Organochlorines and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons as fingerprint of exposure pathways from marine sediments to biota

Exposure profiles in pregnant women from a birth cohort in a highly contaminated area of southern Italy

Protecting the health of pregnant women from environmental stressors is crucial for reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases. In industrially contaminated sites, this action is particularly challenging due to the heterogeneous pollutant mixtures in environmental matrices. The aim of this study was to evaluate distribution patterns of mercury, hexachlorobenzene and polychlorobiphenyls in the serum of 161 pregnant women recruited in the framework of the Neonatal Environment and Health Outcomes (NEHO) cohort and living both inside and outside the National Priority Contaminated Site (NPCS) of Priolo. Food macro-categories were determined, and serum levels of contaminants were used to perform k-means cluster analysis and identify the role of food in pollutant transfer from the environment. Two groups of mothers with high and low measured pollutant levels were distinguished. Concentrations in mothers in the high-exposure cluster were at least twofold for all the evaluated pollutants (p < 0.0001) and included mothers living inside and outside NPCS, with a predominance of individuals from the NPCS (p = 0.045). Fish consumption was higher in the high-exposure cluster (p = 0.019). These findings suggest a link between contamination of environmental matrices such as sediment with maternal exposure, through the intake of local food. Such consideration appears poorly investigated in the context of contaminated sites.

Marine Pollution and Advances in Biomonitoring in Cartagena Bay in the Colombian Caribbean

Coastal zones sustain extensive biodiversity, support key processes for ocean dynamics, and influence the balance of the global environment. They also provide resources and services to communities, determine their culture, and are the basis for their economic growth. Cartagena Bay in the Colombian Caribbean is the place of the establishment of one of the country's main cities, which has a great historical and tourist attraction, and it is also the location of the main commercial port and a great variety of industries. Historically, it has been affected by several environmental impacts and intense pollution. This situation has gained the attention of different researchers, so herein is presented a literature review with a systematic approach using RStudio's bibliometrix on the presence of pollutants and the impact on biodiversity in recent decades, providing a critical analysis of the state of Cartagena Bay and its future needs to ensure its recovery and conservation. In addition, the socioeconomic dynamics related to the environmental state of Cartagena Bay are presented from the framework drivers, pressures, status, impacts, and responses (DPSIR). The update and critical understanding of the sources, fate, and effects of pollution are important not only for the knowledge of the status of this singular ecosystem but also to encourage future research and entrench evidence to support decision makers' actions. This review highlights that several pollutants that have been detected exceeding sediment quality guidelines, like As, Cd, Hg, and PAH, are also reported to bioaccumulate and cause damage throughout the trophic levels of the coastal environment. In addition, the potential use of sentinel species and biomarkers for their monitoring is discussed. Finally, the factors that cause pollution and threaten the state of the bay continue to exert pressure and impact; thus, there is a call for the further monitoring of this ecosystem and the strengthening of policies and regulations.

Emerging studies on oil pollution biomonitoring: A systematic review

In the last decade, several methods were applied to monitor the impact of oil pollution on marine organisms. Recent studies showed an eminent need to standardize these methods to produce comparable results. Here we present the first thorough systematic review of the literature on oil pollution monitoring methods in the last decade. The literature search resulted on 390 selected original articles, categorized according to the analytical method employed. Except for Ecosystem-level analyses, most methods are used on short-term studies. The combination of Biomarker and Bioaccumulation analysis is the most frequently adopted strategy for oil pollution biomonitoring, followed by Omic analyses. This systematic review describes the principles of the most frequently used monitoring tools, presents their advantages, limitations, and main findings and, as such, could be used as a guideline for future researches on the field.

