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Photoinitiators (PIs) are chemical additives that generate active substances, such as free radicals to initiate photopolymerization. Traditionally, polymerization has been considered a green technique that seldomly generates contaminants. However, many researches have confirmed toxicity effects of PIs, such as carcinogenicity, cytotoxicity, endocrine disrupting effects. Surprisingly, we found high levels of PIs in indoor dust. Our analysis revealed comparable levels of PIs in dust from printing shops (geometric mean, GM: 1.33 ×10 3 ng/g) and control environments (GM: 874 ng/g), underscoring the widespread presence of PIs across various settings. Alarmingly, in dust samples from nail salons, PIs were detected at total concentrations ranging from 610 to 1.04 × 10 7 ng/g (GM: 1.87 ×10 5 ng/g), significantly exceeding those in the control environments (GM: 1.43 ×10 3 ng/g). Nail salon workers' occupational exposure to PIs through dust ingestion was estimated at 4.86 ng/kg body weight/day. Additionally, an in vitro simulated digestion test suggested that between 10 % and 42 % of PIs present in ingested dust could become bioaccessible to humans. This is the first study to report on PIs in the specific environments of nail salons and printing shops. This study highlights the urgent need for public awareness regarding the potential health risks posed by PIs to occupational workers, marking an important step towards our understanding of environmental pollution caused by PIs., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Extensive application of rare earth element oxide nanoparticles (REE NPs) has raised a concern over the possible toxic health effects after human exposure. Once entering the body, REE NPs are primarily processed by phagocytes in particular macrophages and undergo biotic phosphate complexation in lysosomal compartment. Such biotransformation affects the target organs and in vivo fate of REE NPs after escaping the lysosomes. However, the immunomodulatory effects of intraphagolysosomal dissolved REE NPs remains insufficient. Here, europium oxide (Eu 2 O 3 ) NPs were pre-incubated with phagolysosomal simulant fluid (PSF) to mimic the biotransformation of europium oxide (p-Eu 2 O 3 ) NPs under acid phagolysosome conditions. We investigated the alteration in immune cell components and the hematopoiesis disturbance on adult mice after intravenous administration of Eu 2 O 3 NPs and p-Eu 2 O 3 NPs. Our results indicated that the liver and spleen were the main target organs for Eu 2 O 3 NPs and p-Eu 2 O 3 NPs. Eu 2 O 3 NPs had a much higher accumulative potential in organs than p-Eu 2 O 3 NPs. Eu 2 O 3 NPs induced more alterations in immune cells in the spleen, while p-Eu 2 O 3 NPs caused stronger response in the liver. Regarding hematopoietic disruption, Eu 2 O 3 NPs reduced platelets (PLTs) in peripheral blood, which might be related to the inhibited erythrocyte differentiation in the spleen. By contrast, p-Eu 2 O 3 NPs did not cause significant disturbance in peripheral PLTs. Our study demonstrated that the preincubation with PSF led to a distinct response in the immune system compared to the pristine REE NPs, suggesting that the potentially toxic effects induced by the release of NPs after phagocytosis should not be neglected, especially when evaluating the safety of NPs application in vivo., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Zinc (Zn) is an essential trace element that is required for various biological functions, but excessive exposure to Zn is associated with many disorders and even diseases. However, the health effects and underlying mechanisms of long-term and high concentration exposure of Zn remain to be unclear. In the present study, we investigated the association between occupational exposure to Zn and liver function indicators (like alanine aminotransferase (ALT)) in workers. We found a positive association between Zn exposure and ALT level in workers. Workers having higher blood Zn (7735.65 (1159.15) μg/L) shows a 30.4 % increase in ALT level compared to those with lower blood Zn (5969.30 (989.26) μg/L). Furthermore, we explored the effects of phospholipids (PLs) and their metabolism on ALT level and discovered that Zn exposure in workers was associated with changes in PL levels and metabolism, which had further effects on increased ALT levels in workers. The study provides insights into the relationship between occupational Zn exposure and liver function, highlights the risk of long-term exposure to high concentrations of Zn, and paves the way for understanding the underlying mechanisms of Zn exposure on human health., 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 © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The increasing use of phthalate acid esters (PAEs) in various applications has inevitably led to their widespread presence in the aquatic environment. This presents a considerable threat to plants. However, the interactions between PAEs and plants in the aquatic environment have not yet been comprehensively reviewed. In this review, the properties, occurrence, uptake, transformation, and toxic effects of PAEs on plants in the aquatic environment are summarized. PAEs have been prevalently detected in the aquatic environment, including surface water, groundwater, seawater, and sediment, with concentrations ranging from the ng/L or ng/kg to the mg/L or mg/kg range. PAEs in the aquatic environment can be uptake, translocated, and metabolized by plants. Exposure to PAEs induces multiple adverse effects in aquatic plants, including growth perturbation, structural damage, disruption of photosynthesis, oxidative damage, and potential genotoxicity. High-throughput omics techniques further reveal the underlying toxicity molecular mechanisms of how PAEs disrupt plants on the transcription, protein, and metabolism levels. Finally, this review proposes that future studies should evaluate