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At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Perchlorate affects thyroid function in eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) at environmentally relevant concentrations.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of perchlorate on thyroid function in mosquitofish. Adult mosquitofish were exposed to 0, 0.1, 1, 10, 100, and 1000 mg/L sodium perchlorate for 2, 10, and 30 d. Whole body thyroxin (T4) content and histological assessment of thyroid follicles (e.g., follicular epithelial height, hyperplasia, hypertrophy, and colloid depletion) were used to gauge alterations in thyroid function. Follicular epithelial cell height, hyperplasia, and hypertrophy increased with increasing perchlorate concentration, especially in fish exposed for 30 d, and these effects were statistically significantly different from control at concentrations as low as 0.1 mg/L (nominal concentration). The percent occurrence of follicles with depleted colloid decreased with increasing perchlorate concentration, which is contrary to what is expected with thyroid inhibition. There also was a decrease in whole body T4 concentration in fish exposed to perchlorate for 30 d, but clear dose-response relationships were less evident for whole body T4 than for histopathological endpoints. In conclusion, thyroid histopathology provides a sensitive biomarker for thyroid endocrine disruption at environmentally relevant concentrations of sodium perchlorate, and whole body T4 is a less sensitive indicator of perchlorate exposure than is histopathology.

Animals↗

A study on perchlorate exposure and absorption in beef cattle.

Perchlorate exposure and potential effects were evaluated in large mammals by monitoring heifer calves placed on a site with access to streamwater fed by a perchlorate-contaminated groundwater spring ( approximately 25 ng/mL). Blood was collected from the two calves on the site (and two control calves from an uncontaminated site) approximately every 2 weeks for analysis of perchlorate residues and thyroid hormones. During the 14 week study, perchlorate was detected (detection limit = 13.7 ng/mL) in blood plasma twice (15 ng/mL and 22 ng/mL) in one of the heifer calves drinking perchlorate-contaminated water on consecutive sampling periods 4 and 6 weeks after the beginning of perchlorate exposure. Constant exposure to 25 ppb perchlorate in drinking water had no effect on circulating thyroid hormones (T(3) and T(4)) in the heifer calves.

Absorption↗

Analysis of hydroponic fertilizer matrixes for perchlorate: comparison of analytical techniques.

Seven retail hydroponic nitrate fertilizer products, two liquid and five solid, were comparatively analyzed for the perchlorate anion (ClO4-) by ion chromatography (IC) with suppressed conductivity detection, complexation electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (cESI-MS), normal Raman spectroscopy, and infrared spectroscopy using an attenuated total reflectance crystal (ATR-FTIR) coated with a thin film of an organometallic ion-exchange compound. Three of the five solid products were found by all techniques to contain perchlorate at the level of approximately 100-350 mg kg(-1). The remaining products did not contain perchlorate above the detection level of any of the techniques. Comparative analysis using several analytical techniques that depend on different properties of perchlorate allow for a high degree of certainty in both the qualitative and quantitative determinations. This proved particularly useful for these samples, due to the complexity of the matrix. Analyses of this type, including multiple spectroscopic confirmations, may also be useful for other complicated matrixes (e.g., biological samples) or in forensic/regulatory frameworks where data are likely to be challenged. While the source of perchlorate in these hydroponic products is not known, the perchlorate-to-nitrate concentration ratio (w/w) in the aqueous extracts is generally consistent with the historical weight percent of water soluble components in caliche, a nitrate-bearing ore found predominantly in Chile. This ore, which is the only well-established natural source of perchlorate, is mined and used, albeit minimally, as a nitrogen source in some fertilizer products.

Chromatography, Ion Exchange↗

Effects of perchlorate on myofibrillar calcium sensitivity in rat skinned skeletal muscles.

