1
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Huchthausen J, Braasch J, Escher BI, König M, Henneberger L. Effects of Chemicals in Reporter Gene Bioassays with Different Metabolic Activities Compared to Baseline Toxicity. Chem Res Toxicol 2024; 37:744-756. [PMID: 38652132 PMCID: PMC11110108 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.4c00017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2024] [Revised: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
High-throughput cell-based bioassays are used for chemical screening and risk assessment. Chemical transformation processes caused by abiotic degradation or metabolization can reduce the chemical concentration or, in some cases, lead to the formation of more toxic transformation products. Unaccounted loss processes may falsify the bioassay results. Capturing the formation and effects of transformation products is important for relating the in vitro effects to in vivo. Reporter gene cell lines are believed to have low metabolic activity, but inducibility of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes has been reported. Baseline toxicity is the minimal toxicity a chemical can have and is caused by the incorporation of the chemical into cell membranes. In the present study, we improved an existing baseline toxicity model based on a newly defined critical membrane burden derived from freely dissolved effect concentrations, which are directly related to the membrane concentration. Experimental effect concentrations of 94 chemicals in three bioassays (AREc32, ARE-bla and GR-bla) were compared with baseline toxicity by calculating the toxic ratio (TR). CYP activities of all cell lines were determined by using fluorescence-based assays. Only ARE-bla showed a low basal CYP activity and inducibility and AREc32 showed a low inducibility. Overall cytotoxicity was similar in all three assays despite the different metabolic activities indicating that chemical metabolism is not relevant for the cytotoxicity of the tested chemicals in these assays. Up to 28 chemicals showed specific cytotoxicity with TR > 10 in the bioassays, but baseline toxicity could explain the effects of the majority of the remaining chemicals. Seven chemicals showed TR < 0.1 indicating inaccurate physicochemical properties or experimental artifacts like chemical precipitation, volatilization, degradation, or other loss processes during the in vitro bioassay. The new baseline model can be used not only to identify specific cytotoxicity mechanisms but also to identify potential problems in the experimental performance or evaluation of the bioassay and thus improve the quality of the bioassay data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Huchthausen
- Department
of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for
Environmental Research − UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jenny Braasch
- Department
of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for
Environmental Research − UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Beate I. Escher
- Department
of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for
Environmental Research − UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
- Environmental
Toxicology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard
Karls University Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Maria König
- Department
of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for
Environmental Research − UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Luise Henneberger
- Department
of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for
Environmental Research − UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
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2
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Bharali P, Gogoi B, Sorhie V, Acharjee SA, Walling B, Alemtoshi, Vishwakarma V, Shah MP. Autochthonous psychrophilic hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria and its ecological function in contaminated cold environments. Biodegradation 2024; 35:1-46. [PMID: 37436665 DOI: 10.1007/s10532-023-10042-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023]
Abstract
Petroleum hydrocarbon (PH) pollution has mostly been caused by oil exploration, extraction, and transportation activities in colder regions, particularly in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, where it serves as a primary source of energy. Due to the resilience feature of nature, such polluted environments become the realized ecological niches for a wide community of psychrophilic hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria (PHcB). In contrast, to other psychrophilic species, PHcB is extremely cold-adapted and has unique characteristics that allow them to thrive in greater parts of the cold environment burdened with PHs. The stated group of bacteria in its ecological niche aids in the breakdown of litter, turnover of nutrients, cycling of carbon and nutrients, and bioremediation. Although such bacteria are the pioneers of harsh colder environments, their growth and distribution remain under the influence of various biotic and abiotic factors of the environment. The review discusses the prevalence of PHcB community in colder habitats, the metabolic processes involved in the biodegradation of PH, and the influence of biotic and abiotic stress factors. The existing understanding of the PH metabolism by PHcB offers confirmation of excellent enzymatic proficiency with high cold stability. The discovery of more flexible PH degrading strategies used by PHcB in colder environments could have a significant beneficial outcome on existing bioremediation technologies. Still, PHcB is least explored for other industrial and biotechnological applications as compared to non-PHcB psychrophiles. The present review highlights the pros and cons of the existing bioremediation technologies as well as the potential of different bioaugmentation processes for the effective removal of PH from the contaminated cold environment. Such research will not only serve to investigate the effects of pollution on the basic functional relationships that form the cold ecosystem but also to assess the efficacy of various remediation solutions for diverse settings and climatic conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pranjal Bharali
- Applied Environmental Microbial Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, Nagaland University, Lumami, Nagaland, 798627, India.
| | - Bhagyudoy Gogoi
- Applied Environmental Microbial Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, Nagaland University, Lumami, Nagaland, 798627, India
| | - Viphrezolie Sorhie
- Applied Environmental Microbial Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, Nagaland University, Lumami, Nagaland, 798627, India
| | - Shiva Aley Acharjee
- Applied Environmental Microbial Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, Nagaland University, Lumami, Nagaland, 798627, India
| | - Bendangtula Walling
- Applied Environmental Microbial Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, Nagaland University, Lumami, Nagaland, 798627, India
| | - Alemtoshi
- Applied Environmental Microbial Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, Nagaland University, Lumami, Nagaland, 798627, India
| | - Vinita Vishwakarma
- Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Galgotias University, Greater Noida, NCR Delhi, India
| | - Maulin Pramod Shah
- Industrial Waste Water Research Lab, Division of Applied and Environmental Microbiology Lab at Enviro Technology Ltd., Ankleshwar, Gujarat, India
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3
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Löffler P, Escher BI, Baduel C, Virta MP, Lai FY. Antimicrobial Transformation Products in the Aquatic Environment: Global Occurrence, Ecotoxicological Risks, and Potential of Antibiotic Resistance. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023. [PMID: 37335844 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c09854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
The global spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is concerning for the health of humans, animals, and the environment in a One Health perspective. Assessments of AMR and associated environmental hazards mostly focus on antimicrobial parent compounds, while largely overlooking their transformation products (TPs). This review lists antimicrobial TPs identified in surface water environments and examines their potential for AMR promotion, ecological risk, as well as human health and environmental hazards using in silico models. Our review also summarizes the key transformation compartments of TPs, related pathways for TPs reaching surface waters and methodologies for studying the fate of TPs. The 56 antimicrobial TPs covered by the review were prioritized via scoring and ranking of various risk and hazard parameters. Most data on occurrences to date have been reported in Europe, while little is known about antibiotic TPs in Africa, Central and South America, Asia, and Oceania. Occurrence data on antiviral TPs and other antibacterial TPs are even scarcer. We propose evaluation of structural similarity between parent compounds and TPs for TP risk assessment. We predicted a risk of AMR for 13 TPs, especially TPs of tetracyclines and macrolides. We estimated the ecotoxicological effect concentrations of TPs from the experimental effect data of the parent chemical for bacteria, algae and water fleas, scaled by potency differences predicted by quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) for baseline toxicity and a scaling factor for structural similarity. Inclusion of TPs in mixtures with their parent increased the ecological risk quotient over the threshold of one for 7 of the 24 antimicrobials included in this analysis, while only one parent had a risk quotient above one. Thirteen TPs, from which 6 were macrolide TPs, posed a risk to at least one of the three tested species. There were 12/21 TPs identified that are likely to exhibit a similar or higher level of mutagenicity/carcinogenicity, respectively, than their parent compound, with tetracycline TPs often showing increased mutagenicity. Most TPs with increased carcinogenicity belonged to sulfonamides. Most of the TPs were predicted to be mobile but not bioaccumulative, and 14 were predicted to be persistent. The six highest-priority TPs originated from the tetracycline antibiotic family and antivirals. This review, and in particular our ranking of antimicrobial TPs of concern, can support authorities in planning related intervention strategies and source mitigation of antimicrobials toward a sustainable future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Löffler
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala SE-75007, Sweden
| | - Beate I Escher
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, UZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
- Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Environmental Toxicology, Department of Geosciences, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Christine Baduel
- Université Grenoble Alpes, IRD, CNRS, Grenoble INP, IGE, 38 050 Grenoble, France
| | - Marko P Virta
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
- Multidisciplinary Center of Excellence in Antimicrobial Resistance Research, Helsinki 00100, Finland
| | - Foon Yin Lai
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala SE-75007, Sweden
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4
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Droge STJ, Hodges G, Bonnell M, Gutsell S, Roberts J, Teixeira A, Barrett EL. Using membrane-water partition coefficients in a critical membrane burden approach to aid the identification of neutral and ionizable chemicals that induce acute toxicity below narcosis levels. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE. PROCESSES & IMPACTS 2023; 25:621-647. [PMID: 36779707 DOI: 10.1039/d2em00391k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The risk assessment of thousands of chemicals used in our society benefits from adequate grouping of chemicals based on the mode and mechanism of toxic action (MoA). We measure the phospholipid membrane-water distribution ratio (DMLW) using a chromatographic assay (IAM-HPLC) for 121 neutral and ionized organic chemicals and screen other methods to derive DMLW. We use IAM-HPLC based DMLW as a chemical property to distinguish between baseline narcosis and specific MoA, for reported acute toxicity endpoints on two separate sets of chemicals. The first set comprised 94 chemicals of US EPA's acute fish toxicity database: 47 categorized as narcosis MoA, 27 with specific MoA, and 20 predominantly ionic chemicals with mostly unknown MoA. The narcosis MoA chemicals clustered around the median narcosis critical membrane burden (CMBnarc) of 140 mmol kg-1 lipid, with a lower limit of 14 mmol kg-1 lipid, including all chemicals labelled Narcosis_I and Narcosis_II. This maximum 'toxic ratio' (TR) between CMBnarc and the lower limit narcosis endpoint is thus 10. For 23/28 specific MoA chemicals a TR >10 was derived, indicative of a specific adverse effect pathway related to acute toxicity. For 10/12 cations categorized as "unsure amines", the TR <10 suggests that these affect fish via narcosis MoA. The second set comprised 29 herbicides, including 17 dissociated acids, and evaluated the TR for acute toxic effect concentrations to likely sensitive aquatic plant species (green algae and macrophytes Lemna and Myriophyllum), and non-target animal species (invertebrates and fish). For 21/29 herbicides, a TR >10 indicated a specific toxic mode of action other than narcosis for at least one of these aquatic primary producers. Fish and invertebrate TRs were mostly <10, particularly for neutral herbicides, but for acidic herbicides a TR >10 indicated specific adverse effects in non-target animals. The established critical membrane approach to derive the TR provides for useful contribution to the weight of evidence to bin a chemical as having a narcosis MoA or less likely to have acute toxicity caused by a more specific adverse effect pathway. After proper calibration, the chromatographic assay provides consistent and efficient experimental input for both neutral and ionizable chemicals to this approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven T J Droge
- Department of Freshwater and Marine Ecology (FAME), Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA), Science Park 904, 1098XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Geoff Hodges
- Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, UK
| | - Mark Bonnell
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Ecological Assessment Division, Science and Risk Assessment Directorate, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
| | - Steve Gutsell
- Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, UK
| | - Jayne Roberts
- Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, UK
| | - Alexandre Teixeira
- Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, UK
| | - Elin L Barrett
- Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, UK
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5
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Recent advances for estimating environmental properties for small molecules from chromatographic measurements and the solvation parameter model. J Chromatogr A 2023; 1687:463682. [PMID: 36502643 DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2022.463682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Revised: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The transfer of neutral compounds between immiscible phases in chromatographic or environmental systems can be described by six solute properties (solute descriptors) using the solvation parameter model. The solute descriptors are size (McGowan's characteristic volume), V, excess molar refraction, E, dipolarity/polarizability, S, hydrogen-bond acidity and basicity, A and B, and the gas-liquid partition constant on n-hexadecane at 298.15 K, L. V and E for liquids are accessible by calculation but the other descriptors and E for solids are determined experimentally by chromatographic, liquid-liquid partition, and solubility measurements. These solute descriptors are available for several thousand compounds in the Abraham solute descriptor databases and for several hundred compounds in the WSU experimental solute descriptor database. In the first part of this review, we highlight features important in defining each descriptor, their experimental determination, compare descriptor quality for the two organized descriptor databases, and methods for estimating Abraham solute descriptors. In the second part we focus on recent applications of the solvation parameter model to characterize environmental systems and its use for the identification of surrogate chromatographic models for estimating environmental properties.
