Environment International最新文献

{"title":"Individual effects and interactions between ultrafine particles and extreme temperatures on hospital admissions of high burden diseases","authors":"Quan Qi ,&nbsp;Yukang Xue ,&nbsp;Najm Alsadat Madani ,&nbsp;Randy T. Tangang ,&nbsp;Fangqun Yu ,&nbsp;Arshad Nair ,&nbsp;Xiaobo Romeiko Xue ,&nbsp;Gan Luo ,&nbsp;Isa Brackett ,&nbsp;Chris Thorncroft ,&nbsp;Shao Lin","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109348","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109348","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Health effects of ultrafine particles (UFPs) and their interactions with temperature are less studied. We investigated the risks of UFPs concentrations and extreme temperatures on hospitalizations for high-burden diseases (HBDs) in New York State (NYS).</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This case-crossover study included hospitalizations for HBDs that contain ischemic heart diseases, diabetes, stroke, kidney diseases, and depression using NYS Hospital Discharge Data (2013–2018). Daily pollutants and temperature data were obtained from a chemical transport model validated by multiple prior studies. UFP changes were measured using interquartile range increase, and extreme heat and cold were defined as temperatures &gt;= 90th% and &lt;=10th% respectively by month and location. Conditional logistic regression was applied controlling for criteria pollutants, relative humidity, and time-varying variables.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Among 1,308,518 cases, significant risk ratios (RR) were observed for UFPs (RRs ranged: 1.009–1.012) and extreme heat (RRs ranged: 1.024–1.028) on overall HBDs, but extreme cold had protective effects on HBDs. The adverse effect of UFPs had significant interactions with extreme cold and was higher in winter and fall. UFPs affected all HBD subtypes except kidney diseases, and extreme heat increased the risks of ischemic heart disease and kidney disease. There were disparities across demographics in exposures-HBDs associations although they were not statistically significant. Elevated UFP concentrations were associated with four clinical indicators (hospital stays, charges etc.).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>We observe positive associations between elevated UFP concentrations or extreme heat and HBD hospitalizations, but negative associations with extreme cold. The UFPs’ risks were higher in children and during cold seasons.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"197 ","pages":"Article 109348"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143473579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The safe and sustainable by design framework applied to graphene-based materials","authors":"Fiorella Pitaro, Stefan Seeger, Bernd Nowack","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109345","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109345","url":null,"abstract":"The shift toward a sustainable and toxic-free future requires integrating safety and sustainability aspects across the entire lifecycle of chemicals and materials. The Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework, developed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), offers a systematic approach to support informed decision-making throughout the innovation process. The aim of this work was to investigate the opportunities and challenges of the SSbD framework through a detailed case study on graphene-based materials, implementing the SSbD Steps 1–4 with data from existing literature. The study assessed the framework’s feasibility for materials and examined its potential for an absolute (non-comparative) application, including an evaluation across multiple or all potential uses of a chemical/material to be able to determine the overall safety and sustainability. The findings show that the framework offers a structured, adaptable approach to evaluating chemical and material safety and sustainability across their lifecycle, although challenges emerge for materials due to the small number of applicable models and tools. Further guidance on interpretating the results and SSbD scores of Steps 1––4 will facilitate an absolute assessment and distribute the effort required over an enhanced benefit. High Technology Readiness Level (TRL) materials, such as graphene-based materials, have sufficient data to support a comprehensive SSbD assessment considering multiple applications and to evaluate the material in an overall approach. This case study can support future users of the SSbD framework as well as provide valuable feedback for its ongoing review and adaptation.","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143518179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Emerging threat to antibiotic resistance: Impact of mycotoxin deoxynivalenol on gut microbiota and clonal expansion of extensively drug-resistant enterococci","authors":"Fengru Deng, Chuying Yao, Linyu Ke, Meichan Chen, Mi Huang, Jikai Wen, Qingmei Chen, Jun Jiang, Yiqun Deng","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109353","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109353","url":null,"abstract":"Mycotoxins, antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are significant environmental pollutants that pose considerable threats to environmental health and human safety through the food chain. This study is the first to investigate the impact of deoxynivalenol (DON), the most common mycotoxin, on antibiotic resistance dynamics in gut microbiota, demonstrating that DON exposure significantly selects for ARB and ARGs. Results indicated that 80.69 % of the ARGs with the highest increase in the DON group were exclusive to gram-positive bacteria, particularly those related to daptomycin. DON exposure enhanced the expression of virulence factors in gram-positive bacteria and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and