Publications by authors named "Konstantinos M Kasiotis"

Airborne pollutants like particulate matter and volatile organic compounds can negatively impact microbial, plant, and animal life as well as human health. Traditional environmental monitoring, while crucial, often relies on expensive equipment at limited locations, leading to gaps in geographical coverage. To obtain a low-cost, easily deployed environmental monitoring grid, the use of European honey bees (Apis mellifera) as biomonitor can offer a promising alternative.

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This study examines the occurrence of Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediment samples collected from three areas (Saronikos Gulf, Piraeus harbor, Heraklion) across the Hellenic coastline, while PAHs distribution, sources and ecotoxicological risk are evaluated. According to the detected concentrations of PAHs, the most contaminated area was Piraeus (ΣPAHs: 125 to 2720 ng/g dw), followed by Saronikos Gulf (ΣPAHs: 21.4-1820 ng/g dw) and Heraklion (4.

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The monitoring of contaminants in fish species is pivotal for fishes' health and reproduction, as well as for human health. In the specific work, three major categories of contaminants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and macro and trace elements, were investigated in two major fish species, and , collected from Thermaikos Gulf, in Greece. To achieve this goal, three analytical methods using LC-MS/MS, GC-MS/MS, and ICP-MS were developed, validated, and applied to the collected fish samples.

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The steady conditions of temperature, humidity and air flux within beehives make them a valuable location for conducting environmental monitoring of pollutants such as PAHs. In this context, the selection of an appropriate apicultural matrix plays a key role in these monitoring studies, as it maximizes the information that will be obtained in the analyses while minimizing the inaccurate results. In the present study, three apicultural matrices (honey bees, pollen and propolis) and two passive samplers (APIStrips and silicone wristbands) are compared in terms of the number and total load of PAHs detected in them.

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(1) Background: Citrus honey constitutes a unique monofloral honey characterized by a distinctive aroma and unique taste. The non-targeted chemical analysis can provide pivotal information on chemical markers that differentiate honey based on its geographical and botanical origin. (2) Methods: Within the PRIMA project "PLANT-B", a metabolomics workflow was established to unveil potential chemical markers of orange blossom honey produced in case study areas of Egypt, Italy, and Greece.

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Background: Bees encounter a plethora of environmental contaminants during nectar and pollen collection from plants. Consequently, after their entrance into the beehives, the transfer of numerous pollutants to apicultural products is inevitable.

Methods: In this context, during the period of 2015-2020, 109 samples of honey, pollen, and beebread were sampled and analyzed for the determination of pesticides and their metabolites.

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Lentil cultivation is often hampered by aphid population outspreads with detrimental impacts to crop development and production, challenging food safety and agriculture sustainability. The pea aphid () is a significant threat to lentil in the temperate zone rainfed systems. A set of management practices including resilient cultivars and application of insecticides have effectively controlled aphid infestation.

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Bees in search of diet sources intensively fly within a radius of up to 3 km, encountering nectar, pollen, and water sources which are potentially contaminated. Consequently, their products can provide valuable information about potential pollution. In the current study, 27 macro and trace elements, including the most hazardous ones, were measured in bees, honey, wax, pollen, and larvae, obtained from seven explicitly industrial areas in eastern regions of Slovakia, using a validated ICP-MS method.

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Honey represents a valuable food commodity, known since ancient times for its delicate taste and health benefits due to its specific compositional characteristics, mainly the phenolic compound content. "Anama" honey is a monofloral honey produced from the nectar of plant, a heather bush of the Greek island of Ikaria, one of the Mediterranean's longevity regions. "Anama" is characterized by a unique aroma and taste, with a growing demand for consumption and the potential to be included in the list of products with a protected designation of origin.

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Bee pollen contains a diversity of bioactive components. Nevertheless, since pollen is retrieved from a variety of plants, including the cultivated ones which are subjected to agrochemical treatments, its contamination is unavoidable. In this context, 45 samples of pollen were analysed with optimized analytical methods for trace and macro elements (ICP-MS), pesticides and metabolites residues (LC & GC-MS/MS) content.

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Legumes crops are important for sustainable agriculture and global food security. Among them white lupin ( L.), is characterized by exceptional protein content of high nutritional value, competitive to that of soybean () and is well adapted to rainfed agriculture.

