic metals. The objective of this study was to determine the chelating effect and antioxidant activity of pyrogallol, as well as to evaluate its cytoprotective activity in prokaryotic and eukaryotic models, animal and plant, respectively, against toxic mercury chloride action. Antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH where pyrogallol showed considerable action, chelating even iron ions. Read More

Sci Rep 2020 Jun 2;10(1):9023. Epub 2020 Jun 2.

Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, 27402, USA.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the major cause of morbidity, mortality, and health care costs in the United States, and possibly around the world. Among the various risk factors of CVD, environmental and dietary exposures to mercury (Hg), a highly toxic metal traditionally regarded as a neurotoxin, has been recently suggested as a potential contributor towards human atherosclerotic development. In this study, we investigated the toxicity, type of cell death, dose-dependent uptake, and efflux of inorganic HgII (as HgCl) and methylmercury or MeHg (as CHHgCl) in EA. Read More

Materials (Basel) 2020 May 31;13(11). Epub 2020 May 31.

Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Muroran Institute of Technology, Hokkaido 0508585, Japan.

This paper presents a prediction method and mathematical model based on experimental results for the change in pore structure of cement-based materials due to environmental conditions. It focuses on frost damage risk to cement-based materials such as mortar. Mortar specimens are prepared using water, ordinary Portland cement, and sand and the pore structure is evaluated using mercury intrusion porosimetry. Read More

Funct Plant Biol 2014 Feb;41(3):257-269

Earth and Life Institute-Agronomy, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2, L7.05.14, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

Efficient breeding of drought-tolerant wheat (Triticum spp.) genotypes requires identifying mechanisms underlying exceptional performances. Evidence indicates that the drought-tolerant breeding line RAC875 is water-use conservative, limiting its transpiration rate (TR) sensitivity to increasing vapour pressure deficit (VPD), thereby saving soil water moisture for later use. Read More

J Trace Elem Med Biol 2020 May 22;61:126560. Epub 2020 May 22.

Department of Biomedical Sciences-Histology, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43/B, 07100 Sassari, Italy; I.S.R.C.T.--International Society for Research on Cadmium Toxicity, Viale San Pietro 43/B, 07100 Sassari, Italy.

Background: Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common form of chronic, progressive optic neuropathies characterized by slow degeneration of the retinal ganglion cells and their axons, resulting in visual field loss. Risk factors for this disease are elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), increased age, European and African ethnicity, family history, myopia and decreased corneal thickness. In addition, studies indicated that levels of trace elements are also significantly related to the POAG. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2020 May 25;736:139687. Epub 2020 May 25.

State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Xi'an 710061, China. Electronic address:

Consumption of mercury (Hg) contaminated rice can be a major environmental health issue but the toxicokinetics is not well known. Hg isotopes have been shown to be good tracers in studying Hg exposure and metabolic processes. We established a Hg mass balance and Hg isotope model in rats fed with Hg contaminated rice (THg 51. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2020 Jul 8;726:138586. Epub 2020 Apr 8.

Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment of the Ministry of Education, College of Environment and Resources, Jilin University, China.

Marine fish species are an important source of biologically valuable proteins, fats, fat-soluble vitamins, and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, but they are also susceptible to pollutants. Mercury is liable to bioamplify in the aquatic food chain, and the health risks posed by methylmercury (MeHg) could undermine the benefits of eating fish, so risk-benefit assessments are needed for those fish species regularly consumed. The purpose of this study was to analyze the concentrations of mercury and characteristics of fatty acids in marine fish harvested from Liaodong Gulf, China, so as to better understand the risk-benefit effects of marine fish consumption. Read More

Nanotechnology 2020 Jun 1. Epub 2020 Jun 1.

Physics, IISC Bangalore, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Bangalore, karnataka, 560012, INDIA.

Narrow bandgap (< 0.5 eV) colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (e.g. Read More

Aquat Toxicol 2020 May 18;224:105502. Epub 2020 May 18.