the interactions between plants and PAEs with a focus on long-term exposure to environmental PAE concentrations, the effects of PAE alternatives, and human health risks via the intake of plant-based foods., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Substituted para-phenylenediamines (PPDs) are synthetic chemicals used globally for rubber antioxidation, with their quinone derivatives (PPD-Qs) raising particular environmental concerns due to their severe toxicity to aquatic organisms. Emerging research has identified a variety of novel PPD-Qs ubiquitously detected in the environment, yet experimental proof for the toxicity of PPD-Qs has not been forthcoming due to the unavailability of bulk standards, leaving substantial gaps in the prioritization and mechanistic investigation of such novel pollutants. Here, we use synthesized chemical standards to study the acute toxicity and underlying mechanism of 18 PPD-Qs and PPDs to the aquatic bacterium V. fischeri. Bioluminescence inhibition EC 50 of PPD-Qs ranged from 1.76-15.6 mg/L, with several emerging PPD-Qs demonstrating significantly higher toxicity than the well-studied 6PPD-Q. This finding suggests a broad toxicological threat PPD-Qs pose to the aquatic bacterium, other than 6PPD-Q. Biological response assays revealed that PPD-Qs can reduce the esterase activity, cause cell membrane damage and intracellular oxidative stress. Molecular docking unveiled multiple interactions of PPD-Qs with the luciferase in V. fischeri, suggesting their potential functional impacts on proteins through competitive binding. Our results provided crucial toxicity benchmarks for PPD-Qs, prioritized these novel pollutants and shed light on the potential toxicological mechanisms., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Mox macrophages were identified recently and are closely associated with atherosclerosis. Considering the potential health risks and the impact on macrophage modulation, this study investigated the Mox polarization of macrophages induced by nanoparticles (NPs) with tunable hydrophobicity. One nanoparticle (C4NP) with intermediate hydrophobicity efficiently upregulated the mRNA expression of Mox-related genes including HO-1, Srxn1, Txnrd1, Gsr, Vegf and Cox-2 through increased accumulation of Nrf2 at a nontoxic concentration in both resting and LPS-challenged macrophages. Additionally, C4NP impaired phagocytic capacity by 20% and significantly increased the secretion of cytokines, including TNFα, IL-6 and IL-10. Mechanistic studies indicated that intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were elevated by 1.5-fold and 2.6-fold in resting and LPS-challenged macrophages respectively. Phosphorylated p62 was increased by 2.5-fold in resting macrophages and maintained a high level in LPS-challenged ones, both of which partially accounted for the significant accumulation of Nrf2 and HO-1. Notably, C4NP depolarized mitochondrial membrane potential by more than 50% and switched macrophages from oxidative phosphorylation-based aerobic metabolism to glycolysis for energy supply. Overall, this study reveals a novel molecular mechanism potentially involving ROS-Nrf2-p62 signaling in mediating macrophage Mox polarization, holding promise in ensuring safer and more efficient use of nanomaterials., 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 © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Since its rediscovery in 2014, layered black phosphorus (BP) has received extensive attention as a new two-dimensional semiconductor. BP is a promising material with properties of a large surface-to-volume ratio, wide light absorption range, tunable band gap, and high charge carrier mobility. These unique characteristics of BP make it a promising contender for various applications, particularly in the realm of environmental applications. This literature review provides a comprehensive discussion and overview of the latest developments in utilizing BP for environmental purposes. The review starts with the applications of BP in photocatalysis including photodegradation of refractory pollutants, H 2 evolution reaction (HER), and reduction of CO 2 and N 2 . In the following section, Environmental electrocatalysis of HER and N 2 reduction reaction (NRR) is discussed. In addition, BP-based environmental sensing (detection of heavy metal ions, antibiotics, mycotoxins, NO x ) and eco-friendly halogen-free flame retardant are summarized as well. Finally, a thorough comprehension of the current state and potential future trends of BP-based nanomaterials for various environmental applications are presented., 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 © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

On-site environmental surveillance of viruses is increasingly important for infection prevention and pandemic control. Herein, we report a facile single-tube colorimetric assay for detecting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) from environmental compartments. Using glycerol as the phase separation additive, reverse transcription recombinase polymerase amplification (RT-RPA), CRISPR-Cas system activation, G-quadruplex (G4) cleavage, and G4-based colorimetric reaction were performed in a single tube. To further simplify the test, viral RNA genomes used for the one-tube assay were obtained via acid/base treatment without further purification. The whole assay from sampling to visual readout was completed within 30 min at a constant temperature without the need for sophisticated instruments. Coupling the RT-RPA to CRISPR-Cas improved the reliability by avoiding false positive results. Non-labeled cost-effective G4-based colorimetric systems are highly sensitive to CRISPR-Cas cleavage events, and the proposed assay reached the limit of detection of 0.84 copies/µL. Moreover, environmental samples from contaminated surfaces and wastewater were analyzed using this facile colorimetric assay. Given its simplicity, sensitivity, specificity, and