membrane permeability, compromising bacterial integrity and amplifying resistance mechanisms. DON also boosted the diversity and co-occurrence of ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs), potentially facilitating the horizontal transfer of resistance traits. Notably, the dominant bacterial species isolated from broiler gut microbiota was identified as <em>Enterococcus faecalis</em>, which exhibited clonal expansion of sequence type ST123. This ST123 clone accounted for 86 % of the DON group and was associated with an extensively drug-resistant (XDR) phenotype, showing resistance levels exceeding 128 μg/mL to last-resort antibiotics such as daptomycin, vancomycin, and linezolid. Additionally, DON upregulated the expression of critical daptomycin resistance genes (<em>liaR, walK, liaS, mprF</em>, and <em>cls</em>) in vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) isolates. This study highlights the microbiological and environmental hazards that mycotoxins pose to the antibiotic resistance crisis.","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"210 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143518178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Midkine, a novel MCP-1 activator mediated PM2.5-aggravated experimental pulmonary fibrosis","authors":"Pei-Pei Cheng, Xin–Liang He, Zi-Heng Jia, Shi–He Hu, Xiao Feng, Ye–Han Jiang, Qian Li, Li-Qin Zhao, Xiao–Lin Cui, Shu–Yi Ye, Li-Mei Liang, Lin-Jie Song, Meng Wang, Fan Yu, Liang Xiong, Fei Xiang, Xiaorong Wang, Wan-Li Ma, Hong Ye","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109354","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109354","url":null,"abstract":"Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality among patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Pathological alterations in IPF typically originate in the subpleural regions of the lungs. However, it was unclear how PM2.5 affected subpleural pulmonary fibrosis. In this study, atmospheric PM2.5 and carbon blacks were utilized as representative particulate matter to investigate these effects. Mouse models and cell models were made to investigate macrophage chemotaxis changes under PM2.5 exposure <em>in vivo</em> and <em>in vitro</em>. The findings indicated that PM2.5 promoted macrophage aggregation in the subpleural region of lung and aggravated bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. At the same time, we uncovered for the first time that PM2.5 exposure led to an upregulation of midkine, which subsequently enhanced the production of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) through the cell surface receptor Syndecan 4 (SDC4) in pleural mesothelial cells (PMCs), thereby, inducing macrophage aggregation in subpleural region of lung. Furthermore, our results indicated that PM2.5 and bleomycin facilitated macrophage M1 polarization and the production of profibrotic inflammatory factors, culminating in fibrotic alterations in PMCs, lung fibroblasts, and alveolar epithelial cells. Finally, we demonstrated that inhibition of midkine ameliorated lung function and mitigated pulmonary fibrosis <em>in vivo</em>. In conclusion, our findings elucidated that midkine acted as a novel MCP-1 activator, mediating PM2.5-aggravated experimental pulmonary fibrosis, and suggested that the midkine/SDC4/MCP-1 signal should be a new therapeutic target for the treatment of PM2.5-related IPF.","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143518176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Using transcriptomics data and adverse outcome pathway networks to explore endocrine disrupting properties of Cadmium and PCB-126","authors":"Linus Wiklund, Emma Wincent, Anna Beronius","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109352","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109352","url":null,"abstract":"Omics-technologies such as transcriptomics offer valuable insights into toxicity mechanisms. However, integrating this type of data into regulatory frameworks remains challenging due to uncertainties regarding toxicological relevance and links to adverse outcomes. Furthermore, current assessments of endocrine disruptors (EDs) relevant for human health require substantial amounts of data, and primarily rely on standardized animal studies. Identifying EDs is a high priority in the EU, but so are efforts to replace and reduce animal testing. Alternative methods to investigate EDs are needed, and so are health risk assessment methods that support uptake of novel mechanistic information.This study aims to utilize Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) to integrate transcriptomics data for identifying EDs, by establishing a link between molecular data and adverse outcomes. Cadmium (Cd) and 3,3′,4,4′,5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB126) were used as model compounds due to their observed effects on the endocrine system. An AOP network for the estrogen, androgen, thyroid and steroidogenesis (EATS)-modalities was constructed. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) was conducted on zebrafish (<em>Danio rerio</em>) embryos exposed to Cd or PCB126 for 4 days. RNA-Seq data were then linked to the AOP network via Gene Ontology (GO) terms. Enrichment Maps in Cytoscape and the QIAGEN Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) software were also used to identify potential ED properties and to support the assessment.Potentially EATS-related GO Biological Process (BP) terms were identified for both compounds. A lack of accurate standardized terms in KEs of the AOP network hindered a data-driven mapping approach. Instead, manual mapping of GO BP terms onto the AOP network revealed more connections, underscoring the need for harmonizing AOP development for regulatory use. Both the Enrichment Maps and the IPA results further supported potentially EATS-related effects of both compounds. While AOP networks show