Environmental Biogeochemistry and Ecotoxicology, Department F.-A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, and Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Uni Carl Vogt, 66, Boulevard Carl-Vogt, CH-1211 Genève 4, Switzerland. Electronic address:

The present study examined the effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nanoTiO) and mercury (Hg) compounds on the green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Mixtures containing nanoTiO of different primary sizes (5 nm, 15 nm and 20 nm), inorganic Hg (IHg) or monomethyl Hg (CHHg, MeHg) were studied and compared with individual treatments. Oxidative stress and membrane damage were examined. Read More

Chemosphere 2020 May 20;257:127114. Epub 2020 May 20.

Soil Science Department, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Doutor Silvio Menicucci Avenue, Lavras, 37200-900, Brazil. Electronic address:

Problems related to specificity and re-precipitation of metals in sequential chemical extractions can impair their routine use. In order to test the efficiency of a sequential chemical procedure, model compounds composed by soil components commonly found in tropical soils such as goethite, Al-goethite, ferrihydrite, hematite, bauxite, and humic acid were incubated with either Hg(NO) or HgSO and submitted to chemical extraction. The procedure aims to assess: (i) water soluble Hg; (ii) bioaccessible Hg at pH near human stomach; (iii) Hg associated with organic matter; (iv) reduced Hg; (v) Hg associated with Fe, Al, and Mn oxides; and, (vi) residual Hg. Read More

Environ Res 2020 May 20;187:109703. Epub 2020 May 20.

Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Electronic address:

Background: Genetic variations in glutathione (GSH)-related and metallothionein (MT) genes, which are involved in producing enzymes in the methylmercury (MeHg) metabolism pathway, have been proposed as one of the reasons for the individual variability in MeHg toxicokinetics.

Objective: To investigate the impact of genetic variations in MT and GSH-related genes on the association of fish consumption with body burden of MeHg, as measured by hair Hg concentrations among young children and women of childbearing age.

Methods: A total of 179 unrelated children and 165 mothers with either high or low fish consumption were recruited from the community. Read More

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2020 May 30. Epub 2020 May 30.

Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, PA, 66075-110, Brazil.

Enzymatic biomarkers, especially oxidative-stress enzymes, are useful for assessing the status of aquatic environments. The present study used biochemical markers determined in nervous, gill, and liver tissues of Sciades herzbergii, concomitantly with analyses of trace metals in the tissues and bottom sediment, to evaluate environmental quality in Amazon estuaries. The study was conducted from March 2014 to February 2016 in two areas: Caeté estuary in Bragança, state of Pará, which is relatively unimpacted; and São Marcos Bay, next to a harbor in São Luís, state of Maranhão. Read More

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 2020 May 12;239:118465. Epub 2020 May 12.

Key Laboratory of Pesticide and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, Hubei International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Pesticide and Green Synthesis, International Joint Research Center for Intelligent Biosensing Technology and Health, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, PR China. Electronic address:

A commercial cyanine dye IR-780 and a thioether-containing dicarboxylic acid ligand were used to construct the near-infrared fluorescent probe, which was used as a near-infrared fluorescent indicator for the determination of mercury ions in water and in living cells. This indicator displayed high specificity towards Hg without any interference from other detecting species. Especially, the emission at 790 nm dramatically increased more than 25 times after interacting with Hg. Read More

Biol Trace Elem Res 2020 May 29. Epub 2020 May 29.

Laboratório de Estudos em Química Aplicada (LEQA), Departamento de Química Analítica e Físico-Química, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Campus do Pici, Fortaleza, CE, 60455-760, Brazil.

A rapid and low-cost method for determination of total mercury (THg) in cat food was developed based on photochemical vapor generation (PVG) coupled to cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS). Cat food samples with ingredients based on tuna fish and other seafood were investigated. Organic acid precursor and concentration for radical generation and Hg photoreduction, sample UV irradiation time, and carrier gas flow were optimized. Read More

Environ Monit Assess 2020 May 29;192(6):404. Epub 2020 May 29.

Aquatic Contaminants Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Water Research Institute, Burlington, ON, L7S 1A1, Canada.

