Research Publications (Food Safety)

Urban waste is a complex mixture of different substances, including microplastics and pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Microplastics have a high affinity for hydrophobic substances. One of these substances is triclosan, a bactericide used in a variety of hygiene products. Therefore, microplastics (MPs) may serve as a vector between triclosan and aquatic organisms.

Microplastics (< 5 mm) are considered to be global environmental pollutants. This study investigates the occurrence, physical properties, polymer composition and surface morphology, and element composition of MPs present in food-grade salts produced from seawater and bore-well water in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, Southeast coast of India. Fourteen different brands of sea salts and bore-well salts were collected from the salt manufacturing units.

Mercury is a heavy metal that has caused concern regarding the health of fish and of those who consume them. In this research, the concentrations of mercury in the muscle tissues of zander and European perch from Anzali were measured using a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometer (GFAAS). The average concentrations of mercury in the muscle of the zander and European perch were 244 and 105 µg/kg dry weight, respectively.

Wetlands and their biodiversity are constantly threatened by contaminant pollution from urbanisation. Despite evidence suggesting that snakes are good bioindicators of environmental health, the bioaccumulation of contaminants in reptiles is poorly researched in Australia.

The occurrence and potential sources of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in surface waters from a large coastal city Qingdao, North China, were investigated. Forty-five compounds were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The results showed that 28 compounds of PPCPs were detected. The most frequently detected compounds were atrazine, clarithromycin, nonylphenol, and bisphenol A with the detection rates > 90%.

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) were included in the Stockholm Convention in 2017. SCCPs have persistence, bioaccumulation, long-range environmental mobility and biological toxicity, significant toxicity to aquatic organisms, and potential carcinogenicity. Little study was on the progress research on the current environmental pollution in China.

Pine trees are used as biomonitoring agents to evaluate atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Due to industrialization, urban construction, and rapid population growth, the city of Bursa is experiencing air pollution. In this study, PAHs were measured in pine tree branches and needles at a wastewater treatment plant site, an industrial site, and semirural site in Bursa for 12 months. The concentrations fluctuated depending on the characteristics of the areas.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are recognised reproductive and immune system toxicants in marine mammals mediated by endocrine-disrupting mechanisms. As with other predators, seals are exposed to elevated bioaccumulated concentrations of PCBs and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a manmade chemical that is only found in the environment due to anthropogenic activities. A total of 1150 surface freshwater samples were collected and analysed for BPA at 44 sampling sites in Canada from 2012 to 2018. The resultant concentrations ranged from 3.05 to 1888.51 ng/L. In addition, 64% of the samples were reported to be under the detection limit of the laboratory.

Twenty-eight transects in six urban rivers located in the Qianhai area of Baoan District, Shenzhen, China, were selected to study the contamination of heavy metals in its sediment, reveal the spatial distribution of heavy metals in these rivers, and assess the ecological risk of heavy metals in the urban river sediment. The result showed that the concentration of heavy metals displayed considerable variation in the study area.

Methylmercury (MeHg) is a neurotoxic pollutant that bioaccumulates and biomagnifies in aquatic food webs, impacting the health of piscivorous wildlife and human consumers of predatory fish. While fish mercury levels have been correlated with various biotic and abiotic factors, many studies only measure adults to characterize the health of locally fished populations, omitting information about how local fish bioaccumulate mercury relative to their growth.

The environmental quality of a Ramsar wetland site located at the Cananéia-Iguape-Peruíbe Protected Area (CIP-PA), in São Paulo, Brazil, was assessed by geochemical analyses and biomarker assessments (GPx, GST, GSH, GST, MT, LPO, DNA damage) performed in swimming crab Callinectes danae Smith, 1869 organs (posterior and anterior gills and hepatopancreas) to estimate sediment contaminant bioavailability.

In this work, the content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in total suspended particles and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 µm (PM2.5) was analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. In addition, a sequential chemical analysis of C-rich particles was performed through the parallel coupling of micro-Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy with X-ray scattering detection.

This is the first comprehensive report on the accumulation of Cr, Ni, As, and Ag in the fish species Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus and Nile perch Lates niloticus from Lake Victoria, complemented with recent data on Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb. This also is the first report on Cr, Ni, As, and Ag levels in invertebrates: the shrimp Caridina nilotica, gastropod Pila ovata, and bivalve Mutela bourguignati.

In the present study, a multi-biomarker approach was used to assess the biological effects of metal pollution in the southern lagoon of Tunis, on clam Ruditapes decussatus both in “hot” (in summer) and “cold” (in winter) seasons. Clams were collected in August 2015 and February 2016 from three sites of the lagoon and from Louza considered a reference site. The concentrations of five trace metals (cadmium, copper, iron, lead, and zinc) in the soft tissues of R.

Use of pesticides continues to be indiscriminate, and birds are one of the worst affected non-targeted organisms. Information on the ill effects of pesticides on birds far from desired in India. Despite the presence of a wide variety and number of birds, there is exceedingly little data on organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues in colonial nesting birds in sanctuaries of India.

The concentrations, composition, sources, and risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in topsoil and surface water of the Liuxi River basin, south China were analyzed in this study. The total concentrations of 16 PAHs ranged from 296.26 to 888.14 ng/g in topsoil and from 156.73 to 422.03 ng/L in surface water, indicating mild pollution.

Rapid urbanization, industrial activity, and runoff have all played a role in transforming the Anacostia River from a biologically rich ecosystem to an ecologically threatened environment facing extensive pollution. In recent decades, numerous groups have worked to document and begin to address pollution in the waterway, but few have examined the biological impact of these contaminants.

This study investigated the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using particle and gas-phase air samples collected in the Ovaakca and Cumalikizik region of Bursa, between May and September 2017. The concentration of Σ16PAH measured in the gas phase, for Ovaakca and Cumalikizik, were 5.32 ± 1.98 and 4.91 ± 3.41 ng m−3, respectively; and for the particle phase, 0.81 ± 0.56 and 1.84 ± 1.82 ng m−3, respectively.

Increasing levels of pollution in Galveston Bay, TX, are of significant concern for populations that directly depend on fishing activities. Efforts to evaluate contaminant levels in commercial fish have been largely limited to the quantification of chemical mixtures in fish tissue, but little information exists about the toxicological potential of these chemicals on consumption of contaminated seafood.

Open-air landfill’s may be are considered as a potential source of human environmental exposure to chemical substances such as, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and toxic metals. Due to possible availability of mercury in the environment caused by open landfill emissions, this study evaluates the spatiality and seasonality of macroinvertebrates, in particular shrimps (Macrobrachium amazonicum), exposure to mercury (Hg).

Large-bodied predatory sportfish from Missouri reservoirs can contain elevated methylmercury concentrations that are of concern to the health of consumers. The concentration of total mercury (tHg) in the muscle (which > 95% is in the methylated-Hg form) of harvestable-sized largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides; LMB) was examined to determine which factors contributed to the variability of tHg concentration in sportfish populations among Missouri reservoirs.

We have reviewed a paper titled “Bioaccumulation of Methyl Siloxanes in Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and in an Estuarine Food Web in Northeastern China” by Xue et al., which was published in the Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology in 2019.

In this study, we determined the concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in road dust from Myanmar, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam. PAHs were detected in urban and rural areas of Myanmar at mean concentrations of 630 ng/g dry weight and 200 ng/g dry weight, respectively. PAHs were also detected in road dust from Vietnam (mean 1700 ng/g) and Taiwan (2400 ng/g).