Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology最新文献

{"title":"Tissue distribution, accumulation, and biotransformation of butylated hydroxytoluene in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio)","authors":"Jiachen Liu ,&nbsp;Qingjian Meng ,&nbsp;Huina Gao ,&nbsp;Xuefang Liang ,&nbsp;Zelin Li ,&nbsp;Christopher J. Martyniuk","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2026.01.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2026.01.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As a widely used synthetic phenolic antioxidant (SPA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) has been frequently detected in aquatic ecosystem. In organisms, BHT undergoes species-dependent biotransformation which can influence its toxicity. Despite data on its metabolism in mammals, tissue-specific distribution and bioaccumulation of BHT and its metabolites in fish remain unclear. In this study, adult zebrafish were exposed to 0.1 and 1 μM BHT for 21 days, followed by a 7-day depuration. BHT was rapidly degraded more than 50% within one day in the exposure solution, and BHT-OH was identified as the most abundant metabolite excreted from zebrafish. The highest concentration of BHT were observed in the liver and ovary with kinetic bioconcentration factors (BCF_k) over 2000 L/kg. However, the depuration half-life of BHT in different tissues was relatively short, ranging from 0.89 to 3.15 days. In contrast to the bioconcentration pattern of BHT, its metabolites were preferentially distributed in plasma due to their higher affinity to apolipoprotein A-I. BHT-CHO and BHT-Q were the dominant metabolites that readily accumulated in liver and brain, while BHT-COOH tended to deposit in the brain and ovary at high dose (1 μM) group. Compared with BHT, these toxic metabolites have a higher persistent potential in biological tissues. Our findings underscore the significance of considering the biotransformation in the toxic assessment of BHT congeners.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 1148-1156"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146173091","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":"New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) reveal triphenyl phosphate (TPP) disrupts lipid metabolism in estuarine fish via PPARγ activation: A concentration-dependent transcriptomic and molecular docking study","authors":"Jinzhi Ren ,&nbsp;Ying Peng ,&nbsp;Chenyang Sun ,&nbsp;Yining Zhang ,&nbsp;Jianjun Li ,&nbsp;Simin Xia ,&nbsp;Caixia Gao ,&nbsp;Yimeng Wang ,&nbsp;Xiangping Nie","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.037","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.037","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is an urgent need for a more efficient and ethical approach to chemical toxicity assessment. The emergence of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) based on fish embryos transcriptomics provides a promising alternative. Triphenyl phosphate (TPP) — a pervasive contaminant in estuaries — disrupts lipid homeostasis in mammals <em>via</em> PPARγ activation, yet its ecotoxicological impacts on estuarine fish remain unknown. Leveraging NAMs, this study integrates concentration-dependent transcriptomics (CDT), molecular docking, and phenotypic toxicity assays to unravel effects of TPP on embryonic development and lipid metabolism in the benthic fish <em>Mugilogobius chulae</em>. We found that TPP induced significant lethality (LC₅₀ = 1.86 × 10⁶ ng/L) and teratogenicity (EC₅₀ = 5.27 × 10⁵ ng/L), suppressing spontaneous movement, heart rate, and hatching. At concentrations of 5270 ng/L and 52,700 ng/L, TPP elevated triglycerides, total cholesterol, and hepatotoxicity markers (alanine aminotransferase / aspartate aminotransferase). CDT analysis identified fatty acid metabolism pathways as the most sensitive targets, with TPP upregulating PPARγ while downregulating CD36 and ACSL5 — indicating blocked fatty acid oxidation and explaining lipid accumulation. Crucially, co-exposure with PPARγ antagonist GW9662 reversed metabolic disorders, validating the mechanistic role of PPARγ. Furthermore, molecular docking confirmed that TPP binds PPARγ with agonist-like affinity. This work establishes a NAM-based framework for deciphering the toxicity of contaminants of emerging concern in estuarine ecosystems, offering novel tools for ecological risk assessment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 368-378"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145684254","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":"Role