The St. Lawrence River, at Cornwall Ontario, has accumulated sediment contaminants, mainly mercury (Hg) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), from industrial point sources over many years. Although those sources are past, the river at Cornwall remains an Area of Concern (AOC). Read More

Biomolecules 2020 May 27;10(6). Epub 2020 May 27.

Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.

The main source of mercury (Hg) exposure in the general population is fish. Another possible source is dental amalgam. Here, we compare the levels of Hg and selenium (Se) in samples of maternal and fetal origin collected shortly after childbirth of healthy postpartum women in the coastal ( = 96) and continental ( = 185) areas of Croatia related to maternal seafood/fish consumption. Read More

Materials (Basel) 2020 May 27;13(11). Epub 2020 May 27.

Dept. Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand.

Just as it is regarding ordinary cement-based materials, the pore structure and microstructure of alkali-activated materials are disordered. It is essential to predict the macroscopic properties by studying the pore and microstructure fractal characteristics of materials. In this paper, the effects of slag content and alkali activator modulus on compressive strength, porosity, and microstructure of alkali-activated coal gangue-slag (AACGS) mortar were studied. Read More

Integr Environ Assess Manag 2020 May 29. Epub 2020 May 29.

Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil.

On November 2015, Samarco tailings dam in Mariana MG, Brazil, collapsed, releasing 62 million tons of tailings that advanced through 668 km of the Doce River and adjacent floodplain. Although being the worst environmental disaster in Brazil, little is known about consequences to aquatic biota. Here we evaluate the effects of the tailings mudflow on metal and arsenic concentration in fish and how concentration correlates with water and fish characteristics. Read More

PLoS One 2020 29;15(5):e0233439. Epub 2020 May 29.

Laboratoire Signalisation et Transports Ioniques Membranaires, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France.

In epithelial cells, the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a cAMP-regulated Cl- channel, plays a key role in water and electrolytes secretion. A dysfunctional CFTR leads to the dehydration of the external environment of the cells and to the production of viscous mucus in the airways of cystic fibrosis patients. Here, we applied the quadriwave lateral shearing interferometry (QWLSI), a quantitative phase imaging technique based on the measurement of the light wave shift when passing through a living sample, to study water transport regulation in human airway epithelial CFBE and CHO cells expressing wild-type, G551D- and F508del-CFTR. Read More

Mar Pollut Bull 2020 May 29;157:111281. Epub 2020 May 29.

Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, 3000 NE 151st Street, North Miami, FL 33181, United States of America.

Shark fin is one of Asia's most valued dried seafood products, with over 80 shark species traded in Hong Kong [HK]. We analyzed processed shark fins from mainland China and HK markets (n = 267) for mercury, methyl‑mercury, and arsenic, to inform consumers, policy makers and public health officials on the health risks of ingesting fins from nine of the most common shark species in the fin trade. Fins from all species frequently exceed Hg limits established by HK authorities. Read More

World J Microbiol Biotechnol 2020 May 29;36(6):85. Epub 2020 May 29.

Health Biotechnology Division, Drug Discovery and Structural Biology Group, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Salmonellae have evolved a wide range of molecular mechanisms to neutralize the effect of antibiotics and evade the host immune system response. These mechanisms are exquisitely controlled by global and local regulators and enable the pathogens to use its energy as per need and hence allow the pathogen to economize the consumption of energy by its cellular machinery. Several families that regulate the expression of different drug resistance genes are known; some of these are: the TetR family (which affects tetracycline resistance genes), the AraC/XylS family (regulators that can act as both transcriptional activators and repressors), two-component signal transduction systems (e. Read More

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2020 May 28. Epub 2020 May 28.

Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, 310 Trent Drive, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.

Human exposure to mercury is a leading public health problem. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is a major source of global mercury emissions. Although occupational mercury exposure to miners (via mercury vapor inhalation) is known, chronic mercury exposure to nearby residents that are not miners (via mercury-contaminated fish consumption) is poorly characterized. Read More

Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020 May 25;17(10). Epub 2020 May 25.

Department of Pediatrics and Kawasaki Disease Center, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 83301, Taiwan.

