Publications by authors named "Shengwu Yuan"

Lake Baiyangdian is one of China's largest macrophyte - derived lakes, facing severe challenges related to water quality maintenance and eutrophication prevention. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) was a huge carbon pool and its abundance, property, and transformation played important roles in the biogeochemical cycle and energy flow in lake ecosystems. In this study, Lake Baiyangdian was divided into four distinct areas: Unartificial Area (UA), Village Area (VA), Tourism Area (TA), and Breeding Area (BA).

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Article Synopsis
  • Organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs), especially chlorinated variants (Cl-OPFRs), are emerging environmental pollutants found in high concentrations in various environments, yet their biological effects and mechanisms remain unclear.
  • This study performed in vitro bioassays to evaluate the cytotoxicity and molecular mechanisms of two Cl-OPFRs, TCEP and TCPP, which have similar chemical structures but lead to different types of cellular damage.
  • Findings revealed that while both chemicals caused oxidative stress, mitochondrial impairment, and DNA damage, TCPP induced more severe cell cycle arrest and apoptosis compared to TCEP, highlighting the importance of understanding specific mechanisms for similar compounds in environmental toxicity assessments.
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The prevalence of organophosphate esters (OPEs) in the global environment is increasing, which aligns with the decline in the usage of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). PBDEs, a category of flame retardants, were banned and classified as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) through the Stockholm Convention due to their toxic and persistent properties. Despite a lack of comprehensive understanding of their ecological and health consequences, OPEs were adopted as replacements for PBDEs.

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Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) analogues have been investigated for their prevalent occurrence in environments and potential hazardous effects to humans and wildlife; however, there is still limited knowledge regarding their toxicokinetics and trophic transfer in aquatic food chains. Using a developed toxicokinetic model framework, we quantified the bioaccumulation, biotransformation and trophic transfer of tetrabromobisphenol S (TBBPS) and tetrabromobisphenol A di(allyl ether) (TBBPA-DAE) during trophic transfer from brine shrimp (Artemia salina) to zebrafish (Danio rerio). The results showed that the two TBBPA analogues could be readily accumulated by brine shrimp, and the estimated bioconcentration factor (BCF) value of TBBPS (5.

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Limited toxic and ecological studies were focused on physical sunscreen that is considered to have "safer performance", in which nanosize zinc oxide (nZnO) and nanosize titanium dioxide (nTiO) generally are added as ultraviolet filters. Herein, the common button coral sp. was newly used to assess the toxic effects and underlying mechanisms of physical sunscreen.

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Understanding the assembly and turnover of microbial communities is crucial for gaining insights into the diversity and functioning of lake ecosystems, a fundamental and central issue in microbial ecology. The ecosystem of Taihu Lake has been significantly jeopardized due to urbanization and industrialization. In this study, we examined the diversity, assembly, and turnover of bacterial and fungal communities in Taihu Lake sediment.

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An increasing number of inorganic ultraviolet filters (UVFs), such as nanosized zinc oxide (nZnO) and titanium dioxide (nTiO), are formulated in sunscreens because of their broad UV spectrum sunlight protection and because they limit skin damage. However, sunscreen-derived inorganic UVFs are considered to be emerging contaminants; in particular, nZnO and nTiO UVFs have been shown to undergo absorption and bioaccumulation, release metal ions, and generate reactive oxygen species, which cause negative effects on aquatic organisms. We comprehensively reviewed the current study status of the environmental sources, occurrences, behaviors, and impacts of sunscreen-derived inorganic UVFs in aquatic environments.

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Phosphorus-containing flame retardants (PFRs) have been frequently detected in various environmental samples at relatively high concentrations and are considered emerging environmental pollutants. However, their biological effects and the underlying mechanism remain unclear, especially alkyl-PFRs. In this study, a battery of in vitro bioassays was conducted to analyze the cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, mitochondrial impairment, DNA damage and the involved molecular mechanisms of several selected alkyl-PFRs.

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Surfactants such as alkylphenol polyethoxylates (APEOs) and nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEOs) are commonly used worldwide, but the majority of these compounds, together with their metabolites, have been reported to induce severe biological toxicity. Here, we evaluated for the first time the cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and mitochondrial damage in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells caused by a novel non-ionic surfactant, vanillin ethoxylates (VAEOs), an alternative to APEOs. In parallel, the same in vitro bioassays were conducted on NPEOs along with their metabolic byproducts 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) and vanillin.

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Article Synopsis
  • Aryl phosphorus-containing flame retardants (aryl-PFRs) are increasingly used as alternatives to brominated flame retardants, but their impact on human health and the ecosystem is not well understood.
  • The study assessed the toxicity of several aryl-PFRs, including EHDPP, MDPP, and CPF, using A549 cells, revealing varying levels of cytotoxicity, DNA damage, and mitochondrial impairment.
  • Key findings indicate that these compounds activate the p53 signaling pathway, leading to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, suggesting significant health risks associated with their exposure.
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The widely used surfactant nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPEO) and its raw material 4-n-nonylphenol (4-n-NP), as well as its degradation products, are recognized as endocrine disrupting chemicals. The USA Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an assessment that looked for safe alternatives to NPEO. Vanillin ethoxylate (VAEO) is a novel substitute for NPEO and is quite similar to NPEO in structure; there is a risk that it has similar endocrine disrupting effects to NPEO.

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Alkylated organophosphate esters (alkyl-OPEs) are widely used and extensively detected in aquatic organisms. This work investigated the tissue-specific toxicokinetics of two common alkyl-OPEs, tri(2‑butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP) and tri‑n‑butyl phosphate (TNBP) in Chinese rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus) through a 50 day uptake and depuration experiment. The tissue-specific bioconcentration factor (BCF) values for the two alkyl-OPEs ranged from 1 to 30 L/kg wet weight (ww), with the kidney and ovary as the tissues with the highest accumulation.

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Article Synopsis
  • Environmental estrogens (EEs) were studied to understand their cell proliferation effects individually and in mixtures, using estrogen-sensitive MCF-7 cells and various assays, including CCK-8 and RT-PCR.
  • The research found that the combined effects of EEs are better predicted by the response addition model rather than the traditional concentration addition model, highlighting the complexity of their molecular interactions.
  • The study revealed that different EEs interact with various estrogen receptors and signaling pathways, suggesting that environmental risk assessments need to be improved to account for the diverse interactions of these chemicals.
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Phosphorus-containing flame retardants (PFRs) are increasingly in demand worldwide as replacements for brominated flame retardants (BFRs), but insufficient available toxicological information on PFRs makes assessing their health risks challenging. Mitochondria are important targets of various environmental pollutants, and mitochondrial dysfunction may lead to many common diseases. In the present study, mitochondria impairment-related endpoints were measured by a high content screening (HCS) assay for 11 selected non-halogen PFRs in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-k1) cells.

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