cost-effectiveness, our proposed colorimetric assay is highly promising for applications in on-site environmental surveillance of viruses., 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 © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Parabens, as the synthetic preservatives, have caused universal environmental contamination and human exposure. Whether parabens could disturb neuroendocrine system was still ambiguous. In this study, the effects of four commonly-used parabens, i.e. methyl paraben (MeP), ethyl paraben (EtP), propyl paraben (PrP) and butyl paraben (BuP), were tested on the neuroendocrine system of zebrafish larvae by investigating the swimming behavior, the related hormones and biomarkers in the hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal (HPI) axis. The results showed that all test chemicals significantly reduced the swimming distance and mean velocity of zebrafish larvae. The adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels in zebrafish larvae were significantly increased, while the cortisol levels were obviously decreased by paraben exposure. The transcriptional analysis showed that the expressions of the target genes including gr, mr and crhr2 in the HPI axis were mostly down-regulated. The exploration of the initial molecular event showed that parabens could bind with the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and trigger its transactivation, according to MDA-kb2 luciferase assay and molecular docking analysis. The interaction of parabens with the GR included the hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interaction. The findings herein revealed the potential deleterious effects of parabens on the neuroendocrine system of zebrafish larvae, thus accumulating the in vivo toxicological data on this kind of food preservatives., 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 © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Perchlorate, nitrate and thiocyanate are common endocrine disruptors. Herein, this study was undertaken to evaluate the associations between perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate exposures (alone or in combination) and risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among adults, which has not been explored so far. Analytical data were extracted from different datasets in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database. Multivariate logistic regression models were constructed to investigate the associations between perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate exposures, and the prevalence of MetS. Subsequently, odds ratios (OR) and their corresponding 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were adopted to represent the magnitude of the effect size. We performed a series of subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses as well. Moreover, three commonly used mixture modeling strategies [Weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression, quantile-based g-computation (Qgcomp), and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR)] were utilized to evaluate the joint mixture effect on MetS. This study included 12,007 participants in the subsequent analyses. After adjustment for confounding factors, higher levels of perchlorate, and thiocyanate concentrations were significantly associated with the risk of MetS (OR = 1.15, 95%CI:1.00, 1.32; OR = 1.21, 95%CI:1.04, 1.41, respectively). Analyses of WQS and Qgcomp showed that a quartile increase in chemical mixture was correlated with the occurrence of MetS with ORs of 1.07 (95%CI: 0.99, 1.16) and 1.07 (95%CI: 1.00, 1.14), respectively. This positive association was mainly driven by perchlorate and thiocyanate. Analysis of BKMR revealed that perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate mixture was positively associated with the risk of MetS while perchlorate, and thiocyanate were major predictors in the mixture. In summary, our study reveals positive relationships between perchlorate, thiocyanate and MetS. Co-exposure to perchlorate, nitrate and thiocyanate is positively associated with the risk of MetS, with perchlorate and thiocyanate contributing the most to the overall mixture effect., 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 © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The ongoing outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) draws worldwide concerns due to its long incubation period and strong infectivity. Although RT-PCR-based methods are being widely applied for clinical diagnosis, timely and accurate diagnosis towards COVID-19 causing virus, the SARS-CoV-2, is still limited due to labor-intensive and time-consuming operations. Herein, we report a new viral RNA extraction method based on poly-(amino ester) with carboxyl group (PC)-coated magnetic nanoparticles (pcMNPs) for the sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2. This method combines the lysis and binding steps into one step, and refines multiple washing steps into one step, giving a turnaround time of less than 9 min. Furthermore, the extracted pcMNP-RNA complexes can be directly introduced into subsequent RT-PCR reactions without elution. This simplified viral RNA method could be well adapted in fast manual and automated high-throughput nucleic acids extraction protocols suitable for different scenarios. A high sensitivity down to 100 copies/mL and a linear correlation between 100 and 10 6 copies/mL of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus particles are achieved in both protocols. Benefitting from the simplicity and excellent performances, this new method can dramatically improve the efficiency and reduce operational requirements for the early clinical diagnosis and large-scale SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid screening., 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 © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To meet the demand for