Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology最新文献

{"title":"Dual-source fingerprints and ecological risks of quinolone antibiotics in the Yellow Sea: Implications for resistance and management","authors":"Lilian Wen ,&nbsp;Jiajia Dai ,&nbsp;Jinming Song ,&nbsp;Jun Ma ,&nbsp;Xuegang Li ,&nbsp;Huamao Yuan ,&nbsp;Liqin Duan","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Quinolone antibiotics (QNs), owing to their persistence and capacity to promote antimicrobial resistance, have become emerging contaminants of global concern. This study systematically investigated 19 QNs in the North Yellow Sea (NYS) and South Yellow Sea (SYS) to characterize their spatial patterns, sources, and ecological risks. QNs were ubiquitously detected, with significantly higher concentrations in the NYS (60.3–206.8 ng L⁻¹; mean: 136.5 ng L⁻¹) than in the SYS (30.7–128.7 ng L⁻¹; mean: 82.6 ng L⁻¹), showing a distinct pattern of higher in the north, enriched nearshore, and decreasing offshore. Compositional differences revealed that ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and norfloxacin dominated in the NYS, reflecting inputs from municipal and hospital wastewater, whereas enrofloxacin, flumequine, and orbifloxacin were more prevalent in the SYS, indicating contributions from aquaculture and veterinary sources. Vertically, the NYS exhibited a profile of strong input and rapid attenuation, while the SYS displayed a pattern of diffuse input and middle layer buffering. Correlation identified salinity, nutrients, and carbonate buffering capacity as key regulators of QNs distribution. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) analyses collectively verified a dual-source fingerprint characterized by concurrent human and aquaculture inputs. Ecological risk assessment suggested algae as the most sensitive group, with ofloxacin identified as a priority pollutant for management. Antimicrobial resistance risk analysis further indicated that ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, and enrofloxacin exerted major selective pressures, particularly pronounced in the NYS. Overall, this study reveals the dual-source fingerprints and coupled environmental controls of QNs in the Yellow Sea (YS), and proposes to enhance municipal and hospital wastewater treatment in the NYS and to regulate use of antibiotics in aquaculture within the SYS. These results may provide a reference basis and practical guidance for implementing risk-based monitoring and source-oriented management and control in the YS region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 89-100"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145520938","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrated multi-omics analysis reveals mechanistic insights into the combined toxicity of copper and tebuconazole at environmentally relevant concentrations in Opsariichthys bidens","authors":"Xinfang Li ,&nbsp;You Weng ,&nbsp;Shenggan Wu ,&nbsp;Tao Tang ,&nbsp;Yuanxiang Jin ,&nbsp;Dou Wang ,&nbsp;Ting Luo ,&nbsp;Xinquan Wang ,&nbsp;Jing Qiu ,&nbsp;Yanhua Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Freshwater organisms are routinely exposed to complex mixtures of pollutants, yet current risk assessments largely fail to account for their combined effects. Here, a comprehensive approach was employed to elucidate the toxicological responses in the livers of hook snout carps (<em>Opsariichthys bidens</em>) following co-exposure to the heavy metal copper (Cu) and the pesticide tebuconazole (Teb). Our findings demonstrated that simultaneous exposure to Cu and Teb elicited a pronounced synergistic toxicity in <em>O. bidens</em>. The observed synergy stemmed from the distinct modes of action of the two pollutants: Cu induced oxidative stress via the Fenton reaction, while Teb disrupted cytochrome P450–mediated metabolism. Both individual and combined exposures elicited a spectrum of adverse effects, including histopathological alterations, oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammation, impaired detoxification, endocrine disruption, and disturbances in amino acid and glycolipid metabolism, with the mixture (Mix) producing markedly more severe impairments. Their interaction initiated a self-reinforcing cycle, beginning with the collapse of the antioxidant system, cascading into profound disruption of the TCA cycle and glycolipid metabolism, and ultimately culminating in an energy crisis accompanied by amplified apoptosis. These findings established a mechanistic framework for evaluating the combined ecological risks of organic and inorganic pollutants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 53-65"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145521025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transformation dynamics and predictive modeling of