In Brazil, more than 90% of steel mills are located in states that have Atlantic Forest which, together with the pollution of large urban centers, represent risk factors for the environmental quality of this important biome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of urban and industrial air pollution in a city in Minas Gerais that has a steel mill on the symptomatology, on the leaf chemistry, and on the anatomy and micromorphology of extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) of Joannesia princeps Vell. (Euphorbiaceae), a native species of the Atlantic Forest.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlants emit a broad number of Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (BVOCs) that can impact urban ozone (O) production. Conversely, the O is a phytotoxic pollutant that causes unknown alterations in BVOC emissions from native plants. In this sense, here, we characterized the constitutive and O-induced BVOCs for two (2dO) and four (4dO) days of exposure (O dose 80 ppb) and evaluated the O response by histochemical techniques to detect programmed cell death (PCD) and hydrogen peroxide (HO) in three Brazilian native species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this study was to review the scientific literature on burnout syndrome among intensive care unit nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This narrative review considered publications on the current pandemic, as well as studies on worker health and burnout, focusing on intensive care unit nurses. The literature was organized into two thematic categories: (1) emotional distress in the daily work of intensive care unit nurses; (2) preventing burnout in these professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiosphere-atmosphere interactions play a key role in urban chemistry because of biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions. Of the BVOC, isoprene is the most emitted compound; however, it also has anthropogenic origins in urban areas. In this study, we aimed to investigate the spatio-temporal variability and atmospheric impacts of biogenic and anthropogenic isoprene in the subtropical megacity of São Paulo (MASP), Brazil.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBull Environ Contam Toxicol
December 2020
Croton floribundus (L.) Spreng trees were exposed to accumulated ozone (O) levels under laboratory and field conditions and monitored the foliar visible symptoms and BVOC emissions. Plants exposed to O in the laboratory presented more substantial damage and significant increase in the BVOC emissions than plants in the field.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUpon damage by herbivores, plants induce an array of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that mediate ecological interactions involving communication with organisms of the second and third trophic levels. VOC-mediated tritrophic interactions have largely been studied in various systems, including cassava (Manihot esculenta), but little is known about the chemical nature of herbivore-induced VOCs in this crop and the response they evoke in natural enemies. Several tetranychid and predatory mites are associated with cassava.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Pollut Res Int
February 2018
The emission profile of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitric oxide (NO) in young and mature leaves of Croton floribundus was assessed in plants exposed to filtered air (FA) and ozone-enriched filtered air (FA+O). After the period of exposure, leaves were enclosed in polyethylene terephthalate bags and VOCs were collected in young and mature leaves. Both young and mature leaves constitutively emitted the same VOC, but the concentrations were higher in young leaves.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn southern Brazil, the recent increase in tropospheric ozone (O) concentrations poses an additional threat to the biodiverse but endangered and fragmented remnants of the Atlantic Forest. Given the mostly unknown sensitivity of tropical species to oxidative stress, the principal objective of this study was to determine whether the current O levels in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas (MRC), downwind of São Paulo, affect the native vegetation of forest remnants. Foliar responses to O of three tree species typical of the MRC forests were investigated using indoor chamber exposure experiments under controlled conditions and a field survey.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Pollut Res Int
April 2015
This study aimed to investigate the effects of the Mn complex (Mn(III)-desferrioxamine B (MnDFB)) on oxidative stress in the Brazilian soybean cultivar Glycine max "Sambaiba" following exposure to ozone and acid rain. We determined the suitable dose of MnDFB to apply to G. max seedlings using a dose-response curve.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
October 2015
Here, we proposed that volatile organic compounds (VOC), specifically methyl salicylate (MeSA), mediate the formation of calcium oxalate crystals (COC) in the defence against ozone (O3) oxidative damage. We performed experiments using Croton floribundus, a pioneer tree species that is tolerant to O3 and widely distributed in the Brazilian forest. This species constitutively produces COC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the Metropolitan Region of Campinas (MRC), Brazil, high levels of primary pollutants contribute to ozone (O3) formation. However, little is known regarding the O3 effects in the tropics. Objectives in this study were to characterize the present levels of O3 pollution and to evaluate the relevance of current concentration-based indices for assessing the phytotoxic potential of O3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOzone (O3) is a toxic secondary pollutant able to cause an intense oxidative stress that induces visual symptoms on sensitive plant species. Controlled fumigation experiment was conducted with the aim to verify the O3 sensibility of three tropical species: Piptadenia gonoachanta (Mart.) Macbr.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe roles that ozone and nitric oxide (NO), the chief O₃ precursor, play in the antioxidative balance and inducible volatile emissions of lima bean were assessed. Exposure to O₃ inhibited APX, CAT, and GR, decreased GSH content and induced emissions of (E)-β-ocimene, limonene, 1,8-cineole, linalool, (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene (E)-DMNT, 2-butanone and nonanal. O₃ did not induce emissions of (E)-β-caryophyllene and appeared to reduce the antioxidative capacity of plants to a greater extent than NO and NO followed by O₃ (NO/O₃) treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to analyze critically the potential of Ipomoea nil'Scarlet O'Hara' for O(3) biomonitoring in the sub-tropics. Four field experiments (one in each season of 2006) were carried out in a location of the city of São Paulo mainly polluted by O(3). Each experiment started with 50 plants, and lasted 28 days.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTropospheric ozone (O3) is an important secondary air pollutant formed as a result of photochemical reactions between primary pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). O3 concentrations in the lower atmosphere (troposphere) are predicted to continue increasing as a result of anthropogenic activity, which will impact strongly on wild and cultivated plants. O3 affects photosynthesis and induces the development of visible foliar injuries, which are the result of genetically controlled programmed cell death.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aims of this study were to investigate the sensitivity of Tradescantia pallida 'Purpurea' to genotoxicity induced by ozone, by means of the micronucleus (MCN) bioassay, to verify whether the intensity of genotoxic responses in inflorescences is modulated by concentrations of ascorbic acid (AA) in their bracts, and/or by air temperature variations during the progress of the bioassay, and to define the time lag necessary after ozone exposure to observe maximal genotoxic effects. Flowering branches were exposed to filtered air (control) and to 60 ppb of ozone (ozone) for 3h in fumigation chambers during spring, autumn, winter and summer. After exposure, they were maintained for 24-120 h under filtered air for recovery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aims of this study were to determine clastogenic responses of Tradescantia pallida cv. Purpurea to naphthalene (NAPH) by means of the bioassay Trad-MCN with inflorescences of T. pallida cv.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNicotiana tabacum 'Bel W3' is a widely used sensitive bioindicator for ambient ozone, but it is rarely used in tropical countries. Our goal was to determine the suitability of this plant for biomonitoring ozone in the city of São Paulo by evaluating the relationships between leaf necroses and ozone under field conditions and measurements of chlorophyll a fluorescence and antioxidants in plants exposed to different concentrations of ozone in closed chambers. While a weak linear relationship between leaf injury and ozone concentrations (R(2)=0.
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