of Gal-3 mediated lysophagy in arsenic-induced chicken hepatocyte injury","authors":"Xinglin Gao ,&nbsp;Ying He ,&nbsp;Juan Lan ,&nbsp;Yumeng Li ,&nbsp;Xudong Han ,&nbsp;Yueyang Li ,&nbsp;Yanli You ,&nbsp;Haiyan Liu ,&nbsp;Gan Rao ,&nbsp;Zhaoxin Tang ,&nbsp;Zhiwen Wu ,&nbsp;Lianmei Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.027","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.027","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Arsenic is one of the important pollutants in the environment. As the main target organ of arsenic exposure, the liver contains a large number of lysosomes, which play an important role in liver injury induced by arsenic. The involvement of lysosomes in arsenic-induced hepatic damage among avian species, specifically chickens, has yet to be documented. Therefore, in this study, we established animal models of chickens and primary chicken hepatocyte models with different concentrations of arsenic trioxide (ATO) and further explored the hepatotoxic mechanism of arsenic from the perspective of lysosome damage. Our study confirmed that ATO affected the growth and development of chickens; caused substantial liver damage with decreased antioxidant capacity. Our study also found that exposure to ATO leads to lysosomal damage. This leads to the leakage of tissue protease B (CTSB) within lysosomes and triggers the Gal-3-dependent lysosomal phagocytosis mechanism to eliminate the damaged lysosomes.Moreover, we also found that lysosome damage and lysophagy induced by ATO were associated with intracellular Ca²⁺ disturbance. Taken together, the results show that ATO can induce lysosome damage and activate Gal-3 mediated lysophagy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 267-280"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145571857","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":"Metabolomic signature and prediction of incident lung cancer from air pollution exposure in a national cohort: Unraveling the link and underlying role","authors":"Jiahao Song ,&nbsp;Shuhui Wan ,&nbsp;Wendi Shi ,&nbsp;Sinan Wu ,&nbsp;Le Hong ,&nbsp;Zhiying Huo ,&nbsp;Yueru Yang ,&nbsp;Da Shi ,&nbsp;Qing Liu ,&nbsp;Yongfang Zhang ,&nbsp;Xuefeng Lai ,&nbsp;Wei Liu ,&nbsp;Hao Wang ,&nbsp;Weihong Chen ,&nbsp;Bin Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.10.033","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.10.033","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Air pollution exposure has been identified as a pathogenic factor of lung cancer, whereas the metabolic profile disturbance involved and its underlying role remain unclear while attract much attention.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Metabolomic profiling in plasma was conducted among 205,974 participants in the UK Biobank. Particulate matter (PM) with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 μm (PM₁₀), PM_2.5, PM_2.5–10, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) were assessed by land-use regression models. Mediation roles of metabolic features involved in air pollution and incident lung cancer, and performance of the lung cancer prediction model incorporating crucial metabolite features identified by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multivariate Cox regression, were evaluated.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>During a median follow-up period of 13.1 years, 1,536 incident lung cancer cases were recorded. Among the 143 metabolite features, 66 overlapped in PM_2.5, NO₂, or NO_x exposure-associated incident lung cancer after multivariate adjustment (false discovery rate <em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). The highest mediation proportions were observed for Albumin (percentage mediated: 4.02 %), Phospholipids in Medium Very-Low-Density Lipoproteins (M-VLDL) (6.38 %), and M-VLDL (6.42 %) in incident lung cancer from PM_2.5, NO₂, and NO_x exposure, respectively. LASSO and multivariate Cox regression identified 15 metabolite features associated with lung cancer, and inclusion of these metabolite features significantly improved the prediction of lung cancer (C statistic: 0.851; Net reclassification improvement index: 0.144; Integrated discrimination improvement index: 0.005).</div></div><div><h3>Discussion</h3><div>Disturbance and mediation role of circulating metabolic features in air pollution exposure and incident lung cancer were identified, and metabolite profiling may well improve early prediction of lung cancer.