The risk of ethnic Kawasaki disease (KD) has been proposed to be associated with blood mercury levels in American children. We investigated the blood levels of mercury in children with KD and their association with disease outcome. The mercury levels demonstrated a significantly negative correlation with sodium levels ( = 0. Read More

J Phys Chem A 2020 May 28. Epub 2020 May 28.

Assembled together with the most common qubits used in NMR quantum computa- tion experiments, spin{1/2 nuclei, such as113Cd, 199Hg,125Te and 77Se could leverage the prospective scalable quantum computer architectures, enabling many and heteronu- clear qubits for NMR quantum information processing (QIP) implementations. A com- putational design strategy for prescreening recently synthesized complexes of cadmium, mercury, tellurium, selenium and phosphorus (called MRE complexes) as suitable qubit molecules for NMR QIP is reported. Chemical shifts and spin{spin coupling constants in ve MRE complexes were examined using spin{orbit zeroth order regular approxi- mation (ZORA) and four{component relativistic methods. Read More

Contact Dermatitis 2020 May 28. Epub 2020 May 28.

Division of Dermatology, The University of Ottawa, and The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2020 May 28. Epub 2020 May 28.

National Zoological Collection of Suriname/Environmental Research Center (NZCS/CMO), Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname.

Previous research has found that women and children living in rural, interior communities in Suriname have high concentrations of mercury in hair. Freshwater fish from these areas also have high concentrations of mercury. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining operations in parts of the country use elemental mercury to extract gold from soils and sediments. Read More

Environ Res 2020 May 16;187:109680. Epub 2020 May 16.

University of Coimbra, MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Department of Life Sciences, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal; British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, CB3 0ET, Cambridge, UK.

Mercury is a bioaccumulating toxic pollutant which can reach humans through the consumption of contaminated food (e.g. marine fish). Read More

Sci Rep 2020 May 26;10(1):8730. Epub 2020 May 26.

CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110164, China.

The Hun-Taizi River watershed includes the main part of the Liaoning central urban agglomeration, which contains six cities with an 80-year industrial history. A total of 272 samples were collected from different land use areas within the study area to estimate the concentration levels, spatial distributions and potential sources of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) with a geographic information system (GIS), principal component analysis (PCA) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Only the concentration of Cd was over the national standard value (GB 15618-2018). Read More

Talanta 2020 Aug 31;216:120959. Epub 2020 Mar 31.

Trace Element, Spectroscopy and Speciation Group (GETEE), Strategic Grouping in Materials (AEMAT), Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Bromatology, Faculty of Chemistry, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Avenida das Ciencias, s/n, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Electronic address:

An analytical procedure using low-cost instrumentation (fluorescence/phosphorescence spectrophotometer) has been developed to assess total mercury in fishery products. Determinations were based on the room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) quenching of a composite Ph-QDs consisting of phenobarbital-containing polymer/silica coated Mn-doped ZnS quantum dots. Under optimum conditions (fish extract pH of 8. Read More

BMC Fam Pract 2020 May 26;21(1):95. Epub 2020 May 26.

Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Background: Hypertension is the most common chronic disease and is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Its screening, diagnosis, and management depend heavily on accurate blood pressure (BP) measurement. It is recommended that the diagnosis of hypertension should be confirmed or corroborated by out-of-office BP values, measured using ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) and home BP monitoring (HBPM). Read More

Materials (Basel) 2020 May 22;13(10). Epub 2020 May 22.

Unipetrol Centre for Research and Education, Revoluční 84, 400 01 Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic.

Metakaolinite-based geopolymer binder was prepared at room temperature by mixing calcined claystone and potassium alkaline activator. Various granular inorganic fillers were added, amounting to 65 vol % to form geopolymer composites. The effect of four types of fillers (sand quartz, chamotte, cordierite, and corundum) on the thermo-mechanical properties of metakaolinite-based geopolymer composites were investigated. Read More

Materials (Basel) 2020 May 21;13(10). Epub 2020 May 21.

Faculty of Technology, University of Novi Sad, bul cara Lazara 1, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia.