The effects of perchlorate (1-20 mM) on myofibrillar calcium responsiveness have been tested in Triton X-100-skinned fibre bundles from rat soleus (slow-twitch) and extensor digitorum longus (fast-twitch) skeletal muscles. In extensor digitorum longus and soleus, perchlorate dose-dependently shifted the pCa (-log[Ca2+])/tension relationship towards lower free calcium concentration (sensitizing effect) and maximal tension was unchanged. The degree of sensitization was greater in extensor digitorum longus than in soleus bundles. Reversibility after exposure to 12 mM perchlorate was complete in soleus but not in extensor digitorum longus muscles. In fact, the 'return' pCa/tension relationship in extensor digitorum longus was shifted to higher free calcium concentration (desensitizing effect) compared with control. Perchlorate (12 mM) also enhanced myofibrillar calcium responsiveness of frog semitendinosus skinned skeletal fibres. Assuming a passive distribution of perchlorate across the sarcolemma, this sensitizing effect is probably not involved in perchlorate-induced potentiation of contractile responses of intact muscles and thereby supports the specificity of perchlorate as an agonist of the excitation/calcium release sequence in skeletal muscle fibres.

Animals↗

Perchlorate reduction by a novel chemolithoautotrophic, hydrogen-oxidizing bacterium.

Water treatment technologies are needed that can remove perchlorate from drinking water without introducing organic chemicals that stimulate bacterial growth in water distribution systems. Hydrogen is an ideal energy source for bacterial degradation of perchlorate as it leaves no organic residue and is sparingly soluble. We describe here the isolation of a perchlorate-respiring, hydrogen-oxidizing bacterium (Dechloromonas sp. strain HZ) that grows with carbon dioxide as sole carbon source. Strain HZ is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped facultative anaerobe that was isolated from a gas-phase anaerobic packed-bed biofilm reactor treating perchlorate-contaminated groundwater. The ability of strain HZ to grow autotrophically with carbon dioxide as the sole carbon source was confirmed by demonstrating that biomass carbon (100.9%) was derived from CO2. Chemolithotrophic growth with hydrogen was coupled with complete reduction of perchlorate (10 mM) to chloride with a maximum doubling time of 8.9 h. Strain HZ also grew using acetate as the electron donor and chlorate, nitrate, or oxygen (but not sulphate) as an electron acceptor. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA sequence placed strain HZ in the genus Dechloromonas within the beta subgroup of the Proteobacteria. The study of this and other novel perchlorate-reducing bacteria may lead to new, safe technologies for removing perchlorate and other chemical pollutants from drinking water.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

Mechanistic changes during phytoremediation of perchlorate under different root-zone conditions.

Two types of hydroponic bioreactors were used to investigate the mechanisnistic changes during phytoremediation of perchlorate under different root-zone conditions. The bioreactors included: (1) an aerobic ebb-and-flow system planted with six willow trees, and (2) individual willow trees grown in sealed root-zone bioreactors. Rhizosphere probes were used to monitor for the first time during phytoremediation of perchlorate, diurnal swings in oxidation-reduction potential (E(H)), dissolved oxygen (DO), and pH. Radiolabeled (36Cl-labeled) perchlorate was used as a tracer in a subset of the sealed bioreactor experiments to quantify the contribution of phytodegradation and rhizodegradation mechanisms. Rhizodegradation accounted for the removal of 96.1 +/- 4.5% (+/-95% CI) of the initial perchlorate dose in experiments conducted in sealed hydroponic bioreactors with low DO and little or no nitrate N. Meanwhile, the contribution of rhizodegradation decreased to 76 +/- 14% (+/-95% CI) when nitrate (a competing terminal electron acceptor) was provided as the nitrogen source. Slower rates of phytoremediation by uptake and phytodegradation were observed under high nitrate concentrations and aerobic conditions, which allowed perchlorate to persist in solution and resulted in a higher fraction uptake by the plant. Specifically, the rate of removal of perchlorate from bulk solution ranged from 5.4 +/- 0.54 to 37.1 +/- 2.25 mg/L/d (+/-SE) in the absence of nitrate to 1.78 +/- 0.27 to 0.46 +/- 0.02 mg/L/d (+/-SE) at high nitrate concentration. The results of this study indicate that the root-zone environment of plants can be manipulated to optimize rhizodegradation and to minimize undesirable processes such as uptake, temporal phytoaccumulation, and slow phytodegradation during phytoremediation of perchlorate. Rhizodegradation is desired because contaminants resident in plant tissue may remain an ecological risk until completely phytodegraded.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

Long-term environmental exposure to perchlorate through drinking water and thyroid function during pregnancy and the neonatal period.

