Search Results (3)

Soil contamination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), especially caused by the mixture of two or more PAHs, raised great environmental concerns. However, research on the migration and transformation processes of PAHs in soils and their interactions with native communities is limited. In this work, soil samples from uncontaminated sites around the industrial parks in Handan, Hengshui, and Shanghai were artificially supplemented with three concentrations of anthracene (Ant), 9-chloroanthracene (9-ClAnt), benzopyrene (BaP), and chrysene (Chr). Ryegrass was planted to investigate the degradation of PAHs and its interaction with native soil organisms in the constructed ryegrass–microbe–soil microcosmic system. The bacterial and fungal communities in soil were affected by PAHs; their species diversity and relative abundance changed after exposure to different concentrations of PAHs, among which Lysobacter, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, and Massilia bacteria were correlated to the degradation of PAHs. On the 56th day, the contents of BaP, Chr, and Ant decreased with the degradation process, while the degradation of 9-ClAnt was limited. Nineteen intermediates, including hydroxylation and carboxylated compounds, were identified. The present research would help clarify the potential interactions between PAHs and native organisms in contaminated sites, providing fundamental information for evaluating the transformation risks of PAHs in the natural environment. Full article

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can undergo photochemical reactions in chlorine-containing environments, generating chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ClPAHs). This phenomenon has been confirmed in aqueous and soil environments, while was previously overlooked in saline ice. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the photochemical chlorination behavior of anthracene (ANT) in saline ice. Under photoexcitation, the ground state ANT generates the singlet state ANT (¹ANT*), which is transformed into the triplet state ANT (³ANT*) via intersystem crossing. Simultaneously, the oxygen receives electrons and further reacts to form the hydroxyl radical (·OH). The ·OH reacts with chloride ions (Cl⁻) to produce chlorine radicals (·Cl). The ·Cl then reacts with ³ANT* to form monochloroanthracene (9-ClANT, 2-ClANT). The resulting monochloroanthracene further reacts with ·Cl to form dichloroanthracene (9,10-Cl₂ANT). Lower temperature, higher salinity, and dissolved organic matter are facilitated to generate ClPAHs, which may show negative impacts on the ecological environment. Full article

Since the finding in the 1930s, a large number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of different structures have been tested for potential tumorigenicity. Structure-activity relationships of halo-PAHs have been investigated to determine the regions of a PAH that may be involved in cancer initiation. From these studies, a number of halo-PAHs were found to be tumorigenic in experimental animals. It was not until the 1980s that halo-PAHs were found to be present in the environment, including municipal incinerator fly ash, urban air, coal combustion, soil, snow, automobile exhausts, and tap water. Due to their widespread presence in the environment and their genotoxic activities, including carcinogenicity, many of these compounds may pose a health risk to humans. Although the biological activities, including metabolism, mutagenicity, and carcinogenicity, of halo-PAHs have been studied their phototoxicity and photo-induced biological activity have not been well examined. In this study, we study the photoirradiation of a series of structure-related halo-PAHs by UVA light in the presence of a lipid, methyl linoleate, and determine as to whether or not these compounds can induce lipid peroxidation. The halo-PAHs chosen for study include 2-bromonaphthalene, 1-chloroanthracene, 9,10-dibromoanthracene, 9-chlorophenanthrene, 9-bromophenanthrene, 7-chlorobenz[a]anthracene, 7-bromobenz[a]anthracene, 7-bromo-5-methylbenz[a]anthracene, 6-chlorobenzo[a]pyrene, and 6-bromobenzo[a]pyrene. The results indicate that upon photoirradiation by UVA all these compounds induced lipid peroxidation at different levels. These results suggest that halo-PAHs may be harmful to human health. Full article