This study examines the influence of raw material characteristics, methods of shaping and of parameters of firing process of clay bricks, on pore-size distribution and on resistance to freeze-thaw cycles (with particular emphasis on the retention time of the specimens at the maximum achieved temperature). Pore-size distribution was measured by mercury-intrusion porosimetry, while the resistance to freeze-thaw cycles was assessed by exposing the bricks to freeze-thaw cycles (HRN B.D8. Read More

Neural Plast 2020 5;2020:1673897. Epub 2020 May 5.

Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L Levy Place, New York NY 10029, USA.

The tens of thousands of industrial and synthetic chemicals released into the environment have an unknown but potentially significant capacity to interfere with neurodevelopment. Consequently, there is an urgent need for systematic approaches that can identify disruptive chemicals. Little is known about the impact of environmental chemicals on critical periods of developmental neuroplasticity, in large part, due to the challenge of screening thousands of chemicals. Read More

Earth Planet Sci Lett 2019 Aug 4;520:26-33. Epub 2019 Jun 4.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.

Surface ice at the poles of Mercury appears as several-m-thick deposits that are composed of nearly pure water. We provide new age estimates of Mercury's polar deposits from combined analyses of Poisson statistics and direct observations of crater densities within permanently shadowed, radar-bright regions imaged by the MESSENGER spacecraft. These age estimates suggest that ice was delivered to Mercury within the last ~150 Myr. Read More

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2020 May 25. Epub 2020 May 25.

School of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, Hubei, People's Republic of China.

The sewage sludge flocculated with ferrous sulfate (SFS) was prepared by one-step pyrolysis to obtain magnetic Fe-containing carbon. Results showed that only a small amount of FeO as well as extremely weak magnetism were observed at pyrolysis temperatures of less than 500 °C. SFS tended to exhibit intensive agglomeration, leading to the drastic increase of the crystalline-phase particle size at high pyrolysis temperature. Read More

Anal Chem 2020 May 25. Epub 2020 May 25.

Nitrite (NO2-) and mercury ion (Hg2+) are recognized as two typical inorganic contaminations that can cause severe damage to environment and human beings. In this paper, the energy transfer from CQDs to Tb3+ by the antenna effect was found, and it can promote the f-f transition of Tb3+ and emit strong characteristic fluorescence of Tb3+. Based on CQDs-Tb3+ and 3-aminophenylboronic acid (APBA) have respectively sensitive and specific fluorescent response to NO2- and Hg2+ with different fluorescent signals, a dual-emission fluorescent probe of the CQDs-Tb3+/APBA hybrid was thus fabricated for the simultaneous detection of NO2- and Hg2+ in environmental water samples. Read More

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2020 Aug 22;199:110669. Epub 2020 May 22.

Laboratório de Protozoologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, 36036-900, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Programa de Pós-graduação em Biodiversidade e Conservação da Natureza, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, 36036-900, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, 36036-900, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Ciliates are key components of aquatic ecosystems, significantly contributing to the decomposition of organic matter and energy transfer to higher trophic levels. They are considered good biological indicators of chemical pollution and relatively sensitive to heavy metal contamination. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis of the available toxicity data of heavy metals and ciliates to assess: (1) the sensitivity of freshwater ciliates to different heavy metals, (2) the relative sensitivity of ciliates in comparison to the standard test species used in ecotoxicological risk assessment, and (3) the difference in sensitivity across ciliate taxa. Read More

Biol Trace Elem Res 2020 May 24. Epub 2020 May 24.

School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rua Prof R. Dr. Valter Maurício Corrêa, s/n, Botucatu, SP, 18.618-681, Brazil.

This manuscript describes the results of a metalloproteomic study of mercury in samples of muscle and liver tissue of the species Serrasalmus rhombeus, popularly known as black piranha and characterised as the most voracious and aggressive predator in the Brazilian Amazon. The metalloproteomic study involved using two-dimensional electrophoresis (2D PAGE) to fractionate the proteome of the muscle and liver tissue samples, along with atomic absorption spectrometry in a graphite furnace (GFAAS) to identify mercury associated with protein SPOTs and mass spectrometry with electrospray ionisation (ESI-MS/MS) to characterise the mercury-binding proteins. The protein SPOTs characterised showed concentrations in the order of 156 mg kg, which ranks as the highest concentrations of mercury determined so far in metalloproteomic studies involving fish species in the Amazon region. Read More

Pregnancy Hypertens 2020 Apr 28;21:84-89. Epub 2020 Apr 28.

