Enhancement of Micronuclei Frequency in the Tradescantia/Micronuclei Test Using a Long Recovery Time

The Tradescantia/micronuclei test (TRAD/MCN) is a well-validated test for monitoring environmental genotoxicants. These pollutants induce at the early meiotic stage of pollen mother cells chromosome fragments which become micronuclei at the tetrad stage. The standard test protocol requires some hours of exposure of the inflorescences and a recovery time of about 24 hours to reach the early tetrad stage. Since the recovery period represents a critical step of the TRAD/MCN, experiments were performed to establish its length in plants of clone #4430 of the hybrid T. hirsutiflora x T. subacaulis which is widely used in environmental monitoring. The aim of the present research was to ascertain the exact duration of recovery time in order to improve the sensitivity of the TRAD/MCN test. First, studies were performed to select the flowers at the beginning of the meiosis, and then anthers were sampled and studied for a period of 48-86 hours. The complete meiosis in the plants examined required about 80 hours. Second, exposure to genotoxic substances followed by different recovery times was carried out to demonstrate that effectiveness of the TRAD/MCN test is closely related to the duration of the recovery time. The test was carried out by exposing inflorescences to known mutagens (sodium azide and maleic hydrazide) for six hours followed by different recovery times (24-72 hours). The results showed that the frequency of micronuclei in the pollen mother cells increased with the length of the recovery time

Ecotoxicity Evaluation of Industrial Waste and Construction Materials: Comparison Between Leachates from Granular Steel Slags and Steel Slags-Containing Concrete Through a Plant-Based Approach

Steel slags, the main waste product from the steel industry, may have several reuse possibilities. Among others, building applications represent a crucial field. However, the potential impact of harmful substances on the environment should be assessed. The aim of this study was to assess the phytotoxicity of steel slags (SS) and concrete mixtures cast with a partial replacement of SS (CSS). Leaching tests were carried out on four SS and four CSS according to EN 12457-2 and UNI EN 15863, respectively. Each leachate was assayed using root elongation tests on 30 seeds of Allium cepa, Cucumis sativus, and Lepidium sativum, respectively, and on 12 bulbs of A. cepa. The latter also allowed the analysis of other macroscopic parameters of toxicity (turgidity, consistency, colour change and root tip shape) and the evaluation of the mitotic index on 20,000 root tip cells per sample. None of the samples induced phytotoxic effects on the organisms tested: all samples supported seedlings emergence, verified by root elongation comparable to, or even greater than, that of the negative controls, and did not affect cell division, as evidenced by mitotic index values. The absence of phytotoxicity demonstrated by the leachates allows SS and SS-derived concrete to be considered as reliable materials suitable for use in civil constructions or in other engineering applications, with economic and environmental advantages, such as the reduction of the final disposal in landfills as well as the consumption of natural resources

Genotoxicity of source, treated and distributed water from four drinking water treatment plants supplied by surface water in Sardinia, Italy

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How should ecohazard of micropollutants in wastewater be gauged? Using bioassays to profile alternative tertiary treatments

The research on emerging pollutants in wastewater has become a worldwide issue of increasing environmental concern, especially considering the growing interest in wastewater reuse. However, the latter implies additional post-treatment after the conventional activated sludge processes, in order to produce a safer effluent. Our work aimed at determining the efficiency of reducing the toxicity associated with organic micropollutants (OMPs) in secondary wastewater effluents, using 3 different post-treatment technologies (granular activated carbon (GAC), sand biofiltration and UV irradiation): in particular, target chemical analysis of the OMPs most commonly founded in wastewater was coupled with effect-based assays (estrogenicity and mutagenicity). While chemical analysis assessed satisfactory performances for all 3 technologies in the abatement of selected OMPs, biological assays evidenced another perspective: both GAC and sand biofilters were significantly able to make the estrogenic load plummet; however, the UV system was ineffective in estrogenicity abatement, and its effluent exhibited also a slight mutagenicity, likely due to photo-transformation by-products. These results indicate that a synergistic combination of chemical analysis and biological assays can drive to a proper gauging of post-treatment technologies, taking into account not only the removal of OMPs, but also their overall toxicityThis work was conceived within a Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM) of the Water2020 Cost Action ES1202: Conceiving Wastewater Treatment in 2020 | Energetic, environmental and economic challenges. Authors from Universidade de Santiago de Compostela belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group GRC 2013-032 and to the CRETUS Strategic Partnership (AGRUP2015/02). All these programmes are co-funded by FEDER (UE)S