multi-element/isotope analysis at the single nanoparticle (NP) or cell level, different types of inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) have been used to simultaneously monitor multiple mass-to-charge ratios in single-particle/cell ICP-MS (SP/SC-ICP-MS) analysis. Systematic evaluation and comparison of the performance of these techniques are urgently required. Herein, three ICP-quadrupole (Q)-MS, two ICP-time of flight (TOF)-MS, and one multi-collector (MC)-ICP-MS instruments were employed to simultaneously detect 107 Ag and 109 Ag on single Ag NPs and Ag-exposed cyanobacteria cells. The evaluation was conducted by comparing the measured event-specific 109 Ag: 107 Ag ratios with the natural ratio. Duration of NP or cell events and time resolution in the peak hopping mode were the main factors affecting the performance of ICP-Q-MS. Under the optimal condition (100 μs for both dwell time and settling time), less than 45% of the NP or cell events had a 109 Ag: 107 Ag ratio deviating <30% from the natural ratio. Most events obtained via ICP-TOF-MS were paired events with both isotopes detected. For large-size NPs and cells with high exposure levels, nearly 80% of the events had a ratio deviation within ±30%. MC-ICP-MS performed particularly well in isotope determination with all the events having a ratio deviation within ±5%. For ICP-TOF-MS and MC-ICP-MS, the signal intensity of the events was the main factor affecting the accuracy of the measured 109 Ag: 107 Ag ratios due to the counting statistics. The established methods and results provide insight on the analyses of two elements/isotopes or more on single NPs or cells. Based on the comparison of the advantages and limitations of these instruments, this study provides a critical reference for future multi-element/isotope SP/SC-ICP-MS analyses., 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 © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This meta-analysis aimed to clarify the relationship between particulate matter (PM) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in detail., Methods: A systematic literature search was performed using eight databases before April 9, 2022. The estimated effects were combined separately according to the PM type. Subgroup analyses were conducted in terms of the study design type, study location, exposure window, birth year, and sex., Results: PM 2.5 was associated with an increased risk of ASD, while PM 10 was not. PMc, PM 1 , and diesel particulate matter (DPM) were also associated with an increased risk of ASD. Specifically, a 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 was associated with a 1.337-fold increased risk of ASD in children, and a 10 μg/m 3 increase in PMc and PM 1 may increase the risk of ASD by 1.062 and 3.643 times, respectively. PM 2.5 exposure may increase the risk of ASD in boys. Exposure to PMc might increase the risk of ASD in children born after the year 2000. The combined results of different PM differed between studies with continuous and non-continuous data for different study design type, study location, and birth year. The sensitive window for PM 2.5 exposure to increase the risk of ASD may be from the first, second, and third trimesters to the first year of the postnatal period. Exposure to PMc during pregnancy was significantly associated with ASD., Conclusion: Exposure to PM 2.5 may increase the risk of ASD in boys. Exposure to PM 2.5 during the first, second, and third trimesters and postnatally increased the risk of ASD., 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 © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Rare earth element nanoparticles (REE NPs) or agents have been used extensively in various fields. Human exposure to REE NPs is an increasing concern. To date, REE NP-mediated comprehensive immune responses after incorporation into the body remain unclear. In our study, using gadolinium oxide NPs (Gd 2 O 3 ) as a typical REE NP, we systematically investigated immune responses in vivo. The liver and spleen were the main sites where Gd 2 O 3 retained and accumulated, while Gd 2 O 3 content per unit tissue mass in the spleen was 4.4 times higher than that in the liver. Gd 2 O 3 increased the number of monocyte-derived macrophages and myeloid-derived dendritic cells (M-DCs) in the liver. In the spleen, Gd 2 O 3 caused infiltration of neutrophils, M-DCs, and B cells. The accumulation of Gd 2 O 3 in the liver or spleen also contributed to an increased concentration of cytokines in peripheral blood. In both the bone marrow and spleen, Gd 2 O 3 led to increased populations of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), multipotent progenitors, and common lymphoid progenitors. Compared to the decreased monocytes in peripheral blood on day 2, a significant decrease of circulating lymphocytes on day 7 was still observed, suggesting the exposure duration led to variable effects. This might be explained by the sustained accumulation of Gd 2 O 3 in the liver and spleen. Together, our study systemically depicted the alterations in mature immune alterations together with hematopoiesis in both myeloid and lymphoid lineages induced by Gd 2 O 3 exposure. Our findings will facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the interactions of immune system with REE NPs in vivo., 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 © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Natural mercury-containing nanoparticles (Hg-NPs) have been found in the environment, but the information for Hg-NPs in organisms was still limited. Clarifying the unique roles of Hg-NPs in organisms is crucial to fully understand the health risks of Hg. Herein, liver and muscle tissues of cetaceans were collected to identify the presence and characteristics of Hg-NPs. We found that methylmercury (MeHg) was the dominant species of Hg in muscles, while inorganic Hg (IHg) accounted for 84.4-99.0% (average 94.0%) of Hg in livers. By