Environment International最新文献

{"title":"Associations of legacy and emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) with aquatic communities in a typical subtropical estuary","authors":"Haojie Lei ,&nbsp;Yonglong Lu ,&nbsp;Pei Wang ,&nbsp;Ting Wu ,&nbsp;Yanjun Liu ,&nbsp;Yinyue Liu ,&nbsp;Jialong Li ,&nbsp;Bin Sun ,&nbsp;Cong Wang ,&nbsp;Xupeng An","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110163","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110163","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Coastal estuarine ecosystems play a critical role in supporting biodiversity but are increasingly threatened by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This study combined in situ PFAS monitoring with environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to investigate their impacts on fish species and community structure. PFAS concentrations ranged from 7.34 to 82.04 ng L⁻¹ in water and 1.87–4.98 ng g⁻¹ dw in sediments. Perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) replaced perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) as the predominant PFAS in water, with mean concentrations of 3.74 ± 2.67 ng L⁻¹ and 13.84 ± 3.95 ng L⁻¹, respectively. In organisms, PFAS concentrations ranged from 0.13 to 96.21 ng g⁻¹ ww and were higher in benthic invertebrates. As alternatives to PFOA and PFOS, PFBA and PFBS displayed comparable or even greater bioaccumulation potential, whereas chlorinated polyfluoroalkyl ether sulfonic acids (F-53B) exhibited significant trophic magnification (p &lt; 0.05). PFAS occurrence was closely associated with fish community diversity, and increasing PFAS concentrations were linked to a potential decline in the Shannon index (p &lt; 0.05). From a species-community perspective, typical PFAS in estuarine environments exhibit bioaccumulation and trophic magnification, underscoring the need for further attention to their ecological impacts at both species and community levels.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"209 ","pages":"Article 110163"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147278171","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":"Air pollution and childhood asthma in Iceland – Results from a low-pollution area","authors":"Ane Johannessen ,&nbsp;Throstur Thorsteinsson ,&nbsp;Camilla Geels ,&nbsp;Lise Marie Frohn ,&nbsp;Michael Clausen ,&nbsp;Jørgen Brandt ,&nbsp;Bertil Forsberg ,&nbsp;Thorarinn Gislason","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110170","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110170","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>No studies have investigated associations between air pollution and childhood asthma in Iceland. We aimed to explore if air pollution during pregnancy and early life was associated with asthma hospitalisations and medication use in Icelandic children.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We included all singleton births in Iceland from 2005 to 2018 (n = 59,355). Residential air pollution exposure during pregnancy and first three years of life was analysed in relation to asthma hospitalisations (International Classification of Diseases ICD J45–J46) and medication use (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification ATC R03A–R03D), using Cox regression with age as time scale and adjusting for maternal, offspring, and household factors.</div></div><div><h3>Findings</h3><div>Asthma hospitalisation occurred in 3.9% of children, and 18.6% had asthma medication prescriptions after age 3. Mean annual exposures to fine and course particulate matter (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) were low, but 26%, 1%, and 37%, respectively, was exposed to pollution exceeding World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. All pollutants except ozone increased asthma hospitalisation risk (hazard ratios 1.08 to 1.59 per interquartile range (IQR) increase, lower 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) ranging from 0.97 to 1.24 and upper 95% CIs from 1.17 to 2.04) with PM_2.5 exhibiting the highest risk (HR 1.59, 95% CI 1.24–2.04). Associations during pregnancy and early life were similar. Risk estimates for asthma medication use were lower than for hospitalisations. Nevertheless, pregnancy exposures to primary organic aerosols (POA), secondary organic aerosols (SOA), sulphate (SO₄^2-), sulphur dioxide (SO₂), secondary inorganic aerosols (SIA), PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ were significantly associated with increased asthma medication use.</div></div><div><h3>Interpretation</h3><div>Air pollution exposure even at low levels was associated with increased risk of childhood asthma hospitalisation and medication use in Iceland. PM_2.5 was the most important factor. Our findings highlight the need for continued efforts to further reduce pollution exposure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"209 ","pages":"Article 110170"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147292462","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":"Nontargeted screening identifies mixtures of environmental pollutants that are associated with perturbations to amino acid and fatty acid metabolic pathways during early pregnancy","authors":"Adam F. Pedersen ,&nbsp;Lauren M. Petrick ,&nbsp;Katherine Roth ,&nbsp;Zhao Yang ,&nbsp;Alexandra R. Sitarik ,&nbsp;Amith Maroli ,&nbsp;Georgia Dolios ,&nbsp;Courtney Carignan ,&nbsp;Jaclyn M. Goodrich ,&nbsp;Jean M. Kerver ,&nbsp;Michael Petriello","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110172","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110172","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>“One-chemical-at-a-time” approaches are typically used to investigate adverse health outcomes associated with exposure to environmental chemicals