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6
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Ji M, Zhang L, Zhuang X, Tian C, Luan F, Cordeiro MNDS. Toxicity Assessment of the Binary Mixtures of Aquatic Organisms Based on Different Hypothetical Descriptors. Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27196389. [PMID: 36234923 PMCID: PMC9571779 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27196389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2022] [Revised: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Modern industrialization has led to the creation of a wide range of organic chemicals, especially in the form of multicomponent mixtures, thus making the evaluation of environmental pollution more difficult by normal methods. In this paper, we attempt to use forward stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR) and nonlinear radial basis function neural networks (RBFNN) to establish quantitative structure–activity relationship models (QSARs) to predict the toxicity of 79 binary mixtures of aquatic organisms using different hypothetical descriptors. To search for the proper mixture descriptors, 11 mixture rules were performed and tested based on preliminary modeling results. The statistical parameters of the best derived MLR model were Ntrain = 62, R2 = 0.727, RMS = 0.494, F = 159.537, Q2LOO = 0.727, and Q2pred = 0.725 for the training set; and Ntest = 17, R2 = 0.721, RMS = 0.508, F = 38.773, and q2ext = 0.720 for the external test set. The RBFNN model gave the following statistical results: Ntrain = 62, R2 = 0.956, RMS = 0.199, F = 1279.919, Q2LOO = 0.955, and Q2pred = 0.855 for the training set; and Ntest = 17, R2 = 0.880, RMS = 0.367, F = 110.980, and q2ext = 0.853 for the external test set. The quality of the models was assessed by validating the relevant parameters, and the final results showed that the developed models are predictive and can be used for the toxicity prediction of binary mixtures within their applicability domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng Ji
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China
| | - Lihong Zhang
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China
| | - Xuming Zhuang
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China
| | - Chunyuan Tian
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China
| | - Feng Luan
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China
- Correspondence:
| | - Maria Natália D. S. Cordeiro
- LAQV@REQUIMTE/Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
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7
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Katz SD, Chen H, Fields DM, Beirne EC, Keyes P, Drozd GT, Aeppli C. Changes in Chemical Composition and Copepod Toxicity during Petroleum Photo-oxidation. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2022; 56:5552-5562. [PMID: 35435676 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c00251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Photoproducts can be formed rapidly in the initial phase of a marine oil spill. However, their toxicity is not well understood. In this study, oil was irradiated, chemically characterized, and tested for toxicity in three copepod species (Acartia tonsa, Temora longicornis, and Calanus finmarchicus). Irradiation led to a depletion of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and n-alkanes in oil residues, along with an enrichment in aromatic and aliphatic oil photoproducts. Target lipid model-based calculations of PAH toxicity units predicted that PAH toxicities were lower in water-accommodated fractions (WAFs) of irradiated oil residues ("irradiated WAFs") than in WAFs of dark-control samples ("dark WAFs"). In contrast, biomimetic extraction (BE) measurements showed increased bioaccumulation potential of dissolved constituents of irradiated WAFs compared to dark WAFs, mainly driven by photoproducts present in irradiated oil. In line with the BE results, copepod mortality increased in irradiated WAFs compared to dark WAFs. However, low copepod toxicities were observed for WAFs produced with photo-oxidized oil slicks collected during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The results of this study suggest that while oil photoproducts have the potential to be a significant source of copepod toxicity, dilution and dispersion of these higher solubility products appear to help mitigate their toxicity at sea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel D Katz
- Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, Maine 04544, United States
- Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882, United States
| | - Haining Chen
- Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, Maine 04544, United States
| | - David M Fields
- Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, Maine 04544, United States
- Colby College, Waterville, Maine 04901, United States
| | - Erin C Beirne
- Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, Maine 04544, United States
| | - Phoebe Keyes
- Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, Maine 04544, United States
| | - Greg T Drozd
- Colby College, Waterville, Maine 04901, United States
| | - Christoph Aeppli
- Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, Maine 04544, United States
- Colby College, Waterville, Maine 04901, United States
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8
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Białk-Bielińska A, Grabarczyk Ł, Mulkiewicz E, Puckowski A, Stolte S, Stepnowski P. Mixture toxicity of six pharmaceuticals towards Aliivibrio fischeri, Daphnia magna, and Lemna minor. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2022; 29:26977-26991. [PMID: 34907475 PMCID: PMC8989911 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-17928-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
As the knowledge on the joint effects of pharmaceuticals towards different non-target organisms is still limited, the aim of our study was to evaluate the toxicity of mixtures of pharmaceuticals, as well as their baseline toxicity towards three selected organisms, namely the bioluminescent bacteria Aliivibrio fischeri, the crustacean Daphnia magna, and the duckweed Lemna minor. Different mixtures composed of three up to five pharmaceuticals having the same or different mechanisms of action in terms of their therapeutic activity (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, opioid analgesic, antibacterial and anti-epileptic drugs) were investigated. The observed EC50s were compared with those predicted using the concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA) models. In general, the EC50 values for mixtures predicted with the CA model were lower than those obtained with the IA model, although, in some cases, test predictions of these two models were almost identical. Most of the experimentally determined EC50 values for the specific mixtures were slightly higher than those predicted with the CA model; hence, a less than additive effect was noted. Based on the obtained results, it might be concluded that the CA model assumes the worst-case scenario and gives overall closer predictions; therefore, it should be recommended also for modeling the mixture toxicity of pharmaceuticals with different modes of action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Białk-Bielińska
- Department of Environmental Analysis, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, ul. Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Łukasz Grabarczyk
- Department of Environmental Analysis, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, ul. Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Ewa Mulkiewicz
- Department of Environmental Analysis, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, ul. Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland.