A multipollutant low-grade exposure regulates the expression of miR-30b, Let-7a and miR-223 in maternal sera: Evidence from the NEHO cohort

There is growing evidence that environmental pollutants can induce epigenetic modifications altering the balance of miRNAs and inducing the onset of pathological conditions in animals. In this study, we measured the serum concentration of a suite of inorganic and organic pollutants (Cu, Zn, Se, Hg, HCB, p,p'-DDE, PCBs) and their association to serum miR-30b, miR-223 and Let-7a microRNA expression in 68 healthy pregnant women from the NEHO birth cohort sited in a highly industrialized area. The effects of the pollutants on the modulation of circulating miRNAs' expression were first investigated using linear continuous regression models with a single-compound approach showing that miR-223 expression was significantly associated with serum concentration of Se and Zn (pSe = 0.0336; pZn = 0.0225) and miR-30b was associated with Hg levels (pHg = 0.019). Furthermore, when contaminants were categorized into tertiles, miR-223 and miR-30b showed a positive association with higher tertiles of Zn, p,p'-DDE (pZn = 0.023; pDDE = 0.041) and Hg (pHg = 0.008), respectively. Moreover, Let-7a expression was exclusively influenced by medium tertiles levels of Se (low vs medium tertiles, p = 0.001). Simultaneous exposure to multi-pollutant mixture was approached by WQS regression model. Statistical analysis shows a driving effect of Zn, Se, Cu, Hg and HCB on significant increased expression of Let-7a (p = 0.045). Mercury and Se significantly amplified the expression for miR-30b (p = 0.038). Differently, the combined effect of p,p'-DDE, Zn and Se decreased miR-223 expression (p = 0.0001). The documented modified expression of circulating miRNAs in the serum of pregnant women, exposed to low-medium dose contaminants mixtures offers innovative early-warning approaches to human health risk assessment.

10-year time course of Hg and organic compounds in Augusta Bay: Bioavailability and biological effects in marine organisms

In the last century, many Mediterranean coastal areas have been subjected to anthropogenic disturbances from industrial activities, uncontrolled landfills, shipyards, and high maritime traffic. The Augusta Bay (eastern Sicily, Italy) represents an example of a strongly impacted coastal environment with an elevated level of sediments contamination due to the presence of one of the largest European petrochemical plants, combined with an extensive commercial and military harbor. The most significant contaminants were represented by mercury (Hg) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB), derived from a former chlor-alkali plant, and other organic compounds like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs). Since the 1970s, Augusta Bay has become internationally recognized as a contaminated marine environment, although very little information is available regarding the temporal trend of contaminants bioavailability and biological impacts on aquatic organisms. In this study, the Hg and HCB concentrations were investigated over 10 years (from 2003 to 2013) in sediments and invertebrate and vertebrate organisms; these two contaminants' ecotoxicity was further evaluated at a biochemical and cellular level by analyzing the induction of organic biotransformation processes and DNA damages. The results showed high concentrations of Hg and HCB in sediments and their strong bioaccumulation in different species with significantly higher values than those measured in reference sites. This trend was paralleled by increased micronuclei frequency (DNA damage biomarker) and activity of the biotransformation system. While levels of chemicals in sediments remained elevated during the time course, their bioavailability and biological effects showed a gradual decrease after 2003, when the chlor-alkali plant was closed. Environmental persistence of Hg and HCB availability facilitates their bioaccumulation and affects the health status of marine organisms, with possible implications for environmental risk, pollutants transfer, and human health.

Meta-Analysis of a New Georeferenced Database on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Western and Central Mediterranean Seafood

The aim of this work was to collect and harmonize the results of several studies achieved over the years, in order to obtain a database of georeferenced observations on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Western and Central Mediterranean seafood. For each observation, some information on the taxonomy and the ecology of the sampled species are reported, as well as details on the investigated hydrocarbon, and spatial and temporal information on sampling. Moreover, two health risk indexes were calculated for each record and included in the database. Through several statistical methods, we conducted a meta-analysis of the data on some of the species in this database, identifying trends that could be related to the biology of the investigated organisms, as well as to the physico-chemical properties of each hydrocarbon and to the oceanographic characteristic of this part of the Mediterranean. The analysis of the data showed that, at a consumption rate like the one typical of the Italian population, seafood caught from the area considered in the present work seems to pose a minimal risk to health. However, we also found evidence of an increasing trend of PAH concentrations in Mediterranean mussels, pointing to the need for constant monitoring.