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Bioaccumulation - Science topic

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"I have treated adult zebrafish with 8-micron polystyrene microplastic and want to study the bioaccumulation in different organs. Can this be done using hydrogen peroxide digestion followed by NaCl phase separation, final filtration or centrifugation, and counting them under the microscope?"
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I am not an expert in this field, but I am very interested and have researched to find an answer. I received some assistance from tlooto.com for this response. Could you please review the response below to see if it is correct?
Quantifying polystyrene microplastic (8 micron) bioaccumulation in fish tissue can be effectively achieved using hydrogen peroxide digestion, NaCl phase separation, final filtration or centrifugation, and microscopic counting. Hydrogen peroxide digestion breaks down organic material, facilitating the isolation of microplastics [2]. NaCl phase separation then isolates these microplastics from the digested tissue. Following this, either filtration or centrifugation is utilized to collect the microplastics. Finally, counting the isolated microplastics under a microscope allows for accurate quantification. This method aligns with existing protocols for microplastic detection in biological tissues, ensuring reliable assessment of bioaccumulation in different organs [1][2].
Reference
[1] Guerrera, M., Aragona, M., Porcino, C., Fazio, F., Laurá, R., Levanti, M., Montalbano, G., Germanà, G., Abbate, F., & Germanà, A. (2021). Micro and Nano Plastics Distribution in Fish as Model Organisms: Histopathology, Blood Response and Bioaccumulation in Different Organs. Applied Sciences.
[2] Tolls, J., Samperi, R., & Corcia, A. D. (2003). Bioaccumulation of LAS in feral fish studied by a novel LC-MS/MS method.. Environmental science & technology, 37 2, 314-20 .
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I have noticed that the micro and macro algae being studied to bioaccumulate Fukushima radiation aren't reported to uptake the Cesium and that Pacific plankton are increasingly reported as bioaccumulating radiation. I think there is a connection between Cesium, plankton and the extra oceanic carbonate (from higher CO2 levels). I wonder if any plankton has been tested for which types of radiation are present, since Strontium-90 mimics calcium and the Cesium-134 mimics potassium. Could there be shifts in the oceanic chemical equilibrium equations to favor radioactive plankton? Do diatoms outcompete other phytoplankton in the presence of extra potassium?
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A question. Now 13 years of the Fukashima event the oceans have heated more rapidly than even before in time. How much of the effect of the Cs has had on the phytoplankton by limiting its production of oxygen and its global cooling effect on the oceans and atmosphere?
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Actually I'm researching on factors influencing T-Hg bioaccumulation dynamics in neotropical fishes (axial muscle) from a main river basin in Colombia. A colleague and me have done an additive machine learning approach to describe more accurately this phenomenon. So we're needing researchers with knowledge in mercury pollution in this biota and (if it's posible) with GIS habilities to create appropiate maps. I must say this research is independent so we're not getting payed nor reciving any economic wealth. ¡Many thanks for your interest and time!
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Hello, it's a great research work and wish to be part of the research team
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Hello everyone,
I want to calculate a ratio, but for some measurements, I have <LOD in the denominator
There is actually a range of possible numbers <LOD
One solution could be to consider: =LOD, or LOD/2, etc. ?
Are there methodological references which I can confront?
Thank you in advance
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When calculating ratios with a Limit of Detection (LOD) in the denominator, there are a few different approaches that can be used, depending on the specific context and the desired level of accuracy. Here are a few examples:
  1. Substitute a value below the LOD: One option is to substitute a value below the LOD, such as half the LOD, in the denominator. This will give a conservative estimate of the ratio, but it may not be very accurate.
  2. Substitute a value above the LOD: Another option is to substitute a value above the LOD, such as the LOD +1, in the denominator. This will give a less conservative estimate of the ratio, but it may not be very accurate.
  3. Use a statistical method: A more accurate approach is to use a statistical method to estimate the true value of the ratio. For example, the method of imputed ratios or the method of adjusted ratios can be used.
  4. Report the ratio as <LOD: Another option is to report the ratio as <LOD, this means that the value is less than the limit of detection.
It is important to note that the best approach will depend on the specific context of the measurement, the desired level of accuracy, and the intended use of the ratio. It's always advisable to consult with an expert or statistician to determine the most appropriate approach.
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Culture media for Bioacclimitization of Cd and Cr by indigenous bacterial strains.
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Biosorption mechanisms depend on the type of bacteria strain. It requires the standardization of the media during your studies. For comparative studies, it can be a minimal salt medium and a nutrient-rich medium like LB.
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Many passive sampling techniques such as SPMD have been used to replace fish. I am looking for some information on why we should replace fish to measure the toxicants.
I hope I will get good guidelines.
Big thanks
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There are various challenges around using fish to measure bio accumulation and bio concentration, including extrapolation from single tissue to full body burden, and an intention to move away from less reliance on animal testing.
This report from the Environment Agency in England, published in summer 2022 gives a useful overview on some of the current understanding of this topic: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1091336/Guidance_on_interpreting_biota_tissue_concentrations_for_bioaccumulation_assessment_-report.pdf#page5
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I have come across numerous research papers that estimate bioaccumulation factor of heavy metals in fish muscle originating from its surrounding water or sediment as ratio of heavy metal content between fish and environment. Can anyone please elaborate how may i quantify bioaccumulation of heavy metals in farmed fish originating from the supplied feed that contains heavy metal above permissible limit?
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não trabalhei com peixe.
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I want to write a book chapter on Emerging Contaminants (ECs) concerning Bioaccumulation and remembering the Aquatic Biota. My objectives will be 1. Categorization of ECs, 2. source, fate, and mechanism, 3. research gaps, 4. effect on an aquatic ecosystem.
I am asking for help, in the Categorization part and effects on the aquatic ecosystem part.
If I want to portray ECs adverse effects how should I do it? random consideration of aquatic biota or describe every trophic level individually with some examples?
I hope I will get help.
Thanks in advance.
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I suppose you know these texts: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/emerging-contaminant. This should provide you with a good start.
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In fear of corona disease, the whole World has been used many disinfectants and chemicals. Thus it needs to think about their bioaccumulation effect and suitable remedy measure simultaneously to save the Earth from any type of environmental problem in the near future.
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The mycelium biomass is used for heavy metal bioaccumulation in vitro settings, which will be subject to Atomic absorption spectroscopy. In order to get the dry/wet weight of mycelial biomass and to prepare samples for AAS analysis how can I separate and get clean mycelial biomass from PDB?
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I am not an expert on this. When we need to separate mycelium from broth, we use a Buchner funnel with an appropriate Whatman filter, add the broth on top, and rinse the mycelial mat with sterile-distilled water under vacuum until the rinseate is clear (rather than PDA-colored). If I remembered to weigh the Whatman filter before-hand, I can put the filter in a drying oven at 100 C, wait until it dries, weigh it, and have the dry wt biomass of the fungus (by subtracting the weight of the paper).
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I'm looking for databases for (eco)toxicology data of chemicals. Specifically; biodegradability, aquatic toxicity, and bioaccumulation. A strong interest is also for data of ionic liquids. Please recommend both public and commercial databases.
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Dear Ademi
Please kindly follow the attached document and also my papers regarding the toxicity......,hope they will be helpful !
this site can help you too : https://cfpub.epa.gov/ecotox/
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I am currently proposing a study on the metal uptake of a particular plant. In the study, I am going to spike my pot experiments in treatments with varying concentration of the metal of interest. One of the parameters I want to find is BCF. I am aware that it is a basically a ratio between the concentration of metal in roots/concentration of metal in the soil. I am confused however with this concentration of soil. Am I supposed to use the concentration of soil after the remediation or the concentration of the soil before the process in solving for the BCF? Thank you and God Bless!
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Be careful with the terminology. And yes, just because the wrong terminology appears in a few papers that are improperly peer reviewed, does not mean this terminology is correct. Bioconcentration factors are "generally" measured between organisms (i.e., animals) and the water in which they live - and they assume that steady-state has been reached. For animals, they also assume that the dominate route of uptake is through the water phase, and not through ingestion. If you attempt to normalize your "ratios" to the soil (micrograms per kg of soil), it will have no thermodynamic basis, and metal adsorption to different soils can be vastly different. You CAN calculate "distribution coefficients", which is not semi-empirical "thermodynamic" values. If you do this, yes, you should base the ratio on the metal remaining in the soil, not the initial concentration (you want the steady-state ratio). Better if you use the water phase concentration in the soil - if you can grow the plants in the presence of a saturated soil. I am not a "plant" person, so you should refer to some highly cited papers to see how to best process the data.
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Environment, Environmental pollution, Bioaccumulation or Ocean pollution
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Dear Dr Puram :
Environmental Science and Pollution Research ( not for open access to your article)
Good luck!
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Hello, everybody! In your opinion, in an environmental risk assessment, if exists, which is the most critical criterion: bioaccumulation potential, acute aquatic toxicity, or biodegradation? For example: which compound offers more risk to the environment and why?:
Compound 1: very high acute toxicity, low bioaccumulation, high biodegradability;
Compound 2: very high bioaccumulation, low acute toxicity; high biodegradability;
Compound 3: very low biodegradability; low acute toxicity; low bioaccumulation.
Thank you in advance!
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Biodegradation can restore and upgrade the environment
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Since its emergence in 2019 the SARS-CoV-2 remains a challenge for scientists, clinicians and the overall population to solve. Besides its rapid spread and harsh respiratory distress it did induce, further secondary outocomes are observed. In particular, recent works highlifhted a preferential accumulation of its spike protein in skin tissues, specifically sweet glands. It appears that skin epithelial cells could also be a secondary host-cell of the viron.
this instigates several questions including:
i. did the viron targets all epithelial cells, such as skin and gut epithelia?
ii. if so, does it really rely on angiotensin converting ezyme receptor abundance in these cells? would these cells act as reservor for the virus ARN?
iii. could spike protein modify the skin physico-chemical properties?
etc.
I really wish to have a deep discussion of this fact
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the expression of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in skin cells might be a probe for the virus replication into different cell types, in particular epithelial ones. if so, these cells, as spared from clinical investigations, might be the origin of recurrent auto infection and probably explain its transmission way from animals (eg. bats) to humans. furthermore the usage of the ARN-vaccine could amplify the spike protein presence in cutaneous tissues and change their physico-chemical properties and function.
it is thought that evaluating the abundance of the spike protein in the skin of a large group of patients (notably at different severity grades) is required to testify such hypothesis and better manage the disease.
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Are there any indexes ( like Hazard Index) to calculate the potential health risk associated with consuming food (commercial fish species) which bioaccumulates medical substances like (paracetamol, amoxicillin, venlafaxine)???
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In our country, a lot of water sources are found to be contaminated with arsenic (As). But, here, experts said that, using arsenic contaminated water is not harmful for us, we can use it in our daily needs except drinking.
My question is - using arsenic contaminated water for our daily needs, have any risk of bioaccumulation by surrounding biota? Does it have any associated human health risk?
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Drinking-water containg Arsenic increases the risks of cancer in the skin, lungs, bladder and kidney, as well as other skin changes such as hyperkeratosis and pigmentation changes.The effects on environments include death, inhibition of growth, photosynthesis and reproduction, and behavioral effects. Environments contaminated with arsenic contain only a few species and fewer numbers within species. If levels of arsenate are high enough, only resistant organisms, such as certain microbes, may be present. If arsenic poisoning occurs over a brief period of time, symptoms may include vomiting, abdominal pain, encephalopathy, and watery diarrhea that contains blood. Long-term exposure can result in thickening of the skin, darker skin, abdominal pain, diarrhea, heart disease, numbness, and cancer.