| | - Alan Puckowski
- Department of Environmental Analysis, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, ul. Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Stefan Stolte
- Institute of Water Chemistry, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany
| | - Piotr Stepnowski
- Department of Environmental Analysis, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, ul. Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland
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9
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Sleight TW, Sexton CN, Mpourmpakis G, Gilbertson LM, Ng CA. A Classification Model to Identify Direct-Acting Mutagenic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Transformation Products. Chem Res Toxicol 2021; 34:2273-2286. [PMID: 34662518 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.1c00187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a complex group of environmental contaminants, many having long environmental half-lives. As these compounds degrade, the changes in their structure can result in a substantial increase in mutagenicity compared to the parent compound. Over time, each individual PAH can potentially degrade into several thousand unique transformation products, creating a complex, constantly evolving set of intermediates. Microbial degradation is the primary mechanism of their transformation and ultimate removal from the environment, and this process can result in mutagenic activation similar to the metabolic activation that can occur in multicellular organisms. The diversity of the potential intermediate structures in PAH-contaminated environments renders hazard assessment difficult for both remediation professionals and regulators. A mixture of structural and energetic descriptors has proven effective in existing studies for classifying which PAH transformation products will be mutagenic. However, most existing studies of environmental PAH mutagens primarily focus on nitrogenated derivatives, which are prevalent in the atmosphere and not as relevant in soil. Additionally, PAH products commonly found in the environment can range from as large as five rings to as small as a single ring, requiring a broadly inclusive methodology to comprehensively evaluate mutagenic potential. We developed a combination of supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods to predict environmentally induced PAH mutagenicity with improved performance over currently available tools. K-means clustering with principal component analysis allows us to identify molecular clusters that we hypothesize to have similar mechanisms of action. Recursive feature elimination identifies the most influential descriptors. The cluster-specific regression outperforms available classifiers in predicting direct-acting mutagens resulting from the microbial biodegradation of PAHs and provides direction for future studies evaluating the environmental hazards resulting from PAH biodegradation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trevor W Sleight
- Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States
| | - Caitlin N Sexton
- Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States
| | - Giannis Mpourmpakis
- Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States
| | - Leanne M Gilbertson
- Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States.,Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States
| | - Carla A Ng
- Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States.,Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States
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10
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Beil S, Markiewicz M, Pereira CS, Stepnowski P, Thöming J, Stolte S. Toward the Proactive Design of Sustainable Chemicals: Ionic Liquids as a Prime Example. Chem Rev 2021; 121:13132-13173. [PMID: 34523909 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c01265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
The tailorable and often unique properties of ionic liquids (ILs) drive their implementation into a broad variety of seminal technologies. The modular design of ILs allows in this context a proactive selection of structures that favor environmental sustainability─ideally without compromising their technological performance. To achieve this objective, the whole life cycle must be taken into account and various aspects considered simultaneously. In this review, we discuss how the structural design of ILs affects their environmental impacts throughout all stages of their life cycles and scrutinize the available data in order to point out knowledge gaps that need further research activities. The design of more sustainable ILs starts with the selection of the most beneficial precursors and synthesis routes, takes their technical properties and application specific performance into due account, and considers its environmental fate particularly in terms of their (eco)toxicity, biotic and abiotic degradability, mobility, and bioaccumulation potential. Special emphasis is placed on reported structure-activity relationships and suggested mechanisms on a molecular level that might rationalize the empirically found design criteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Beil
- Institute of Water Chemistry, TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
| | - Marta Markiewicz
- Institute of Water Chemistry, TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
| | - Cristina Silva Pereira
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (ITQB NOVA), Av. da República, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Piotr Stepnowski
- Department of Environmental Analysis, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, ul. Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Jorg Thöming
- Chemical Process Engineering, University of Bremen, Leobener Straße 6, 28359 Bremen, Germany
| | - Stefan Stolte
- Institute of Water Chemistry, TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
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11
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Potter T, Barrett EL, Miller MA. Automated Coarse-Grained Mapping Algorithm for the Martini Force Field and Benchmarks for Membrane-Water Partitioning. J Chem Theory Comput 2021; 17:5777-5791. [PMID: 34472843 PMCID: PMC8444346 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
With a view to high-throughput simulations, we present an automated system for mapping and parameterizing organic molecules for use with the coarse-grained Martini force field. The method scales to larger molecules and a broader chemical space than existing schemes. The core of the mapping process is a graph-based analysis of the molecule's bonding network, which has the advantages of being fast, general, and preserving symmetry. The parameterization process pays special attention to coarse-grained beads in aromatic rings. It also includes a method for building efficient and stable frameworks of constraints for molecules with structural rigidity. The performance of the method is tested on a diverse set of 87 neutral organic molecules and the ability of the resulting models to capture octanol-water and membrane-water partition coefficients. In the latter case, we introduce an adaptive method for extracting partition coefficients from free-energy profiles to take into account the interfacial region of the membrane. We also use the models to probe the response of membrane-water partitioning to the cholesterol content of the membrane.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas
D. Potter
- Department
of Chemistry, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United
Kingdom
| | - Elin L. Barrett
- Unilever
Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire MK44 1LQ, United Kingdom
| | - Mark A. Miller
- Department
of Chemistry, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United
Kingdom
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12
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Lee J, Braun G, Henneberger L, König M, Schlichting R, Scholz S, Escher BI. Critical Membrane Concentration and Mass-Balance Model to Identify Baseline Cytotoxicity of Hydrophobic and Ionizable Organic Chemicals in Mammalian Cell Lines. Chem Res Toxicol 2021; 34:2100-2109. [PMID: 34357765 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.1c00182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
All chemicals can interfere with cellular membranes and this leads to baseline toxicity, which is the minimal toxicity any chemical elicits. The critical membrane burden is constant for all chemicals; that is, the dosing concentrations to trigger baseline toxicity decrease with increasing hydrophobicity of the chemicals. Quantitative structure-activity relationships, based on hydrophobicity of chemicals, have been established to predict nominal concentrations causing baseline toxicity in human and mammalian cell lines. However, their applicability is limited to hydrophilic neutral compounds. To develop a prediction model that includes more hydrophobic and charged organic chemicals, a mass balance model was applied for mammalian cells (AREc32, AhR-CALUX, PPARγ-BLA, and SH-SY5Y) considering different bioassay conditions. The critical membrane burden for baseline toxicity was converted into nominal concentration causing 10% cytotoxicity by baseline toxicity (IC10,baseline) using a mass balance model whose main chemical input parameter was the liposome-water partition constants (Klip/w) for neutral chemicals or the speciation-corrected Dlip/w(pH 7.4) for ionizable chemicals plus the bioassay-specific protein, lipid, and water contents of cells and media. In these bioassay-specific models, log(1/IC10,baseline) increased with increasing hydrophobicity, and the relationship started to level off at log Dlip/w around 2. The bioassay-specific models were applied to 392 chemicals covering a broad range of hydrophobicity and speciation. Comparing the predicted IC10,baseline and experimental cytotoxicity IC10, known baseline toxicants and many additional chemicals were identified as baseline toxicants, while the others were classified based on specificity of their modes of action in the four cell lines, confirming excess toxicity of some fungicides, antibiotics, and uncouplers. Given the similarity of the bioassay-specific models, we propose a generalized baseline-model for adherent human cell lines: log[1/IC10,baseline (M)] = 1.23 + 4.97 × (1 - e-0.236 log Dlip/w). The derived models for baseline toxicity may serve for specificity analysis in reporter gene and neurotoxicity assays as well as for planning the dosing for cell-based assays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jungeun Lee
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, DE-04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Georg Braun
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, DE-04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Luise Henneberger
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, DE-04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Maria König
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, DE-04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Rita Schlichting
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, DE-04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Stefan Scholz
- Department of Bioanalytical Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, DE-04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Beate I Escher
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, DE-04318 Leipzig, Germany.,Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Scharrenbergstrasse 94-96, DE-72076 Tübingen, Germany
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13
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Cerro-Gálvez E, Dachs J, Lundin D, Fernández-Pinos MC, Sebastián M, Vila-Costa M. Responses of Coastal Marine Microbiomes Exposed to Anthropogenic Dissolved Organic Carbon. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2021; 55:9609-9621. [PMID: 33606522 PMCID: PMC8491159 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c07262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Revised: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Coastal seawaters receive thousands of organic pollutants. However, we have little understanding of the response of microbiomes to this pool of anthropogenic dissolved organic carbon (ADOC). In this study, coastal microbial communities were challenged with ADOC at environmentally relevant concentrations. Experiments were performed at two Mediterranean sites with different impact by pollutants and nutrients: off the Barcelona harbor ("BCN"), and at the Blanes Bay ("BL"). ADOC additions stimulated prokaryotic leucine incorporation rates at both sites, indicating the use of ADOC as growth substrate. The percentage of "membrane-compromised" cells increased with increasing ADOC, indicating concurrent toxic effects of ADOC. Metagenomic analysis of the BCN community challenged with ADOC showed a significant growth of Methylophaga and other gammaproteobacterial taxa belonging to the rare biosphere. Gene expression profiles showed a taxon-dependent response, with significantly enrichments of transcripts from SAR11 and Glaciecola spp. in BCN and BL, respectively. Further, the relative abundance of transposon-related genes (in BCN) and transcripts (in BL) correlated with the number of differentially abundant genes (in BCN) and transcripts (in BLA), suggesting that microbial responses to pollution may be related to pre-exposure to pollutants, with transposons playing a role in adaptation to ADOC. Our results point to a taxon-specific response to low concentrations of ADOC that impact the functionality, structure and plasticity of the communities in coastal seawaters. This work contributes to address the influence of pollutants on microbiomes and their perturbation to ecosystem services and ocean health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Cerro-Gálvez
- Department
of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya 08034, Spain
| | - Jordi Dachs
- Department
of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya 08034, Spain
| | - Daniel Lundin
- Centre
for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems, EEMiS, Linnaeus University, Kalmar 35195, Sweden
| | | | - Marta Sebastián
- Department
of Marine Biology and Oceanography, ICM-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya 08003, Spain
| | - Maria Vila-Costa
- Department
of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya 08034, Spain
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14
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Martinez-Varela A, Cerro-Gálvez E, Auladell A, Sharma S, Moran MA, Kiene RP, Piña B, Dachs J, Vila-Costa M. Bacterial responses to background organic pollutants in the northeast subarctic Pacific Ocean. Environ Microbiol 2021; 23:4532-4546. [PMID: 34169620 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Thousands of man-made synthetic chemicals are released to oceans and compose the anthropogenic dissolved organic carbon (ADOC). Little is known about the effects of this chronic pollution on marine microbiome activities. In this study, we measured the pollution level at three sites in the Northeast Subarctic Pacific Ocean (NESAP) and investigated how mixtures of three model families of ADOC at different environmentally relevant concentrations affected naturally occurring marine bacterioplankton communities' structure and metabolic functioning. The offshore northernmost site (North) had the lowest concentrations of hydrocarbons, as well as organophosphate ester plasticizers, contrasting with the two other continental shelf sites, the southern coastal site (South) being the most contaminated. At North, ADOC stimulated bacterial growth and promoted an increase in the contribution of some Gammaproteobacteria groups (e.g. Alteromonadales) to the 16 rRNA pool. These groups are described as fast responders after oil spills. In contrast, minor changes in South microbiome activities were observed. Gene expression profiles at Central showed the coexistence of ADOC degradation and stress-response strategies to cope with ADOC toxicities. These results show that marine microbial communities at three distinct domains in NESAP are influenced by background concentrations of ADOC, expanding previous assessments for polar and temperate waters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alícia Martinez-Varela
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Elena Cerro-Gálvez
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Adrià Auladell
- Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography, Marine Science Institute, ICM-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Shalabh Sharma
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Marine Sciences Building, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Mary Ann Moran
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Marine Sciences Building, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Ronald P Kiene
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA
| | - Benjamí Piña
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Jordi Dachs
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Maria Vila-Costa
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
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15
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Chatterjee M, Roy K. Prediction of aquatic toxicity of chemical mixtures by the QSAR approach using 2D structural descriptors. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2021; 408:124936. [PMID: 33387719 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2020] [Revised: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/20/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The rapid industrialization has led to the generation of various organic chemicals and multi-component mixtures which affect the environment adversely. Although organic chemicals are often exposed to the environment as a form of chemical mixtures rather than individual compounds, there is insufficient toxicity data available for the chemical mixtures due to the associated complexities. Most importantly, the nature of toxicity of mixtures is completely different from the individual chemicals, which makes the evaluation more difficult and challenging. In this paper, we have developed QSAR models for various individual and mixture data sets for the prediction of the aquatic toxicity. We have used Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression as a statistical tool to build the models. The various structural features of the individual chemicals and the mixture components have been modeled against the toxicity end point pEC50 (negative logarithm of median effective concentration in molar scale) of the aquatic organisms Photobacterium phosphoreum (marine bacterium) and Selenastrum capricornutum (freshwater algae). The mixture descriptors have been calculated by the weighted descriptor generation approach. The models were developed in accordance with OECD guidelines, and the quality of each model has been adjudged by strict validation parameters. The final models are robust, extremely predictive and interpretable mechanistically which can be used for the prediction of toxicity of untested chemical mixtures under the domain of applicability of the developed models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mainak Chatterjee
- Drug Theoretics and Cheminformatics Laboratory, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India
| | - Kunal Roy
- Drug Theoretics and Cheminformatics Laboratory, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India.