We have conducted a longitudinal epidemiologic study among pregnant women from three cities in northern Chile: Taltal with 114 microg/L, Chañaral with 6 microg/L, and Antofagasta with 0.5 microg/L perchlorate in the public drinking water. We tested the hypothesis that long-term exposure to perchlorate at these levels may cause a situation analogous to iodine deficiency, thus causing increases in thyrotropin (TSH) and thyroglobulin (Tg) levels and decreased levels of free thyroxine (FT4), in either the mother during the early stages of gestation or the neonate at birth, or in the fetus cause growth retardation. We found no increases in Tg or TSH and no decreases in FT4 among either the women during early pregnancy (16.1 +/- 4.1 weeks), late pregnancy (32.4 +/- 3.0 weeks), or the neonates at birth related to perchlorate in drinking water. Neonatal birth weight, length, and head circumference were not different among the three cities and were consistent with current U.S. norms. Therefore, perchlorate in drinking water at 114 microg/L did not cause changes in neonatal thyroid function or fetal growth retardation. Median urinary iodine among the entire cohort was 269 microg/L, intermediate between that of pregnant women in the United States at National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) I and at NHANES III and consistent with current World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. Median breast milk iodine was not decreased in the cities with detectable perchlorate. Analysis of maternal urinary perchlorate excretion indicates an additional dietary source of perchlorate.

Adult↗

Ammonium perchlorate contamination of Colorado River drinking water is associated with abnormal thyroid function in newborns in Arizona.

The Colorado River below Lake Mead, which supplies drinking water for approximately 20,000,000 people, is contaminated by ammonium perchlorate. We identified populations who were exposed and unexposed to perchlorate-contaminated drinking water and compared median newborn thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels after adjusting for age in days at measurement and for race/ethnicity. Median newborn TSH levels in a city whose drinking water supply was 100% perchlorate-contaminated water from the Colorado River below Lake Mead were significantly higher than those in a city totally supplied with non-perchlorate-contaminated drinking water, even after adjusting for factors known or suspected to elevate newborn TSH levels. This ecological study demonstrates a statistically significant association between perchlorate exposure and newborn TSH levels. It suggests that even low-level perchlorate contamination of drinking water may be associated with adverse health effects in neonates and highlights the need for both further study and control of human low-level perchlorate exposure.

Analysis of Variance↗

Correlates of osteoclast function in the presence of perchlorate ions in the rat.

The effects of perchlorate anion (ClO4-) on osteoclast properties were investigated through a number of independent in vivo and in vitro procedures. Intravenous infusion of ClO4- significantly reduced plasma [Ca] in young (50 g) Wistar rats, in the absence of changes in plasma [Mg] or [albumin]. This effect was maximal at 20 min after administration, and at a dose of 600 mumol/rat. Scanning electron-microscope images suggested that the presence of 10 mM-perchlorate reduced both the total area of cortical bone resorbed by freshly disaggregated rat osteoclasts, and the number of osteoclastic excavations in vitro. Similar effects were observed in the presence of 5 mM [Ca2+]. The effects of Ca2+ were potentiated by otherwise ineffective (1 mM) doses of perchlorate. Indo-1 dual-emission microspectrofluorimetry indicated a transient sixfold elevation of cytosolic free [Ca2+], in isolated cultured osteoclasts, with addition of 10 mM-perchlorate. Records of time-lapse video images indicated that this was followed by a marked and sustained cell retraction, by up to 70% of control cell area. Such effects were not observed at thiocyanate concentrations (10 mM) that would have produced comparable lyotropic effects as perchlorate. However, perchlorate did not alter morphometric measures for pseudopodial motility and cell migration. Nor did it influence supernatant concentrations of tartrate-resistant (osteoclastic) acid phosphatase in cultures of resorbing osteoclasts. These findings suggest that perchlorate is a potent inhibitor of osteoclast function, and acts through an influence on intracellular [Ca2+], and in turn upon the degree of cell retraction.

Acid Phosphatase↗

Contribution of ammonium ions to the lethality and antimetamorphic effects of ammonium perchlorate.

