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Humans are exposed every day to assorted environmental pollutants namely, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), organochlorine pesticides (OCP), brominated flame-retardants (BFR), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), synthetic musks, heavy metals (e.g. cadmium) and plastic additives (e.g. bisphenol A, BPA). Besides environmental persistence, biomagnification and bioaccumulative properties, these pollutants are classified as endocrine disruptors (EDs), metabolic disruptors, neurologic disruptors. These compounds affect the normal function of several mechanisms in the human body being linked to human health issues as cancer development (e.g. breast, uterine and endometrial), miscarriage, birth defects, premature delivery and infertility. In order to prevent future health issue of women and possible progeny, the assessment of EDs accumulated is essential, particularly in adipose tissue. These samples have been referred as the ideal matrix to establish over time accumulation and long-term exposure of persistent and non-persistent lipophilic EDs. However, the invasive sample collection procedure and methodology processing discourages the usage of this matrix for biomonitoring studies. In this review, a Web of Science search without any publishing year restriction on the analysis in adipose tissue of PCB, OCP, BPA, cadmium, BFR and synthetic musks was performed. A total of 313 studies were found, 158 were European studies from which the studies with data on women EDs accumulation were selected for detailed analysis (n = 90). The results were structured and presented in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The present paper is an overview on the existent EDs analytical methods and levels accumulated in women adipose tissue, with the correspondent health implications across Europe. The limits of detection and quantification were compared and a discussion with results obtained about the presence of ED was performed., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Every year, after grape harvesting, high quantities of vine-canes are generated. Due to the high amount of bioactive compounds present in this woody material, several studies reported their potential to be used in different sustainable applications. However, before employing vine-canes in this kind of products, their safety needs to be assessed. A robust method for identification and quantification of 30 environmental contaminants (12 organochloride pesticides (OCPs), 6 organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs), 5 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and 7 brominated flame retardants (BFRs)) in vine-canes was developed. For that, the extraction and clean-up procedures were optimized, namely the vine-canes size, the QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) composition and the amount of carbon used in the dispersive-solid phase extraction (d-SPE). Suitable analytical parameters were obtained: linearity (r 2 ) >0.99 for all the studied compounds and for the solvent and matrix-matched standards; relative standard deviation (RSD) below 14%; and mean recoveries for two spiking levels (10 and 20 μg/kg) between 75 and 103%, excepting for the PCBs that ranged between 59 and 105%. The limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) ranged between 0.38 and 1.09 and 1.26 to 3.64 μg/kg, respectively. Regarding the analysis of 19 vine-cane samples, corresponding to four different varieties (Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Alvarinho, and Loureiro) collected in four different years in the North of Portugal, five contaminants (aldrin, 2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE), α-hexachlorocyclohexane (α-HCH), 2,4,4'-trichlorobiphenyl (PCB28), and 2,2',4,5,5'-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB101)) were detected. However, only α-HCH (5.85 ± 0.32 to 5.99 ± 0.25 μg/kg) and aldrin (2.44 ± 0.15 μg/kg) were quantified above the LOQ. The screening of environmental contaminants in vine-canes is essential to waste valorization, especially if the goal is to apply them in products for human consumption., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Pyrethroid pesticides residues have been frequently detected in soils and have been recognized to contribute to soil toxicity. The phytotoxic impact of pesticides was evaluated in Cucumis sativus (C. sativus) seeds. Percentage of seed germination, root elongation, shoot length and leaf length were considered as endpoints to assess the possible acute phytotoxicity of soil by the exposure to pyrethroid pesticides (cypermethrin, deltamethrin and cyhalothrin) and its metabolite phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA), in a concentration range between 50 and 500μgkg -1 . For germination percentage, it was only observed a negative impact when seeds were exposed to the metabolite. Cypermethrin showed impact in the three studied endpoints of seed development, while deltamethrin merely affected the root length. Concerning pigments content, it can be said that chlorophylls and total carotenoids median values increased for cypermethrin and deltamethrin. This increase was more pronounced to deltamethrin in joint effect with the organic solvent dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO). When exposed to cyhalothrin and 3-PBA, no statistically significant differences were observed for C. sativus seeds to all the assessed endpoints of seed development and the investigated pigments content. This research brings new data concerning the relative sensitivity of C. sativus seeds to pyrethroids pesticides commonly found in agricultural facilities, as well as critical understanding and development of using C. sativus for phytotoxicity assessments efforts for pesticide exposures., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)