using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), size exclusion chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SEC-ICPMS) and single particle ICPMS (sp-ICPMS), large amounts (9-161 μg/g) of Hg-NPs in livers and small amounts (0.1-0.4 μg/g) in muscles were observed, indicating that Hg-NPs was an important form of Hg in livers. Both small sized (5-40 nm) and large sized (>100 nm) Hg-NPs were identified, which were mainly complexed with selenium (Se) and sulfur (S) as well as a few cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and silver (Ag). This study provided direct evidence of Hg-NPs in marine mammals as well as their chemical form and size distribution, which are helpful for further understanding the biogeochemical cycle and health risk of Hg., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Some evidence shows that aspirin can reduce the morbidity and mortality of different cancers, including breast cancer. Aspirin has become a new focus of cancer prevention and treatment research at present, however, clinical studies found conflicting conclusions of its anticancer characteristics., Materials and Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in 8 electronic databases. The pooled relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated using the random effects model to estimate the effect of aspirin on breast cancer., Results: Forty-two published articles with 99,769 patients were identified. The meta-analysis showed a significant decrease in breast cancer risk with aspirin use (RR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.89-0.96; I 2  = 72%). Aspirin use decreased the risk of hormone receptor-positive tumors (estrogen receptor [ER]-positive RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.82-0.97; I 2 =54%; progesterone receptor [PR]-positive RR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.78-0.95; I 2 =32%; ER- and PR-positive RR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.85-1.00; I 2 =45%) and reduced the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women (RR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.86-0.98; I 2 =59%). Further analysis showed that for the in situ breast cancer, regular-dose and more than 3 years use of aspirin were associated with the reduced risk of breast cancer., Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggested that aspirin may reduce the overall risk of breast cancer, reduce the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, hormone receptor-positive tumors, and in situ breast cancer. Larger, multicenter clinical studies are needed to find the optimal dose range, frequency, and duration of the aspirin use to explore the best benefit-risk ratio., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

With the potential biomedical applications of nanomaterials such as silver nanoparticles (SNPs), nanotoxicity concerns are growing, and the importance of NP and protein interactions is far from being addressed enough. Here, we identified the major binding protein on SNPs in blood as human serum albumin (HSA) using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry. By comparing with the previous methods, we emphasized surface area concentration as a new dose metric to address the importance of NP curvature. SNPs interacted with cysteine and cystine, disrupting the secondary structure and conformation of HSA, and this tendency became stronger on small SNPs than large ones. The protein corona significantly alleviated the toxicity and decreased SNPs' internalization in a particle size-dependent manner, where more significant inhibition effects occurred on larger particles at the same area concentration. These findings may shed light on nanotoxicity and also the design of safe nanomaterials by a comprehensive preconsideration of the metrological method., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Selective adsorption via the size matching effect is one of the most effective strategies for separating and analyzing low levels of organic molecules. Herein, multicomponent covalent organic frameworks (MC-COFs) with tunable pore sizes are constructed by using one knot (1,3,5-triformylphloroglucinol, Tp) and two organic linkers (p-phenylenediamine, Pa; benzidine, BD). The pore sizes of the MC-COFs composed of TpPaBD X (X = [BD]/([Pa] + [BD]) × 100 = 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100) range from 0.5-1.5 to 0.5-2.2 nm due to variations in the initial organic linker ratios. When coupling TpPaBD X -based solid-phase microextraction (SPME) with constant flow desorption ionization mass spectrometry (CFDI-MS), these MC-COFs feature better selective adsorption performance for tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) derivatives than TpPa with a smaller pore size, TpBD with a larger pore size and even some commercial fibers (e.g., polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB)-, polyacrylate (PA)- and PDMS-coated fibers). The improved method involving MC-COF TpPaBD 50 also presents favorable stability with relative standard deviations (RSD, 1 μg L -1 ) for single fibers of 5.5-7.9% (n = 7) and fiber-to-fiber of 6.6-7.8% (n = 7). Due to the decreased limits of detection and quantification (0.5-12 and 1.6-40 ng L -1 ), and reduced separation and detection time (7 min), ultratrace levels of TBBPA derivatives in real water samples are successfully detected. The proposed method shows great potential for the rapid tracing of the distribution, transportation and transformation of TBBPA derivatives to better understand their ecotoxicological effects in environmental media., 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 © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The highly infectious coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has now rapidly spread around the world. This meta-analysis was strictly focused on the influence of smoking history on the severe and critical outcomes on people with