Research Publications (Food Safety)

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mercury were investigated in smoked catfish illegally sold and confiscated by Italian authorities in Turin (North-western Italy). The mean benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) concentration was 73 ± 11 μg kg−1 and the total mean PAH concentration (ΣPAH) was 243 ± 38 μg kg−1, both exceeding the EU maximum limits (2.0 and 12 μg/kg) set in muscle of smoked fish and fishery products. Mercury was recovered at 0.59 ± 0.09 mg kg−1 d.w.

Despite the ban of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) some decades ago, concerns regarding their adverse health effects are continuing, because the workers employed for installation and repair of electrical equipment may be still exposed to PCBs. This study aimed to assess serum PCBs levels in workers in different industries. To do this, we determined the serum concentrations of 9 non-dioxin-like PCBs and 12 dioxin-like PCBs in 147 workers from seven occupational groups and 35 housewives.

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal that is widely present in modern industrial production. It is a known, highly toxic environmental endocrine disruptor. Long-term exposure to Cd can cause varying degrees of damage to the liver, kidney, and reproductive system of organisms, especially the male reproductive system. This study aimed to explore the mechanism of Cd toxicity in the male reproductive system during puberty.

Organic–inorganic layered perovskites, or Ruddlesden–Popper perovskites, are two-dimensional quantum wells with layers of lead-halide octahedra stacked between organic ligand barriers. The combination of their dielectric confinement and ionic sublattice results in excitonic excitations with substantial binding energies that are strongly coupled to the surrounding soft, polar lattice. However, the ligand...

At present, the detection of chlorothalonil is generally based on chromatography and immunoassay; both of which are time-consuming and costly. In this study, Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) has been successfully utilized in the detection of chlorothalonil coupled with photochemistry and meanwhile, gold nanoparticles were prepared to enhance the Raman signal.

Phytochelatins (PCs) play important roles in the detoxification of and tolerance to heavy metals in plants. The synthesis of PCs is catalyzed by phytochelatin synthase (PCS), which is activated by heavy metal ions. In this study, we isolated a PCS gene, BnPCS1, from the bast fiber crop ramie (Boehmeria nivea) using the RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends) method.

The chemical profile of Thymus proximus essential oil (EO) and its allelopathic, phytotoxic, and insecticidal activity was evaluated. Carvacrol, p-cymene, and γ-terpinene were detected as the major components of the EO, representing 85.9% of the total oil. About 50 g fresh plant material of T. proximus in a 1.5-L air tight container completely inhibited the seed germination of Amaranthus retroflexus and Poa anuua.

Antibiotic bacterial residue is a unique hazardous waste, and its safe and effective disposal has always been a concern of pharmaceutical enterprises. This report presents the effective treatment of hazardous waste—antibiotic bacterial residue—by black soldier fly larvae (larvae), oxytetracycline bacterial residue (OBR), and soya meal with mass ratios of 0:1 (soya), 1:20 (OBRlow), and 1:2 (OBRhigh), which were used as substrates for larval bioconversion.

Anthropogenic Pb is widespread in the environment including remote places. However, its presence in Canadian Arctic seawater is thought to be negligible based on low dissolved Pb (dPb) concentrations and proxy data. Here, we measured dPb isotopes in Arctic seawater with very low dPb concentrations (average ∼5 pmol ⋅ kg−1)...

Pesticides are chemicals used in agriculture to protect crops from pests. In addition to protection during cultivation, they are also used after harvesting to extend the shelf life of products. Postharvest control stands out, especially when it comes to products imported from distant countries, resulting in increased concentration of pesticides and risk to human health consuming such products.

In order to determine the ecological risk and health risk of Arsenic (As) and Cadmium (Cd) in soils from a typical mining city in Huainan, a total of 99 soil samples were collected and analyzed. The results showed that the concentrations of As and Cd ranged from 3.2 to 39.50 and 0.01 to 0.19 mg/kg, respectively, which exceeded the soil background values by 6.06 and 14.14%, respectively.

