Publications by authors named "Nargis Ismail"

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were measured in 182 sediments from the Huron-Erie Corridor, North America. The median (5-95 percentile) Corridor ∑PBDE concentration was 1.03 ng/g dry wt (0.

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The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will enforce a new abundance-based performance standard for ballast water in September, 2017. Strong oxidants, like chlorine, have been proposed as a method for achieving this standard. However chlorine treatment of ballast water can produce hazardous trihalomethanes.

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River otter scat samples (n = 77) and blood samples (n = 16) collected through non-invasive field collections and live-capture activities (November 2009 to October 2010) along the coastline of Southern Vancouver Island, near Victoria, British Columbia (BC) were analyzed for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). ∑PBDEs were highest in urbanized regions of Victoria Harbour for blood (1.12 μg/g lipid weight) and scat (0.

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Concentrations of non-polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) brominated (hexabromocyclododecane [HBCD], 1,2-bis[2,4,6-tribromophenoxy]ethane [BTBPE], and pentabromoethylbenzene [PEB]) and chlorinated (Dechlorane Plus [DP] as well as short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins [SCCP and MCCP, respectively]) flame retardants were evaluated in archived Lake Ontario, Canada, lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) samples collected between 1979 and 2004. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers also were analyzed to provide a point of reference for comparison to previous studies. Concentrations of the dominant PBDE congeners (BDEs 28, 47, 99, 100, 153, and 154) increased significantly from 1979 until the mid-1990s, then either leveled off or decreased significantly between 1998 and 2004, a result that corresponds to those of previous studies.

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Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are widespread contaminants emanating from, among other sources, the production/degradation of fluorinated chemicals used in surface repellant applications, such as carpet manufacturing. The goal of the present study was to assess the concentrations of PFAAs, including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUA), and perfluorooctane sulfonamide (PFOSA), in surface waters both near a wastewater land application system (LAS) in Dalton (GA, USA), home to North America's largest carpet manufacturing site, and distant to this location (Altamaha River, GA, USA) to understand the fate of PFAAs in freshwater. Levels of PFAAs were high in the Conasauga River (GA, USA) downstream of the LAS (PFOA, 253-1,150 ng/L; PFOS, 192-318 ng/L; PFNA, 202-369 ng/L; PFDA, 30.

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Juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were exposed in the laboratory to an environmentally relevant dose of 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE) via their diet for 49 days, followed by 154 days of untreated food to examine bioaccumulation parameters, potential biochemical effects, and metabolic products. There was a linear increase in the amount of BTBPE in fish during the uptake phase of the experiment, and an uptake rate constant of 0.0069 +/- 0.

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The extent of bioaccumulation of the syn- and anti-isomers of Dechlorane Plus (DP) is assessed in archived food web samples from Lake Winnipeg and Lake Ontario. Concentrations of the isomers were determined using purified analytical solutions of individual isomers as opposed to the technical mixture. The syn-isomer was consistently detected in all samples from both lakes; the anti-isomer was detected in all Lake Ontario samples, but only 45% of the samples from Lake Winnipeg.

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Pseudophomins A and B are cyclic lipodepsipeptides isolated from Pseudomonas fluorescens strain BRG100, a bacterium with potential application for biocontrol of plant pathogens and weeds. Their chemical structures were established by a combination of spectroscopic data, X-ray crystallography, and selective chemical degradation. This unique chemical degradation allowed the unambiguous determination of the absolute configuration of the amino acid residue Leu-1, due to gamma-lactam formation followed by selective cleavage of the adjacent N(8)-C(7) bond.

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The crystal structures of pseudophomins A and B, with primary structures beta-hydroxydecanoyl-L-Leu-D-Glu-D-allo-Thr-D-Ile-D-Leu-D-Ser-L-Leu-D-Ser-L-Ile monohydrate, C(55)H(97)N(9)O(16).H(2)O, and beta-hydroxydodecanoyl-L-Leu-D-Glu-D-allo-Thr-D-Ile-D-Leu-D-Ser-L-Leu-D-Ser-L-Ile monohydrate, C(57)H(101)N(9)O(16).H(2)O, new cyclic lipodepsipeptides isolated from Pseudomonas fluorescens strain BRG100, have been solved.

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