Cr(VI) in agricultural soils under different pollution levels","authors":"Fei Liu ,&nbsp;Xianhui Peng ,&nbsp;Yvkai Ma ,&nbsp;Chenyang Yu ,&nbsp;Helian Li ,&nbsp;Shiwei Li ,&nbsp;Hongbo Li","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Quantifying hexavalent Chromium [Cr(VI)] transformation in soils under different pollution levels is critical for accurate environmental risk assessment. This study investigated Cr(VI) transformation dynamics over a 180-day aging period in eight contrasting soils at four pollution levels. Elevating pollution level from 20 to 300 mg kg⁻¹ increased the available Cr(VI) in the eight soils from 1 to 40 % to 29–81 % (with an average increase of 34.1 %) following 10 days of aging; After 180 days, available Cr(VI) rose from 0 to 3 % to 0–36 % (13.3 %) across the same pollution gradient, indicating weaker influence for long-term aging period. Kinetic analysis indicated that, Cr(VI) reduction was better fitted by second-order and Elovich models than by first-order or parabolic diffusion models at a given pollution level, highlighting a chemisorption-dominated process. Increasing pollution levels enhanced the fit of the parabolic diffusion model, suggesting that diffusion plays a progressively significant role in Cr(VI) reduction at higher pollution level. Correlation analyses identified pH, organic matter, pollution level, and aging time as key factors controlling Cr(VI) reduction. Accordingly, a multiple linear regression model incorporating pollution level was developed to predict Cr(VI) reduction percentage with R² = 0.84 (RMSE = 9.77 %). The model was validated against independent datasets, yielding an R² of 0.74, notably outperforming models based on single pollution level conditions (R² = 0.64). These results advance mechanistic understanding of long-term Cr(VI) behavior in soils across diverse pollution levels and provide a predictive framework to support risk assessment and soil quality standard development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 43-52"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145521031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Complex co-contaminant responses of Chlorella sp. and its phycosphere microbiota under co-exposure to PET microfibers and oxytetracycline","authors":"Jiaye Deng ,&nbsp;Wenyan Lu ,&nbsp;Jiamei Wang ,&nbsp;Shuyuan Zhong ,&nbsp;Xinrui Xu ,&nbsp;Liufu Wang ,&nbsp;Hui Yang ,&nbsp;Yingying Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.025","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.025","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Microplastics (MPs) and antibiotics co-occur in aquatic environments, yet their joint ecological effects remain poorly understood. We examined polyethylene terephthalate microplastic fibers (PET-MFs) and oxytetracycline (OTC, 2 mg/L), alone and in combination, on <em>Chlorella</em> sp. and its phycosphere microbiome over 28 days. Microscopy revealed extensive algal adhesion to fibers and aggregated clusters. PET-MFs dose-dependently inhibited algal growth by lowering photosynthetic efficiency, disrupting pigment synthesis, and inducing oxidative stress, and shifted the phycosphere microbiome by reducing <em>Rhodobacter</em> and <em>Brevundimonas</em> and enriching <em>Paucibacter</em>. Transcriptomics showed a strong dose response: LMF (5000 particles/L MFs) induced 216 DEGs, versus 2920 DEGs in HMF (50,000 particles/L MFs); OTC alone caused 2443 DEGs and suppressed glycolysis/pyruvate metabolism and photosynthesis related gene expression despite limited biomass effects. Co-exposure amplified disturbance to 7126 DEGs in LMO (LMF and OTC) and 12,880 DEGs in HMO (HMF and OTC), exceeding either single treatment. Although total bacterial abundance changed little, ARGs/MGEs increased, with <em>intI2</em> elevated in all MF-containing groups and tet genes promoted by OTC. Correlation analyses support an algae–microbiome–resistome linkage: algal traits (OD680, Chl-a, Fv/fm) tracked shifts in dominant genera, which co-varied with int and tet modules, while soluble protein/EPS aligned with higher <em>int</em>/<em>tet</em> signals. Together, these results indicate complex, non-linear PET-MF–OTC interactions, with algal physiology likely mediating microbiome structure and ARG dynamics. This study advances mechanistic understanding of pollutant–microalgae–microbiome crosstalk and highlights ecological risks from co-occurring MPs and antibiotics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 822-833"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145924319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impacts of urban runoff pollutants on biofilm communities","authors":"Neus Besolí-Mestres ,&nbsp;Anna Freixa ,&nbsp;Lorena Cojoc ,&nbsp;M. Isabel Cadena-Aizaga ,&nbsp;Mira Petrovic ,&nbsp;Sergi Sabater","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.018","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.018","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Urban runoff transports a wide array of inorganic and organic materials, such as organic matter, salt, dust, plastics and a high diversity of pollutants, which may harm freshwater ecosystems, especially during the initial runoff inputs. The aim of this study is to assess the structural and functional impacts on freshwater biofilms subjected to urban runoff pollutants.