Research Publications (Food Safety)

The studies on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) occurrence, distribution, health risk, and composition in drinking water are limited in India and worldwide. The main objective of this study was to find the contaminant sources, composition, health risk, and distribution of USEPA’s 16 priority pollutant PAHs in the drinking water samples collected between July 2019 to September 2019 from six districts of Southern Jharkhand.

Personal care product (PCP) chemicals have a greater chance of accumulation in the aquatic environments because of their volume of use. PCPs are biologically active substances that can exert an adverse effect on the ecology and food safety. Information on the status of these substances in Indian open water ecosystems is scarce.

Metal-contaminated mining soils pose serious environmental and health risks if not properly managed, especially in mountainous areas, which are more susceptible to perturbation. Currently, climate change is leading to more frequent and intense rain events, which cause flooding episodes, thereby altering soil redox equilibria and contaminants stability.

Anthropogenic interference the ecosystem unavoidably changes the physical and biological environment. The biodiversity of the Amazon region has been threatened by increased agricultural production and pesticide use. Considering that monitoring pesticides in environments close to their application is one of the ways to preserve the ecosystem, this study investigated the levels of pesticide residues in different environmental compartments (soil, sediment, and water samples).

Coastal ecosystems are receiving environments for micropollutants due to high levels of associated anthropogenic activities. Effluent discharges from wastewater treatment plants are a significant source of micropollutants to coastal environments.

Methylmercury (MeHg) is the most toxic form of mercury and can accumulate in the cells of marine organisms, such as fish, causing adverse effects on various physiological functions. This study examined MeHg accumulation and its toxicological role in antioxidant defenses in tissues, including the liver, gills, and muscle of flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) juveniles.

Mercury (Hg), particularly as methylmercury (MeHg), is a nonessential, persistent, and bioaccumulative toxic element with high biomagnification capacity and is considered a threat to marine environments. We evaluated total Hg concentrations in liver, kidney, and brain in 62 individuals of 9 bird species linked to marine ecosystems from western Mediterranean admitted in a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (WRC) (Alicante, Spain, 2005–2020).

Groundwater contamination in the Indo-Gangetic alluvial plain has reportedly been affected by various factors, such as mineral dissolution, overexploitation, precipitation, and ion exchange. This study was designed to interpret the hydrochemical fluctuations in the groundwater sources of a rural area in Raebareli district. Groundwater is slightly alkaline and affected by the issues of fluoride, salinity, hardness, and nitrate.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a legacy contaminant that has been detected globally within the environment and throughout numerous species, including humans. Despite an international ban on its use, this unique contaminant continues to persist in organisms and their surroundings due to PFOS’s inability to breakdown into nontoxic forms resulting in bioaccumulation.

Heavy metals threaten communities near biodiversity hotspots, as their protein sources come from the environment. This study assessed Hg, Cd, and Se concentrations in fish, as well as the magnitude of exposure and hematological conditions of adult citizens from Puerto Nariño (Colombian Amazon).

This study was conducted to determine the concentrations of trace elements, their sources, and human health risks associated with arsenic contamination in groundwater of the Niğde Municipality, south-central Turkey. Fourteen groundwater samples were collected from groundwater supply sources fed by the Niğde water distribution system and were analysed for Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, and Ba concentrations.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association among polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure and air pollutants and the diversity of microbiota. Daily average concentrations of six common air pollutants were obtained from China National Environmental Monitoring Centre.

The concentrations of trace elements in feather moss Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt. were used to indicate the relative levels of air pollution by trace elements in Polish national parks. Pleurozium schreberi was collected from nine national parks. The highest concentrations were recorded in the moss samples from the southern and most industrialised part of the country; the lowest from northern and north-eastern Poland.

Metals occur naturally in the environment; however, anthropogenic practices have greatly increased metal concentrations in waterways, sediments, and biota. Metals pose health risks to marine organisms and have been associated with oxidative stress, which can lead to protein denaturation, DNA mutations, and cellular apoptosis. Sharks are important species ecologically, recreationally, and commercially.

Aquatic environments are constantly exposed to a cocktail of contaminants mainly due to human activities. As polluted ecosystems may simultaneously present other multiple natural stressors, the objective of the present study was to evaluate joint effect of stressors (natural and anthropogenic) on life history traits of the Neotropical cladoceran, Ceriodaphnia silvestrii.

One of the world’s largest, but low-grade, sulfide nickel deposits in northeastern Finland has been exploited by a bioheapleaching technology since 2008. Bioheapleaching is a relatively new, cost-effective technology, but humid climate, e.g., in boreal temperate environments, causes challenges to the management of the water balance in the ore heaps with wide catchment area, and the mining effluents have caused substantial metal and salting contamination of the receiving waterbodies.

Chengdu, a megacity in southwestern China, experiences severe air pollution; however, knowledge of the seasonal variation in mass concentration, extent of potentially harmful elements (PHEs) contamination, and sources caused by heavy metals remains lacking. This study adopted a weighting method to calculate the daily mass concentration of PM1 and used ICP-MS to determine PHE concentrations. Results indicated that PM1 mass concentration was in the range 5.44–105.91 μg/m3.

In this work, rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus) was applied as a sentinel organism and set in cages at control and test sampling sites in Donghu Lake for 4 weeks in March, June, September, and December 2016 to assess the biological toxicity of in situ water. Sampling for active biomonitoring and physicochemical variables was performed weekly. The control was obtained from the outdoor pool of the Institute of Hydrobiology, China.

Previous monitoring at Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Newington, New Hampshire documented high prevalence of amphibian malformations at sites contaminated with potential endocrine active compounds. In the present study, a combination of in situ and laboratory experiments were used to determine whether contaminants present in the sites affect amphibian growth and reproductive development.

This study measured both nutrient and pesticide concentrations at up to 13 different freshwater stream sites in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island between 2013 and 2018. Up to 62 different pesticides were analysed in 248 discreet samples. A large majority of pesticides were below the detection limit of the laboratory while seven pesticides had at least 20% or more detections throughout the years of this study.

This study made it clear that road dust plays an important role for Cs-137 dynamics emitted by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. It was proved from the Cs-137 and heavy metals determination in road dust, drainage gutter sediment beside pavement, and riverbed sediment around the inflow point of the gutter. Road dust and drainage gutter sediment contained significantly higher concentrations of Cs-137 and Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo, Cd, Sn, Sb, and Pb than riverbed sediment.

The development of anuran larvae from hatchling through metamorphosis is a particularly sensitive life stage that often is studied to assess adverse effects of water pollution, such as metal contamination. As an integral part of the food chain, high metal exposure and accumulation in developing anuran larvae may not only affect their survival but also pose a threat to secondary consumers.

Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) through food, water, and air occurred during the life, which may change telomere length (TL) in peripheral blood leukocytes. The present study was designed to investigate the association between TL and serum levels of PCBs and OCPs in Tehran male’s population. Whole blood samples were randomly taken from 300 adult males, aged between 25 and 40 years.

The role of water and bottom sediment pollution of a river subjected to a strong industrial anthropo-pressure in coastal plants was investigated.

Former nuclear weapons material production at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) has resulted in contamination of certain terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems on site with legacy wastes such as radiocesium (137Cs), tritium (3H), and metals.