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 238-247"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145571855","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":"Target-tunable colorimetric sensor array based with mixed-valence cerium-centered metal-organic framework nanozyme for on-site sensitive detection of pyridaphenthion bioaccumulation in crops","authors":"Guanghao Chen ,&nbsp;Lin Zhou ,&nbsp;Tingting Cai ,&nbsp;Jiale Song ,&nbsp;Jintong Liu ,&nbsp;Hong Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.016","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Pyridaphenthion, as a broad-spectrum insecticide, warrants attention regarding its residue in crops and toxicity. Herein, a mixed-valence cerium-based metal-organic framework (CeMOF) nanozyme was synthesized via in-situ partial oxidation. The reversible Ce(IV)/Ce(III) nodes in CeMOF employed as the tunable catalytic switch. The nodes endowed the nanozyme with peroxidase-like activity for oxidizing colorimetric substrate with blue signals. The acid phosphatase (ACP) reduced the Ce(IV)/Ce(III) ratio and suppressed the peroxidase-like activity. Combined with the inhibiting activity of pyridaphenthion against ACP, the catalytic activity of CeMOF could be aroused by pyridaphenthion target. This mechanism facilitated the highly sensitive detection of pyridaphenthion through natural and artificial cascade catalysis. By convenient colorimetric analysis and visual instrument-free-based on-site approach compatible with smartphone, the array achieved the pyridaphenthion bioaccumulation determination with a detection limit of 0.099 ng mL⁻¹. This presented cascade catalysis sensing array not only lighted up the way for dedicated design of nanozyme with target-triggered switch, but also provided an intelligent and efficient solution for on-site pesticide residue monitoring.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 185-194"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145571844","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":"Molecular insights into the bioavailability and transformation of dissolved organic phosphorus and nitrogen in a wastewater treatment plant","authors":"Hongwei Bai ,&nbsp;Qiao Liu ,&nbsp;Xuhui Shen ,&nbsp;Wenbing Tan ,&nbsp;Ying Yuan ,&nbsp;Dongyang Li ,&nbsp;Yike Kang ,&nbsp;Dongyu Cui","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.023","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.023","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) have high potential bioavailability, making them key factors in the water eutrophication process. For wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), one of the challenges in alleviating eutrophication in receiving waters is reducing levels of DOP and DON, which are harder to remove than inorganic phosphate and dissolved inorganic nitrogen. In this study, for the first time we simultaneously investigated the bioavailability and transformation of DOP and DON in a WWTP at the molecular level, via Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) and paired mass distance (PMD)-based network analysis. Results showed that the removal of DOP and DON in the biological treatment contributed 83.3 % and 100.3 %, respectively, to the total removal in the WWTP. Meanwhile, the double bond equivalence values of DOP and DON markedly increased from 8.93 to 13.36 and from 7.57 to 11.72 during biological treatment, respectively, whereas slight changes were observed during advanced treatment, indicating that the biological treatment played a dominant role in reducing the concentration and bioavailability of DOP and DON. PMD-based network analysis indicated that the variation in the bioavailability of DOP and DON in the biological treatment was primarily associated with the transformation from low unsaturation lipid- and protein-like species to highly unsaturated lignin-like species. Our findings enhance the understanding of the bioavailability and transformation of DOP and DON in WWTPs, thereby offering guidance for optimizing biological nutrient removal and designing targeted advanced treatment strategies during WWTP upgrading.