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16
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Bergua JF, Álvarez-Diduk R, Hu L, Hassan AHA, Merkoçi A. Improved Aliivibrio fischeri based-toxicity assay: Graphene-oxide as a sensitivity booster with a mobile-phone application. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2021; 406:124434. [PMID: 33307446 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2020] [Revised: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 10/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Recently, many bioluminescence-based applications have arisen in several fields, such as biosensing, bioimaging, molecular biology, and human health diagnosis. Among all bioluminescent organisms, Aliivibrio fischeri (A. fischeri) is a bioluminescent bacterium used to carry out water toxicity assays since the late 1970s. Since then, several commercial A. fischeri-based products have been launched to the market, as these bacteria are considered as a gold standard for water toxicity assessment worldwide. However, the aforementioned commercial products rely on expensive equipment, requiring several reagents and working steps, as well as high-trained personnel to perform the assays and analyze the output data. For these reasons, in this work, we have developed for the first time a mobile-phone-based sensing platform for water toxicity assessment in just 5 min using two widespread pesticides as model analytes. To accomplish this, we have established new methodologies to enhance the bioluminescent signal of A. fischeri based on the bacterial culture in a solid media and/or using graphene oxide. Finally, we have addressed the biocompatibility of graphene oxide to A. fischeri, boosting the sensitivity of the toxicity assays and the bacterial growth of the lyophilized bacterial cultures for more user-friendly storage.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Francisco Bergua
- Nanobioelectronics & Biosensors Group, Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ruslan Álvarez-Diduk
- Nanobioelectronics & Biosensors Group, Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Liming Hu
- Nanobioelectronics & Biosensors Group, Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Abdelrahim H A Hassan
- Department of Food Hygiene and Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef 62511, Egypt
| | - Arben Merkoçi
- Nanobioelectronics & Biosensors Group, Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; ICREA, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain.
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17
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Parkerton TF, Letinski DJ, Febbo EJ, Butler JD, Sutherland CA, Bragin GE, Hedgpeth BM, Kelley BA, Redman AD, Mayer P, Camenzuli L, Vaiopoulou E. Assessing toxicity of hydrophobic aliphatic and monoaromatic hydrocarbons at the solubility limit using novel dosing methods. CHEMOSPHERE 2021; 265:129174. [PMID: 33340835 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.129174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2020] [Revised: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 11/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Reliable delineation of aquatic toxicity cut-offs for poorly soluble hydrocarbons is lacking. In this study, vapor and passive dosing methods were applied in limit tests with algae and daphnids to evaluate the presence or absence of chronic effects at exposures corresponding to the water solubility for representative hydrocarbons from five structural classes: branched alkanes, mono, di, and polynaphthenic (cyclic) alkanes and monoaromatic naphthenic hydrocarbons (MANHs). Algal growth rate and daphnid immobilization, growth and reproduction served as the chronic endpoints investigated. Results indicated that the dosing methods applied were effective for maintaining mean measured exposure concentrations within a factor of two or higher of the measured water solubility of the substances investigated. Chronic effects were not observed for hydrocarbons with an aqueous solubility below approximately 5 μg/L. This solubility cut-off corresponds to structures consisting of 13-14 carbons for branched and cyclic alkanes and 16-18 carbons for MANHs. These data support reliable hazard and risk evaluation of hydrocarbon classes that comprise petroleum substances and the methods described have broad applicability for establishing empirical solubility cut-offs for other classes of hydrophobic substances. Future work is needed to understand the role of biotransformation on the observed presence or absence of toxicity in chronic tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas F Parkerton
- ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Spring, TX, USA; Concawe, Environmental Management Group, Brussels, Belgium
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Aaron D Redman
- ExxonMobil Petroleum and Chemical, Machelen, Belgium; Concawe, Environmental Management Group, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Philipp Mayer
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Louise Camenzuli
- ExxonMobil Petroleum and Chemical, Machelen, Belgium; Concawe, Environmental Management Group, Brussels, Belgium
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18
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Escher BI, Neale PA. Effect-Based Trigger Values for Mixtures of Chemicals in Surface Water Detected with In Vitro Bioassays. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 2021; 40:487-499. [PMID: 33252775 DOI: 10.1002/etc.4944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2020] [Revised: 11/04/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Effect-based trigger (EBT) values for in vitro bioassays are important for surface water quality monitoring because they define the threshold between acceptable and poor water quality. They have been derived for highly specific bioassays, such as hormone-receptor activation in reporter gene bioassays, by reading across from existing chemical guideline values. This read-across method is not easily applicable to bioassays indicative of adaptive stress responses, which are triggered by many different chemicals, and activation of nuclear receptors for xenobiotic metabolism, to which many chemicals bind with rather low specificity. We propose an alternative approach to define the EBT from the distribution of specificity ratios of all active chemicals. The specificity ratio is the ratio between the predicted baseline toxicity of a chemical in a given bioassay and its measured specific endpoint. Unlike many previous read-across methods to derive EBTs, the proposed method accounts for mixture effects and includes all chemicals, not only high-potency chemicals. The EBTs were derived from a cytotoxicity EBT that was defined as equivalent to 1% of cytotoxicity in a native surface water sample. The cytotoxicity EBT was scaled by the median of the log-normal distribution of specificity ratios to derive the EBT for effects specific for each bioassay. We illustrate the new approach using the example of the AREc32 assay, indicative of the oxidative stress response, and 2 nuclear receptor assays targeting the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and the arylhydrocarbon receptor. The EBTs were less conservative than previously proposed but were able to differentiate untreated and insufficiently treated wastewater from wastewater treatment plant effluent with secondary or tertiary treatment and surface water. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:487-499. © 2020 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beate I Escher
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
- Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia
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19
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Henneberger L, Goss KU. Environmental Sorption Behavior of Ionic and Ionizable Organic Chemicals. REVIEWS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND TOXICOLOGY 2021; 253:43-64. [PMID: 31748892 DOI: 10.1007/398_2019_37] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Traditionally our tools for environmental risk assessment of organic chemicals have been developed for neutral chemicals. However, many commercial chemicals are ionic or ionizable and require different tools and approaches for their assessment. In recent years this task starts to obtain increasing attention but our understanding for their environmental fate is still far behind that for neutral chemicals. This review first gives an overview on the principles that govern ionic partitioning in environmental systems which are more complex than the simple partition processes of neutral chemicals. Second, a summary of our current knowledge on various topics such as bioaccumulation, sorption in soils, and nonspecific-toxicity reveals that ionic species can actually be quite hydrophobic contrary to commonly held beliefs. Eventually, we discuss existing models for the quantitative prediction of organic ions' sorption in soils and biota. We have to assert that the available model tools are quite restricted in their application range compared to neutral chemicals which is due to the higher complexity of the various ionic sorption processes. In order to further advance our understanding more high-quality sorption data are needed with a focus on multivalent and zwitterionic ions in all partition systems as well as cations in biological matrices.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kai-Uwe Goss
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
- Institute of Chemistry, University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.
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20
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Escher BI, Henneberger L, König M, Schlichting R, Fischer FC. Cytotoxicity Burst? Differentiating Specific from Nonspecific Effects in Tox21 in Vitro Reporter Gene Assays. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2020; 128:77007. [PMID: 32700975 PMCID: PMC7377237 DOI: 10.1289/ehp6664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2019] [Revised: 06/16/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND High-throughput screening of chemicals with in vitro reporter gene assays in Tox21 has produced a large database on cytotoxicity and specific modes of action. However, the validity of some of the reported activities is questionable due to the "cytotoxicity burst," which refers to the supposition that many stress responses are activated in a nonspecific way at concentrations close to cell death. OBJECTIVES We propose a pragmatic method to identify whether reporter gene activation is specific or cytotoxicity-triggered by comparing the measured effects with baseline toxicity. METHODS Baseline toxicity, also termed narcosis, is the minimal toxicity any chemical causes. Quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) developed for baseline toxicity in mammalian reporter gene cell lines served as anchors to define the chemical-specific threshold for the cytotoxicity burst and to evaluate the degree of specificity of the reporter gene activation. Measured 10% effect concentrations were related to measured or QSAR-predicted 10% cytotoxicity concentrations yielding specificity ratios (SR). We applied this approach to our own experimental data and to ∼ 8,000 chemicals that were tested in six of the high-throughput Tox21 reporter gene assays. RESULTS Confirmed baseline toxicants activated reporter gene activity around cytotoxic concentrations triggered by the cytotoxicity burst. In six Tox21 assays, 37%-87% of the active hits were presumably caused by the cytotoxicity burst (SR < 1 ) and only 2%-14% were specific with SR ≥ 10 against experimental cytotoxicity but 75%-97% were specific against baseline toxicity. This difference was caused by a large fraction of chemicals showing excess cytotoxicity. CONCLUSIONS The specificity analysis for measured in vitro effects identified whether a cytotoxicity burst had likely occurred. The SR-analysis not only prevented false positives, but it may also serve as measure for relative effect potency and can be used for quantitative in vitro-in vivo extrapolation and risk assessment of chemicals. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP6664.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beate I. Escher
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
- Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Luise Henneberger
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Maria König
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Rita Schlichting
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Fabian C. Fischer
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
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21
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Escher BI, Abagyan R, Embry M, Klüver N, Redman AD, Zarfl C, Parkerton TF. Recommendations for Improving Methods and Models for Aquatic Hazard Assessment of Ionizable Organic Chemicals. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 2020; 39:269-286. [PMID: 31569266 DOI: 10.1002/etc.4602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2019] [Revised: 09/04/2019] [Accepted: 09/20/2019] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Ionizable organic chemicals (IOCs) such as organic acids and bases are an important substance class requiring aquatic hazard evaluation. Although the aquatic toxicity of IOCs is highly dependent on the water pH, many toxicity studies in the literature cannot be interpreted because pH was not reported or not kept constant during the experiment, calling for an adaptation and improvement of testing guidelines. The modulating influence of pH on toxicity is mainly caused by pH-dependent uptake and bioaccumulation of IOCs, which can be described by ion-trapping and toxicokinetic models. The internal effect concentrations of IOCs were found to be independent of the external pH because of organisms' and cells' ability to maintain a stable internal pH milieu. If the external pH is close to the internal pH, existing quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) for neutral organics can be adapted by substituting the octanol-water partition coefficient by the ionization-corrected liposome-water distribution ratio as the hydrophobicity descriptor, demonstrated by modification of the target lipid model. Charged, zwitterionic and neutral species of an IOC can all contribute to observed toxicity, either through concentration-additive mixture effects or by interaction of different species, as is the case for uncoupling of mitochondrial respiration. For specifically acting IOCs, we recommend a 2-step screening procedure with ion-trapping/QSAR models used to predict the baseline toxicity, followed by adjustment using the toxic ratio derived from in vitro systems. Receptor- or plasma-binding models also show promise for elucidating IOC toxicity. The present review is intended to help demystify the ecotoxicity of IOCs and provide recommendations for their hazard and risk assessment. Environ Toxicol Chem 2020;39:269-286. © 2019 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beate I Escher
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
- Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ruben Abagyan
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Michelle Embry
- Health and Environmental Sciences Institute, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Nils Klüver
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Christiane Zarfl
- Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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22
