Methodology for Effect-Based Identification of Bioconcentratable Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) in Water: Establishment, Validation, and Application

Analysis strategy of contamination source using chemical fingerprint information based on GC-HRMS: A case study of landfill leachate

With the increasing prevalence of emerging contaminants (ECs) in the environment, gaining a deeper understanding of the chemical information pertaining to the contamination source is a crucial step toward effective prevention and control of these ECs. This study presents a novel strategy for analyzing the chemical information of contamination sources using gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS) and demonstrates it on landfill leachate, a common and representative environmental contamination source. Initially, a non-targeted screening approach using HRMS was used to characterize a total of 5344 organic compounds with identification confidence levels 1 and 2 in 14 landfill leachate samples. Leveraging this as a base data set, the similarity analysis was first performed, and the classification fingerprints exhibited a pronounced level of similarity. Second, 169 characteristic marker contaminants with important and significant differences were identified in the 3 groups of landfill leachate with different solid waste compositions (mostly kitchen waste, mostly plastic & daily chemical product waste, and proportion average) by difference analysis. Finally, 101 hazardous chemicals (HCs) were screened in the data set. The results demonstrated that a class of contamination source exhibited certain common characteristics, while different groups of samples had their own distinct contamination signatures. This work offers a unique perspective on the interpretation of chemical information from contamination sources, aiming to provide a valuable reference for environmental pollution management.

Characterization and mechanism of phthalic acid esters bioaccumulation in dominant mangrove fish at different habitats in the mangrove ecosystem of Dongzhai Harbor, China

With the wide application of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in the manufacturing of plastic products, a large number of PAEs were discharged into marine ecosystem and accumulated in fish, which has posed a serious threat to marine ecological environment and fishery resources. However, the bioaccumulation of PAEs in fish in mangrove ecosystem, the most productive marine ecosystem, has not been well characterized. In this study, dominant fish and their potential food sources (including particulate organic matter (POM), sedimentary organic matter (SOM), Metapenaeus ensis (Shrimp) and Oreochromis (Ore) were collected from Dongzhai Harbor, a typical mangrove ecosystem. The concentrations of nine PAEs in fish and their potential food sources were determined. Then stable nitrogen and carbon isotope analysis, combined with a new Bayesian mixing model (MixSIMMR) was used to quantify the diet compositions of fish and elucidate the effect of dietary habit on PAEs bioaccumulation in fish. The results indicated that the median concentration of ∑9PAEs in fish was 1119 μg/kg ww, positioning it at a moderate to low level in comparison to other regions. di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) and diisononyl ortho-phthalate (DINP) were the dominant PAEs in fish. The PAEs concentration in demersal fish was significantly higher than that of pelagic fish, which may be attributed to the substantial contributions of shrimp (28.5 %) and POM (25.3 %) to the diet of demersal fish. This study provided new insights on the bioaccumulation of PAEs in dominant mangrove fish and confirmed that habitat preferences and food sources could significantly influence the bioaccumulation of PAEs in fish.

High-efficiency effect-directed analysis (EDA) advancing toxicant identification in aquatic environments: Latest progress and application status

Facing the great threats to ecosystems and human health posed by the continuous release of chemicals into aquatic environments, effect-directed analysis (EDA) has emerged as a powerful tool for identifying causative toxicants. However, traditional EDA shows problems of low-coverage, labor-intensive and low-efficiency. Currently, a number of high-efficiency techniques have been integrated into EDA to improve toxicant identification. In this review, the latest progress and current limitations of high-efficiency EDA, comprising high-coverage effect evaluation, high-resolution fractionation, high-coverage chemical analysis, high-automation causative peak extraction and high-efficiency structure elucidation, are summarized. Specifically, high-resolution fractionation, high-automation data processing algorithms and in silico structure elucidation techniques have been well developed to enhance EDA. While high-coverage effect evaluation and chemical analysis should be further emphasized, especially omics tools and data-independent mass acquisition. For the application status in aquatic environments, high-efficiency EDA is widely applied in surface water and wastewater. Estrogenic, androgenic and aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated activities are the most concerning, with causative toxicants showing the typical structural features of steroids and benzenoids. A better understanding of the latest progress and application status of EDA would be beneficial to further advance in the field and greatly support aquatic environment monitoring.