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We provide a first assessment exposing natural freshwater biofilms to progressive dilution of pure first-flush urban runoff under controlled laboratory conditions. In parallel, we examined the effects of selected pollutants found in urban runoff on biofilms, testing them individually and in combination.</div></div><div><h3>Findings</h3><div>Urban runoff contained 47 compounds from 9 different families. The most abundant were 1,3-diphenylguanidine (a tire-related additive), caffeine (a stimulant), and zinc (a metal), each reaching concentrations close to 30 μg L^{- 1}. Dissolved organic carbon was also high (25 mg L⁻¹). Impacts of urban runoff on biofilms were strongest at 25 % dilution, and overall impacts were moderate, reflecting a balance inhibitory influence of pollutants and stimulatory effects of dissolved organic carbon and nutrients. The selected pollutants experiment revealed that biofilms were most sensitive to the mixture of pollutants and to diuron, followed by the 16PAHs and BBP.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Overall, our results highlight the complex and non-linear responses of stream biofilms to urban runoff inputs, emphasizing the need to control the types and quantities of pollutants released, with particular attention to emerging contaminants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 720-728"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145883808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lipid dysregulation as a mediator of genotoxicity from benzene, toluene, and xylene co-exposure: Insights from a longitudinal study of petrochemical workers and network toxicology analysis","authors":"Shuangqi Li ,&nbsp;Yanrong Lv ,&nbsp;Zhaoqing Tan ,&nbsp;Qing Liu ,&nbsp;Chunlan Zhu ,&nbsp;Zihao Long ,&nbsp;Qing Wang ,&nbsp;Liping Chen ,&nbsp;Haohan Chen ,&nbsp;Hongyun Chen ,&nbsp;Xiumei Xing ,&nbsp;Qiansheng Hu ,&nbsp;Yongmei Xiao","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.019","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.019","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) are pervasive in industrial settings. However, how their shared lipophilicity and lipid dysregulation synergistically contribute to genotoxicity at low dose exposures remain unclear, limiting the development of targeted preventive measures. In a longitudinal cohort of 736 petrochemical workers (523 followed for 5 years), with cumulative exposure doses derived from workplace monitoring. Blood lipids [total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low−/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C/HDL-C)] and genotoxicity markers [olive tail moment (OTM), Tail DNA%, Tail moment, 8-hydroxy-2′- deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG)] were measured. Generalized linear and log-binomial regression models evaluated baseline and longitudinal associations, while generalized weighted quantile sum (gWQS) regression captured mixture effects. Mediation models assessed lipid-driven genotoxicity. BTX co-exposure was associated with increased TC, LDL-C, and HDL-C at baseline, and elevated risks of hypercholesterolemia (<em>RR</em> = 1.64, 95 % <em>CI</em>: 1.05, 2.58) and high LDL-C (<em>RR</em> = 1.32, 95 % <em>CI</em>: 1.01, 1.71) during follow-up. Workers with baseline hyperlipidemia showed stronger lipid responses and greater DNA damage under exposure (<em>P</em>-_interaction &lt; 0.05). Longitudinal analyses showed that benzene and toluene exposure elevated higher follow-up 8-OHdG levels among hypercholesterolemic workers (<em>P</em>_interaction &lt; 0.05) supporting oxidative damage as a downstream mechanism.Total cholesterol mediated 8.22 % of BTX-related genotoxicity (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). Consistently, network toxicology highlighted lipid metabolism as key pathway linking BTX exposure to DNA damage. These findings demonstrate that BTX co-exposure disrupts lipid homeostasis and that toluene and xylene contribute significantly to this dysregulation, which in turn exacerbates benzene-initiated genotoxicity. The study highlights lipid metabolism as a critical mediator and amplifier of BTX mixture toxicity, underscoring the necessity of incorporating metabolic pathways