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At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed2003

Heat shock response: hsp70 in environmental monitoring.

Heat shock proteins (Hsps) are a ubiquitous feature of cells in which these proteins cope with stress-induced denaturation of other proteins. Among the different families of Hsps, the 70 kDa family (hsp70) is the most highly conserved and has been most extensively studied. Apart from their primary role in cellular defense under stress condition, a number of studies in recent years have shown the immense potential of hsp70 in pollution monitoring using even transgenic approach both in vivo and in vitro. This article reviews the recent developments in the widespread application of hsp70 in environmental risk assessment.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Environmental monitoring of remedial dredging at the New Bedford Harbor, MA, Superfund site.

New Bedford Harbor (NBH), MA, is a Superfund site because of high polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations in the sediment. From April 1994 to September 1995, a remedial dredging operation (termed the "Hot Spot") removed the most contaminated sediments (PCB concentrations greater than 4000 microg/g) from the upper harbor. During remediation, a monitoring program assessed the potential environmental impacts to NBH and adjacent Buzzards Bay. The monitoring program was developed with input from federal, state, and local authorities. Site-specific decision criteria were established to assess net PCB transport, water column toxicity, and PCB bioaccumulation in blue and ribbed mussels (Mytilus edulis and Geukensia demissa, respectively). The remediation was completed without exceeding PCB net transport or acute toxicity effects specified in the decision criteria. In addition, PCB bioaccumulation in mussels during this time period was not significantly greater than pre- or post-operational measurements. The results indicated that approximately 14000 cubic yards of highly PCB contaminated sediment were permanently removed with minimal environmental effects. The lessons learned during this operation, as well as previous pilot studies at the site, will be used to make full-scale remedial efforts in NBH more efficient and environmentally protective.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Environmental monitoring in soil contamination and remediation programs: how practitioners are using the Internet to share knowledge.

Internet listservers provide a means for professionals from all sectors of the industry and profession, to communicate and collaborate with each other, as well as other stakeholders (e.g., suppliers, academics, the general public and community members) in real time. This article highlights key Internet listservers in the field of environmental monitoring in soil contamination and remediation and how to subscribe to them. The most active and relevant listservers for environmental scientists, technologists and professionals in the soil contamination and remediation profession are the Bioremediation Discussion Group (BioGroup), Phytonet, Phytoremediation listserver, Groundwater listserver and Environmental Forensics listserver. Other observations and lessons so far from the use of Internet listservers are: (i) that moderators provide an important role in maintaining the level of quality and participation, (ii) do not underestimate the knowledge base held within these, and (iii) if not selected and managed properly, e-mail from listservers can generate an excess of e-mail and waste time.

Diffusion of Innovation↗
PubMed1989

Whole-cell biosensors for environmental monitoring.

Concern over the pollution risk to drinking water from industry and agriculture is growing, and the need for continuous on-line monitoring recognised. There is increasing use of living organisms as the sensitive agent to detect the presence of pollutants, and whole-cell biosensors are seen to have particular advantages in such environmental monitoring. The development of a mediated amperometric biosensor, incorporating the cyanobacterium Synechococcus as the biocatalyst, for on-line herbicide monitoring is described. The biosensor is able to detect a wide range of herbicides with sites of action on the photosynthetic electron transport chain, at concentrations down to 20 micrograms litre-1 and possesses a working life of up to 7 days. The use of alginate immobilisation of the biocatalyst to overcome the problems associated with obtaining a realistic shelf life for the biosensor is discussed.

Biosensing Techniques↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Biosensor models based on potentiometric and amperometric transducers for use in medicine, biotechnology, and environmental monitoring (review)].