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Hoondert RP, Oldenkamp R, de Zwart D, van de Meent D, Posthuma L. QSAR-Based Estimation of Species Sensitivity Distribution Parameters: An Exploratory Investigation. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 2019; 38:2764-2770. [PMID: 31553801 PMCID: PMC6900027 DOI: 10.1002/etc.4601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2019] [Revised: 08/30/2019] [Accepted: 09/17/2019] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Ecological risk assessments are hampered by limited availability of ecotoxicity data. The present study aimed to explore the possibility of deriving species sensitivity distribution (SSD) parameters for nontested compounds, based on simple physicochemical characteristics, known SSDs for data-rich compounds, and a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR)-type approach. The median toxicity of a data-poor chemical for species assemblages significantly varies with values of the physicochemical descriptors, especially when based on high-quality SSD data (from either acute median effect concentrations or chronic no-observed-effect concentrations). Beyond exploratory uses, we discuss how the precision of QSAR-based SSDs can be improved to construct models that accurately predict the SSD parameters of data-poor chemicals. The current models show that the concept of QSAR-based SSDs supports screening-level evaluations of the potential ecotoxicity of compounds for which data are lacking. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:2764-2770. © 2019 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renske P.J. Hoondert
- RIVM, Centre for SustainabilityEnvironment and HealthBilthovenThe Netherlands
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of ScienceRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Rik Oldenkamp
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of ScienceRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | | | - Dik van de Meent
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of ScienceRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
- ARESOdijkThe Netherlands
| | - Leo Posthuma
- RIVM, Centre for SustainabilityEnvironment and HealthBilthovenThe Netherlands
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of ScienceRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
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23
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Lin S, Yang X, Liu H. Development of liposome/water partition coefficients predictive models for neutral and ionogenic organic chemicals. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2019; 179:40-49. [PMID: 31026749 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.04.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2019] [Revised: 04/06/2019] [Accepted: 04/11/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Membrane/water partition coefficient (Km/w) is a vital parameter used to characterize the membrane permeability of compounds. Considering the Km/w value is difficult to observe experimentally for real biological membranes, liposome/water partition coefficient (Klip/w) is employed to approximate Km/w. Here, quantitative structure property relationship (QSPR) models for logKlip/w of the neutral organic chemicals and the neutral form of ionogenic organic chemicals (IOCs) (logKlip/w-neutral), ionic form of IOCs (logKlip/w-ionic), the speciation-corrected liposome-water distribution ratios at a pH = 7.40 (logDlip/w-(pH=7.40)) were developed. In the modeling, two modeling methods (multiple linear regressions (MLR) and k-nearest neighbor (kNN)) were used. The predictive variables employed here could be calculated from the molecular structure directly. For logKlip/w-neutral and logDlip/w-(pH=7.40), the logKOW and logDOW-based, non-logKOW and non-logDOW-based kNN-QSPR and MLR-QSPR models were developed, respectively. The evaluation results implied that the predictive performance of kNN-QSPR models is better than that of MLR-QSPR models. For logKlip/w-ionic, only one acceptable MLR-QSPR model was developed for cation and anion, respectively. The model quality of the derived models was evaluated following the OECD QSPR models validation guideline. The determination coefficient (R2), leave-one-out cross validation Q2 (Q2LOO) and bootstrapping coefficient (Q2BOOT), the external validation coefficient (Q2EXT) of all the models met the acceptable criteria (Q2 > 0.600, R2 > 0.700); while the root-mean-square error (RMSE) range from 0.351 to 0.857. All the results implied that the models had good goodness-of-fit, robustness and predictive ability. Therefore, the developed models could be used to fill the data gap for substances within the applicability domain on their missing logKlip/w-neutral, logKlip/w-ionic, logDlip/w-(pH=7.40) values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiyu Lin
- Key Laboratory of New Membrane Materials, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China
| | - Xianhai Yang
- Key Laboratory of New Membrane Materials, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China.
| | - Huihui Liu
- Key Laboratory of New Membrane Materials, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China.
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24
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Cerro-Gálvez E, Sala MM, Marrasé C, Gasol JM, Dachs J, Vila-Costa M. Modulation of microbial growth and enzymatic activities in the marine environment due to exposure to organic contaminants of emerging concern and hydrocarbons. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 678:486-498. [PMID: 31077927 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2019] [Revised: 04/24/2019] [Accepted: 04/24/2019] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Organic pollutants are continuously being introduced in seawater with uncharacterized impacts on the engines of the marine biogeochemical cycles, the microorganisms. The effects on marine microbial communities were assessed for perfluoroalkyl substances, organophosphate esters flame retardants and plasticizers, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and n-alkanes. Dose-response experiments were performed at three stations and at three depths in the NW Mediterranean with contrasted nutrient and pollutant concentrations. In these experiments, the microbial growth rates, the abundances of the main bacterial groups, measured by Catalyzed Reporter Deposition Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (CARD-FISH), and extracellular enzymatic activities, were quantified. Increasing concentrations of organic pollutants (OPs) promoted different responses in the communities that were compound, organism and nutrient availability (trophic status). The largest differences between OP treatments and controls in the growth rates of both heterotrophic and phototrophic microbial groups were observed in seawater from the deep chlorophyll maxima. Furthermore, there was a compound specific stimulation of different extracellular enzymatic activities after the exposure to OPs. Our results revealed that marine microbial communities reacted not only to hydrocarbons, known to be used as a carbon source, but also to low concentrations of organic pollutants of emerging concern in a complex manner, reflecting the variability of various environmental variables. Multiple linear regressions suggested that organic pollutants modulated the bacterial growth and extracellular enzymatic activities, but this modulation was of lower magnitude than the observed pronounced response of the microbial community to nutrient availability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Cerro-Gálvez
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
| | - M Montserrat Sala
- Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography, ICM-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Cèlia Marrasé
- Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography, ICM-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Josep M Gasol
- Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography, ICM-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain; Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia
| | - Jordi Dachs
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Maria Vila-Costa
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain.
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25
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Escher BI, Glauch L, König M, Mayer P, Schlichting R. Baseline Toxicity and Volatility Cutoff in Reporter Gene Assays Used for High-Throughput Screening. Chem Res Toxicol 2019; 32:1646-1655. [PMID: 31313575 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.9b00182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Most studies using high-throughput in vitro cell-based bioassays tested chemicals up to a certain fixed concentration. It would be more appropriate to test up to concentrations predicted to elicit baseline toxicity because this is the minimal toxicity of every chemical. Baseline toxicity is also called narcosis and refers to nonspecific intercalation of chemicals in biological membranes, leading to loss of membrane structure and impaired functioning of membrane-related processes such as mitochondrial respiration. In cells, baseline toxicity manifests as cytotoxicity, which was quantified by a robust live-cell imaging method. Inhibitory concentrations for baseline toxicity varied by orders of magnitude between chemicals and were described by a simple quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) with the liposome-water partition constant as a sole descriptor. The QSAR equations were remarkably similar for eight reporter gene cell lines of different cellular origin, six of which were used in Tox21. Mass-balance models indicated constant critical membrane concentrations for all cells and all chemicals with a mean of 69 mmol·kglip-1(95% CI: 49-89), which is in the same range as for bacteria and aquatic organisms and consistent with the theory of critical membrane burden of narcosis. The challenge of developing baseline QSARs for cell lines is that many confirmed baseline toxicants are rather volatile. We deduced from cytotoxicity experiments with semi-volatile chemicals that only chemicals with medium-air partition constants >10,000 L/L can be tested in standard robotic setups without appreciable loss of effect. Chemicals just below that cutoff showed crossover effects in neighboring wells, whereas the effects of chemicals with lower medium-air partition constants were plainly lost. Applying the "volatility cut-off" to >8000 chemicals tested in Tox21 indicated that approximately 20% of Tox21 chemicals could have partially been lost during the experiments. We recommend applying the baseline QSARs together with volatility cut-offs for experimental planning of reporter gene assays, that is, to dose only chemicals with medium-air partition constants >10,000 at concentrations up to the baseline toxicity level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beate I Escher
- Department of Cell Toxicology , Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ , Permoserstr. 15 , DE-04318 Leipzig , Germany.,Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geoscience , Eberhard Karls University Tübingen , Hölderlinstr. 12 , DE-72074 Tübingen , Germany
| | - Lisa Glauch
- Department of Cell Toxicology , Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ , Permoserstr. 15 , DE-04318 Leipzig , Germany
| | - Maria König
- Department of Cell Toxicology , Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ , Permoserstr. 15 , DE-04318 Leipzig , Germany
| | - Philipp Mayer
- Department of Environmental Engineering , Technical University of Denmark , Bygningstorvet 115 , DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby , Denmark
| | - Rita Schlichting
- Department of Cell Toxicology , Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ , Permoserstr. 15 , DE-04318 Leipzig , Germany
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26
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Bittner L, Klüver N, Henneberger L, Mühlenbrink M, Zarfl C, Escher BI. Combined Ion-Trapping and Mass Balance Models To Describe the pH-Dependent Uptake and Toxicity of Acidic and Basic Pharmaceuticals in Zebrafish Embryos ( Danio rerio). ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2019; 53:7877-7886. [PMID: 31177773 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b02563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
The aim of the current study was to understand and develop models to predict the pH-dependent toxicity of ionizable pharmaceuticals in embryos of the zebrafish Danio rerio. We found a higher uptake and toxicity with increasing neutral fraction of acids (diclofenac, genistein, naproxen, torasemide, and warfarin) and bases (metoprolol and propranolol). Simple mass balance models accounting for the partitioning to lipids and proteins in the zebrafish embryo were found to be suitable to predict the bioconcentration after 96 h of exposure if pH values did not differ much from the internal pH of 7.55. For other pH values, a kinetic ion-trap model for the zebrafish embryo explained the pH dependence of biouptake and toxicity. The total internal lethal concentrations killing 50% of the zebrafish embryos (ILC50) were calculated from the measured BCF and LC50. The resulting ILC50 were independent of external pH. Critical membrane concentrations were deduced by an internal mass balance model, and apart from diclofenac, whose specific toxicity in fish had already been established, all pharmaceuticals were confirmed to act as baseline toxicants in zebrafish.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Bittner
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ , Permoserstrasse 15 , 04318 Leipzig , Germany
| | - Nils Klüver
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ , Permoserstrasse 15 , 04318 Leipzig , Germany
| | - Luise Henneberger
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ , Permoserstrasse 15 , 04318 Leipzig , Germany
| | - Marie Mühlenbrink
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ , Permoserstrasse 15 , 04318 Leipzig , Germany
| | - Christiane Zarfl
- Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen , Center for Applied Geoscience , Hölderlinstrasse 12 , 72074 Tübingen , Germany
| | - Beate I Escher
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ , Permoserstrasse 15 , 04318 Leipzig , Germany
- Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen , Center for Applied Geoscience , Hölderlinstrasse 12 , 72074 Tübingen , Germany
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27
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Ndabambi M, Kwon JH. Application of an algal growth inhibition assay to determine distribution coefficients of benzalkonium ions between kaolinite and water. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2019; 174:491-497. [PMID: 30856561 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2018] [Revised: 02/23/2019] [Accepted: 03/03/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Benzalkonium compounds are widely used and found in environmental samples. Due to their amphiphilic nature, it is important to know sorption coefficients to account their bioavailability. However, currently available models describing their partitioning were developed using low molecular weight homologues and it cannot be ascertained whether they are applicable to their higher molecular weight homologues. Reasons for the scarcity of data on highly sorptive compounds include the lack of reliable quantification techniques for analyzing these chemicals at environmentally relevant levels. This study, therefore, reports on an algal growth inhibition assay-based method for the determination of kaolinite/water distribution coefficients for benzalkonium compounds at their environmentally relevant concentration range. Sorption to clay was computed using the difference between median effective concentration determined in a culture with kaolinite and that derived from a culture grown in standard medium. A kinetic model was used to account for uptake into algal cells and to calculate free concentrations. Due to the sensitivity of the algal species, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, it was possible to determine distribution coefficients below micromole per liter concentrations. The computed distribution coefficients showed a linear increase with number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain up to 14. The proposed bioassay-based method should be applicable to determine distribution coefficients for highly hydrophobic chemicals and ionic liquids at a concentration range lower than typical analytical limits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mlamuli Ndabambi
- Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Anam-ro 145, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea
| | - Jung-Hwan Kwon
- Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Anam-ro 145, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea.