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 281-289"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145571856","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":"Tracking the source: First evidence of Benzothiazoles in outdoor airport aerosol","authors":"Giovanna Mazzi ,&nbsp;Matteo Feltracco ,&nbsp;Elena Barbaro ,&nbsp;Elisa Scalabrin ,&nbsp;Eleonora Favaro ,&nbsp;Cristina Colombi ,&nbsp;Guorui Liu ,&nbsp;Yujue Yang ,&nbsp;Andrea Gambaro","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The aviation sector is crucial to support worldwide connections, and it is esteemed to grow in the following years. Monitoring of aviation pollution has gained importance, but poor attention is brought to the chemical composition of non-exhaust emissions such as Tire Wear Particles (TWPs), produced after the abrasion of tires with the road pavement. TWPs can end up in water, soil, and air, resulting in a great source of microplastics. Not only, TWPs can transport and release rubber additives like Benzothiazoles (BTHs), a wide family of organic molecules used in rubber production. BTHs have been exploited as chemical markers to trace non-exhaust road traffic emissions, however, to the best of our knowledge no studies researched BTHs in airborne aircraft TWPs. This is a great gap in literature considering the great estimated amount of TWPs produced by aircrafts. BTHs were investigated for the first time in the outdoor PM₁₀ of Milano Linate airport together with other chemical markers (major ions, carboxylic acids). The airport appears to be an important source of BTHs, especially BTH, BTH-NH₂, BTH-MeS, and BTH-SO₃H, and the aerosol composition appears like those of highly trafficked cities. A weekly trend was observed, and a strong link between BTH-NH₂ and BTH-SO₃H was noticed, suggesting a connection with the airport activities. A chemometric approach was also applied, and three major clusters were identified: one was attributed to the airplanes/airport vehicles' activity; one was linked to the airport de/anti-icing procedures; the last was related to a median-range transport and secondary atmospheric reactions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 66-75"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145521023","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":"Chlorine migration and transformation mechanism in organochlorine hazardous waste treated with alkaline alcohol system","authors":"Haosong Qu ,&nbsp;Zhiming He ,&nbsp;Minjie Pei ,&nbsp;Zhanqi Song ,&nbsp;Kai Zhang ,&nbsp;Yali Li","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.12.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Chlorinated organic hazardous wastes (COWs) are highly toxic, chemically stable, and resistant to natural degradation, their environmental persistence and bioaccumulation pose serious threats to human health and ecosystems. Dechlorination is a key approach to reducing toxicity, lowering environmental pollution risks, and enabling subsequent treatment and resource recovery. In this study, an alkaline alcoholysis system based on sodium hydroxide and anhydrous ethanol was developed to treat chlorinated pesticide waste liquid (CPWL) under ambient conditions. Multiple analytical techniques, including gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), were used to examine changes in chemical composition, molecular structure, and functional groups in CPWL. Mechanistic analysis indicates that nucleophilic substitution is the dominant reaction pathway. Before treatment, the major pollutants2-chloro-6-(trichloromethyl) pyridine and 1,3,7-trichloronaphthalene accounted for 36.63 % and 38.80 % of the mixture, respectively; after treatment, their contents decreased to 0.12 % and non-detectable levels. The released chlorine was effectively converted into sodium chloride, achieving efficient chlorine immobilization. DFT calculations reveal the initial attack site as -CCl₃, with a total enthalpy change ΔH = −24.7 kcal·mol⁻¹ and an energy barrier of 14.5–38.6 kcal·mol⁻¹. ECOSAR assessment indicates reduced toxicity of CPWL products following reaction. This alkaline alcoholysis system demonstrates significant effectiveness in detoxifying chlorinated organic wastes and provides a feasible route for resource recovery.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 590-605"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145789686","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":"Heavy metal sources and associated ecological and human health risks in coastal islands of the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna delta, Bangladesh","authors":"Syeda Maksuda Yeasmin ,&nbsp;Chuanxiu Luo ,&nbsp;Md Habibur Rahman ,&nbsp;Syed Tanvir Woalid ,&nbsp;Md. Hasan ,&nbsp;Md. Anisur Rahman ,&nbsp;M Aminur Rahman ,&nbsp;Md. Hafijur Rahaman Khan ,&nbsp;Md. Abu Kawsar","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The coastal islands of the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna delta are ecologically vital but increasingly threatened by rising heavy metal contamination from natural and anthropogenic sources. This