Lifestyles and socio-cultural factors among children aged 6-8 years from five Italian towns: The MAPEC-LIFE study cohort

Background: Lifestyles profoundly determine the quality of an individual’s health and life since his childhood. Many diseases in adulthood are avoidable if health-risk behaviors are identified and improved at an early stage of life. The aim of the present research was to characterize a cohort of children aged 6–8 years selected in order to perform an epidemiological molecular study (the MAPEC_LIFE study), investigate lifestyles of the children that could have effect on their health status, and assess possible association between lifestyles and socio-cultural factors. Methods: A questionnaire composed of 148 questions was administered in two different seasons to parents of children attending 18 primary schools in five Italian cities (Torino, Brescia, Pisa, Perugia and Lecce) to obtain information regarding the criteria for exclusion from the study, demographic, anthropometric and health information on the children, as well as some aspects on their lifestyles and parental characteristics. The results were analyzed in order to assess the frequency of specific conditions among the different seasons and cities and the association between lifestyles and socio-economic factors. Results: The final cohort was composed of 1,164 children (50.9 boys, 95.4% born in Italy). Frequency of some factors appeared different in terms of the survey season (physical activity in the open air, the ways of cooking certain foods) and among the various cities (parents’ level of education and rate of employment, sport, traffic near the home, type of heating, exposure to passive smoking, ways of cooking certain foods). Exposure to passive smoking and cooking fumes, obesity, residence in areas with heavy traffic, frequency of outdoor play and consumption of barbecued and fried foods were higher among children living in families with low educational and/or occupational level while children doing sports and consuming toasted bread were more frequent in families with high socio-economic level. Conclusions: The socio-economic level seems to affect the lifestyles of children enrolled in the study including those that could cause health effects. Many factors are linked to the geographical area and may depend on environmental, cultural and social aspects of the city of residence

A study protocol for the evaluation of occupational mutagenic/carcinogenic risks in subjects exposed to antineoplastic drugs: a multicentric project

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Some industrial hygiene studies have assessed occupational exposure to antineoplastic drugs; other epidemiological investigations have detected various toxicological effects in exposure groups labeled with the job title. In no research has the same population been studied both environmentally and epidemiologically. The protocol of the epidemiological study presented here uses an integrated environmental and biological monitoring approach. The aim is to assess in hospital nurses preparing and/or administering therapy to cancer patients the current level of occupational exposure to antineoplastic drugs, DNA and chromosome damage as cancer predictive effects, and the association between the two.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>About 80 healthy non-smoking female nurses, who job it is to prepare or handle antineoplastic drugs, and a reference group of about 80 healthy non-smoking female nurses not occupationally exposed to chemicals will be examined simultaneously in a cross-sectional study. All the workers will be recruited from five hospitals in northern and central Italy after their informed consent has been obtained.</p> <p>Evaluation of surface contamination and dermal exposure to antineoplastic drugs will be assessed by determining cyclophosphamide on selected surfaces (wipes) and on the exposed nurses' clothes (pads). The concentration of unmetabolized cyclophosphamide as a biomarker of internal dose will be measured in end-shift urine samples from exposed nurses.</p> <p>Biomarkers of effect and susceptibility will be assessed in exposed and unexposed nurses: urinary concentration of 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine; DNA damage detected using the single-cell microgel electrophoresis (comet) assay in peripheral white blood cells; micronuclei and chromosome aberrations in peripheral blood lymphocytes. Genetic polymorphisms for enzymes involved in metabolic detoxification (i.e. glutathione <it>S</it>-transferases) will also be analysed.</p> <p>Using standardized questionnaires, occupational exposure will be determined in exposed nurses only, whereas potential confounders (medicine consumption, lifestyle habits, diet and other non-occupational exposures) will be assessed in both groups of hospital workers.</p> <p>Statistical analysis will be performed to ascertain the association between occupational exposure to antineoplastic drugs and biomarkers of DNA and chromosome damage, after taking into account the effects of individual genetic susceptibility, and the presence of confounding exposures.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The findings of the study will be useful in updating prevention procedures for handling antineoplastic drugs.</p