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Chromium is one of the main chemical ingredients of tannery industries. Those industries also produce a lot of chromium contaminated solid wastes. what are the biotransformation and bioaccumulation procedures it follows to expose in human body?
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Have a look at this useful RG link.
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Hi, Scholars
I have needed the laboratory reports which covered the following topics
1) Visualize the process of bioaccumulation and biomagnification
2) Distinguish between these concepts using basic calculations
3) Estimate the amount of energy gained /lost through the energy transfers of a typical food chain
4) Review trophic level names and energy characteristics
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I'm currently working on a project on heavy metal concentration in contaminanted soil in a mining site and and the toxicological processes governing heavy metal uptake from soils into plant tissue system. So far I have used some indices such as BCF and BAF in my evaluation. But I'm hoping I could do with more indices to validate my results.
Your inputs will be highly appreciated
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@Omolara, many thanks for your contribution. It was quite helpful
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Microalgae break down heavy metal through the mechanisms of bioaccumulation and biosorption. What mechanisms do microalgae use in breaking down petroleum hydrocarbon?
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Thank you so much. I have been able to lay my hands on some reviews that gave me a better understanding of the mechanisms. I appreciate you.
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Bivalve specimens are preserved in 70% ethanol for about 6 months. What is possibility of being able to extract DNA/RNA of bacteria that was previously consumed?
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Ethanol is a great preservation medium for molecular recovery, it's commonly used to store environmental, fecal, etc samples for microbial identification. 70% is a bit low for longer term preservation, but for only 6 months, you should get good recovery; but consider that consumed bacteria in free-association or particle-bound are exposed to digestive enzymes, so depending on the load and pre-preservation conditions/procedures, there may be variable amounts of recoverable macromolecules of interest.
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I am currently workin on the evaluation regarding the bioaccumulation potential of the chemical substance bis (4-chlorophenyl) sulphone (substance evaluation under the REACH regulation).
My specfic question now is:
Are there any recent publications (any research) available who determined this substance especially in wildlife birds? It would be very helpful if there are monitoring data available?
The reason for that is that there concerns about this substance regarding its bioaccumulation potential espacially in bird species.
Thank you in advance!
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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs)are a ubiquitous group of environmental chemicals that cause numerous detrimental impacts on the environment and human health. According to performed studies, these metabolically inert chemicals enter the body of humans and animals and transfer into target tissues such as liver, kidney, bone, skin, etc. with the help of protein carriers in the bloodstream. From a dermatological point of view, what toxic consequences are most likely to occur in response to the dermal bioaccumulation of environmental contaminants such as PFASs? What are the differences between possible toxic effects caused by internal dermal exposure (dermal bioaccumulation) to a chemical and external dermal exposure (dermal absorption) to the same chemical?
Thanks in advance.
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Internal dermal exposure from your query appears to be chronic toxin accumulation of different toxicant posing as health risk. Case examples are emerging chemicals and heavy metals. They follow the processes of bio-accumulation, through bio-concentration and bio-accumulation leading to undue dermal irritations and severe ailments. External dermal exposures on the other hand could refer to the conditions where the skin is exposed to harsh U-V radiations without protecting its delicate nature with the resultant non-melanoma skin cancer.
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Bivalve specimens are preserved in 70% ethanol for about 6 months. What is possibility of being able to extract DNA/RNA of bacteria that was previously consumed?
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Hello, alcohol toxic for bacteria but not for DNA. If there is no DNAse in you culture samples the extraction of DNA is possible for 95%.
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I am working on pollution studies in India using sea urchin as the major candidate..could you tell me how important it is to also consider the sex-based difference in bioaccumulation of pollutants in this organism..is it mandatory unless there is plenty of samples here.
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In general, one should study sex diifrences in marin species. In fish, for example, detoxifying enzames (eg CYT 459) is lower in females.
In sea urchin we have less experienc. But if you study also effects on reproductive success in relation to contaminants you should consider effect on sperm and eggs. Best wishe and success
Angela
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Bioaccumulation factor is calculated by dividing the amount of a specific metal in tissue with the amount of metal in water. I would like someone to explain to me how to interpret the values. Is it so, that BAF is inversely related to exposure concentrations – they are not an intrinsic property for metals, higher values mean less toxic metal? (read from random literature, ppt/pdfs). What is the basis of any interpretation related to BAF?
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BAF may be directly proportional to toxicity level if organisms are having same tolerance level.
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Conclusions: NTP concludes that Fluoride is presumed to be a cognitive neurodevelopmental hazard to humans. This conclusion is based on a consistent pattern of findings in human studies across several different populations showing that higher Fluoride exposure is associated with decreased IQ or other cognitive impairments in children.
Please will you share this dramatic news in your networks?
The draft NTP report, written and reviewed by a team of 51 scientists is here:
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The draft report is horrendous. The information on the thyroid issue is so wrong, it is mind-boggling. Not surprised though.
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I have added Cadmium in the soil as three different concentration ranges (10, 50, 100 mg/kg) for my pot experiments. Can anyone suggest me the calculation for adding the chelating agents like EDTA, Citric Acid and Sodium sulphate to the contaminated soils?
Your help in this regards is highly appreciated.
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Anand.
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You need to use a chemical speciation model to predict the free ion activities for different concentrations of the complexing species. You can download a free copy of Geochem-EZ. It is easy to use.
I suggest that you may have started the wrong way by adding such huge Cd concentrations.