COVID-19 pneumonia., Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in eight online databases before 1 February 2021. All studies meeting our selection criteria were included and evaluated. Stata 14.0 software was used to analyze the data., Results: A total of 109 articles involving 517,020 patients were included in this meta-analysis. A statistically significant association was discovered between smoking history and COVID-19 severity, the pooled OR was 1.55 (95%CI: 1.41-1.71). Smoking was significantly associated with the risk of admission to intensive care unit (ICU) (OR=1.73, 95%CI: 1.36-2.19), increased mortality (OR=1.58, 95%CI: 1.38-1.81), and critical diseases composite endpoints (OR=1.61, 95%CI: 1.35-1.93), whereas there was no relationship with mechanical ventilation. The pooled prevalence of smoking using the random effects model (REM) was 15% (95%CI: 14%-16%). Meta-regression analysis showed that age ( P= 0.004), hypertension ( P =0.007), diabetes ( P =0.029), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) ( P =0.001) were covariates that affect the association., Conclusions: Smoking was associated with severe or critical outcomes and increased the risk of admission to ICU and mortality in COVID-19 patients, but not associated with mechanical ventilation. This association was more significant for former smokers than in current smokers. Current smokers also had a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 compared with non-smokers. More detailed data, which are representative of more countries, are needed to confirm these preliminary findings., Competing Interests: 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., (© 2021 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The association between famine exposure and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) remains controversial. A meta-analysis was performed to clarify the relation of famine exposure to T2DM risk in detail., Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, Cochrane library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Sinomed (CBM), Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform and China Science and Technology Journal VIP Database. The articles were limited to be available in English or Chinese before 10 April 2019. The pooled relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to estimate the effect of famine exposure on T2DM. The I square value (I 2 ) was used to assess heterogeneity, and the random effects model (REM) was adopted as the pooling method., Results: This meta-analysis included 24 published articles with 1,660,385 subjects. A significant association of famine exposure with increased risk of T2DM was observed (RR = 1.433, 95% CI: 1.101-1.865). The pooled RRs were different in terms of publication year, location, study design, sample size, famine duration and definition of diabetes (criteria). Longer the famine exposure experienced, greater the effect of famine exposure on T2DM would be. Compared to WHO criteria, studies of which diabetes diagnosed by ADA criteria and other criteria might more likely to find this association. Compared to moderate famine exposure, the pooled RR in severe famine was statistically significant. Furthermore, the pooled RR adjusted for the most confounders in females was 1.517 (95% CI: 1.018-2.261). In terms of period of famine exposure, compared to adult exposure, people who exposure famine in fetal, childhood, and adolescent were likely to be diabetes., Conclusion: Famine exposure may increase the risk of T2DM. The risk may vary with famine duration, definition of diabetes, gender and period of famine exposure., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.)

Blood is the transmission medium for metal contaminants to and from bodily organs; as such, it can provide useful and reliable information about their bio-kinetics as they're distributed throughout the body. Metals can interact with endogenous proteins present in the blood, and these metal-protein complexes often dictate the fates of the introduced metals. The aim of this study was to investigate cadmium-binding protein characteristics in normal human plasma. Cadmium-binding plasma proteins in two different groups: normal human plasma (n = 29), and normal paired maternal and fetal umbilical cord plasmas (n = 3), were analyzed. In order to detect cadmium-binding plasma proteins present in low concentrations, blood plasma samples were first depleted of their two most abundant proteins - albumin and immunoglobulin G. Both the crude and depleted plasma samples were analyzed using column gel electrophoresis in conjunction with Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). One cadmium-binding protein was detected in 11 of 29 normal plasma samples and all three paired maternal and cord plasma samples. This protein was further identified as apolipoprotein A-I by high-resolution mass spectrometry. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to reveal cadmium-binding proteins in real human blood plasma, which is extremely critical to our understanding of cadmium transportation and accumulation in human blood., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Safety concerns have been raised with regard to silver nanowires (AgNWs) because of their extensive applications. Recently, ultralong AgNWs have shown physical properties superior to those of short AgNWs. However, little is known about their toxicity and potential risks. In this study, we demonstrated a series of ultralong AgNWs-induced biological effects in human lung cancer epithelial cells (A549). Ultralong AgNWs treatments induced ROS generation, mitochondria-mediated apoptosis, and self-protective autophagy at nonlethal concentrations. In contrast to some previous reports, apoptosis was found not to correlate with the reduction of intracellular ROS. Measuring the processing of ROS generation, apoptosis and autophagy, we demonstrated that ROS not only enhance mitochondrial