Submit to IJERPH Review for IJERPH Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Environment: Fate, Bioaccumulation and Risk Assessments

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Toxicology and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 9511

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Qinghua Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Interests: analytical methodology; environmental process and health effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

Dr. Pu Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Hubei Key Laboratory of Industrial Fume and Dust Pollution Control, School of Environment and Health, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
Interests: analysis and environmental behavior of persistent organic pollutants

Prof. Dr. Ruiqiang Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Interests: regional environmental geochemistry of persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are receiving worldwide attention due to their high resistance to degradation, high bioaccumulation capability, long-range transport, and long-duration toxicity to the ecological systems and human health. There are countless POPs, including legacy and emerging POPs; hence, identification and characterization of POPs in the environment is an ongoing challenge. Due to their wide use and/or release into the environment over the past few decades, POPs are now found everywhere, including remote regions where they have never been used. In addition, POPs concentrate in living organisms through bioaccumulation, so wild animals and humans absorb the greatest concentrations because they are high up in the food chain. POPs may cause severe adverse effects, including cancer, reproductive disorders, damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, disruption of the immune system and endocrine system, and so on. Unfortunately, their environmental occurrence, ecological effects, and health impacts are not yet completely understood, especially for more and more emerging POPs.

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) focuses on the current state of knowledge on environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology of POPs. New research papers and reviews are welcome to this issue. Novel environmental analytical methods and epidemiological studies linking POP exposure to human health effects are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Qinghua Zhang
Dr. Pu Wang
Prof. Dr. Ruiqiang Yang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

persistent organic pollutants
fate
bioaccumulation
exposure
risk assessment

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

17 pages, 3796 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of BPZ, BPC, BPF, and BPS Exposure on Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio): Accumulation, Oxidative Stress, and Gene Expression

by Ying Han, Yuxuan Liu, Mingxin Wang and Yingang Xue

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(23), 15784; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315784 - 27 Nov 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2509

Abstract

As substitutes for bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol analogs (BPs) have been found to cause endocrine disorders and induce toxic effects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the bioaccumulation and subacute toxicity of bisphenol Z (BPZ), bisphenol C (BPC), bisphenol F (BPF), and bisphenol S (BPS) to zebrafish. Five-month-old zebrafish were exposed to 1/100 LC₅₀, 1/50 LC₅₀, and 1/10 LC₅₀ of BPZ, BPC, BPF, and BPS for 13 days, respectively. Bioaccumulation, oxidative stress, and related mRNA expression in zebrafish tissues were measured on days 1, 7, and 13. After exposure, the four kinds of BPs all resulted in the accumulation of concentration and lipid peroxidation in zebrafish tissues to varying degrees. BPZ and BPC had the highest bioaccumulation level and had the greatest influence on malonic dialdehyde (MDA). In addition, the enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), and the content of glutathione (GSH) in zebrafish tissues were also affected at different levels. However, the enzyme activities of SOD and POD were inactivated in zebrafish exposed to a high concentration of BPC. Further studies showed that BPs exposure down-regulated the transcription level of sod but up-regulated the relative expression levels of cat and gpx. The mRNA relative expression level of erα was not significantly changed, while the mRNA relative expression level of erβ₁ was significantly down-regulated except under BPS exposure. These results indicate that BPZ, BPC, and BPF significantly affect the expression level of the estrogen receptor (ER) in zebrafish tissues. Overall, the results suggest that exposure to waterborne BPs can cause severe oxidative stress and tissue damage in adult zebrafish that is not sufficient to kill them after 13 days of waterborne exposure. The toxicity of BPs to organisms, therefore, should be further analyzed and evaluated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Environment: Fate, Bioaccumulation and Risk Assessments)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 523 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Associations between Maternal Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxin and Dibenzofuran Serum Concentrations and Pulse Pressure in Early Pregnancy: A Cross-Sectional Study

by Xiaofang Liu, Wencheng Cao, Xiao Liu, Yan Zhou and Sheng Wen

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(21), 13785; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192113785 - 23 Oct 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1327

Abstract

Pulse pressure (PP) is the difference between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk. Previous research suggests, with different conclusions, that exposure to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) could affect blood pressure (BP). We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the association of dioxin exposure with PP in early pregnancy. A total of 305 pregnant women in early pregnancy in Yingcheng, China, recruited from May 2018 to February 2021, were included in this study. We measured 17 congeners of PCDD/Fs in maternal serum via high-resolution gas chromatography tandem high-resolution mass spectrometry. A generalized linear regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors of dioxin exposure and their relationships with PP. The levels of total PCDD/Fs (∑PCDD/Fs) ranged from 163.52 pg/g lipid to 1,513,949.52 pg/g lipid, with a mean of 10,474.22 pg/g lipid. The mean toxicity equivalent (TEQ) of total PCDD/Fs (∑TEQ-PCDD/Fs) was 42.03 pg/g lipid. The ratio of tetrachlorinated to octa-chlorinated congeners in maternal serum was enriched with an increasing number of chlorines. Pregnant women with college and above education had higher concentrations of ∑PCDD/Fs than those with education levels of junior high school and below (β = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.67). The adjusted model for ∑TEQ-PCDD/Fs was significantly and negatively associated with PP (β = −1.79, 95% CI: −2.91, −0.68). High levels of dioxins were found in this area, and exposure to dioxins may affect the PP of women in early pregnancy, with health risks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Environment: Fate, Bioaccumulation and Risk Assessments)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

15 pages, 755 KiB

Open AccessReview

Rubber Antioxidants and Their Transformation Products: Environmental Occurrence and Potential Impact

by Jing Xu, Yanfen Hao, Zhiruo Yang, Wenjuan Li, Wenjing Xie, Yani Huang, Deliang Wang, Yuqing He, Yong Liang, Julius Matsiko and Pu Wang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(21), 14595; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114595 - 07 Nov 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4333

Abstract

Antioxidants are prevalently used during rubber production to improve rubber performance, delay aging, and extend service life. However, recent studies have revealed that their transformation products (TPs) could adversely affect environmental organisms and even lead to environmental events, which led to great public concern about environmental occurrence and potential impacts of rubber antioxidants and their TPs. In this review, we first summarize the category and application of rubber antioxidants in the world, and then demonstrate the formation mechanism of their TPs in the environment, emphasizing their influence on the ozone oxidative degradation. The potential toxic effects of antioxidants and their TPs are further reviewed to improve understanding of their biological health impact and environmental risks. Finally, the environmental occurrences of antioxidants and their TPs are summarized and their environmental impacts are demonstrated based on the recent studies. Due to the currently limited understanding on the toxic and biological effects of these compounds, further studies are required in order to better assess various TPs of these antioxidants and their environmental impact. To our knowledge, this is the first review on antioxidants and their TPs in the environment, which may elevate the environmental risk awareness of rubber products and their TPs in the near future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Environment: Fate, Bioaccumulation and Risk Assessments)

► Show Figures