Conceptualization of the comprehensive phyto-radiotoxicity incurred by radiocesium and strategies to expunge the metal using biotechnological and phytoremediative approaches

Agricultural pollution with 137Cs is an ecological threat due to its sustained half-life and radioactivity. Release of radiocesium isotopes after major nuclear power plant accidents like the Fukushima Dai-ichi and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disasters have severely affected the surrounding growth of agricultural crops and vegetables cultivated across extensive areas. Even years after the nuclear accidents, biosafety in these agricultural fields is still questionable. Due to similarity in charge and ionic radius between radiocesium and K+, the radionuclides are promiscuously uptaken via K+ channels expressed in plants. Bioaccumulation of radiocesium reportedly promotes physiological and anatomical anomalies in crops due to radiation and also affects the rhizospheric architecture. Due to radiation hazard, the ecological balance and quality are compromised and ingestion of such contaminated food results in irreversible health hazards. Recently, strategies like exogenous supplementation of K+ or genetic engineering of K+ channels were able to reduce radiocesium bioaccumulation in plants taking the advantage of competition between radiocesium and K+ translocation. Furthermore, bioremediation strategies like phycoremediation, mycoremediation, phytoremediation and rhizofiltration have also showed promising results for removing radiocesium from polluted sites. It has been proposed that these eco-friendly ways can be adopted to de-pollute the contaminated sites prior to subsequent cultivation of crops and vegetables. Hence it is essential to: 1) understand the basic radiotoxic effects of radiocesium on agricultural crops and surrounding vegetation and, 2) design sustainable ameliorative strategies to promote radiocesium tolerance for ensuring food and social security of the affected population.

Sewage from a secondary hospital in Ribeirão Preto, southeastern Brazil: a source of multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the severe threats to global health. Hospital sewage can serve as a reservoir for multi-resistant bacteria and promote the spread of antimicrobial resistance. This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial susceptibility and the pathogenic potential of Enterobacteriaceae isolated from the sewage of a secondary hospital in Ribeirão Preto, a city in southeastern Brazil. The strains were isolated by membrane filtration and identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF). The antimicrobial susceptibility profile was performed by disk diffusion. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were used to detect virulence genes among the strains. Twenty-eight isolates were obtained, with Klebsiella pneumoniae being the predominant species (71.4%, n = 20). All isolates were classified as multidrug-resistant, including four isolates that were non-susceptible to at least 50% of the tested antibiotics. All isolates were also non-susceptible to cefuroxime and sulfonamides antibiotics; however, they were susceptible to norfloxacin, ofloxacin, amikacin, gentamicin, netilmicin, ertapenem, cefazolin, cefaclor, and cefotetan. The virulence genes ycfM, fimH, mrkD, kfu, and entB were detected in several isolates. Our study showed that even in a secondary hospital, without the routine of major surgeries and intensive care admissions, the hospital sewage can harbor a high percentage of multidrug-resistant bacteria with pathogenic potential. This leads to the worrying risk of public health and environmental contamination.

Hospital liquid waste contaminated with multidrug-resistant bacteria raises a public health hazard alert in Brazil

The spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDR) is a global concern because it poses a serious threat to public health. The inadequate handling of Health Services Waste (HSW) and, therefore, the incorrect disposal of infected liquids can cause contamination of the environment, the emergence of diseases caused by MDR bacteria, and the loss of the population's quality of life. The present study aimed to survey the bacteria and their antimicrobial resistance profiles, present in the liquid residues from infected surgeries performed in five years, often discharged into the sewage network of a large tertiary hospital located in the city of Uberlândia, which is considered one of the main economic and demographic centers of Brazil. A systematic and retrospective survey of the medical records of patients who underwent infected surgeries from January 2015 to December 2019 was carried out at the referred hospital. The bacterial species were previously identified and characterized for the antimicrobial susceptibility profile by the VITEK 2 automated system (bioMérieux, Brazil). In the evaluated period, 1658 infected surgeries were performed and the results showed 661 bacterial strains distributed in 48 different species, being Staphylococcus aureus the most prevalent species. The vast majority (85.6%) showed some type of antimicrobial resistance among these strains, with more than half (54.6%) being MDR. The results of this work raise an alert and concern for the risks to the environment and public health by dumping these infected liquid wastes directly into the sewage system without proper prior decontamination.

Fluoride toxicity variably affects overall physiology and grain development in three contrasting rice genotypes, representing a potential biohazard

Ingestion of fluoride through consumption of contaminated food grains has been regarded to be hazardous for consumer health. The current study indicated the possible occurrence of such biohazard due to fluoride bioaccumulation in rice grains and straw (cattle feed). The effects of fluoride toxicity at three stages of grain development in three rice genotypes, viz., IR-64, Gobindobhog (aromatic), and Khitish, were also studied. Irrigation with fluoride-infested water inhibited grain formation in IR-64 and reduced grain yield in Gobindobhog. Fluoride toxicity promoted seed sterility in IR-64 by triggering reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cellular necrosis, suppressing genes like GIF1, DEP1, and SPL14 (positively controlling seed formation) and inducing GW2 (negatively mediating grain development). Gobindobhog showed intermediate fluoride sensitivity and accumulated high levels of proline, anthocyanins, flavonoids, and phenolics due to the induction of genes like P5CS, ANS, and PAL in developing grains. The agronomic attributes in Khitish were unaffected by fluoride stress due to regulated fluoride uptake and high expression of GIF1, DEP1, and SPL14 along with an increased synthesis of anthocyanins, flavonoids, and phenolics. Khitish also accumulated low ROS as a result of which lowest lipoxygenase expression (among selected cultivars) was observed in developing grains. Fluoride entry was accelerated in the straw of Khitish, possibly due to the absence of regulated uptake mechanism in dead seedlings. Furthermore, the ecological concerns regarding fluoride bioaccumulation and reduced grain yield at the varietal level were also established, based on statistical modelling.