In addition, the organic chelating agents will be subject to microbial decomposition
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Heavy metals accumlation in marine iveretbrates
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Hi S. Y. Mohammed ! First you need to choose a research method. Then determine in which parts of the bodies or organs of animals you will determine heavy metals, use different indices to calculate bioaccumulation (look in the literature, usually this ratio of concentration in water or bottom sediments / to their concentration in animal bodies)
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Most of pesticides are organic and not water soluble. If it get absorb, there is a lot of chemical changes too. In such circumstances how it get accoumolated and contaminate food cycle? It is true or it is just a phobia created by researchers?
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Yes, pesticides are accumulated in the food chains. Pesticides are allochthonous pollutants discharged in natural environments. Once in the environment, natural factors such as biodegradation, photodegradation and chemical hydrolysis trigger partial or total pesticide transformation and reduce their environmental persistence. However, some degraded compounds have a greater ecotoxicological effect on the biota that the parent compounds and the change in the physicochemical properties increase the bioaccumulation, toxicity and transference processes.
The best example of pesticide bioacumulation is DDT very well explained by Rachel Carson in her book The Silent Spring. DDT can't be dissolved in water; it is, however, easily dissolved in organic solvents, fats or oils. As a result of its tendency to dissolve in fats, DDT can build up in the fatty tissues of animals that are exposed to it. This accumulated build-up is known as bioaccumulation, and DDT is described by the EPA as a persistent, bio-accumulative toxin.
This bioaccumulation often refers to the process whereby certain substances such as pesticides or heavy metals work their way into lakes, rivers and the ocean, and then move up the food chain in progressively greater concentrations as they are incorporated into the diet of aquatic organisms such as zooplankton, which in turn are eaten perhaps by fish, which then may be eaten by bigger fish, large birds, animals, or humans.
DDT is highly persistent in the environment. The soil half-life for DDT is from 2 to 15 years. The half-life of DDT in an aquatic environment is about 150 years, but the amount of chemical remaining after a half-life will always depend on the amount of the chemical originally applied.
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I find that I need a short self-tutored course in phytoremediation and wondered if you could suggest some books. I see that there is a professional society---any thought on joining? My main interest is in the irrigation of crops, especially those consumed raw, with recycled wastewater and thus which crops might bioaccumulate xenobiotics and toxins and how one might look at various plant species as accumulators.
Thanks
Edo McGowan
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We measure heavy metals in each and every thing and compared it with standard Guidelines. If the total concentration in water, soil or crop is high, straight away we declared that as hazardous and recommend treatment. For example Chromium is present in the environment in several forms. Chromium III (Cr III) and Chromium VI (Cr VI) are common forms. Cr III is comparatvely safe, while Cr VI is hazardous. We discuss this irrespectively of it's oxidation state. The same is the case with other heavy metals also. If look into the present status of research, every thing is hazardous.
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Sometimes in aquatic deposits a giant amounts of organic forms of metals are stored (like in large reservoirs or lakes). Actually no any reason or just a possibility to move them as they are immobilized. But it appear danger if environment change into acidic pH. As well we know that the most toxic are Hg and Cd. As well eg Fe presence can decrease a bad influence of previous two. So, the question isn't so simple!
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I am carrying out a research on developing toxicity ranking of heavy metals and the work involves evaluating bioaccumulation factor and determining Omics endpoints of the heavy metals using
microbs.
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Earthworm has been used as bioindicator of soil pollution around Benghazi City, Libya. It was observed that earthworms body weight were increased significantly, in all locations soil compared to control earthworm. The study reported increased in cocoon number which can lead to can reduce in to decline in earthworm population and consequence to reduce soil fertility. Metabolomics for soil contamination assessment has carried out. The organisms commonly selected for this method of toxicity testing are earthworms....For details consult https://www.omicsoline.org -- earthworm
https:''www.intechopen.com DOI:10.5772/58294
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I'm working on the selenite removal from the waste water. In this case I'm using a fungus, which is synthesising the selenium nanoparticle by reducing the selenite from the waste water. The colour (pinkish/red) change in the fungal pellet signifying that the selenite reduction is occurring inside the fungus or on the surface, and it is forming the selenium nanoparticle over their. And, the problem is recovery of these nanoparticle.
Does anyone knows that, how can I recover the nanoparticle from these fungus without applying any mechanical operation (Sonication) means without breaking the whole fungal cell?
What are the possible methods to recover these nanoparticles? Any suggestions ?
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Unfortunately, to recover intracellularly produced nanoparticles, you are going to have to disrupt the cells. There are different methods for cell disruption, physical (cooking, drying, osmotic shock, freeze-thaw, and cryogenic grinding), and chemical (acid, base, and surfactants). I recommend you read the following paper. They show a method to recover intracellular metabolites (a combination of Ultrasound-Assisted and Chemical Cell Disruption). You are going to have to try different methods to assess which one works better for the specific kind of fungus that you are using, as efficient nanoparticles extraction depends on the cellular matrix and cell-wall characteristics of the fungus.
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A few months ago I saw an article which described a game to play with students to illustrate bioaccumulation in the aquatic food chain using pennies. Could someone please provide me with the reference?
Thanks,
Jena
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Wow, this first one is great. I hadn't seen it. I will certainly use it with upper grades but the one I saw was more simple, like the second one suggested here, but with pennies. I was hoping to use it with indigenous fishing communities in the Amazon. ~Thanks
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On 8 March 2018, the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council sent an "open letter" to selected local government Councillors who are being pressured to add Fluoride industrial waste to the water supplies of their ratepayers. In the letter it was stated:
"Some people ask if there is a cumulative effect of consuming fluoride over a lifetime. The toxicologists on our expert committee advised that fluoride is excreted regularly by the kidneys to achieve a ‘steady state’ that is safe for humans. This is different to lead which accumulates in the body."
That statement is demonstrably completely false as Fluoride accumulates in many human tissues, including bone, throughout life and never reaches a "steady state".
Are there any scientists who think action is required to correct this act of misinformation?
