Human Biomonitoring of Selected Hazardous Compounds in Portugal: Part I—Lessons Learned on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Metals, Metalloids, and Pesticides

Human biomonitoring (HBM) data provide information on total exposure regardless of the route and sources of exposure. HBM studies have been applied to quantify human exposure to contaminants and environmental/occupational pollutants by determining the parent compounds, their metabolites or even their reaction products in biological matrices. HBM studies performed among the Portuguese population are disperse and limited. To overcome this knowledge gap, this review gathers, for the first time, the published Portuguese HBM information concerning polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), metals, metalloids, and pesticides concentrations detected in the urine, serum, milk, hair, and nails of different groups of the Portuguese population. This integrative insight of available HBM data allows the analysis of the main determinants and patterns of exposure of the Portuguese population to these selected hazardous compounds, as well as assessment of the potential health risks. Identification of the main difficulties and challenges of HBM through analysis of the enrolled studies was also an aim. Ultimately, this study aimed to support national and European policies promoting human health and summarizes the most important outcomes and lessons learned through the HBM studies carried out in Portugal.

Human Biomonitoring of Selected Hazardous Compounds in Portugal: Part II—Lessons Learned on Mycotoxins

Human biomonitoring (HBM) data provide information on total exposure regardless of the route and sources of exposure. HBM studies have been applied to quantify human exposure to contaminants and environmental/occupational pollutants by means of determining the parent compounds, their metabolites, or even their reaction products in biological matrices. HBM studies performed among the Portuguese population are dispersed and limited. Thus, to overcome this knowledge gap, this work reviews the published Portuguese HBM information concerning mycotoxins detected in the urine, serum, milk, hair, and nails of different groups of the Portuguese population. This integrative approach to the available HBM data allows us to analyze the main determinants and patterns of exposure of the Portuguese population to the selected hazardous compounds, as well as to assess the potential health risks. We also aimed to identify the main difficulties and challenges of HBM through the analysis of the enrolled studies. Ultimately, this study aims to support national and European policies in promoting human health by summarizing the most important outcomes and lessons learned through the HBM studies carried out in Portugal.

Biological Synthesis of Metallic Nanoparticles from Different Plant Species

Green chemistry for the synthesis of different nanoparticles (NPs) from metal has become a new and promising field of research in nanotechnology in recent years. The inspire applications of metal oxide NPs have attracted the interest of researchers around the world. Various physical, chemical and biological methods in material science are being adapted to synthesize different types of NPs. Green synthesis has gained widespread attention as a sustainable, reliable, and eco-friendly protocol for biologically synthesizing a wide range of metallic NPs. Green synthesis has been proposed to reduce the use of hazardous compounds and as a state of a harsh reaction in the production of metallic NPs. Plants extract used for biosynthesis of NPs such as silver (Ag), cerium dioxide (C2O2), copper oxide (CuO), Gold (Au), titanium dioxide (TiO2), and zinc oxide (ZnO). This review article gives an overview of the plant-mediated biosynthesis of NPs that are eco-friendly and have less hazardous chemical effects.

Engineering Microbial Consortia towards Bioremediation

Bioremediation is a sustainable remediation technology as it utilizes microorganisms to convert hazardous compounds into their less toxic or non-toxic constituent elements. This technology has achieved some success in the past decades; however, factors involving microbial consortia, such as microbial assembly, functional interactions, and the role of member species, hinder its development. Microbial consortia may be engineered to reconfigure metabolic pathways and reprogram social interactions to get the desired function, thereby providing solutions to its inherent problems. The engineering of microbial consortia is commonly applied for the commercial production of biomolecules. However, in the field of bioremediation, the engineering of microbial consortia needs to be emphasized. In this review, we will discuss the molecular and ecological mechanisms of engineering microbial consortia with a particular focus on metabolic cross-feeding within species and the transfer of metabolites. We also discuss the advantages and limitations of top-down and bottom-up approaches of engineering microbial consortia and their applications in bioremediation.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Sorption by Functionalized Humic Acids Immobilized in Micro- and Nano-Zeolites

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are hazardous compounds originating from anthropogenic activity. Due to their carcinogenic properties for humans, several technologies have been developed for PAH removal. Sorption with natural and organic materials is currently one of the most studied due to its low cost and its environmentally friendly nature. In this work, a hybrid sorbent involving functionalized humic acids (HAs) and nano-zeolite is proposed to entrap PAHs. The use of functionalized HAs immobilized in a porous support is designed to address the instability of HAs in solution, which has been already reported. HA functionalization was carried out to increase the non-polarity of HAs and aliphatic group formation. The HAs were functionalized by esterification/etherification with alkyl halides, and their chemical changes were verified by FTIR and NMR. The sorption isotherms of the functionalized HAs in micro- and nano-zeolites were used to assess the performance of the nano-zeolites in adsorbing these HAs. The hybrid support allowed the removal of anthracene and pyrene at percentages higher than 90%; fluoranthene, of angular molecular structure, was adsorbed at 85%. PAHs are ubiquitous in the environment, and a stable sorption of them in solid matrices will allow their removal from the environment through effective and environmentally friendly methods.

A Review on the environmental and health impacts due to electronic waste disposal in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the main importer countries of e-waste in the world. Moreover, country also generates e-waste about 2.81 million metric tons per year. However, majority of e-waste is being dumped into the open soil, open land, or open water bodies resulting problem on environment (i.e., pollution) and human population (i.e., health). Therefore, present review summarizes the environmental and health impact due to disposal of e-waste. Poorly management of e-waste during the collection, processing, recycling, and land filling causing environmental impact followed by air pollution, soil pollution, water pollution, and degradation of the beach because hazardous compounds spread to the surrounding or environment. Furthermore, e-waste also creates lots of health problems. Humans can be exposed to e-waste contaminants by the inhalation, dietary intake, dust ingestion, and dermic contact. In north eastern part of Bangladesh, about 36.3% women who lives near recycling sites experienced the death of a baby. Again, about 15% child laborers die, and 83% child laborers are affected by long term health problem because of e-waste mismanagement practice. There are about 120,000 Bhangaries who may be exposed to e-waste contaminants more seriously. The result of the study would provide us important insight into the growing concern of e-waste and would help policy maker for designing policy measure to recycle e-waste in a hazard free manner.

Ecological Risk Assessment of Five Endocrine-Disrupting Compounds in Wastewater Treatment Plants from Monterrey, Mexico

The potential ecological risk of five residual endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) in four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) was studied. The wastewater samples were collected in WWTPs of the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey, Mexico (designed as Monterrey City hereinafter) and 17β-estradiol (E2), 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), bisphenol A (BPA), 4-nonylphenol (4NP), and 4-tert-octylphenol (4TOP) were studied by SPE/GC-MS method. Results showed that all EDCs are widely distributed in WWTPs, finding high concentrations of BPA (450 ng/L) and EE2 (407.5 ng/L) in influents, while EE2 and 4TOP were the most abundant in effluents at levels from 1.6–26.8 ng/L (EE2) and < LOQ – 5.0 ng/L (4TOP), which corroborate that the wastewater discharges represent critical sources of EDCs to the aquatic environments. The potential ecological risk of residual EDCs was evaluated through risk quotients (RQs), and results indicated that the effluents of the WWTPs represent a high risk to exposed aquatic species, mainly due to the effect of residual estrogens E2 and EE2 which were considered as the most hazardous compounds among the studied EDCs, with RQ values up to 49.1 and 1165.2, respectively.