and mixture effects into occupational risk assessments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 708-719"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145883807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Time-dependent toxicity and key toxic components of five neonicotinoid mixtures under environmental concentrations in the Yangtze River Basin","authors":"Ting-Ting Ding ,&nbsp;Xiao-Yu Wang ,&nbsp;Shi-Lin Du ,&nbsp;Hong-Yi Liang ,&nbsp;Ya-Hui Zhang ,&nbsp;Jin Zhang ,&nbsp;Ming-Xiao Li ,&nbsp;Shu-Shen Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.031","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.031","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Neonicotinoids (NEOs), as widely used insecticides, have raised increasing concerns regarding their ecological impacts. Current knowledge on the mixture toxicity of NEOs, particularly under environmental concentrations, remains insufficient. This study investigated the occurrence of five representative NEOs, including imidacloprid (IMI), thiamethoxam (THM), clothianidin (CLO), acetamiprid (ACE), and thiacloprid (THA), in surface water from the Linjiang (LJ) and Xuebu (XB) River Basins within the Yangtze River Basin. The total concentrations of the five NEOs ranged from 0.16 to 72.31 ng/L, with higher levels detected in the LJ Basin. High-throughput microplate toxicity analysis showed that the single THA and THM exhibited stimulatory effects (−17 % to 47 %) on <em>Vibrio qinghaiensis</em> sp.-Q67 (Q67). The 72 mixtures of the five NEOs exhibited not only inhibitory effects (up to 34 %) on Q67 at 12 h but also previously unobserved stimulatory effects (down to −32 %). These mixtures showed three different time-dependent toxicity characteristics during 0.25–12 h: 23 mixtures consistently exhibited stimulatory effects, 30 mixtures shifted from stimulatory to no effect, and 19 mixtures shifted from no effect to inhibitory effects. CLO, although showing no direct effect as a single compound, was identified as a key driver influencing mixture toxicity, exhibiting interactions with other components. Ecological risk assessment indicated that IMI, THM, CLO, and ACE posed potential ecological risks in the LJ Basin (risk quotients≥0.1). Based on the findings, management of NEOs in the LJ Basin may need to be strengthened, with particular attention to CLO due to its single ecological risk and key driver influencing mixture toxicity. This study provides comprehensively understanding of single and mixture toxicities of NEOs at environmental concentrations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 379-391"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145684253","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Personalized oxidative toxicity exposure assessment: Unveiling feasibility of linking respiratory PM10 oxidative potential to human oxidative damage","authors":"Ying-Jie Zhang ,&nbsp;Ting-Ting Xu ,&nbsp;Jing-Feng Yi ,&nbsp;Yu-Ling Luan ,&nbsp;Eddy Y. Zeng ,&nbsp;Ying Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.032","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.032","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Atmospheric particulate matter-driven oxidative stress is a crucial benchmark in evaluating health risk, yet the direct evidence linking environmental oxidability to human internal oxidative damage remains elusive. Here, we systematically quantified oxidative potential (OP) in respirable size-segregated PM₁₀ collected longitudinally from waste recycling plants in Southern China, and monitored oxidative damage to DNA, lipids and proteins in workers using biomarker techniques. By self-developed high-throughput microplate dithiothreitol (DTT) assay, we found that maximum OP values (both mass and volume normalized) were primarily derived from fine particles (0.43–0.65 μm), with 62 %–82 % of oxidability in pulmonary alveoli attributed to &lt;2.1 μm fractions. Each unit increase (1 × 10¹⁶ spins/g) of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) was associated with 1.316 pmol/μg/min rise in OP^DTT_m. Critically, we introduced “respirable particle-bound oxidability (RPO)” metric, integrating OP with individualized respiratory rates to capture bioavailable exposure. Mixed-effect modeling revealed a robust association between that RPO and lipid peroxidation, with each 1 % increase correlating with a 2.92 % (95 % CI: 1.66 %, 4.17 %) increase in urinary malondialdehyde (MDA), particularly in pulmonary alveoli. While no significant effect is observed for DNA or protein oxidation. These findings successfully established the quantitative linkage between ambient PM oxidizing capacity and internal oxidative injury, highlighting RPO as an advanced metric for environmental risk assessment and offering new insight into the mechanistic evaluation