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It is a settled issue that every system in human body is vulnerable to the toxic effects of fluoride. There are both short term and long term effects when the fluoride is in excess of recommended levels. So the ‘disposal of industrial waste via Fluoridation of the public drinking water supply’ is wrong and not to be undertaken. Such disposal may bring about the combined toxic effects of both industrial wastes and fluoride(through fluoridation).
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What are the differences between bioaccumulation and biosorption ?
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Bioaccumulation is the accumulation of substances, such as pesticides, or other chemicals in an organisms. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a substance at rate faster than that at which the substance is lost by catabolism and excretion.
Biosorption is a physicochemical process that occurs naturally in certain biomass which allows it to passively concentrate and bind contaminants on to its cellular structure.
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Crappie and sunfish were caught in the pond. We are trying to decide if we should add percent lipids to the tissue analyses. We are looking at potential human and wildlife risks associated with fish consumption and may need to back-calculate to a sediment target concentration. This is for a series of small ponds at a state superfund site that may have received runoff from a wood treater.
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I agree with it.
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Which one is more suitable to measure heavy metal uptake by aquatic plants.
Can anybody provide me these 2 equations with references? 
Regards
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Bioconcentration factor (BCF) can be expressed as the ratio of the concentration of a chemical in an organism to the concentration of the chemical in the surrounding environment. BCF is expressed in units of liter per kilogram (ratio of mg of chemical per kg of organism to mg of chemical per liter of water).
National Bioaccumulation Factors - EPA
BAF=Cshoot/Csoil; Cshoot and Csoil are metals concentration in the plant shoot (mg/kg-1) and soil (mg/kg-1), respectively. BAF was categorized further as hyperaccumulators, accumulator and excluder to those samples which accumulated metals>1 mg/ kg-1, and < 1, respectively
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Hello,
I'm working on the bioaccumulation of Organochlorines in saweeds and want to know about the analysis method.
Plz help meeeee
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Please check this publication:
SPME and SPE comparative study for coupling with microwave-assisted micellar extraction in the analysis of organochlorine pesticides residues in seaweed samples by Moreno et al. 2007.
Hope this helps.
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Are there any established methods or techniques that have been used to test the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the mushroom fruiting bodies of fungi? I am interested in a methods for extracting and cleaning a sample of raw mushroom tissue to assess PAH bioaccumulation.
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Please have a look at these PDFs, quite useful....
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If a soil sample has a number of pollutants which are identifiable and non detectable, is it possible to determine the bioaccumulation factor in an organism surviving in that particular soil?
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Please enclosed some interesting PDFs...
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The correlation between fish (freshwater) bioaccumulation to damage fish organs (gills, kidney, liver, mussels) it seen biopsy? if possible means why it occurred what is function happened in biological activity... can explained in detail to discussion of biological actions.
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Yes it is true combined action of toxicants may reduce the toxic effect of induvidual chemical effect on organans/tissues.
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I need to know the protocol of the technique used in the mesure of the bioaccumulation of chemical fertilizers in the tissues of earthworms
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 Question is  really interesting. Please have a look at some of these PDFs..
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My research is the nanoparticles bioaccumulation dynamics in freshwater food chain. Yet, most dynamic modes were focus on water exposure. I want any body give me some references for food chain.   
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Thanks for your help 
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Stedman had a design that took the solids off ahead of digestion and converted the removed solids to a fuel source. I liked this process as it pulled out a lot of material, which if it had gone through bacterial digestion, would have been converted into solution which is more difficult to control. Is anyone working along these lines? I ask because a lot of the pharmaceuticals are broken into more toxic daughter products either by bacterial digestion or later oxidative processes, and many are mitochondrial toxins (MT). Thus using the effluent as an irrigation source or drinking water augmentation sees these MTs bioaccumulating in irrigated crops or being chronically delivered with drinking water.  Thanks------------Edo
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The plant is a typical municipal secondary plant treating 8 million gallons per day, and equipped with a 4.3 million gallons per day Tertiary Treatment for recycled water. The idea is to suggest sending a cleaner influent through plant by removal of solids up front. This would substantially diminish bacterial digestion of solids, including pharmaceuticals. Plant is down-gradient from level 4 teaching hospital and surrounding labs and other clinical facilities. Recycled water is slated to be augment source for groundwater recharge. A cleaner end-influent would presumably make the raw stock becoming recycled water less of a hazard and easier on equipment.
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I have a data matrix consisting on the water salinity (WS), ionic composition (IC, mg/L) and electric conductivity (EC, µS/cm) for the last 10 years for 2 main rivers in Central Asia (with one reference site and one impacted site at each river). I want to explore the relationship between WS, IC and EC in order to formulate water quality standards on salinization. Does anyone have any suggestions on well suited methods of statistical analyses for doing this? Thanks in advance!
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Because your attributes are so inter-related, I would start simply with some data exploration - I would conduct Principle Component Analysis looking specifically at the loading of the eigen vectors to see which attributes are providing the greatest degree of distinction.
Beyond that, allow me to ask on what basis will you establish your water quality standards? Will it be purely some numerical exercise? Will it incorporate biological impacts? I ask because it seems your objective is broader than merely a statistical issue.
Cheers,
Mike
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I am interested in study of Bioaccumulation, Bioconcentration and Biomagnification of chemicals in fish through laboratory base experiments. Although I found some protocols/procedures which are exhaustive and lots of variation are there. I am looking for any standard protocol/flow chart procedure for this purpose especially for Biomagnification.
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Does phenyl salicylate have the potential to bioaccumulate in animal tissues?
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according to my knowledge it is easily absorbed in adipose tissue
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Specifically looking at mechanistic pathways of uptake and examinations of transport across epithelia?