study assessed ten metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sn, and Zn) in surface sediments collected from thirteen southern coastal islands using ICP–MS. Results revealed pronounced spatial heterogeneity, with major contamination hotspots at Salimpur, Urir Char, and Kutubdia. Cadmium and arsenic exhibited the highest enrichment, exceeding upper continental crust values by 18.4 and 2.3 times, respectively. Pollution load index (PLI) values greater than one indicated a substantial decline in sediment quality. The potential ecological risk index (PERI) revealed moderate to very high ecological risk dominated by Cd, while the toxic risk index (TRI) suggested low to moderate toxic risk. Although non-carcinogenic risks were negligible, cumulative carcinogenic risks from Cr, Ni, Cd, and As exceeded the USEPA safety threshold. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) and Principal Component Analysis–Multiple Linear Regression (PCA–MLR) indicated that metals originated from geogenic and anthropogenic sources, mainly associated with shipbreaking, agriculture, and groundwater extraction. These findings provide essential baseline data to inform targeted mitigation and regulatory measures for the sustainable management of the GBM delta.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 112-126"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145521029","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":"Life cycle benzophenone 1 exposure induces anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in zebrafish via endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated dopaminergic system dysfunction","authors":"Zhipeng Qi ,&nbsp;Peng Li ,&nbsp;Xiang Gao ,&nbsp;Qiuchen Wu ,&nbsp;Keying Li ,&nbsp;Zhuoyi Xie ,&nbsp;Xilan Xia ,&nbsp;Tianchen Wang ,&nbsp;Xiangrong Zhou ,&nbsp;Jianan Li ,&nbsp;Xinying Zhao ,&nbsp;Hui Yuan ,&nbsp;Weiyi Song","doi":"10.1016/j.enceco.2026.01.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enceco.2026.01.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Environmental exposure to benzophenones (BPs) has emerged as a potential risk factor for the comorbidity of anxiety and depression. Among them, BP1 has attracted increasing attention due to its potential neurotoxic effects. However, whether and how long-term exposure to BP1 induces anxiety- and depression-like behaviors remains unclear. To investigate the adverse effects of BP1 on mental health, zebrafish were exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of BP1 (0 to 1 μM) from 0 to 180 days post-fertilization (dpf). Chemical analysis confirmed significant accumulation of BP1 in zebrafish brain tissue, indicating effective internal exposure of the nervous system. We then showed that exposure to BP1 increased scototaxis and bottom-dwelling behaviors while reducing exploratory activity in adult zebrafish, suggesting that BP1 exposure can cause anxiety- and depression-like behaviors. Moreover, histopathological analysis revealed that BP1 exposure induced morphological damage in the zebrafish midbrain, characterized by neuronal degeneration, interstitial vacuolation, and loss of Nissl bodies. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that life cycle BP1 exposure activated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress signaling and downregulated dopamine receptor <em>drd4a</em>. Furthermore, BP1 exposure suppressed the proliferation of dopaminergic neurons and decreased dopamine levels in the zebrafish brain. At the translational level, BP1 exposure significantly increased GRP78 and ATF4B protein levels and decreased EIF2α phosphorylation level, indicating activation of chronic ER stress. Concomitantly, the protein levels of TH and DRD4 were reduced. To further validate these findings, parallel experiments in PC12 cells demonstrated that BP1 exposure similarly dysregulated GRP78, ATF4B, p-EIF2α, TH, and DRD4. Importantly, pharmacological inhibition of ER stress with 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA) effectively rescued the BP1-induced downregulation of TH and DRD4 <em>in vitro</em>. Taken together, these findings provide crucial evidence elucidating the underlying mechanism by which BP1 exposure induces anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in aquatic organisms, offering novel insights into its neurotoxic effects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100480,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Pages 961-972"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146022874","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}