during pregnancy. However, nontargeted high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) approaches can instead measure complex, real-world mixtures of xenobiotics and metabolic products and may better explain mechanisms of toxicity and identify biomarkers of exposure than single-chemical approaches during pregnancy, a particularly sensitive exposure window. Here, our objective was to use a nontargeted, HRMS approach that monitors endogenous and xenobiotic compounds to identify associations of pollutant mixtures with metabolic pathways in serum of 100 pregnant women from the MARCH cohort (Michigan Archive for Research on Child Health). Xenobiotic mixtures were identified based on in-house libraries as well as a discovery-based approach, FluoroMatch 3.0, to identify nonlegacy/emerging fluorinated chemicals in these same samples. Metabolic pathways of interest were determined using MetaboAnalyst software and effect estimates on metabolic profiles were estimated for both individual contaminants and mixtures of all identified chemicals. 415 endogenous metabolites and 21 individual chemical pollutants were detected with high identification confidence and included per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), phthalates, bisphenols, organophosphate esters (OPEs), and parabens. An additional 105 tentative fluorinated compounds were identified via FluoroMatch. As classes of toxicants, bisphenol and PFAS mixtures showed the greatest number of associations with metabolic pathways related to arginine, proline, glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism. When the total mixture of all 21 contaminants was modeled after covariate-adjustment, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids remained (FDR &lt; 0.05). Taken together, these findings illustrate that serum concentrations of environmental contaminants may be associated with some metabolic pathways in pregnancy and that mixture modeling identified fatty acid metabolism as a possible pathway of interest for future validation. These findings further demonstrate the potential of robust nontargeted exposome-wide approaches as tools to study and identify the mechanisms of toxicity underlying human disease.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"209 ","pages":"Article 110172"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147279937","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":"Microplastic exposure and the role of dietary patterns in school-aged children","authors":"Changmeng Liu ,&nbsp;Hualong Zhen ,&nbsp;Yu Hu ,&nbsp;Ruiling Li ,&nbsp;Juan Tong ,&nbsp;Guopeng Gao ,&nbsp;Xiaoyan Wu ,&nbsp;Hong Gan ,&nbsp;Shanshan Du ,&nbsp;Shuangqin Yan ,&nbsp;Fangbiao Tao ,&nbsp;Kun Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110164","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110164","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Microplastics (MPs) have permeated all aspects of human life. This study aimed to assess MP exposure in schoolchildren’s urine and dietary patterns’ role in it. We followed up 10-year-olds from the Ma’anshan Birth Cohort (MABC), using a Laser Direct Infrared instrument to qualitatively/quantitatively assess MP levels in 1,308 children’s urine. The zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model analyzed associations between the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for Children and Adolescents (KIDMED) and MP exposure. A total of 19 types of MP particles were identified in urine samples. The median total MP abundance was 250 particles/mL, with an overall detection rate of 91.29%. Among all detected MP types, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) exhibited the highest detection rate (50.19%). Small-sized particles (20–100 μm) accounted for 98.04% of all detected MPs. Increases in children’s KIDMED index were associated with a greater probability of zero abundance in urine for polylactic acid (PLA), ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) (PLA: β (95% CI) = 0.094 (0.004, 0.184); EVA: β (95% CI) = 0.113 (0.027, 0.199); PVA: β (95% CI) = 0.058 (0.001, 0.115)). Additionally, increases in the KIDMED index were associated with higher non-zero abundance levels of polyamide (PA) and lower non-zero abundance levels of PTFE (PA: β (95% CI) = 0.063 (0.020, 0.106); PTFE: β (95% CI) = -0.057 (−0.096, −0.018)). In summary, 19 MP types were detected in children’s urine, with this study identifying an association between the KIDMED index and exposure levels of several MPs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"209 ","pages":"Article 110164"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147279933","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":"Development of an advanced air pollution and climate change analysis and assessment system for the city of Madrid (SIMAD)","authors":"R. Borge ,&nbsp;D. de la Paz ,&nbsp;L. Fernández ,&nbsp;R. Sánchez-Cauce ,&nbsp;J. Pérez ,&nbsp;J.M. de Andrés ,&nbsp;S. Pujadas ,&nbsp;L. Tovar ,&nbsp;R. Artime ,&nbsp;M.E. de Vega","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110176","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110176","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cities need to design, implement and assess emission abatement policies to meet increasingly stringent air quality goals and decarbonization targets. Within this context, we present a novel approach to consistently integrate source apportionment, assess emission abatement measures and their impact on population exposure to key pollutants (NO₂, O₃ and PM_2.5). The system pivots on two key concepts: i) massive anonymized mobile network data that are used to depict population dynamics and to generate origin–destination matrices needed to compute road traffic emissions and ii) the Decoupled Direct Method in Three Dimensions implemented in the CMAQ chemical-transport model (CMAQ-DDM-3D). Ambient concentration sensitivities to changes on precursor emissions provided by DDM are consistently used for source apportionment analysis and for the development of a reduced form model (RFM) able to estimate concentration changes over the city with 500 × 500 m resolution with very low computational burden, allowing for multiple simulations. Road traffic was identified as a key local source, contributing 8.5 ug/m³ and 2.1 ug/m³ to NO₂ and PM_2.5 urban background annual mean levels, respectively. The RFM was able to replicate the behavior of the full chemical-transport model for a moderate emission reduction scenario with correlation coefficient of virtually 1 for all pollutants. The RFM also fulfilled the modelling quality indicator (MQI) introduced by the new Directive (EU) 2024/2881 for all NO₂, O₃ and PM_2.5 relevant metrics for the baseline year (2022). Although the performance remains acceptable for the annual mean (MQI &lt; 1 for most locations), the results were found to deteriorate for 2023 and 2024 due to changing meteorology. SIMAD exposure results identify residency as a key factor, resulting in an 8% higher exposure to NO₂ for the lower socioeconomic bracket and suggesting that future strategies should be optimized for health benefits and environmental justice in Madrid.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"209 ","pages":"Article 110176"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147319510","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":"Air pollution as a mediator of heat-related all-cause mortality among older U.S. adults","authors":"Haomin Li ,&nbsp;Qiao Zhu ,&nbsp;Howard H. Chang ,&nbsp;Haisu Zhang ,&nbsp;Kyle Steenland","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110181","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110181","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Heatwaves increase mortality, particularly among the elderly. Fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and ozone (O₃), have been proposed as a potential mediator linking extreme heat exposure to mortality, yet quantitative evidence remains limited. Here we quantify the mediating roles of PM_2.5 and O₃ in the relationship between heatwaves and all-cause mortality in the United States.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We conducted a national daily analysis of Medicare beneficiaries aged ≥65 across 15,692 ZIP codes during June-September from 2000 to 2016. Heatwaves were defined as ≥3 consecutive days exceeding ZIP-specific 95th percentile of maximum temperature. Daily PM_2.5 and O₃ concentrations at 1-km resolution were estimated using ensemble machine learning models. We decomposed heatwave effects on mortality into natural direct effects and indirect effects mediated through each pollutant using causal mediation analysis and conducted stratified analyses by urbanicity using Rural–Urban Commuting Area (RUCA).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>mong 32.5 million ZIP code-days, we identified 5.3 million all-cause deaths and 3.2 million heatwave ZIP code-days (10% of all ZIP code-days). Heatwaves increased mortality risk by 1.9% (RR = 1.019, 95% CI: 1.015–1.024) and are associated with elevated PM_2.5 (averaged 5.45 μg/m³ increase) and O₃ (averaged 11.30 ppb increase). PM_2.5 mediated 17.80% (95% CI 12.09–24.27) of heatwave mortality, while O₃ mediated 8.19% (95% CI 2.15–14.03). Mediation effects were only observed in urban areas (PM_2.5: ∼19%; O₃: ∼9%), with no detectable mediation in suburban/rural settings despite significant pollution increases.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Our findings demonstrate that air pollution, especially PM_2.5, mediates the heatwave effects on all-cause mortality among older adults in urban settings. Air quality control may be a feasible strategy for mitigating heat-related mortality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"209 ","pages":"Article 110181"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147384141","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":"Rationale for a narrative approach in assessing RF-EMF in animal cancer studies","authors":"Meike Mevissen ,&nbsp;Angélique Ducray ,&nbsp;Jerrold M. Ward ,&nbsp;Annette Kopp-Schneider ,&nbsp;Andrew W. Wood ,&nbsp;Tania M. Rivero ,&nbsp;Kurt Straif","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110153","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110153","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"209 ","pages":"Article 110153"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147388992","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":"Long-term temperature exposure and depression incidence in the Nurses’ Health Study II, a U.S.-based prospective cohort","authors":"Unnati V. Mehta ,&nbsp;Grete E. Wilt ,&nbsp;Charlotte J. Roscoe ,&nbsp;Olivia I. Okereke ,&nbsp;Brent A. Coull ,&nbsp;Peter James ,&nbsp;Francine Laden ,&nbsp;Cindy R. Hu ,&nbsp;Nicole V. DeVille ,&nbsp;Jaime E. Hart","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110160","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110160","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>While short-term temperature increases (e.g., daily) have been linked to higher rates of mental health hospitalizations, associations between longer-term temperature (e.g., annual) and mental health, particularly depression, are underexplored. The objective of this study was to examine the association between annual average temperature and depression incidence in a United States cohort.