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28
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Bittner L, Teixidó E, Keddi I, Escher BI, Klüver N. pH-Dependent Uptake and Sublethal Effects of Antihistamines in Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Embryos. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 2019; 38:1012-1022. [PMID: 30779379 DOI: 10.1002/etc.4395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2018] [Revised: 01/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Reported off-target effects of antihistamines in humans draw interest in ecotoxicity testing of first- and second-generation antihistamines, the latter of which have fewer reported side effects in humans. Because antihistamines are ionizable compounds, the pH influences uptake and toxicity and thus is highly relevant when conducting toxicity experiments. Zebrafish embryo toxicity tests were performed with the 3 first-generation antihistamines ketotifen, doxylamine, and dimethindene and the 2 second-generation antihistamines cetirizine and levocabastine at pH 5.5, 7.0, and 8.0. We detected effects on survival, phenotype, swimming activity, and heart rate for 4 antihistamines with the exception of levocabastine, which did not show any lethal or sublethal effects. When compared to lethal concentrations, effect concentrations neither of phenotype malformation nor of swimming activity or heart rate deviated by more than a factor of 10 from lethal concentrations, indicating that all sublethal effects were fairly nonspecific. First-generation antihistamines are weak bases and showed decreasing external effect concentrations with increasing neutral fraction, accompanied by increased uptake in the fish embryo. As a result, internal effect concentrations were independent from external pH. The pH-dependent toxicity originates from speciation-dependent uptake, with neutral species taken up in higher amounts than the corresponding ionic species. Cetirizine, which shifts from a zwitterionic to an anionic state in the measured pH range, did not show any pH-dependent uptake or toxicity. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;00:1-11. © 2019 SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Bittner
- Department Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Elisabet Teixidó
- Department Bioanalytical Toxicology, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Isabel Keddi
- Department Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Beate I Escher
- Department Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
- Department Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Nils Klüver
- Department Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
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29
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Kang HJ, Jung Y, Kwon JH. Changes in ecotoxicity of naphthalene and alkylated naphthalenes during photodegradation in water. CHEMOSPHERE 2019; 222:656-664. [PMID: 30731386 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.01.153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2018] [Revised: 12/26/2018] [Accepted: 01/25/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Crude oil released into the environment contains many polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Alkylated PAHs are more abundant than unsubstituted PAHs and their toxicity is also of serious concern. Among the various physical, chemical, and biological weathering processes of crude oils, photodegradation is one of the most important for determining the environmental fate of oil residues. In this study, the photodegradation rate constants of naphthalene and alkylated naphthalenes were determined under simulated laboratory conditions at different temperature. Changes in the luminescence inhibition of Aliivibrio fischeri, as an indicator of the baseline toxicity, were observed in photodegradation mixtures. The major transformation products were also identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The photodegradation of naphthalene and the eight alkylated naphthalenes was described well by pseudo-first-order kinetics regardless of experimental temperature. The measured toxicity of the reaction mixtures obtained by photodegradative weathering slightly increased initially and then decreased with further weathering. In all cases, the observed toxicity was greater than accounted for by the parent compounds, indicating that the photodegradation products also contributed significantly to the overall toxicity of the mixtures. The identified photodegradation products were mostly oxygenated compounds such as alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, and quinones, which warrant further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyun-Joong Kang
- Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea
| | - Yerin Jung
- Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea
| | - Jung-Hwan Kwon
- Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea.
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30
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Cerro-Gálvez E, Casal P, Lundin D, Piña B, Pinhassi J, Dachs J, Vila-Costa M. Microbial responses to anthropogenic dissolved organic carbon in the Arctic and Antarctic coastal seawaters. Environ Microbiol 2019; 21:1466-1481. [PMID: 30838733 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.14580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2018] [Revised: 02/21/2019] [Accepted: 03/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Thousands of semi-volatile hydrophobic organic pollutants (OPs) reach open oceans through atmospheric deposition, causing a chronic and ubiquitous pollution by anthropogenic dissolved organic carbon (ADOC). Hydrophobic ADOC accumulates in cellular lipids, inducing harmful effects on marine biota, and can be partially prone to microbial degradation. Unfortunately, their possible effects on microorganisms, key drivers of global biogeochemical cycles, remain unknown. We challenged coastal microbial communities from Ny-Ålesund (Arctic) and Livingston Island (Antarctica) with ADOC concentrations within the range of oceanic concentrations in 24 h. ADOC addition elicited clear transcriptional responses in multiple microbial heterotrophic metabolisms in ubiquitous groups such as Flavobacteriia, Gammaproteobacteria and SAR11. Importantly, a suite of cellular adaptations and detoxifying mechanisms, including remodelling of membrane lipids and transporters, was detected. ADOC exposure also changed the composition of microbial communities, through stimulation of rare biosphere taxa. Many of these taxa belong to recognized OPs degraders. This work shows that ADOC at environmentally relevant concentrations substantially influences marine microbial communities. Given that emissions of organic pollutants are growing during the Anthropocene, the results shown here suggest an increasing influence of ADOC on the structure of microbial communities and the biogeochemical cycles regulated by marine microbes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Cerro-Gálvez
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona, 08034, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Paulo Casal
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona, 08034, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Daniel Lundin
- Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems, EEMiS, Linnaeus University, Barlastgatan 11, 39182, Kalmar, Sweden
| | - Benjamin Piña
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona, 08034, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Jarone Pinhassi
- Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems, EEMiS, Linnaeus University, Barlastgatan 11, 39182, Kalmar, Sweden
| | - Jordi Dachs
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona, 08034, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Maria Vila-Costa
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona, 08034, Catalunya, Spain
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31
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Klüver N, Bittermann K, Escher BI. QSAR for baseline toxicity and classification of specific modes of action of ionizable organic chemicals in the zebrafish embryo toxicity test. AQUATIC TOXICOLOGY (AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS) 2019; 207:110-119. [PMID: 30557756 DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2018.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Revised: 12/03/2018] [Accepted: 12/04/2018] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
The fish embryo toxicity (FET) test with the zebrafish Danio rerio is widely used to assess the acute toxicity of chemicals thereby serving as animal alternative to the acute fish toxicity test. The minimal toxicity of neutral chemicals in the FET can be predicted with a previously published Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) based on the liposome-water partition coefficient Klipw. Such a QSAR may serve to plan toxicity testing and to evaluate whether an observed effect is caused by a specific mode of action (MoA). The applicability domain of this QSAR was extended to ionizable organic chemicals (IOC) without any modification of slope and intercept simply by replacing the Klipw with the speciation-corrected liposome-water distribution ratio (Dlipw(pH)) as descriptor for the uptake into the embryo. FET LC50 values of IOCs were extracted from an existing FET database and published literature. IOCs were selected that are present concomitantly as neutral and charged, species, i.e., acids with an acidity constant pKa <10 and bases with pKa>5. IOCs were grouped according to their putative MoA of acute aquatic toxicity. The toxic ratios (TR) in the FET were derived by of the experimental FET-LC50 in comparison with the baseline toxicity QSAR. Baseline toxicants were confirmed to align well with the FET baseline toxicity QSAR (TR < 10). Chemicals identified to act as specific or reactive chemicals with the toxic ratio analysis in the FET test (TR > 10) were generally consistent with MoA classification for acute fish toxicity with a few exceptions that were suspected to have had issues with the stability of the pH during testing. One critical aspect for the effect analysis of ionizable chemicals is the pH, since the difference between pH and pKa determines the speciation and thereby the Dlipw(pH).