of air pollution toxicity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 846-856"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145977024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Neonicotinoid pesticides dinotefuran increase honeybee body temperature and accelerate honeybee (Apis mellifera) translocation of contaminants into hives to enhance ecotoxicity risk","authors":"Fu Zhang ,&nbsp;Lixia Zou ,&nbsp;Yongheng Zhang ,&nbsp;Honghong Li ,&nbsp;Dongyu Yang ,&nbsp;Lichao Chen ,&nbsp;Zhaojie Chen ,&nbsp;Xuesheng Li","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Neonicotinoid pesticides are strongly believed to exhibit a higher risk of ecotoxicity to honeybee populations. However, the underlying reasons have not been clarified. Our research indicates that neonicotinoid pesticides dinotefuran affected acetylcholine receptors, which led to an elevation in octopamine titer and subsequent increase in the body temperature of honeybees. Furthermore, we observed a considerable upregulation the expression of a flight gene <em>flightin</em> in honeybees. This gene accelerates the homing behavior of honeybees and facilitates the rapid and frequent transport of neonicotinoid pesticide-contaminated nectar to the hive. Consequently, this accelerated the enrichment of neonicotinoid pesticides and increased the toxicity risk to the honeybee population. Stereochiral configuration <em>S</em>-dinotefuran exhibited a markedly higher influence on the body temperature of honeybees and the expression of <em>flight</em> genes than <em>R</em>-dinotefuran. The transcriptomic data further demonstrated that <em>S</em>-dinotefuran and <em>R</em>-dinotefuran influenced the thermogenesis, glycolytic, mitochondrial metabolism, and other energy metabolic pathways. We propose for the first time that neonicotinoid pesticides accelerate the homing of honeybees, which in turn hastens the transfer of neonicotinoid pesticides into their hives. This phenomenon may explain the frequent appearance and higher concentrations of neonicotinoid pesticides residual in the hive and one of the reasons why these pesticides are more ecotoxicity than others.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 631-641"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145839385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An integrated approach unveils novel mechanisms of nicotine-induced neurotoxicity in zebrafish larvae","authors":"Yu Kou ,&nbsp;Changsheng Guo ,&nbsp;Yan Zhang,&nbsp;Yanghui Deng,&nbsp;Xingxing Yin,&nbsp;Jian Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.014","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nicotine is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant which may exert neurotoxicity to aquatic organisms. However, the mechanisms at environmentally relevant concentrations remain inadequately understood. This study employed an integrated approach combining in silico predictions, in vivo zebrafish assays, transcriptomics and targeted metabolomics to decipher the mechanistic framework of nicotine-driven developmental neurotoxicity to zebrafish. Network toxicology and molecular docking identified six core targets (CXCR4, CHRNB1, CHRNA1, CHRNA3, STAT3, HIF1A) and predicted key pathways, including neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction and calcium signaling. Experimental validation in zebrafish larvae revealed that nicotine exposure, even at low environmental levels (0.03–3 μg/L), significantly induced developmental delays, heart rate imbalances, and neurobehavioral deficits. Targeted metabolomics demonstrated that nicotine caused a pronounced neurotransmitter imbalance, characterized by a sharp increase in acetylcholine and disrupted levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Transcriptomics further confirmed the dysregulation of key pathways, including calcium signaling, MAPK inflammation cascade, and neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction. An integrated multi-omics analysis delineated a cohesive adverse outcome pathway: nicotine initially disrupts neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions, leading to intracellular calcium overload, which subsequently triggers MAPK-mediated inflammatory apoptosis and FoxO/p53-related oxidative stress, ultimately resulting in neuronal damage and behavioral dysfunction. Our findings provide novel and comprehensive insights into the mechanistic basis of nicotine-induced neurotoxicity, highlighting significant ecological risks at environmental concentrations and offering a robust framework for assessing the neurotoxic potential of environmental contaminants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 749-759"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145883810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}