damage, but also raise protective autophagic flux in ultralong AgNW-treated cells. Moreover, ultralong AgNWs were found to be internalized into the cytoplasm of the epithelial cells. This study not only investigates ultralong AgNWs-induced cytotoxicity but also pinpoints ROS as a key signal in mechanisms of their toxicity., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The association between meteorological variables and risk of fractures has attracted increasing attentions but remain controversial. Therefore, our main aim is to clarify the association, and also to identify possible susceptible groups., Methods: Relevant literature was obtained through standard MeSH literature searching seven electronic databases. Because some studies expressed the association as the rate of incidence (IRR) of fractures associated with each 1 °C rise in temperature and 1% increase in relative humidity (RH), some expressed as IRR of fractures for the day with specific climatic variable versus control days, and also the association was expressed as correlations coefficients (COR) in some studies, separated meta-analyses were undertaken, with one based on IRR and another based on COR., Results: A total of 24 studies were included. Results showed that each 1 °C increase was significantly associated with a 3.0% decrease in fracture risk (IRR = 0.970, 95%CI: 0.952-0.988). The day with freezing rain and snow were associated with increased risk for both the lower extremity fracture (freezing rain: IRR = 1.174, 95%CI: 1.022-1.348; snow: IRR = 1.245, 95%CI: 1.050-1.477) and the upper extremity fracture (freezing rain: IRR = 1.376, 95%CI: 1.192-1.588; snow: IRR = 1.548, 95%CI: 1.361-1.761). No significant association was detected between RH, dew, frost, fog, storm and high wind, and fracture. The COR meta-analysis showed that mean temperature (moderately), maximum temperature (moderately), rainfall (weakly) and sunlight duration (weakly) were correlated with fracture occurrence., Conclusion: The incidence of fractures was increased in lower temperature, the day with freezing rain, and snow. Other meteorological factors may have some effects on the incidence of fracture. The association maybe stronger for males, lower extremity fracture, and people living in Asia, subtropical zone, low-latitude, and northern hemisphere. Further studies are needed., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Organotin compounds (OTs) are used in a range of industrial products, such as antifouling paints, agricultural pesticides and stabilizers. Owing to potential endocrine-disrupting effects, human exposure to such compounds is a concern. Nevertheless, little is known about the adverse effect of OTs on adrenocortical function in organisms. In this study, the human adrenocortical carcinoma cell (H295R) model was used to investigate effects of OTs on steroidogenesis and potential causes for such endocrine disruption was examined. H295R cells were exposed to several commonly used OTs, including triphenyltin (TPT), tributyltin (TBT), dibutyltin (DBT), and monobutyltin (MBT), and the production level of steroid hormones were quantified. TPT and TBT decreased the production levels of 17β-estradiol, aldosterone, and cortisol, but increased that of testosterone. Furthermore, the expression levels of ten major steroidogenic genes (HMGR, StAR, CYP11A1, 3βHSD2, CYP17, CYP19A1, CYP21, CYP11B1, CYP11B2, and 17βHSD) were examined and both up-regulation of CYP11B2 and down-regulation of StAR, 3βHSD2, CYP19A1, CYP21 and CYP11B1 by TPT and TBT were observed. Intracellular levels of ATP and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and the activity of adenylate cyclase (AC) decreased in the H295R cells treated with TPT and TBT. No obvious changes in H295R were found with the treatment of DBT and MBT. These results suggest that OTs may stimulate steroidogenesis in vitro via inhibition of cAMP signaling pathway., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A novel, competitive, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was presented in this paper based on the inhibition of catalysis of AuNCs@BSA triggered by dissolved Ag + for the detection of dibutyl phthalate (DBP). In the immunoassay system, numerous Ag + was released from AgNPs (labelled on the second antibody, AgNPs@Ab 2 ) in the presence of H 2 O 2 after the competition step, preventing AuNCs@BSA from inducing a color change of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to blue. Due to the signal amplification by the principle, the sensitivity of the modified ELISA was improved with the low limit of detection (LOD) of 4.017μg/L for DBP, which was decreased 16 times relative to that using conventional ELISA with the same antibody. In addition, the established method showed satisfactory accuracy and reliability (recoveries, 85.75-117.73%; CV, 1.33-6.79%) in spike-recovery analysis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that AuNCs@BSA has been used in ELISA as a peroxidase-like catalyst. Our method shows great potential for trace DBP detection from environmental and food samples., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are currently used widely, however, their impact on central nervous system still remains ambiguous and needs to be elucidated. This study is performed to investigate the neurotoxicity of AgNPs and illustrate the potential molecular mechanism. Neonatal Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats are exposed to AgNPs by intranasal instillation for 14 weeks. It is demonstrated that AgNPs exposure causes cerebellar ataxia like symptom in rats, evidenced by dysfunction of motor coordination and impairment of locomotor activity. Observation of cerebellum section reveals that AgNPs can provoke destruction of cerebellum granular layer with concomitant activation of glial cells. AgNPs treatment decreases calcium channel protein (CACNA1A) levels in cerebellum without changing potassium channel protein (KCNA1) levels. The levels of silver in rat cerebellum tissue are correlated with exposure doses. In vitro experiments reveal that AgNPs treatment significantly reduces the protein and mRNA levels of CACNA1A in primary cultured cerebellum granule cells (CGCs). These findings suggest that AgNPs-induced rat motor dysfunction is associated with CACNA1A expression decrease, which reveals the underlying molecular mechanism for the neurotoxicity of AgNPs. Possible counteractions may accordingly be suggested to attenuate the unexpected harmful effects in biological applications of AgNPs., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Tetrabromobisphenol A mono(2-hydroxyethyl ether) (TBBPA-MHEE) and TBBPA mono(glycidyl ether) (TBBPA-MGE), two impurities of TBBPA derivatives, were hypothesized to be novel brominated contaminants with potential toxicity. However, due to lacking of analytical method and pure standards, their environmental behavior and toxicity have not been studied. Herein we developed a sensitive method based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-Orbitrap Fusion Tribrid mass spectrometer (UHPLC-Orbitrap Fusion TMS) for simultaneous detection of TBBPA-MHEE and TBBPA-MGE in water samples. The sample pretreatment method and the experimental conditions of UHPLC and Orbitrap Fusion TMS, were optimized in detail. The instrument detection limits (IDLs) for TBBPA-MHEE and TBBPA-MGE were 0.5pg and 0.6pg, respectively. The method detection limits (MDLs) for TBBPA-MHEE and TBBPA-MGE in river water samples were 0.9 and 0.8ng/L. With the proposed method, we were able to detect TBBPA-MHEE and TBBPA-MGE for the first time in water samples and technical products of TBBPA derivatives. Therefore, UHPLC-Orbitrap Fusion TMS is a simple and effective tool for identification and quantification of novel contaminants in the environment., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A reliable analytical method was developed here for the simultaneous separation, identification and quantification of ten polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), nine methoxylated PBDEs (MeO-PBDEs) and ten hydroxylated PBDEs (OH-PBDEs) in various environmental matrices, including water, soil, sediment, plant, mollusk and fish. PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs were measured by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization (negative)-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC/ESI(-)-MS/MS) for the separation and determination of OH-PBDEs without prior derivatization. After preliminary sample cleaning using acid silica gel, water-impregnated silica column separation of PBDEs, MeO-PBDEs and OH-PBDEs was proved to be rapid, simple, and efficient. For phenolic analytes, the method detection limits (MDLs) were 3.2-11.6pg/L in water sample and 2.8-18.4pg/g dry weight in solid samples. For neutral compounds, MDLs were 48.8-150.3pg/L in water sample and 46.5-170.8pg/g dry weight in solid samples. The method was validated using six kinds of environmental samples spiked with all analytes at three concentration levels (0.3ng, 2ng and 5ng, respectively) for recovery (71-113%) and repeatability determination (4-12%RSD)., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) and tris (2,3-dibromopropyl) isocyanurate (TBC) are both brominated flame retardants, and have been used throughout the world with subsequent concern for potential environment pollution. Here we describe the development of a method for the simultaneous determination of TBC and HBCD diastereoisomers in environmental matrices by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The method recovery ranged from 81% to 93% and limits of detections (LODs) on column were 4.3 pg, 0.5 pg, 0.4 pg, 0.3 pg for TBC, α-HBCD, β-HBCD, and γ-HBCD, respectively, which showed high sensitivity compared to previous published methods. Compared to electrospray ionization (ESI), atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) was found to be a more sensitive, effective ionization mode for determination of HBCDs. This novel method was further validated by analyzing TBC and HBCDs in biotic and abiotic samples. The concentration ranges of TBC, α, β, γ-HBCD in sediment samples were 136.1-5884.6 ng/g, 9.0-1079.6 ng/g, 1.0-1161.7 ng/g, and 65.4-3964.2 ng/g, respectively. The concentration range for TBC, α-HBCD, β-HBCD, and γ-HBCD in common carp samples were 51.1-1899 ng/g, 21.6-1338 ng/g,

A novel gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry method coupled with multisorbent thermal desorption cartridges has been developed for the determination of volatile neutral polyfluorinated iodine alkanes (PFIs) in airborne samples. It allows, for the first time, simultaneous analysis of four mono-iodized perfluorinated alkanes, three diiodized perfluorinated alkanes and four mono-iodized polyfluorinated telomers in ambient air samples. 3.75 L air sample was passed through a sorbent tube packed with 150 mg of Tenax TA and 200mg of Carbograph 1 TD for analyte adsorption. Important factors during the analysis procedures, such as safe sampling volume, air sampling rate, analyte desorption and transfer strategies, were optimized and good thermal desorption efficiencies were obtained. The method detection limit (MDL) concentration ranged from 0.04 pg/L for 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorododecyl iodide to 1.2 pg/L for perfluorohexyl iodide, and instrument response of a seven-point calibration was linear in the range of 10-1000 pg. Travel spike recoveries ranged from 83% to 116%. Small variabilities of less than 36% were obtained near the MDLs and the differences between triplicates were even smaller (2.1-7.3%) at 200 pg spiked level. The method was successfully applied to analyze ambient air samples collected near a point source, and five PFIs were identified (10.8-85.0 pg/L), with none of the analytes detectable at the background site., (Copyright 2010. Published by Elsevier B.V.)