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Affiliation(s)
- Nils Klüver
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Kai Bittermann
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Beate I Escher
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Center for Applied Geoscience, Environmental Toxicology Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany
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32
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Droge STJ. Membrane-Water Partition Coefficients to Aid Risk Assessment of Perfluoroalkyl Anions and Alkyl Sulfates. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2019; 53:760-770. [PMID: 30572703 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b05052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
This study determined the sorption affinity to artificial phospholipid membranes ( KMW) for series of perfluorinated carboxylates (PFCAs), perfluorinated sulfonates (PFSAs), alkyl sulfates (C xSO4), and 1-alkanesulfonates (C xSO3). A sorbent dilution assay with solid supported lipid membranes (SSLM) showed consistent CF2 unit increments of 0.59, and CH2 unit increments of 0.53, for the log KMW of perfluorinated and hydrogenated anions, respectively. PFSAs sorbed 0.90 log units stronger than analogue PFCAs; C xSO4 sorbed 0.75 log units stronger than analogue C xSO3 anions. The log KMW values for the octyl analogues increase in the order H(CH2)8SO3- (1.74) < H(CH2)8SO4- (2.58) < F(CF2)8CO2- (PFNA, 4.04) < F(CF2)8SO3- (PFOS, 4.88). Intrinsic partition ratios determined on a phospholipid coated HPLC column (IAM-HPLC) closely aligned with SSLM KMW values. COSMO-RS based molecular calculations of KMW aligned with SSLM KMW values for hydrogenated anions with C8-C14 alkyl chains but strongly underestimated CF2 and CH2 unit increments for C4-C8 based anions. Dividing the critical narcotic membrane burden of 100 mmol/kg by the experimental KMW predicts lethal baseline toxicity concentrations (LC50,narc). The LC50,narc coincides with the lowest reported acute LC50 values for several anionic surfactants but were on average about an order of magnitude lower.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven T J Droge
- Department of Freshwater and Marine Ecology (FAME), Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) , Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) , Science Park 904 , 1098XH Amsterdam , Netherlands
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33
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Prediction of the Toxicity of Binary Mixtures by QSAR Approach Using the Hypothetical Descriptors. Int J Mol Sci 2018; 19:ijms19113423. [PMID: 30384505 PMCID: PMC6274693 DOI: 10.3390/ijms19113423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2018] [Revised: 10/25/2018] [Accepted: 10/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Organic compounds are often exposed to the environment, and have an adverse effect on the environment and human health in the form of mixtures, rather than as single chemicals. In this paper, we try to establish reliable and developed classical quantitative structure⁻activity relationship (QSAR) models to evaluate the toxicity of 99 binary mixtures. The derived QSAR models were built by forward stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR) and nonlinear radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs) using the hypothetical descriptors, respectively. The statistical parameters of the MLR model provided were N (number of compounds in training set) = 79, R² (the correlation coefficient between the predicted and observed activities)= 0.869, LOOq² (leave-one-out correlation coefficient) = 0.864, F (Fisher's test) = 165.494, and RMS (root mean square) = 0.599 for the training set, and Next (number of compounds in external test set) = 20, R² = 0.853, qext2 (leave-one-out correlation coefficient for test set)= 0.825, F = 30.861, and RMS = 0.691 for the external test set. The RBFNN model gave the statistical results, namely N = 79, R² = 0.925, LOOq² = 0.924, F = 950.686, RMS = 0.447 for the training set, and Next = 20, R² = 0.896, qext2 = 0.890, F = 155.424, RMS = 0.547 for the external test set. Both of the MLR and RBFNN models were evaluated by some statistical parameters and methods. The results confirm that the built models are acceptable, and can be used to predict the toxicity of the binary mixtures.
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Redman AD, Parkerton TF, Butler JD, Letinski DJ, Frank RA, Hewitt LM, Bartlett AJ, Gillis PL, Marentette JR, Parrott JL, Hughes SA, Guest R, Bekele A, Zhang K, Morandi G, Wiseman S, Giesy JP. Application of the Target Lipid Model and Passive Samplers to Characterize the Toxicity of Bioavailable Organics in Oil Sands Process-Affected Water. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2018; 52:8039-8049. [PMID: 29902380 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b00614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Oil sand operations in Alberta, Canada will eventually include returning treated process-affected waters to the environment. Organic constituents in oil sand process-affected water (OSPW) represent complex mixtures of nonionic and ionic (e.g., naphthenic acids) compounds, and compositions can vary spatially and temporally, which has impeded development of water quality benchmarks. To address this challenge, it was hypothesized that solid phase microextraction fibers coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) could be used as a biomimetic extraction (BE) to measure bioavailable organics in OSPW. Organic constituents of OSPW were assumed to contribute additively to toxicity, and partitioning to PDMS was assumed to be predictive of accumulation in target lipids, which were the presumed site of action. This method was tested using toxicity data for individual model compounds, defined mixtures, and organic mixtures extracted from OSPW. Toxicity was correlated with BE data, which supports the use of this method in hazard assessments of acute lethality to aquatic organisms. A species sensitivity distribution (SSD), based on target lipid model and BE values, was similar to SSDs based on residues in tissues for both nonionic and ionic organics. BE was shown to be an analytical tool that accounts for bioaccumulation of organic compound mixtures from which toxicity can be predicted, with the potential to aid in the development of water quality guidelines.
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Affiliation(s)
- A D Redman
- ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc. , Annandale , New Jersey 08801 , United States
| | - T F Parkerton
- ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc. , Spring , Texas 77339 , United States
| | - J D Butler
- ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc. , Annandale , New Jersey 08801 , United States
| | - D J Letinski
- ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc. , Annandale , New Jersey 08801 , United States
| | - R A Frank
- Environment and Climate Change Canada , Burlington , Ontario L7S 1A1 , Canada
| | - L M Hewitt
- Environment and Climate Change Canada , Burlington , Ontario L7S 1A1 , Canada
| | - A J Bartlett
- Environment and Climate Change Canada , Burlington , Ontario L7S 1A1 , Canada
| | - P L Gillis
- Environment and Climate Change Canada , Burlington , Ontario L7S 1A1 , Canada
| | - J R Marentette
- Environment and Climate Change Canada , Burlington , Ontario L7S 1A1 , Canada
| | - J L Parrott
- Environment and Climate Change Canada , Burlington , Ontario L7S 1A1 , Canada
| | - S A Hughes
- Shell Health-Americas , Houston , Texas 77002 , United States
- Department of Biological Sciences , University of Alberta , Edmonton , Alberta T6G 1H9 , Canada
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation , Clemson University , Clemson , South Carolina 29634 , United States
| | - R Guest
- Suncor Energy , Calgary , Alberta T2P 3E3 , Canada
| | - A Bekele
- Imperial, Heavy Oil Mining Research , Calgary , Alberta T2C 4P3 , Canada
| | - K Zhang
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine , Brigham and Women's Hospital , Boston , Massachusetts 02115 , United States
| | - G Morandi
- Toxicology Centre , University of Saskatchewan , Saskatoon , Saskatchewan S7N 5A2 , Canada
| | - S Wiseman
- Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences and Toxicology Centre , University of Saskatchewan , Saskatoon , Saskatchewan S7N 5B3 , Canada
| | - J P Giesy
- Toxicology Centre , University of Saskatchewan , Saskatoon , Saskatchewan S7N 5A2 , Canada
- Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences and Toxicology Centre , University of Saskatchewan , Saskatoon , Saskatchewan S7N 5B3 , Canada
- Department of Zoology, and Center for Integrative Toxicology , Michigan State University , East Lansing , Michigan 48824 , United States
- School of Biological Sciences , University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong SAR 999077 , China
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment , Nanjing University , Nanjing 210023 , People's Republic of China
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van de Merwe JP, Neale PA, Melvin SD, Leusch FDL. In vitro bioassays reveal that additives are significant contributors to the toxicity of commercial household pesticides. AQUATIC TOXICOLOGY (AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS) 2018; 199:263-268. [PMID: 29677588 DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2018.03.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2017] [Revised: 03/26/2018] [Accepted: 03/27/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Pesticides commonly used around households can contain additives of unknown concentrations and toxicity. Given the likelihood of these chemicals washing into urban waterways, it is important to understand the effects that these additives may have on aquatic organisms. The aim of this study was to compare the toxicity of commercially available household pesticides to that of the active ingredient(s) alone. The toxicity of five household pesticides (three herbicides and two insecticides) was investigated using a bacterial cytotoxicity bioassay and an algal photosynthesis bioassay. The commercial products were up to an order of magnitude more toxic than the active ingredient(s) alone. In addition, two commercial products with the same listed active ingredients in the same ratio had a 600× difference in potency. These results clearly demonstrate that additives in commercial formulations are significant contributors to the toxicity of household pesticides. The toxicity of pesticides in aquatic systems is therefore likely underestimated by conventional chemical monitoring and risk assessment when only the active ingredients are considered. Regulators and customers should require more clarity from pesticide manufacturers about the nature and concentrations of not only the active ingredients, but also additives used in commercial formulations. In addition, monitoring programmes and chemical risk assessments schemes should develop a structured approach to assessing the toxic effects of commercial formulations, including additives, rather than simply those of the listed active ingredients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason P van de Merwe
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Qld 4222, Australia.