Ammonium perchlorate (AP) is a widespread military waste product in the United States and is a potent thyroid function disruptor in all vertebrates tested thus far. To determine the relative contribution of ammonium ions to the toxicity of AP, we exposed embryonic and larval Xenopus laevis to various concentrations of sodium perchlorate (SP) or ammonium chloride (AC). Ammonium perchlorate was significantly more lethal than SP; 5-d LC50s were 83 and 2,780 mg/L, respectively. To determine whether ammonium ions contribute to the antithyroid effects of AP, we exposed embryonic and larval X. laevis to two sublethal, environmentally relevant concentrations of AP or identical concentrations of AC or SP. At the smaller concentration, only AP delayed metamorphosis and reduced hindlimb growth. Sodium perchlorate and AP, but not AC, prevented metamorphosis and reduced hindlimb growth at the greater concentration. Although AP was slightly more effective in reducing outward manifestations of thyroid disruption, both perchlorate salts, unlike AC, caused profound histopathologic changes in the thyroid. Exposure to the higher concentration of either perchlorate salt produced a feminizing effect, resulting in a skewed sex ratio. We conclude that ammonium ions contribute significantly to the toxicity of AP but not to the direct antithyroid effects of perchlorate.

Animals↗

Perchloric acid interference in enzymatic-fluorimetric-continuous-flow assay methods for measuring glucose, lactate, pyruvate, alanine, glycerol, and 3-hydroxybutyrate in blood.

Perchloric acid is commonly used to denature and precipitate proteins in samples before various metabolites are measured in tissue, blood, and other body fluids. However, perchloric acid can interfere in the analytical process, possibly by inhibiting the enzymes used. We have determined the effects of perchloric acid on measurements of glucose, lactate, pyruvate, alanine, glycerol, and 3-hydroxybutyrate in blood by enzymatic-fluorimetric-continuous-flow assays. There was a net increase or decrease in the apparent concentration of some of these metabolites when the perchloric acid concentration in the samples differed from that of the reference standards-some of these differences were due to the concentration of perchlorate ion and some to the pH of the acid extracts. The results show the need either to add a fixed amount of blood to perchloric acid or to neutralize and remove the perchlorate.

3-Hydroxybutyric Acid↗

Perchlorate isotope forensics.

Perchlorate has been detected recently in a variety of soils, waters, plants, and food products at levels that may be detrimental to human health. These discoveries have generated considerable interest in perchlorate source identification. In this study, comprehensive stable isotope analyses (37Cl/35Cl and 18O/17O/16O) of perchlorate from known synthetic and natural sources reveal systematic differences in isotopic characteristics that are related to the formation mechanisms. In addition, isotopic analyses of perchlorate extracted from groundwater and surface water demonstrate the feasibility of identifying perchlorate sources in contaminated environments on the basis of this technique. Both natural and synthetic sources of perchlorate have been identified in water samples from some perchlorate occurrences in the United States by the isotopic method.

Journal Article↗

Chemolithotrophic perchlorate reduction linked to the oxidation of elemental sulfur.

Perchlorate (ClO(4)(-)) contamination of ground and surface water has been recently recognized as a widespread environmental problem. Biological methods offer promising perspectives of perchlorate remediation. Facultative anaerobic bacteria couple the oxidation of organic and inorganic electron-donating substrates to the reduction of perchlorate as a terminal electron acceptor, converting it completely to the benign end-product, chloride. Insoluble inorganic substrates are of interest for low maintenance bioreactor or permeable reactive barrier systems because they can provide a long-term supply of electron donor without generating organic residuals. The main objective of this research was to investigate the feasibility of utilizing elemental sulfur (S(0)) as an insoluble electron donor for the biological reduction of perchlorate. A chemolithotrophic enrichment culture derived from aerobic activated sludge was obtained which effectively coupled the oxidation of elemental sulfur to sulfate with the reduction of perchlorate to chloride and gained energy from the process for cell growth. The enrichment culture grew at a rate of 0.41 or 0.81 1/d in the absence and presence of added organic carbon for cell growth, respectively. The enrichment culture was also shown to carry out sulfur disproportionation to a limited extent as evidenced by the formation of sulfide and sulfate in the absence of added electron acceptor. When nitrate and perchlorate were added together, the two electron acceptors were removed simultaneously after an initial partial decrease in the nitrate concentration.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

Role of Citrobacter amalonaticus and Citrobacter farmeri in dissimilatory perchlorate reduction.