Challenges in handling COVID-19 waste and its management mechanism: A Review

COVID-19, the novel corona virus has become a household name. The global COVID-19 outbreak, become a pandemic in early 2020, and spurred millions of life across the world. The pandemic is spreading extremely and its impacts upon human health and environment intensifying day-by-day. Biomedical waste generated daily due to COVID-19 are about the major environmental health concern and its critical management becomes a global challenge. Tones of COVID-19 contaminated wastes are generated every day worldwide and its sound management is very essential to break the disease transmission. The safe and sustainable management of COVID-19 contaminated biomedical waste (BMW) is a social and legal responsibility of all people during this critical period of disease transmission. Unsound management of this waste could cause unforeseen "knock-on" effects on human health and the environment. Health workers, municipal workers, rag-pickers and other persons who are involved directly or indirectly in the COVID -19 war are at high risk and needs to be careful while discharging their responsibility with an efficient and effective waste disposal mechanism.

Meteorological patterns and the evolution of West Nile virus in an environmentally stressed Mediterranean area

The present work investigates the increase of confirmed cases of West Nile virus and the relationship between weather-related patterns and the geographical expansion of West Nile virus in Greece, with a special focus on West Attica, Central Greece, a semi-arid, ecologically fragile Mediterranean area. Using data from the European Environment Agency, European Drought Observatory of Joint Research Centre, the pairwise relationship between surface air temperature anomalies, precipitation anomalies, soil moisture index anomalies, and the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation anomalies (fAPAR) was evaluated during summer time of 2018, a particularly intense virus outbreak. The empirical results of this study indicate that total precipitation during 2018 was extremely high, nearly 500% above the average. These conditions contributed to the increase of soil moisture index anomaly and fAPAR, creating an ideal microenvironment (wet soils and green pastures) for mosquito breeding. This phenomenon was directly associated with a drastic outbreak of West Nile virus cases in the area, compared with earlier years. Our results indicate how unusually high values of summer precipitation may have contributed (both through direct and indirect ecological channels) to the rapid spread of the West Nile virus in West Attica, causing a significant number of confirmed cases and fatalities. Climate change may bring forth other issues aside from natural disasters, including-but not limited to-virus expansion.

Domestic and International Shipping of Biospecimens

The packaging and shipment of biospecimens is a multistep process for which a distinct set of regulations needs to be followed, depending on whether a biospecimen is shipped domestically or internationally and whether the shipment contains hazardous materials. Shipments may be delayed if these regulations are not followed. Once learned, the process is straightforward. Major principles include double or triple packaging, adequate absorbent material, appropriate coolant, accurate labeling, and complete documentation. Training in packaging and shipping is often offered at major biomedical institutions and is a requirement to avoid shipping biohazards.

Biosafety and Biohazards: Understanding Biosafety Levels and Meeting Safety Requirements of a Biobank

When it comes to biobanking and working with different types of laboratory specimens, it is important to understand potential biohazards to ensure safety of the operator and laboratory personnel. Biological safety levels (BSL) are a series of designations used to inform laboratory personnel about the level of biohazardous risks in a laboratory setting. There are a total of four levels ranked in order of increasing risk as stipulated by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Biosafety in microbiological and biomedical laboratories, 5th edn. HHS publication no. (CDC) 21-1112. https://www.cdc.gov/biosafety/publications/bmbl5/bmbl.pdf . Accessed 2 Jan 2016, 2009). We will address the main distinctions between these levels including briefly introducing hazards characteristics that classify biohazardous agents, as well as define the essentials in meeting safety requirements.

Exposure to Crystal Violet, Its Toxic, Genotoxic and Carcinogenic Effects on Environment and Its Degradation and Detoxification for Environmental Safety

Crystal Violet (CV), a triphenylmethane dye, has been extensively used in human and veterinary medicine as a biological stain, as a textile dye in textile processing industries and also used to provide a deep violet color to paints and printing ink. CV is also used as a mutagenic and bacteriostatic agent in medical solutions and antimicrobial agent to prevent the fungal growth in poultry feed. Inspite of its many uses, CV has been reported as a recalcitrant dye molecule that persists in environment for a long period and pose toxic effects in environment. It acts as a mitotic poison, potent carcinogen and a potent clastogene promoting tumor growth in some species of fish. Thus, CV is regarded as a biohazard substance. Although, there are several physico-chemical methods such as adsorption, coagulation and ion-pair extraction reported for the removal of CV, but these methods are insufficient for the complete removal of CV from industrial wastewaters and also produce large quantity of sludge containing secondary pollutants. However, biological methods are regarded as cost-effective and eco-friendly for the treatment of industrial wastewaters, but these methods also have certain limitations. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop such eco-friendly and cost-effective biological treatment methods, which can effectively remove the dye from industrial wastewaters for the safety of environment, as well as human and animal health.