Various types of potentiometric and amperometric biosensors are characterized: microbial sensors with Gluconobacter oxydans cells with potentiometric (pH-sensitive field-effect transistor) and amperometric (Clark-type) electrodes for determining glucose; a potentiometric enzymatic electrode with butyrylcholinesterase, which is used in the biosensor designed to detect pesticides; immunosensors with pH-sensitive field-effect transistors which detect the herbicide 2, 4-D; a biosensor for human immunoglobulin G; biosensors with anaerobic bacteria Clostridium thermocellum; chemical and enzymatic sensors containing a photosensitive membrane for determining ammonium ions and urea; and amperometric microbial sensors prepared with Pseudomonas cells for determining naphthalene, biphenyl, and polychlorinated benzoates. Practical applications of the developed models of biosensors to medicine, biotechnology, and environmental monitoring are discussed.

Biosensing Techniques↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Measuring lysosomal stability as an effective tool for marine coastal environmental monitoring.

The use of lysosomal stability in the mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, as a potential biomarker of environmental contamination has been evaluated along the Portuguese coast. To this end, the neutral red retention (NRR) time was measured in mussel haemocytes gathered from nine different locations reflecting different degrees of anthropogenic contamination. Mussels collected in the vicinity of industrial and urban areas showed the lowest lysosomal stability. Additionally, no significant seasonal variability (winter-spring/summer) for NRR time was observed. In order to further support the usefulness of this method as an integrated tool for monitoring marine coastal environments, we compared the levels of xenobiotics in mussel tissues with the obtained NRR values. The results highlighted a consistent pattern, with the lowest lysosomal stability intimately correlated with the higher contaminant concentrations. In summary, this integrated approach further demonstrated that the NRR assay can provide useful and objective indications of the real health status of organisms subjected to different stress agents, being a valid option for environmental monitoring.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Biological and environmental monitoring of occupational exposure to cyclophosphamide in industry and hospitals.

The aims of the study were to clarify potential exposure situations to anticancer agents during industrial processing, drug manufacture and hospital administration, using cyclophosphamide (CP) as the model compound. CP is considered an animal and human carcinogen, and it is shown to be an indirect mutagen in various test systems using several genetic endpoints. Environmental monitoring was performed by collecting ambient air samples during the different processing and handling stages. Both stationary and personal sampling was used. CP was analyzed by liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS). The process materials and intermediates were also analyzed for genotoxic activity using the Ames test and SCE induction in CHO cells as endpoints. Biological monitoring studies were performed on 147 persons representing 5 groups of workers, control subjects and patients. In the experimental part of the project, the intermediates in the CP manufacturing process, CP I (nor-nitrogen mustard) and CP II (phosphoroxydichloride mustard) were found directly active in the 2 genotoxicity tests. These findings led to improvements in work hygiene when handling CP I and CP II in the process. The CP measurements showed that the highest potential-exposure sites occurred during specific operations of the process, e.g., during emptying of the drying drum and during tablet mass preparation (the range of CP concentrations in air was 0.16-0.49 mg/m3). The correlation between indirect genotoxicity and chemical analyses of the ambient air samples was good, revealing the activity to be due to cyclophosphamide. However, the air samples were found mutagenic without metabolic activation also in the beginning of the process; this is obviously due to CP II particles in the ambient air, since no CP was detected chemically. The personal protection of workers in the plant collaborating in the study is efficient and the production unit is equipped with the best available techniques to protect both the personnel and the quality of the drug. Both the urine mutagenicity analyses using strain TA1535 of Salmonella typhimurium as indicator and the cytogenetic analyses of peripheral blood lymphocytes using sister-chromatid exchanges or structural chromosomal aberrations as endpoints were negative. However, a statistically nonsignificant trend in increased number of micronuclei was observed in binucleated lymphocytes of the worker groups as compared with controls. The studies on the hospital use of CP were performed in 3 oncological units and 1 pharmacy unit.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1999

The contribution of environmental monitoring in the epidemiological assessment of exogenous risk. The experience of ARPA in the Emilia-Romagna Region of Italy.