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Steven D Melvin
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Qld 4222, Australia
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Liu C, Gin KYH. Immunotoxicity in green mussels under perfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure: Reversible response and response model development. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 2018; 37:1138-1145. [PMID: 29405365 DOI: 10.1002/etc.4060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2017] [Revised: 07/19/2017] [Accepted: 12/06/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The immunotoxicity of 4 commonly detected perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), namely, perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) was investigated by measuring biomarkers of the immune profile of green mussels, Perna viridis. The biomarkers included neutral red retention, phagocytosis, and spontaneous cytotoxicity, all of which were tested on mussel hemocytes. Hemocytes are an important component of the invertebrate immune system. We found that exposure to PFASs could lead to reduced hemocyte cell viability and suppress immune function by up to 50% of normal performance within the experimental exposure range. The results indicate that PFASs have an immunotoxic potential and thus could pose severe health risks to aquatic organisms. The reported immunotoxicity is likely to result from the compounds' direct and indirect interactions with the hemocyte membrane, and therefore likely to affect the functionality of these cells. The immunotoxic response was found to be related to the organism's burden of PFASs, and was reversible when the compounds were removed from the test organisms. Based on this relationship, models using an organism's PFAS concentration and bioaccumulation factor (BAF) as the independent variables were established to quantify PFAS-induced immunotoxicity. The models help us to gain a better understanding of the toxic mechanism of PFASs, and provide a tool to evaluate adverse effects for the whole group of compounds with one mathematical equation. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:1138-1145. © 2018 SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Changhui Liu
- NUS Environmental Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Karina Yew-Hoong Gin
- NUS Environmental Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore
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37
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Scholz S, Schreiber R, Armitage J, Mayer P, Escher BI, Lidzba A, Léonard M, Altenburger R. Meta-analysis of fish early life stage tests-Association of toxic ratios and acute-to-chronic ratios with modes of action. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 2018; 37:955-969. [PMID: 29350428 DOI: 10.1002/etc.4090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2017] [Revised: 12/30/2018] [Accepted: 01/12/2018] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Fish early life stage (ELS) tests (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development test guideline 210) are widely conducted to estimate chronic fish toxicity. In these tests, fish are exposed from the embryonic to the juvenile life stages. To analyze whether certain modes of action are related to high toxic ratios (i.e., ratios between baseline toxicity and experimental effect) and/or acute-to-chronic ratios (ACRs) in the fish ELS test, effect concentrations (ECs) for 183 compounds were extracted from the US Environmental Protection Agency's ecotoxicity database. Analysis of ECs of narcotic compounds indicated that baseline toxicity could be observed in the fish ELS test at similar concentrations as in the acute fish toxicity test. All nonnarcotic modes of action were associated with higher toxic ratios, with median values ranging from 4 to 9.3 × 104 (uncoupling < reactivity < neuromuscular toxicity < methemoglobin formation < endocrine disruption < extracellular matrix formation inhibition). Four modes of action were also found to be associated with high ACRs: 1) lysyl oxidase inhibition leading to notochord distortion, 2) putative methemoglobin formation or hemolytic anemia, 3) endocrine disruption, and 4) compounds with neuromuscular toxicity. For the prediction of ECs in the fish ELS test with alternative test systems, endpoints targeted to the modes of action of compounds with enhanced toxic ratios or ACRs could be used to trigger fish ELS tests or even replace these tests. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:955-969. © 2018 SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Scholz
- Department of Bioanalytical Ecotoxicology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Rene Schreiber
- Department of Bioanalytical Ecotoxicology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany
| | - James Armitage
- Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Philipp Mayer
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Beate I Escher
- Department of Cell Toxicology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany
- Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Annegret Lidzba
- Department of Bioanalytical Ecotoxicology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Marc Léonard
- Environmental Research Department, L'Oréal Advanced Research, Aulnay sous Bois, France
| | - Rolf Altenburger
- Department of Bioanalytical Ecotoxicology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute for Environmental Research (Biology V), RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
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38
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Neale PA, Altenburger R, Aït-Aïssa S, Brion F, Busch W, de Aragão Umbuzeiro G, Denison MS, Du Pasquier D, Hilscherová K, Hollert H, Morales DA, Novák J, Schlichting R, Seiler TB, Serra H, Shao Y, Tindall AJ, Tollefsen KE, Williams TD, Escher BI. Development of a bioanalytical test battery for water quality monitoring: Fingerprinting identified micropollutants and their contribution to effects in surface water. WATER RESEARCH 2017; 123:734-750. [PMID: 28728110 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 151] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2017] [Revised: 06/04/2017] [Accepted: 07/07/2017] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Surface waters can contain a diverse range of organic pollutants, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals and industrial compounds. While bioassays have been used for water quality monitoring, there is limited knowledge regarding the effects of individual micropollutants and their relationship to the overall mixture effect in water samples. In this study, a battery of in vitro bioassays based on human and fish cell lines and whole organism assays using bacteria, algae, daphnids and fish embryos was assembled for use in water quality monitoring. The selection of bioassays was guided by the principles of adverse outcome pathways in order to cover relevant steps in toxicity pathways known to be triggered by environmental water samples. The effects of 34 water pollutants, which were selected based on hazard quotients, available environmental quality standards and mode of action information, were fingerprinted in the bioassay test battery. There was a relatively good agreement between the experimental results and available literature effect data. The majority of the chemicals were active in the assays indicative of apical effects, while fewer chemicals had a response in the specific reporter gene assays, but these effects were typically triggered at lower concentrations. The single chemical effect data were used to improve published mixture toxicity modeling of water samples from the Danube River. While there was a slight increase in the fraction of the bioanalytical equivalents explained for the Danube River samples, for some endpoints less than 1% of the observed effect could be explained by the studied chemicals. The new mixture models essentially confirmed previous findings from many studies monitoring water quality using both chemical analysis and bioanalytical tools. In short, our results indicate that many more chemicals contribute to the biological effect than those that are typically quantified by chemical monitoring programs or those regulated by environmental quality standards. This study not only demonstrates the utility of fingerprinting single chemicals for an improved understanding of the biological effect of pollutants, but also highlights the need to apply bioassays for water quality monitoring in order to prevent underestimation of the overall biological effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, 4222, Australia; The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), Brisbane, QLD, 4108, Australia
| | - Rolf Altenburger
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Selim Aït-Aïssa
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques INERIS, Unité d'Ecotoxicologie, 60550, Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - François Brion
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques INERIS, Unité d'Ecotoxicologie, 60550, Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Wibke Busch
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Michael S Denison
- Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, United States
| | - David Du Pasquier
- WatchFrog, Bâtiment Genavenir 3, 1 rue Pierre Fontaine, 91000 Evry, France
| | - Klára Hilscherová
- Masaryk University, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Kamenice 753/5, 62500 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Henner Hollert
- Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Daniel A Morales
- School of Technology, University of Campinas, Limeira, SP, 13484-332, Brazil
| | - Jiří Novák
- Masaryk University, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Kamenice 753/5, 62500 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Rita Schlichting
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Thomas-Benjamin Seiler
- Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Helene Serra
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques INERIS, Unité d'Ecotoxicologie, 60550, Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Ying Shao
- Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Andrew J Tindall
- WatchFrog, Bâtiment Genavenir 3, 1 rue Pierre Fontaine, 91000 Evry, France
| | - Knut Erik Tollefsen
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research NIVA, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349 Oslo, Norway
| | - Timothy D Williams
- School of Biosciences, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Beate I Escher
- The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), Brisbane, QLD, 4108, Australia; UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geosciences, 72074 Tübingen, Germany.
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Bittermann K, Goss KU. Assessing the toxicity of ionic liquids - Application of the critical membrane concentration approach. CHEMOSPHERE 2017; 183:410-418. [PMID: 28554025 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.05.097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2017] [Revised: 05/13/2017] [Accepted: 05/15/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Charged organic chemicals are a prevailing challenge for toxicity modelling. In this contribution we strive to recapitulate the lessons learned from the well-known modelling of narcosis (or baseline toxicity) of neutral chemicals and apply the concept to charged chemicals. First we reevaluate the organism- and chemical independent critical membrane concentration causing 50% mortality,.cmemtox, based on a critical revision of a previously published toxicity dataset for neutral chemicals. In accordance to values reported in the literature we find a mean value for cmemtox of roughly 100 mmol/kg (membrane lipid) for a broad variety of 42 aquatic organisms (333 different chemicals), albeit with a considerable scatter. Then we apply this concept to permanently charged ionic liquids (ILs). Using COSMOmic, a quantum mechanically based mechanistic model that makes use of the COSMO-RS theory, we predict membrane-water partition coefficients (Kmem/w) of the anionic and cationic IL components. Doing so, cmemtox(total) for permanently charged ILs can be estimated assuming independent, concentration additive contributions of the cationic and its respective anionic species. The resulting values for some of the toxicity data for ionic liquids are consistent with the expected range for baseline toxicity for neutral chemicals while other values are consistently greater or smaller. Based on the calculation of toxic ratios we identify ILs that exert a specific mode of toxic action. Limitations of the modelling approach especially but not exclusively due to the use of nominal concentrations instead of freely-dissolved concentrations in the published literature are critically discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Bittermann
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstr. 15, D-04318 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Kai-Uwe Goss
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstr. 15, D-04318 Leipzig, Germany; University of Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Chemistry, Kurt Mothes Str. 2, D-06120 Halle, Germany.
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Di Nica V, Gallet J, Villa S, Mezzanotte V. Toxicity of Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (QACs) as single compounds and mixtures to aquatic non-target microorganisms: Experimental data and predictive models. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2017; 142:567-577. [PMID: 28494277 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2017.04.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2017] [Revised: 03/24/2017] [Accepted: 04/13/2017] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
The toxic effects of five Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (QACs) that are widely used as active ingredients in personal care products were assessed using the bioluminescent bacterium Aliivibrio fischeri (formerly Vibrio fischeri) (Microtox® test system). The experimental results showed a relevant toxicity for almost all of the single QACs, with IC50 values lower than 1mgL-1. Analysis of the mode of action through the application of the Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) models indicated an a-specific reactivity for most of the QACs toward A. fischeri. Only hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (ATMAC-16) behaved as a polar-narcotic, with a low reactivity toward the bacterial cell membrane. The concentration response curves of the different binary and multicomponent mixtures of QACs were also evaluated with respect to the predictions from the Concentration Addition (CA) and Independent Action (IA) models. For almost all of the binary and multicomponent mixtures (7 out of 11 mixtures tested), an agreement between the experimental and predicted ICx was observed and confirmed via application of the Model Deviation Ratio (MDR). In four cases, some deviations from the expected behaviour were observed (potential antagonistic and synergistic interactions) at concentrations on the order of hundreds of µgL-1, which could be of environmental concern, especially in the case of synergistic effects. The analysis of aquatic ecotoxicity data and the few available values of the measured environmental concentrations (MECs) from the literature for wastewaters and receiving waterbodies suggest that a potential risk toward aquatic life cannot be excluded.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Di Nica
- Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1, 20126 Milano, Italy.
| | - J Gallet
- Unités de Formation et de Recherche - Sciences Fondamentales et Appliquées, Université Savoie Mont-Blanc, Le Bourget du Lac Cedex 73376, France
| | - S Villa
- Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1, 20126 Milano, Italy
| | - V Mezzanotte
- Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1, 20126 Milano, Italy
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Cronin MTD. (Q)SARs to predict environmental toxicities: current status and future needs. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE. PROCESSES & IMPACTS 2017; 19:213-220. [PMID: 28243641 DOI: 10.1039/c6em00687f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The current state of the art of (Quantitative) Structure-Activity Relationships ((Q)SARs) to predict environmental toxicity is assessed along with recommendations to develop these models further. The acute toxicity of compounds acting by the non-polar narcotic mechanism of action can be well predicted, however other approaches, including read-across, may be required for compounds acting by specific mechanisms of action. The chronic toxicity of compounds to environmental species is more difficult to predict from (Q)SARs, with robust data sets and more mechanistic information required. In addition, the toxicity of mixtures is little addressed by (Q)SAR approaches. Developments in environmental toxicology including Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) and omics responses should be utilised to develop better, more mechanistically relevant, (Q)SAR models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark T D Cronin
- School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, England, UK.
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