Future food contaminants: An assessment of the plant uptake of Technology-critical elements versus traditional metal contaminants

Technology-critical elements (TCEs) include most rare earth elements (REEs), the platinum group elements (PGEs), and Ga, Ge, In, Nb, Ta, Te, and Tl. Despite increasing recognition of their prolific release into the environment, their soil to plant transfer remains largely unknown. This paper provides an approximation of the potential for plant uptake by calculating bioconcentration factors (BCFs), defined as the concentration in edible vegetable tissues relative to that in cultivation soil. Here data were obtained from an indoor cultivation experiment growing lettuce, chard, and carrot on 22 different European urban soils. Values of BCFs were determined from concentrations of TCEs in vegetable samples after digestion with concentrated HNO3, and from concentrations in soil determined after 1) Aqua Regia digestion and, 2) diluted (0.1 M) HNO3 leaching. For comparison, BCFs were also determined for 5 traditional metal contaminants (TMCs; As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn). The main conclusions of the study were that: 1) BCF values for the REEs were consistently low in the studied vegetables; 2) the BCFs for Ga and Nb were low as well; 3) the BCFs for Tl were high relative to the other measured TCEs and the traditional metal contaminants; and 4) mean BCF values for the investigated TCEs were generally highest in chard and lowest in carrot. These findings provide initial evidence that there are likely to be real and present soil–plant transfer of TCEs, especially in the case of Tl. Improvements in analytical methods and detection limits will allow this to be further investigated in a wider variety of edible plants so that a risk profile may be developed

Fiebre de origen desconocido y linfadenopatia en contexto de lupus: presentación de uncaso clínico de enfermedad de Castleman

La linfadenopatía ocurre en aproximadamente el 60% de los pacientes con lupus eritematoso sistémico (LES) durante la evolución de la enfermedad. Estas lesiones de ganglios linfáticos son caracterizadas por hiperplasia folicular, necrosis coagulativa, cuerpos de hematoxilina y deposición de ADN dentro de los vasos. Como consecuencia, se subestima al examen histopatológico de los ganglios linfáticos en LES1. Se han notificado casos de linfadenopatía de LES conmorfología de enfermedad de Castleman (EC), que se descubre con el fin de excluir el linfoma maligno. La EC es un trastorno de linfoproliferación atípica que puede presentarse con o sin síntomas sistémicos2-3. Histológicamente, la EC se clasifica como variante hialino-vascular, de células plasmáticas o mixtas. La histología hialino-vascular representa la mayoría de casos de EC unicéntrico (ECU) y el tipo de célula plasmática caracteriza más a la EC multricéntrico (ECM). Se ha demostrado que la ECM tiene asociación con varias enfermedades autoinmunes4-5. En este informe, presentamos una paciente con LES y enfermedad de Crohn con fiebre de origen desconocido (FOD) y linfadenopatías con EMC asociado a infección por virus herpes 8 (HHV-8)

Urban vegetable contamination - The role of adhering particles and their significance for human exposure.

While urban-grown vegetables could help combat future food insecurity, the elevated levels of toxic metals in urban soils need to be met with measures that minimise transfer to crops. The study firstly examines soil/dust particle inclusion in leafy vegetables and its contribution to vegetable metals (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn), using vegetable, soil and dust data from an open-field urban farm in southeastern Sweden. Titanium concentrations were used to assess soil/dust adherence. Results showed that vegetables contained 0.05-1.3 wt% of adhering particles (AP) even after washing. With 0.5 % AP, an adult with an average intake of vegetables could ingest approximately 100 mg of particles per day, highlighting leafy vegetables as a major route for soil/dust ingestion. The presence of adhering particles also significantly contributed to the vegetable concentrations of As (9-20 %), Co (17-20 %), Pb (25-29 %), and Cr (33-34 %). Secondly, data from an indoor experiment was used to characterise root metal uptake from 20 urban soils from Sweden, Denmark, Spain, the UK, and the Czech Republic. Combining particle adherence and root uptake data, vegetable metal concentrations were calculated for the 20 urban soils to represent hypothetical field scenarios for these. Subsequently, average daily doses were assessed for vegetable consumers (adults and 3-6 year old children), distinguishing between doses from adhering particles and root uptake. Risks were evaluated from hazard quotients (HQs; average daily doses/tolerable intakes). Lead was found to pose the greatest risk, where particle ingestion often resulted in HQs > 1 across all assessed scenarios. In summary, since washing was shown to remove only a portion of adhering metal-laden soil/dust particles from leafy vegetation, farmers and urban planners need to consider that measures to limit particle deposition are equally important as cultivating in uncontaminated soil. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Squamous cell carcinoma in Barrett’s esophagus