The article deals with the novel physiological function of dissimilatory perchlorate reduction by strains JB101 and JB109 isolated from a laboratory-enriched mixed consortium originating from a sewage treatment facility. The biochemical and physiological data of the strains showed good correspondence with members of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The partial 16S rDNA sequence of the strains JB101 and JB109 had similarity of 99.8% to Citrobacter amalonaticus and 98% to Citrobacter farmeri, respectively. The results inferred the possibility of Citrobacter spp. to form an important group of dissimilatory perchlorate reducers among the gamma subclass of Proteobacteria, since the majority of the perchlorate reducers belong to two monophyletic groups, Dechloromonas and Dechlorosoma in beta subclass. The perchlorate-grown Citrobacter strains preferred perchlorate to nitrate as an electron acceptor unlike most of the reported dissimilatory perchlorate reducers.

Base Sequence↗

Bioremediation of chlorate or perchlorate contaminated water using permeable barriers containing vegetable oil.

A scale model of an in situ permeable barrier, formed by injecting vegetable oil onto laboratory soil columns, was used to remove chlorate and perchlorate from flowing groundwater. The hypothesis that trapped oil would serve as a substrate enabling native microorganisms to reduce chlorate or perchlorate to chloride as water flowed through the oil-rich zone had merit. Approximately 96% of the 0.2 mM chlorate and 99% of the 0.2 mM perchlorate present in the water was removed as water was pumped through columns containing vegetable oil barriers. The product formed was chloride. When nitrate at 1.4 mM was added to the water, both nitrate and chlorate were removed. High concentrations of chlorate or perchlorate can be treated; 24 m M chlorate and 6 mM perchlorate were completely reduced to chloride during microcosm incubations. Microorganisms capable of reducing perchlorate are plentiful in the environment.

Bacteria↗

Determination of perchlorate in selected surface waters in the Great Lakes Basin by HPLC/MS/MS.

Surface water samples were collected from 55 sites in the Great Lakes Basin and analyzed for the presence of perchlorate using HPLC/MS/MS with an isotopically enriched internal standard. Sites included areas impacted by heavy industry, urbanization, agriculture and atmospheric deposition. Perchlorate was detected at several of the sites at concentrations close to the method detection limit (0.2 microg/l). Despite these low concentrations, its presence was confirmed by sample concentration and determination of the isotopic ratio of perchlorate. The presence of perchlorate at two of the sites was related to a fireworks display which had occurred prior to sampling. The other detections of perchlorate were in rivers/creeks draining watersheds which had high density livestock and crop farming activity. We suspect the two are related. To our knowledge, these are the first reported concentrations of perchlorate in Canadian surface waters.

Canada↗

Inhibition of aerobic respiration and dissimilatory perchlorate reduction using cyanide.

The effect of low concentrations of cyanide on dissimilatory perchlorate and chlorate reduction and aerobic respiration was examined using pure cultures of Azospira sp. KJ. Cyanide at a concentration of 38 microM inhibited cell growth on perchlorate, chlorate and molecular oxygen, but it did not inhibit the activity of chlorite dismutase. When oxygen accumulation was prevented by adding an oxygen scavenger (Oxyrase or L-cysteine), however, cells completely reduced perchlorate in the presence of cyanide. It was concluded that the inhibition of dissimilative perchlorate reduction by cyanide at this concentration was a consequence of oxygen accumulation, not inhibition of the enzymes used for perchlorate reduction. This finding on the effect of cyanide on respiratory enzymes provides a new method to control and study respiratory enzymes used for perchlorate reduction.

Bacteria, Aerobic↗

Enhanced reduction of perchlorate by elemental iron at elevated temperatures.

Kinetics of perchlorate reduction by elemental iron was examined at elevated temperatures using microwave heating and conventional block heating. It was hypothesized that increasing the solution temperature may accelerate the reduction of perchlorate by overcoming the high activation energy barrier. Results from microwave heating study showed that 98% of aqueous perchlorate was removed in 1 h at 200 degrees C. Similar results observed in control experiments with a block heater indicated that the enhancement in the extent and rate of perchlorate removal by elemental iron was mostly due to heat energy at high temperature. The rapid and complete reduction of perchlorate by elemental iron at elevated temperatures suggests that iron reduction process at elevated temperature may be an option to consider for complete removal of perchlorate from industrial discharges.

Hot Temperature↗