The aim of the Emilia Romagna-Region Agency for Prevention and Environment (ARPA) is to define and improve interactions among the various prevention departments of the Emilia-Romagna Local Health Authorities in order to attain better knowledge about the health status of the population by using epidemiology and etiology studies, as well as predictive models. This is the basis for the environmental health risk assessment strategy of ARPA. The priority activity areas for ARPA are: urban areas, environmental and health effects of traffic (atmospheric pollution and noise pollution); industrial areas (Ravenna chemical plants, Modena/Reggio-Emilia ceramic factories and Ferrara chemical plants); high-speed trains; pesticides; asbestos; and pollution of the Adriatic Sea.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Establishment of critical contamination risk locations ("hot spots") in environmental monitoring by means of three-dimensional airflow analysis and particulate evaluation.

A practical approach for the qualification of the surrounding environment of the critical area in aseptic processing has been developed. This method uses three-dimensional air velocity measurements combined with airborne particle monitoring. The analysis of the results obtained using the methods described in this article are beneficial in the selection of sample sites and frequencies and in refining personnel procedures and materials flow in aseptic processing. We propose that this improved qualification method can be widely applicable for both existing and new aseptic processing areas. This paper shows the results of one case study utilizing this method. The particle distribution map of a Grade B environment based upon extensive analysis was found to correspond to room airflow, as visualized by air vector mapping. The actual annual environmental monitoring data, which include airborne particles and microbes, as well as other microbial monitoring data, are also presented with respect to their relationship to the airflow pattern.

Air Microbiology↗
PubMed2006

Influences of TP53 expression on cellular radiation response and its relevance to diagnostic biodosimetry for mission environmental monitoring.

TP53 is a transcriptional activator and regulates genomic instability and cellular responses to DNA damage in response to ionising radiation. The molecular mechanism behind p53-mediated responses, such as, apoptosis and genomic instability remains unclear. An in vitro model of biological effects to irradiation was established. In order to elucidate the functional role of TP53 under different stress-reaction pathways and identify possible biological indicators, p53 was stably transfected into HL-60 cells, which provides a p53 minus background. Significantly enhanced radiosensitivity and growth suppression were observed. G(2) accumulation was obtained. Radiation-induced apoptosis of HL-60 cells was significantly inhibited by TP53, indicating that, in the event of DNA damage, TP53 is able to prevent cell death of HL-60 leukaemia cells by sustaining an arrest of the cell cycle at G(2) phase. Further evidence will be presented to identify specific radiation-targeted genes or signals as possible biomarkers for early diagnosis of radiation damage as well as mission environmental monitoring.

Biological Assay↗
PubMed2007

Polychlorinated biphenyls and -naphthalenes in pine needles and soil from Poland--concentrations and patterns in view of long-term environmental monitoring.

Pine needles were selected as cost effective and easy collectable matrices suitable for long-term monitoring of the lower troposphere pollution with polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated naphthalenes. The fingerprints of PCNs and PCBs in the top layers of agricultural soils were used for determination of point sources of pollution for terrestrial ecosystems. The new idea based on the use of nona- and decachlorinated isomers fingerprint as an additional tool suitable for the identification of potential point sources of pollution with PCBs, seemed to be a capable tool to identify contamination of soil and ambient air related to former manufacturing and the use of highly chlorinated technical PCB preparations.

Air↗
PubMed2005

A low-cost, portable generic biotoxicity assay for environmental monitoring applications.

Fish chromatophores have been shown to be promising biosensors for the detection of hostile agents in the environment. However, state-of-art methods for such applications are still based on extensive use of data/signal processing, in conjunction with need for a skilled human observer to carry out the detection. As a result, conventional methods are complex, costly and cumbersome rendering them useless for field applications requiring low-cost portable solutions capable of fast detection. A new technique is proposed based on the popular scheme of observing the aggregation response in chromatophores for detection of toxicity, and a solution using optical detection and electronic processing is outlined. This scheme has the advantage of being low in cost while providing simple, fast and reliable detection.

Animals↗