Research Center, CHU Sainte-Justine, Mother and Child University Hospital Center, Montreal, QC, Canada; Centre de recherche du CHUS, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada. Electronic address:

Background: The potential association between the presence or replacement of dental amalgams and gestational hypertension (GH) is unclear.

Objective: To assess the association between the presence or replacement of dental amalgams and the risk of GH in a prospective cohort study.

Methods: We assessed dental amalgam status (presence or replacement), blood mercury concentrations, and measured blood pressure (BP) in 1817 pregnant women recruited in 10 Canadian cities. Read More

J Environ Sci (China) 2020 Jul 9;93:66-90. Epub 2020 Mar 9.

School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization and Pollution Control, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, China.

China's energy dependents on coal due to the abundance and low cost of coal. Coal provides a secure and stable energy source in China. Over-dependence on coal results in the emission of Hazardous Trace Elements (HTEs) including selenium (Se), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), etc. Read More

Sci Rep 2020 May 22;10(1):8511. Epub 2020 May 22.

Key Laboratory of Shale Gas and Geoengineering, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

The pore structure is one of the most important properties of soil, which can directly affect the other properties such as water content, permeability and strength. It is of great significance to study the soil pore structure for agricultural cultivation, water and soil conservation and engineering construction. This paper investigates the 3D pore characterization of intact loess and four kinds of compacted loess (with different dry density) in northwest China. Read More

Nanomaterials (Basel) 2020 May 18;10(5). Epub 2020 May 18.

Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Vietnam.

As a fixed reservoir rock property, pore throat size distribution (PSD) is known to affect the distribution of reservoir fluid saturation strongly. This study aims to investigate the relations between the PSD and the oil-water relative permeabilities of reservoir rock with a focus on the efficiency of surfactant-nanofluid flooding as an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique. For this purpose, mercury injection capillary pressure (MICP) tests were conducted on two core plugs with similar rock types (in respect to their flow zone index (FZI) values), which were selected among more than 20 core plugs, to examine the effectiveness of a surfactant-nanoparticle EOR method for reducing the amount of oil left behind after secondary core flooding experiments. Read More

Chemosphere 2020 Jul 27;251:126614. Epub 2020 Mar 27.

University of Gdańsk, Environmental Chemistry & Ecotoxicology, 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland; University of Cartagena, Environmental and Computational Chemistry Group, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zaragocilla Campus, 130015, Cartagena, Colombia.

The contamination, bio-concentration and distribution of mercury (Hg) in wild mushrooms of the genus Tricholoma such as T. equestre, T. portentosum, T. Read More

Environ Pollut 2020 Jul 5;262:114333. Epub 2020 Mar 5.

Universite de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, E2S UPPA, CNRS, IPREM-MIRA Environmental Microbiology, UMR 5254, 64000, Pau, France. Electronic address:

Microbial mercury (Hg) methylation transforms inorganic mercury to neurotoxic methylmercury (MeHg) mainly in aquatic anoxic environments. Sampling challenges in marine ecosystems, particularly in submarine canyons, leads to a lack of knowledge about the Hg methylating microbia in marine sediments. A previous study showed an enrichment of mercury species in sediments from the Capbreton Canyon where both geochemical parameters and microbial activities constrained the net MeHg production. Read More

Environ Pollut 2020 Jul 12;262:114356. Epub 2020 Mar 12.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Large river estuarine-inner shelf systems play an important role in the coastal biogeochemical cycling of heavy metals; however, the source-to-sink of mercury (Hg) in these environments remain poorly understood. In this study, the Hg isotopic composition of surface sediments in the Yangtze River Estuary (YRE) and inner shelf of the East China Sea (ECS) were examined to quantitatively track Hg sources in this region. We detected large spatial variation in δHg (-1. Read More