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Nine odorless laboratory-collected hydro-distilled aqueous extracts (basil, calendula, centrifuged oregano, corn silk, laurel, oregano, rosemary, spearmint, thyme) and one industrial steam-distilled oregano hydrolate acquired as by-products of essential oils purification were screened for their in vitro antimicrobial activity against three Salmonella Typhimurium strains (4/74, FS8, FS115) at 4 and 37 °C. Susceptibility to the extracts was mainly plant- and temperature-dependent, though strain dependent effects were also observed. Industrial oregano hydrolate eliminated strains immediately after inoculation, exhibiting the highest antimicrobial potential.

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Dermal exposure is an important exposure route for occupational exposure and risk assessment. A fluorescence method has been developed to quantify occupational dermal exposure based on a visualization technique, using Tinopal SWN as a fluorescent tracer. The method was developed within the framework of a large experimental study, the SysDEA project.

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The accumulation of hazardous contaminants in L. raises warning signs regarding possible adverse effects on human health due to the consumption of herbal medicines and/or other herbal edible products made from cannabis. Thus, there is an urge to investigate the levels of hazardous contaminants, such as heavy metals, in cannabis plant.

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The aim of this study was to investigate reported cases of honeybee mortality incidents and the potential association to pesticide exposure and to their metabolites. The same honeybee samples were also assessed for Varroa mites, and Nosema microsporidia provoked infections to provide an integrated picture of all observable stressors that may impact bees' survival. Thus, honeybee samples from different areas of Greece (2014-2018) were analyzed for the presence of pesticide residues and metabolites.

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Chemical composition of propolis depends on the plant source and thus on the geographic and climatic characteristics of the site of collection. The aim of this study was to investigate the chemical profile of Greek and Chinese propolis extracts from different regions and suggest similarities and differences between them. Untargeted ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled to hybrid quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) method was developed and 22 and 23 propolis samples from Greece and China, respectively, were analyzed.

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In 2017 and 2018, a field survey was initiated on Greek olive orchards to investigate the attractiveness of bait spray applications and the impact of cover and bait sprays applied against the olive fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae), on the honeybee, L. and bumblebees , by investigating the pesticides' residual prevalence. Bee colonies were evenly distributed in three sites located on coastal areas of Western Crete and visited almost weekly between July and October.

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Background: Invasive plant species pose a significant threat for fragile isolated ecosystems, occupying space, and consuming scarce local resources. Recently though, an additional adverse effect was recognized in the form of its secondary metabolites entering the food chain. The present study is elaborating on this subject with a specific focus on the Nicotiana glauca Graham (Solanaceae) alkaloids and their occurrence and food chain penetrability in Mediterranean ecosystems.

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For many work situations only insufficient exposure data are available to perform proper risk assessment. Because measuring worker exposure can be time consuming and resource intense, the availability of reliable exposure models is important when performing risk assessments. However, the development and improvement of exposure models are hampered by scarcity of sound exposure data as well as by lack of information on relevant exposure factors and conditions of exposure.

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To date, there has been great demand for ecofriendly nematicides with beneficial properties to the nematode hosting plants. Great efforts are made towards the chemical characterization of botanical extracts exhibiting nematicidal activity against , but only a small percentage of these data are actually used by the chemical industry in order to develop new formulates. On the other hand, the ready to use farmer produced water extracts based on edible plants could be a sustainable and economic solution for low income countries.

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There is a principal need for more precise methodology with regard to the determination of occupational dermal exposure. The goal of the Systematic analysis of Dermal Exposure to hazardous chemical Agents at the workplace project was therefore to generate scientific knowledge to improve and standardize measurement methods for dermal exposure to chemicals at the workplace. In addition, the comparability of different measurement methods was investigated.

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Background: In the present study, the rate of dermal transfer of pesticides to agricultural workers occurring via contact with sprayed hard surfaces was investigated. Cotton gloves were used as dosimeters to collect residues from hard surfaces contaminated by pesticides in greenhouses. Dosimeters, either dry or moistened, were in contact with wood, metal and plastic surfaces that had previously been sprayed.

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Cyantraniliprole is an anthranilic diamide insecticide, belonging to the ryanoid class, with a broad range of applications against several pests. In the presented work, a reliable analytical technique employing high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detector (HPLC-DAD) for analyzing cyantraniliprole residues in tomato was developed. The method was then applied to field-incurred tomato samples collected after applications under open field conditions.

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Aim of this work was to provide tamoxifen analogs with enhanced estrogen receptor (ER) binding affinity. Hence, several derivatives were prepared using an efficient triarylethylenes synthetic protocol. The novel compounds bioactivity was evaluated through the determination of their receptor binding affinity and their agonist/antagonist activity against breast cancer tissue using a MCF-7 cell-based assay.

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