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Dear Richard,
The following recent review entitled "Toxicity of Engineered Nanoparticles in the Environment " by Melissa A et al. published in Anal Chem. 2013 Mar 19; 85(6): 3036–3049 devotes a section on multicellular aquatic and terrestrial organisms and the delivery pathways of toxic materials:
Abstract:
While nanoparticles occur naturally in the environment and have been intentionally used for centuries, the production and use of engineered nanoparticles has seen a recent spike, which makes environmental release almost certain. Therefore, recent efforts to characterize the toxicity of engineered nanoparticles have focused on the environmental implications, including exploration of toxicity to organisms from wide-ranging parts of the ecosystem food webs. Herein, we summarize the current understanding of toxicity of engineered nanoparticles to representatives of various trophic levels, including bacteria, plants, and multicellular aquatic/terrestrial organisms, to highlight important challenges within the field of econanotoxicity, challenges that analytical chemists are expertly poised to address.
Hoping this will be helpful,
Rafik
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What are the possible chemical/physical techniques that can be used to substantiate bioaccumulation if removal appears?
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you can determine bioaccumulation by TEM, SEM - EDX and XRF.
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Exploring to see if such a test exists that would work in the field that do not require collection/storage/expensive lab tests. Wondering if multiplex colormetric assays exist for wildlife, particularly for birds of prey using blood, tracheal or cloacal samples, feces, etc...
so far I don't think it exists. Thanks.
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Thank you. In my experience they do not. They rely on regular blood test perfeomed in large labs. Local vets at the zoo are not equipped either. I have been reading about POC testing but I dont think the technology is there yet. Thanks for your answer.
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The model is provided in the attached papers.
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Got it!-age distribution would be great enough to adequately allow the bioaccumulation model to be evaluated; will contact the authors, many thanks for your advice, cheers, Ross
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Dear friends, Hello, I have enjoyed the conversations very much and first of all I want to thank you for sharing. I am a PhD student in marine biology and decided to work in the subject of Microplastic ingestion by fishes in Southern Caspian Sea. At first part of my work, we are going to examine fish intestines to find any anthropocentric object and in second part, feed juvenile fish with mixtures of food and 0.5 to 5 micron Microplastic (MP) to find their possible cellular movements and effects on cell mechanisms of entrocytes. To find out, I want to use Transmission Electron Microscopy Technique to see weather MP is found in entrocytes of intestine or not and is there any effect on ultrastructure of entrocytes. I have written a proposal and presented it but some experts had doubt about efficiency and practical possibility of this method. I have used the Technique for normal tissues of different fish species but some people think in the EM images, MP will show up as empty spaces and they may be confused with other objects or artifacts. Therefore, I appreciate if you help me in this case. I need to know what you think about it. Happy 2016 and hope you have a nice holiday. Cheers, Zahra
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sounds like a very cool project. I have only done work with SEM. Is there any reason you can't use SEM? Erik Zettler took some great pictures while mapping out the microbial community on plastics found in a variety of marine environments. I assume that you will supplement the images with spectroscopy. This article discusses methods for that as well. Hope this helps even a little bit! 
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I'm looking for data concerning the levels of trace elements in blood and hair of alpaca, for a bioaccumulation study, but  the bibliography on the subject is scarce...
any suggestion is welcome
many thanks in advance
stefania
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Hi frenkel, I don't know why someone downvoted your answer. Personally, i don't like to downvote anyone answer cause even if the answer is not helpful I really appreciate that people try to help me, following their own knowledge about the topic.
Regarding was I wanted to know , i 'm looking for people that used analytical tecnique such as ICP-MS to quantify trace elements concentrations in alpaca blood and hair ( cause it was what I 've already done) or have knowledge about reference values about metals in blood and hair of this animal specie. 
Kind regards 
Stefania
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I am investigating the use of chelates in treating aquaponic iron deficiency.
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 Water hardness will take your EDTA  away by making composite with Ca2+ ions and make your Fe-EDTA  useless.
Cordially,
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1. Invasive species, clams are not an issue to sacrifice  2. Only found cyanide extractions for solids and water  3. Testing the runoff--cyanide levels--upstream, downstream and at site of dumping for a coal company 4. Also looks to test cyanide levels in plants, and sediment if you have access to additional protocols
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Joshua,
Are you also looking for analytical detection methods?  If so, any method for tissue should work for Corbicula.  It's a somewhat difficult method to pull off, so sending it to a lab may be preferred if the number of samples is small.  Last time I looked into this I found 2 labs that will run tissue samples for cyanide.  These are ALS Global (http://www.alsglobal.com/) and ACZ (http://www.acz.com/).  ALS Global can attain an MDL of 60 ng/g, whereas ACZ claims an MDL of 5 - 10 ng/g.  Cyanide will leave tissues quickly, which means sample processing is critical.
I am also sending a review on this topic that has info on tissue analyses.  Once a tissue is extracted and cleaned up,  that EPA water/leachate method for quantification should work.  
Good luck!
Jim Meador
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Does anyone know of reliable label-free techniques for quantifying graphene and/or graphene oxide inside cells and tissues of organisms such as algae, worm, etc.?
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Difficult question, but I think you can get a close answer. We tried absorbance method for quantifying carbon nanotube uptake into cells. Similar to carbon nanotube, graphene is also black in color, so it should also work. You can make a standard curve on graphene absorbance at different concentrations. Then you treat the cells and after treatment, you wash and lyse the cells to get the lysate, read its absorbance. From there you can calculate the concentration of graphene using your standard curve. It will allow you to normalize with the lysate of untreated control cells as background. 
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The Tessier method has five basic fractions, can be added other?
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Hey Jouan Manuel,
It is now known that to determine the effect of heavy metals on the environment is not sufficient merely to determine the total content of the element in the environment. The first examples of sequential extraction for bottom sediments and soil come from the seventies. Tessier et al. used a sequential chemical extraction method, identifying the five forms.