promise in integrating RNA-Seq data, several challenges remain.","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"68 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143495987","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Zebrafish as a model organism in One health Toxicology: Impact of solvents and exposure routes on the toxicity of platinum anticancer drugs","authors":"Jin Yan, Masanari Takamiya, Ding Zhang, Giuseppina Pace, Sepand Rastegar, Huili Wang, Sarah Schoch, Beate Köberle, Andrea Hartwig, Thomas Dickmeis, Carsten Weiss","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109349","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109349","url":null,"abstract":"Zebrafish are widely used not only as a model in ecotoxicology but also to study the potential impact of chemicals on human health. Typically, zebrafish are exposed to chemicals dissolved in egg water or other defined media, which is the standard routine for ecotoxicology testing. This straightforward exposure method is usually also employed to monitor adverse effects in zebrafish to predict potential hazards and modes of action in humans. Here, we compared different exposure media and studied the impact of salinity and solvents relevant to ecotoxicity testing. For comparison, toxicants also were directly injected into the bloodstream of zebrafish embryos, as this method better simulates the exposure scenario for assessing the adverse effects of drugs administered intravenously to patients. As model compounds we studied platinum-based anticancer drugs, which are known micropollutants, but also lead to severe side effects in humans. Striking differences in sensitivity and phenotypes, i.e. adverse outcomes, were observed dependent on the exposure route and media. The bioavailability of the platinum compounds was significantly altered in the different media and by the commonly used solvent DMSO. These findings highlight the relevance of the exposure route and media as well as of solvents to be considered when interpreting zebrafish studies in the field of ecotoxicology or in cross species comparisons to predict effects on human health.","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143477387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mitochondrial ROS-associated integrated stress response is involved in arsenic-induced blood-testis barrier disruption and protective effect of melatonin","authors":"Feng-Wen Niu ,&nbsp;Ming-Dong Liu ,&nbsp;Kai Yao ,&nbsp;Rui Yang ,&nbsp;Lan Gao ,&nbsp;Jin-Xia Zhai ,&nbsp;Chuan Wang ,&nbsp;Shi-Hao Zhang ,&nbsp;De-Xiang Xu ,&nbsp;Zhi-Hui Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109346","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109346","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Arsenic (As) is an environmental metalloid. Previous studies have demonstrated that As exposure resulted in decline of sperm quality. This study aimed to investigate the impact of exposure to As on blood-testis barrier (BTB) in a mouse model. Four-week-old male mice were exposed to NaAsO₂ (1 or 15 mg/L) for 6 weeks. Our results found that NaAsO₂ exposure disrupted the BTB and reduced sperm counts in adult mice. NaAsO₂ activated the integrated stress response (ISR) and downregulated barrier junction protein in mouse testes and Sertoli cells. Ribosome profiling sequencing (Ribo-seq) and Ribosome-nascent chain complex-bound mRNA qPCR (RNC-qPCR) showed that translational efficiency of N-cadherin and ZO-1, two key barrier junction proteins, was reduced in NaAsO₂-treated Sertoli cells. Mechanistically, NaAsO₂ exposure reduced SIRT3 protein via proteasomal degradation, thereby resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction and excess mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) generation in Sertoli cells. Melatonin alleviated NaAsO₂-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and mtROS upregulation via reducing SOD2 acetylation in Sertoli cells. Moreover, melatonin antagonized NaAsO₂-induced ISR, barrier junction proteins downregulation and barrier function impairment in Sertoli cells. Accordingly, melatonin attenuated NaAsO₂-evoked BTB disruption and sperm count reduction in adult mice. These results suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction-associated translational inhibition of barrier junction proteins is involved in As-mediated BTB disruption and sperm quality decline.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"197 ","pages":"Article 109346"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143477384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Antibiotics in ambient fine particulate matter from two metropolitan cities in China: Characterization, source apportionment, and health risk assessment","authors":"Juan Liu ,&nbsp;Qiao Yao ,&nbsp;Wenyan Yan ,&nbsp;Ke Fang ,&nbsp;Runming He ,&nbsp;Xiaona Wang ,&nbsp;Yu’e Cha ,&nbsp;Xiaoyan Yang ,&nbsp;Wen Gu ,&nbsp;Chao Wang ,&nbsp;Yifu Lu ,&nbsp;Mingyu Zhao ,&nbsp;Yujie Ben ,&nbsp;Kai Wang ,&nbsp;Zhaomin Dong ,&nbsp;Rong Zhang ,&nbsp;Hong Chang ,&nbsp;Song Tang","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109340","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109340","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Excessive production and widespread application of antibiotic has led to residues in environmental matrices worldwide. There is limited knowledge of the concentrations of antibiotics bound to ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and their health risks. We investigated the occurrence, sources, environmental driving factors, and health risks of antibiotics in PM_2.5 samples collected from Beijing and Shijiazhuang, China, during periods of high air pollution. Using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, 25 antibiotics were detected in PM_2.5 at concentrations ranging from undetectable to 774.7 pg/m³. These compounds were predominantly tetracyclines and macrolides. The