The effects of curcumin on the bioavailability of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) were investigated in Sprague–Dawley rats. Tetra- and penta-chlorinated PCDFs had the lowest bioavailability and hexa-chlorinated PCDD/Fs had the highest, while there was no obvious change in that of DL-PCBs.

Author(s): Ornicha Champrasert, Jin Chu, Qi Meng, Sara Viney, Melvin Holmes, Prisana Suwannaporn, Caroline Orfila

A new microfluidic approach using hybrid magnetoliposomes (h-MLs) containing hydrophobic magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@AuNPs-C12SH) and encapsulated N-acetylcysteine has been developed in this research to determine aminoglycoside antibiotic (AAG) residues in food using o-phthalaldehyde. Four AAGs, kanamycin, streptomycin, gentamicin, and neomycin, have been used as model analytes.

Author(s): Qin Wu, Muhammad Abu Bakr Shabbir, Dapeng Peng, Zonghui Yuan, Yulian Wang

Leishmaniases are vector-borne neglected diseases caused by single-celled parasites. The search for new antileishmanial drugs has experienced a strong boost thanks to the application of bioimaging to phenotypic screenings based on intracellular amastigotes. Mouse splenic explants infected with fluorescent strains of Leishmania are proven tools of drug discovery, where hits can be easily transferred to preclinical in vivo models.

Bottled tea beverages (BTB) are popular for the benefits to human health and convenience. Because Chlorpyrifos (CP) is commonly used as a biomarker for exposure as well as a pesticide in the field, it is important to determine the dynamics of CP dissipation in BTB in order to better perform risk assessments.

Author(s): Shao-Shuai Bi, Hai-Yao Jin, Milton Talukder, Jing Ge, Cong Zhang, Mei-Wei Lv, Mamoon Ali Yaqoob Ismail, Jin-Long Li

Author(s): Serena Santonicola, Stefania Albrizio, Maria Carmela Ferrante, Mercogliano Raffaelina

Author(s): Yanluo Xie, Nan He, Mingyang Wei, Tingyao Wen, Xitong Wang, Huakang Liu, Shiqiang Zhong, Heng Xu

Existing methods for the analysis of pesticides in human breast milk involve multiple extraction steps requiring large sample and solvent volumes, which can be a major obstacle in large epidemiologic studies. Here, we developed a simple, low-volume method for extracting organophosphates, pyrethroids, carbamates, atrazine, and imidacloprid from 100 to 200 μL of human breast milk.

Pollution related to pesticides has become a global problem due to their low utilization and non-targeting application, and nanotechnology has shown great potential in promoting sustainable agriculture. Nowadays, mesoporous silica-based nanomaterials have garnered immense attention for improving the efficacy and safety of pesticides due to their distinctive advantages of low toxicity, high thermal and chemical stability, and particularly size tunability and versatile functionality.

The combined pollution of arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) are quite common in the polymetallic mining areas located in southern China. In the present study, field experiments were established for the purpose of exploring a simultaneous remediation strategy of rice variety-water management-contaminant immobilization on the As and Cd contamination in paddy soil.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of highly toxic endocrine-disrupting chemicals comprising 209 homologs. PCBs are extensively found in the environment and can induce typical estrogenic and profound, long-lasting effects on animals. In this article, the introduction of PCB residues into the environment and the pathways of PCB enrichment in animals are described. PCBs are widely deposited and eventually accumulate in human tissues and body fluids through biomagnification.

Cadmium (Cd), a toxic heavy metal, is harmful to plants and human health. Glutathione (GSH) could alleviate Cd toxicity of plant species, whereas its mechanism responsible for wheat remains poorly understood. Here, we found that exogenous GSH application significantly increased the fresh and dry weight, root elongation, chlorophyll contents, while decreased the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and GSH, and translocation factor of Cd compared with Cd treatment.