Salomons and Forstner  developed a method that allows to distinguish 4 factions:
  1. exchangeable cations (metals here are loosely associated with the outer structure of the particle), eluting with ammonium acetate,
  2. metals adsorbed surfactant - Hydroxylamine hydrochloride (pH = 2)
  3. organic combinations of metals - hydrogen peroxide, EDTA,
  4. residual fraction (crystalline silicates and iron oxides) - nitric and hydrofluoric acid.
The method reported by Clevenger allows to distinguish 5 fractions:
  1. metals associated with clay minerals - extraction with 1 M magnesium chloride (pH = 7).
  2. metals associated with the carbonate minerals - 1 M sodium acetate solution (pH = 5)
  3. metals associated with the hydroxides and oxides of iron and manganese - 0.04 M hydroxylamine hydrochloride in 25% acetic acid
  4. metal associated with the organic matter and sulfide 0.2 M nitric acid and 30% hydrogen peroxide,
  5. metals associated with the lattice - concentrated nitric acid.
Rudd et al. proposed separation of the following forms:
  1. removable - eluted with 1.0 M KNO3
  2. adsorbed - 0.5 M HF (pH 6.5)
  3. organic connections - 0.1 M Na4P2O7
  4. dioxide - 0.1 M EDTA (pH 6.5)
  5. sulphides - 6.0 M HNO3
Best wishes,
Krystyna
 
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I am wondering if anyone knows of research evaluating the use of earthworms to bioaccumulate and remove anthropogenic chemical contaminants from biosolids destined for land application? I am looking specifically at triclocarban, triclosan, and methyl triclosan bioaccumulation through vermicomposting biosolids. I have come across studies using earthworms as bioindicators of the presence of contaminants in soils previously treated with biosolids but nothing that looks at how efficient worms are at removing the contaminants from biosolids. 
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We did some work on earthworm on earthworm Chromium from contaminated soil at Bhushighata, 24 parganas(South), West Bengal, India. Chromium content in
the worth worm is many fold than the background. There is scope to improve contaminated soils using earthworm. We have published our findings long back. Many publications are also available. One of my students did Ph. D in this field.
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Once triclosan enters into the environment, it persists and has been found to be harmful for several species of fish and algae. I want to know what is its bioaccumulation factor in species of fish and algae.
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You should also read the follow paper, and get more informations.
Schettgen, C., Schmidt, A. and Butte, W. 1999: Variation of accumulation and clearance of the peredioxin 5-chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)-phenol (Irgasan DP 300, triclosan) with the pH of water. Organohalogen Compounds 43, 49-52.
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Samples in dried (dead) padina and gracilaria
Light REEs (Yb)..Heavy REEs (La)
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Maybe this paper about a comparison for sorption capacity of lanthanides in seaweeds could help. I found it very interesting
bets regards
stefania
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It seems that some fish species targeted by both commercial fishermen and amateurs feed on Caulerpa taxifolia. This algae contains nine different toxins including the alkaloid Caulerpina. These poisonous substances accumulate in the meat of the species that feed on Caulerpa taxifolia?
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There is no straightforward answer to your question.
Consumers of toxins will handle the organic material differently. It all depends on if it is the compound itself or a transformation product, a metabolite, that is toxic? along with the ability of a species to transform compounds.
Once a species ingests a toxin, enzymes and microorganisms will process the food from the digestive tract to other organs. (The toxin can be absorbed to the outside surface of a species as well.) The toxicity will depend of the dose taken up as well as the sensitivity of the predator.
You would have to look into the mode of action of the chemical and the biotransformation capacity of the predator.
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Great symbiotic association was found by investigators between rhizosphere of mangroves and microbial community in past few decades. But do the microbial community help in the process of bioaccumulation of certain heavy metals by mangroves from ambient water and sediment?
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I would like to contribute to this topic essncially, but I worked in a different field of science. From this reason I cannot provide you with more info. than authors of the  above answers. Maybe some rather long term model experiments with mangrove and community of rhizosphere peformed with various heavy metals under conditions of  their increasing concentrations could bring more light into this problem. Regards, R.S.
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For different organisms, the permissible ranges of heavy metals are different. I need the ranges of the mentioned heavy metals as I am working on mangroves and associates.
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Sir it will vary from, species to species, age, area etc etc, and the available literature are in lab condition only
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We found high concentrations of As in P.lividus (maximum 47 mg / kg DW). We have no data concerning As levels in algae or P.oceanica in the same zone but we have As concentration in sediments (maximum similar to P.lividus maximum).
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see the attachment for Arsenic concentration in P. lividius
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I had read some articles about pendimethalin, those are studied on water bodies only, 
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Fish study is not a topic of my investigations
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What kind of invertebrate would you suggest for monitoring (sporadic) PCB micro-contamination in a small stream (from waste dump soil leaching)? The stream bed is of fine gravel and sand, fishes are not available... Maybe freshwater mussels, warms, larvae of arthropods?
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Is the waters salty or fresh? I think chironomidae larvae can be used to monitor PCBs in continental waters.
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E.g. the uptake of trace elements in transplantated aquatic bryophytes (moss bags) occurs with passive more than active mechanisms in the short term (days-weeks), elevated ratios moss/water (10^3 - 10^5) and significative correlation with exposure time and total/dissolved concentration in the water. Saturation generally occurs after serveral (>4) weeks. Are DGT or other tools more performing with similar costs (transplantation, recovery, sample mineralization and chemical analysis by ICP)?
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Its good to remember that "bioavailable trace elements" is a rather wide subject. Ie tens of elements and thousands of organisms. Element transport in water occurs both in free ionic form as well as colloidal form which certainly will effect any passive sampling technique. I guess there are no easy "suites all" fix for this, but narrowing down the research question usually helps.
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And can the test be used as a valid measure to determine treatment response effectiveness?