El esófago de Barrett, consecuencia del reflujo gastroesofágico crónico, es una condición premaligna capaz de desarrollar adenocarcinoma. Sin embargo, la presencia de carcinoma epidermoide, coexistiendo con metaplasia de Barrett, fue re - portado en algunas publicaciones. El propósito de este traba - jo es presentar 17 pacientes con esófago de Barrett y carcinoma epidermoide sincrónicos.Fil: Trakal, Esteban. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Trakal, Juan José. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Butti, Abel Luis L. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Zárate, Fabián Eduardo. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Guidi, Andrés Emilio. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Sambuelli, Rubén Horacio. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud; Argentin

Detection of the risk of adenocarcinoma in Barrett's esophagus by means of tumor markers (p53 and ki67)

The rising incidence of adenocarcinoma in Barrett's esophagus has intensified the research into methods of early recognition of cancer risk, detecting cytological and architectural changes (dysplasia) or using biomarkers as predictive tests. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the involvement of two tumor markers: p53 (tumor suppressor gene) and Ki67 (proliferation marker), by means of immunohistochemical analysis with monoclonal antibodies designed for the specific localization of p53 and Ki67 antigens, in esophageal biopsies with columnar metaplasia of patients with and without dysplasia and adenocarcinoma, and to anticipate which ones are liable to suffer it in the future. Both markers were positive in all intestinal metaplasia patients with high-grade dysplasia and adenocarcinoma, and even in some cases with low grade or without dysplasia. In contrast, in those who have gastric metaplasia, tumor markers were negative. Expression of biomarkers next to dysplasia reduces interobserver variation. Patients with these abnormalities have to be included into a surveillance protocol.Fil: Trakal, Esteban. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Guidi, Andrés Emilio. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Butti, Abel Luis L. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Trakal, Juan José. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Sambuelli, Rubén Horacio. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Zárate, Fabián Eduardo. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud; Argentin

Mobility and toxicity of heavy metal(loid)s arising from contaminated wood ash application to a pasture grassland soil

The authors acknowledge the financial support the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environmental Sciences and Analytical Services (RESAS) in order to complete some of the soil and pore water sample analysis as well as the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (COST CZ LD13068), the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR 14-02183P) and EU COST actionFP1407 (‘ModWoodLife’) short term scientific mission grant in order to complete the column leaching test.Peer reviewedPostprin

Urban vegetable contamination - The role of adhering particles and their significance for human exposure

While urban-grown vegetables could help combat future food insecurity, the elevated levels of toxic metals in urban soils need to be met with measures that minimise transfer to crops. The study firstly examines soil/dust particle inclusion in leafy vegetables and its contribution to vegetable metals (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn), using vegetable, soil and dust data from an open-field urban farm in southeastern Sweden. Titanium concentrations were used to assess soil/dust adherence. Results showed that vegetables contained 0.05–1.3 wt% of adhering particles (AP) even after washing. With 0.5 % AP, an adult with an average intake of vegetables could ingest approximately 100mg of particles per day, highlighting leafy vegetables as a major route for soil/dust ingestion. The presence of adhering particles also significantly contributed to the vegetable concentrations of As (9-20%), Co (17-20%), Pb (25-29%), and Cr (33-34%). Secondly, data from an indoor experiment was used to characterise root metal uptake from 20 urban soils from Sweden, Denmark, Spain, the UK, and the Czech Republic. Combining particle adherence and root uptake data, vegetable metal concentrations were calculated for the 20 urban soils to represent hypothetical field scenarios for these. Subsequently, average daily doses were assessed for vegetable consumers (adults and 3-6 year old children), distinguishing between doses from adhering particles and root uptake. Risks were evaluated from hazard quotients (HQs; average daily doses/tolerable intakes). Lead was found to pose the greatest risk, where particle ingestion often resulted in HQs&gt;1 across all assessed scenarios. In summary, since washing was shown to remove only a portion of adhering metal-laden soil/dust particles from leafy vegetation, farmers and urban planners need to consider that measures to limit particle deposition are equally important as cultivating in uncontaminated soil.Validerad;2023;Nivå 2;2023-11-13 (hanlid);Funder: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at the Linnaeus University; ALS Scandinavia AB;Full text license: CC BY</p

THE DIFFERENT FACES OF BIOCHAR: CONTAMINATION RISK VERSUS REMEDIATION TOOL

This article reviews the different aspects of biochar as source and sink of organic and inorganic contaminants. Biochar can contain organic contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or heavy metals. As the distribution coefficients of the biochar especially for contaminants are high, the freely dissolved concentrations are low and with that also the bioavailability. The link between biochar’s inherent contaminants and toxicity to soil meso– and macro–fauna remains unclear, with data being often contradictory and influenced by feedstock and pyrolysis conditions. The biochar’s potential to remediate contaminated soils has mainly been addressed in lab studies, but rarely in the field. This far, results have been contradicting. Many studies reported successful immobilization of contaminants but some not. In summary, the ambivalent face of the biochar with regard to contaminants prevails. In future, long term field studies are needed to properly address the sustainability of biochar in this respect. First published online: 02 Feb 201