High-Efficiency Effect-Directed Analysis Leveraging Five High Level Advancements: A Critical Review

Organic contaminants are ubiquitous in the environment, with mounting evidence unequivocally connecting them to aquatic toxicity, illness, and increased mortality, underscoring their substantial impacts on ecological security and environmental health. The intricate composition of sample mixtures and uncertain physicochemical features of potential toxic substances pose challenges to identify key toxicants in environmental samples. Effect-directed analysis (EDA), establishing a connection between key toxicants found in environmental samples and associated hazards, enables the identification of toxicants that can streamline research efforts and inform management action. Nevertheless, the advancement of EDA is constrained by the following factors: inadequate extraction and fractionation of environmental samples, limited bioassay endpoints and unknown linkage to higher order impacts, limited coverage of chemical analysis (i.e., high-resolution mass spectrometry, HRMS), and lacking effective linkage between bioassays and chemical analysis. This review proposes five key advancements to enhance the efficiency of EDA in addressing these challenges: (1) multiple adsorbents for comprehensive coverage of chemical extraction, (2) high-resolution microfractionation and multidimensional fractionation for refined fractionation, (3) robust in vivo/vitro bioassays and omics, (4) high-performance configurations for HRMS analysis, and (5) chemical-, data-, and knowledge-driven approaches for streamlined toxicant identification and validation. We envision that future EDA will integrate big data and artificial intelligence based on the development of quantitative omics, cutting-edge multidimensional microfractionation, and ultraperformance MS to identify environmental hazard factors, serving for broader environmental governance.

Dual-signal amplified electrochemical aptasensor based on Au/MrGO and DNA nanospheres for ultra-sensitive detection of BPA without directly modified working electrode

Rapid and sensitive analysis of bisphenol A (BPA) is essential for preventing health risks to humans and animals. Hence, a signal-amplified electrochemical aptasensor without repetitive polishing and modification of working electrode was developed for BPA using Au-decorated magnetic reduced graphene oxide (Au/MrGO)-based recognition probe (RP) and DNA nanospheres (DNS)-based signal probe (SP) cooperative signal amplification. The DNS served as a signal molecule carrier and signal amplifier, while Au/MrGO acted as a signal amplifier and excellent medium for magnetic adsorption and separation. Moreover, utilizing the excellent magnetic properties of Au/MrGO eliminates the need for repetitive polishing and multi-step direct modification of the working electrode while ensuring that all detection processes take place in solution and that used Au/MrGO can be easily recycled. The proposed aptasensor exhibited not only good stability and selectivity, but also excellent sensitivity with a limit of detection (LOD) of 8.13 fg/mL (S/N = 3). The aptasensor's practicality was proven by spiking recovery tests on actual water samples and comparing the results with those detected by HPLC. The excellent sensitivity and selectivity make this aptasensor an alternative and promising avenue for rapid detection of BPA in environmental monitoring.

Paternal exposures to endocrine-disrupting chemicals induce intergenerational epigenetic influences on offspring: A review

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are ubiquitous in ecological environments and have become a great issue of public health concern since the 1990 s. There is a deep scientific understanding of the toxicity of EDCs. However, recent studies have found that the abnormal physiological functions of the parents caused by EDCs could be transmitted to their unexposed offspring, leading to intergenerational toxicity. We questioned whether sustained epigenetic changes occur through the male germline. In this review, we (1) systematically searched the available research on the intergenerational impacts of EDCs in aquatic and mammal organisms, including 42 articles, (2) summarized the intergenerational genetic effects, such as decreased offspring survival, abnormal reproductive dysfunction, metabolic disorders, and behavioral abnormalities, (3) summarized the mechanisms of intergenerational toxicity through paternal interactions, and (4) propose suggestions on future research directions to develop a deeper understanding of the ecological risk of EDCs.

Seahorse Male Pregnancy as a Model System to Study Pregnancy, Immune Adaptations, and Environmental Effects

Seahorses, together with sea dragons and pipefishes, belong to the Syngnathidae family of teleost fishes. Seahorses and other Syngnathidae species have a very peculiar feature: male pregnancy. Among different species, there is a gradation of paternal involvement in carrying for the offspring, from a simple attachment of the eggs to the skin surface, through various degrees of egg coverage by skin flaps, to the internal pregnancy within a brood pouch, which resembles mammalian uterus with the placenta. Because of the gradation of parental involvement and similarities to mammalian pregnancy, seahorses are a great model to study the evolution of pregnancy and the immunologic, metabolic, cellular, and molecular processes of pregnancy and embryo development. Seahorses are also very useful for studying the effects of pollutants and environmental changes on pregnancy, embryo development, and offspring fitness. We describe here the characteristics of seahorse male pregnancy, its regulatory mechanisms, the development of immune tolerance of the parent toward the allogeneic embryos, and the effects of environmental pollutants on pregnancy and embryo development.