Recent presentation of a family requesting alternative treatment for suspected Chloracne.  Conventional medical treatment was sought for over 5years yielding mild relief in symptoms. Cases are 3 adult males and 1 adult female, each with a 10year+ history of suspected chloracne.
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Two types of tests are available for determining dioxin levels in blood samples.
Bioassay tests will provide an estimate of the total TEQ concentration, but cannot provide a measure of individual dioxin congeners in a sample. These tests use genetically modified mammal cells that respond when exposed to the dioxin-like chemicals in a blood sample. Bioassays are generally used only for screening because the test can also respond to other chemicals that may be in the sample. An advantage of the screening level bioassay is a far lower cost than other test methods. High-resolution gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (HR-GC/MS) analysis is the preferred test to measure individual congeners as well as the total dioxin TEQ concentration. The US Environmental Protection Agency has developed Method 8290 to guide laboratories in performing this analysis. Lipid (blood fat) analysis should also be done on the blood sample so that the results of the test can be given as units of dioxin TEQ per unit of blood lipid. While the HR-GC/MS test is more specific, it is also more costly than the screening bioassay test.
Detailed information can be found in the attached file.
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I read the word and do not have any information regarding this.
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The Organisation
ECOTRANS is a European network of experts and organisations in Tourism, Environment and regional development, who are seeking to promote good practice in the field of sustainable Tourism.
The ECOTRANS concept was established in 1988 at the International Conference Tourism and Environment in Europe in Bressanone/Brixen, Italy. The non-profit organisation ECOTRANS e.V. was founded in 1993 at the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin.
The name ECOTRANS embodies two basic principles:
The link between "ecology" and "economy"
The transfer and publication of know-how and hence greater transparency.
The Members
Members of ECOTRANS are representing non governmental organisations (NGO's) and consultants from 12 European countries:
Germany, Austria, Portugal, Greece, United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland
are recognised for their activities in their own countries and areas of expertise
combine strengths in research, advisory activities, training and further education
have tackled practical Tourism problems and developed successful sustainable solutions
provide creative advice to others on realising their own sustainable Tourism objectives
have been involved with innovative pilot projects within the framework of EU-wide initiatives.
ECOTRANS members are committed to establishing and promoting clear principles for sustainable Tourism development in Europe.
The Benefits
ECOTRANS offers partners, clients and sponsors of European projects:
a cross-border "hand-in-hand" approach to problem solving,
direct assistance and intensive collaboration in the relevant language of the country,
access to ideas and approaches from across Europe,
the experience of a range of measures which have been tried and tested in practice,
support in seeking further European partners.
Services
Through many years of international collaboration, members of ECOTRANS, between themselves, have been piecing together a picture of sustainable tourism in Europe.
ECOTRANS offers our partners a valuable basis for the development of high-quality tourism, with special regard to the quality of life and the environment, and competitive advantages in international competition.
ECOTRANS offers internships to students and supports them at their thesis if the subject of the thesis fits the ECOTRANS' work fields.
I HOPE ABOVE MENTIONED LITERATURE WILL SUFFICIENTLY ANSWER YOUR QUESTION.
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In my current work I have found a decrease of some trace elements (with the exception of Al) in E. prunastri during the spring season, it is possible that within three months of exposure there has been a similar condition?
Give me your opinions.
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Dear Andrea,
The bioconcentration of trace elements may be influenced by the amount of environmental bioavailable elements, their uptake and loss kinetics, their essential character or not, the speciation between the organism compartments and the biological cycle of your organism. All these aspects are combined and their proportionnal influence varies along the year. These are just general aspects you surely already know.
Yes, of course, a rapid increase of biomass can dilute the concentration of TEs in your lichen. This is mainly true for trace elements with low uptake kinetics, that are more slowly accumulated and are subject to a diclution effect due to the organism growth. A good way to check you hypothesis is to expess if possible the amount of trace elements in your lichen as contents (in µg) instead of concentrations (µg g-1). If the total content of 1 trace element increased, that mean that it was effectively bioaccumulated in your organism, but slower than its growth rate or mass increase.
I do not work on lichen, but I have published some papers dealing with that question in marine seagrasses and mussels. I hav also observed dilution effect and seasonnality in these organisms. Below are references of my papers. I hope you will find some informations that may interest, but I am sure there also exist data on terrestrial organisms.
- The effect of size, weight, body compartment, sex and reproductive status on the bioaccumulation of 19 trace elements in rope-grown Mytilus galloprovincialis. J. Richir, S. Gobert. Ecological Indicators (2014), F.I.: 2,890 (2012), F. Müller, Elsevier, 36, 33–47.
- Experimental in situ exposure of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica to 15 trace elements. J. Richir, N. Luy, G. Lepoint, E. Rozet, A. Alvera Azcarate, S. Gobert. Aquatic Toxicology (2013), F.I.: 3.761 (2011), M. J. Nikinmaa, R. S. Tjeerdema, Elsevier. 140–141, 157– 173
- Chemical contamination along the Mediterranean French coast using Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile above-ground tissues: a multiple trace element study. N. Luy, S. Gobert, S. Sartoretto, R. Biondo, J.M. Bouquegneau, J. Richir. Ecological Indicators (2012), F.I.: 2,967 (2010), F. Müller, Elsevier, 18, 269-277
- Coastal pollution of the Mediterranean and extension of its biomonitoring to trace elements of emerging concern. PhD thesis. Promotors: Jean-Marie Bouquegneau and Sylvie Gobert. 2012, University of Liège (Belgium).
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It is often seen that while calculating concentration factors for biological uptake some researchers calculate dry weight concentration against the water/air concentration, which actually provides a much higher concentration.
Has this been noticed by many?
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Luigi I think the concentration factor should be calculated only on wet weight when it is compared to seawater concentration.
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What fish species are more exposed to phthalate toxicity, pelagic or benthic? Please discuss in the light of the variety of phthalates present in the aquatic environment.