positive matrix factorization model was used to pinpoint the main sources of these antibiotics as pharmaceutical and medical waste, sewage treatment plants, and livestock emissions, with contributions of 39.1 %, 31.7 %, and 29.2 % respectively, to the total concentrations. Crucial environmental driving factors were determined using a linear mixed-effects model and random forest model. Most antibiotics showed a positive correlation with gaseous pollutants and a negative correlation with meteorological factors. PM_2.5, PM₁₀, and CO had the highest influence. The estimated daily intake and hazard quotient (HQ) were calculated to assess the human inhalation exposure risks for these antibiotics, and children aged 0–6 years had the highest intake of 102.8 pg/kg/day. Although the calculated health risk of antibiotic inhalation was low (HQ &lt; 1), considering that exposure to antibiotics via inhalation occurs over long periods and these compounds accumulate, further attention should be given to health risks associated with this exposure. Our results provide valuable insight for environmental planning and policymaking concerning antibiotic pollution and its associated health risks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"197 ","pages":"Article 109340"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143470879","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Radiative warming by multicomponent soot-dominated aerosols can be controlled by material configuration","authors":"M. Kocifaj ,&nbsp;F. Kundracik ,&nbsp;C.A. Gueymard","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109343","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109343","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Among aerosol constituents, soot-dominated particles represent a major concern in the context of climate change because of their highly variable warming effect. It is shown here that their radiative forcing can be controlled by properly mixing them with other materials, which suggests that transitioning from radiative warming to cooling is achievable even under a constant level of soot emission, i.e., without significantly limiting emissions from industries or other sources. This process is found here to hold for submicrometer and micrometer-sized multicomponent aggregates. It is concluded that the radiative forcing related to carbon emissions can be modulated by material coatings condensed onto the surface of absorbing soot particles, either during random particle–particle interactions in an open atmosphere, or in the controlled process of particle growth. The tailoring of optical properties of carbon emissions is thus theoretically possible. This is expected to have significant implications for future emission source regulation policies worldwide.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"197 ","pages":"Article 109343"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143470842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exposure to a mixture of arsenic species and growth indicators in 6–12-year-old children from the cycles 2007–2020 NHANES","authors":"Miguel García-Villarino ,&nbsp;Rocío Fernández-Iglesias ,&nbsp;Ana Victoria García ,&nbsp;Elsa Villa-Fernández ,&nbsp;Lucía Fernández-Arce ,&nbsp;Isolina Riaño-Galán ,&nbsp;Carmen Lambert ,&nbsp;Vicente Martín ,&nbsp;Margaret R. Karagas ,&nbsp;Elías Delgado-Álvarez ,&nbsp;Ana Fernández-Somoano ,&nbsp;Antonio J. Signes-Pastor","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109347","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109347","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Exposure to arsenic (As) and its metabolites can affect normal growth in children, but the combine effects at simultaneous low-level exposures, remain uncertain. Hence, this study aims to analyze how the combined effects of As and its metabolites can impact growth indicators in 1,792 US children aged 6–12 years, from the NHANES.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Levels of arsenic species in urine were measured using HPLC coupled with ICP-DRC-MS during the 2007–2020 NHANES cycles. The sum of iAs ([AsIII + AsV]), MMA, and DMA was used as a biomarker of internal iAs exposure (∑As), and methylation efficiency was assessed using the primary and secondary methylation indices (PMI, SMI). Linear regression and BKMR models were applied to identify adverse effects, nonlinear associations, interactions, and combined effects.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Median concentrations of MMA, DMA, iAs, and ∑As were 0.56 μg/L, 4.07 μg/L, 1.33 μg/L, and 6.40 μg/L, respectively. In the linear regression analyses, higher urinary concentrations of MMA were associated with reductions in several growth indicators. Specifically, each interquartile range (IQR) increase in MMA concentration was linked to decreases of −0.18 (95 % CI: −0.29, −0.06) in Body Mass Index (BMI) Z-score, −0.18 (95 % CI: −0.29, −0.06) in Weight Z-score, and −0.01 (95 % CI: −0.02, −0.01) in Waist circumference/Height ratio. Additionally, higher DMA concentrations were negatively associated with Height Z-score, with a reduction of −0.08 (95 % CI: −0.15, −0.01). In the BKMR analysis, DMA consistently emerged as the dominant contributor across multiple outcomes, showing the highest Posterior Inclusion Probabilities (PIPs) for indicators such as BMI Z-score and Waist circumference/Height ratio. While MMA exhibited notable PIPs in certain models, its influence was generally weaker than that of DMA.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Childhood exposure to a mixture of arsenic species, even at low levels, appears to influence growth indicators and adversely affect physical development in children enrolled in NHANES.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"197 ","pages":"Article 109347"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143470878","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}