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>After excluding all participants in the Nurses’ Health Study II who reported clinician-diagnosed depression or antidepressant use prior to 2001, we followed 39,339 participants across the study period between 2001 and 2019. We spatially linked 800 m2 annual average temperature estimates from the PRISM model to participants’ biennially-updated residential addresses. We defined incident depression as self-report of clinician-diagnosed depression or antidepressant use. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the association between annual average temperature and incident depression. Models included demographic and lifestyle characteristics as covariates. We performed sensitivity analyses to assess the robustness of the observed association to changes in outcome definition.</div></div><div><h3>Findings</h3><div>In a fully adjusted model, the hazard ratio for the association between annual average temperature and incident depression was 1·06 (1·02, 1·08) per interquartile range (4·9) increase. While this estimate was mildly attenuated in sensitivity analyses considering alternative outcome definitions, the adverse association remained robust.</div></div><div><h3>Interpretation and funding</h3><div>Our results suggest that sustained exposure to higher temperatures is associated with chronic depression and other mental health outcomes. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants U01 CA176726, U01 HL145386, and P30 ES000002.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"209 ","pages":"Article 110160"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146778017","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":"Paternal DEHP exposure impairs placental angiogenesis via inhibition of the zygotic Col1α1/Col1α2-Integrin α2β1 axis","authors":"Qi-meng Li ,&nbsp;Die Hu ,&nbsp;Ke Yin ,&nbsp;Piao-ye Wu ,&nbsp;Juan Hu ,&nbsp;Xin-ming Chen ,&nbsp;Shan-shan Wu ,&nbsp;Xiao-lu Li ,&nbsp;Xiao-yue Cai ,&nbsp;Fei-yang Hou ,&nbsp;Zhi-qiang Zhang ,&nbsp;Min-yue He ,&nbsp;Ying Fu ,&nbsp;De-xiang Xu ,&nbsp;Tao Xu ,&nbsp;Ling-li Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110162","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110162","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The plasticizer DEHP is ubiquitous in the environment, and its unavoidable daily low-dose chronic exposure can impair male sperm. Paternal sperm damage is associated with abnormal placental development in offspring. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. This study innovatively explored the effects and potential mechanisms of paternal DEHP exposure on placenta development in offspring. The results showed that 90-day exposure to environmental doses of DEHP, male mice exhibited sperm damage, accompanied by a significant reduction in the vascular sinus area within the labyrinthine layer of GD17 placentas, indicating that DEHP-induced sperm damage impairs placental angiogenesis in offspring. Transcriptomic revealed the mechanism of placental angiogenesis obstruction, we found that in both fertilized zygotes and GD17 placentas, the mRNA and protein expression of the angiogenesis-associated type I collagen genes <em>Col1α1</em> were significantly decreased. Furthermore, the expression of binding partner integrin α2β1 was decreased, leading to inhibition of downstream PI3K-AKT signaling pathway activity. To verify that reduced expression of <em>Col1α1</em> and <em>Col1α2</em> inhibits placental angiogenesis, the study knocked down <em>Col1α1</em> and <em>Col1α2</em> in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC), and confirmed the inhibitory effect on angiogenesis and related signaling pathways. In summary, this study demonstrates that paternal DEHP exposure may induce downregulation of <em>Col1α1</em> and <em>Col1α2</em>, which are important angiogenic genes in the fertilized zygotes and placenta, leading to a reduction in placental sinus area. This study clarifies the association between paternal subchronic exposure to environmental doses of DEHP and abnormal placental vascular development in offspring, challenging the traditional “maternal dominance” paradigm in placental development research. The study provides an important scientific basis for comprehensively assessing the reproductive health risks of environmental pollutants and for formulating precise prevention and control strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"209 ","pages":"Article 110162"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147278409","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":"Effects of gestational exposure to individual and mixed PFASs on maternal liver function: evidence from the Wuxi Birth Cohort, animal studies, and toxicogenomic analyses","authors":"Yuqiu Ge ,&nbsp;Wenchao Zhang ,&nbsp;Minkai Cao ,&nbsp;Yao Li ,&nbsp;Jinqi Ma ,&nbsp;Qiuying Du ,&nbsp;Le Zhang ,&nbsp;Peiyu Han ,&nbsp;Limei Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110184","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110184","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are persistent environmental contaminants with potential hepatotoxicity. Their impact during pregnancy remains poorly characterized. We investigated 601 pregnant women from the Wuxi Birth Cohort, measuring serum concentrations of 23 PFASs and 11 liver function markers. Associations between individual PFASs and liver function markers were evaluated with generalized linear model (GLM) and generalized additive model (GAM), while mixture effects were assessed using weighted quantile sum (WQS) and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR). Independent validation was performed using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data. To explore underlying mechanisms, pregnant rats were exposed to perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) followed by liver function assays and RNA sequencing. In the present study, twelve PFASs had detection rates above 90%, with perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA) being the predominant compound. Serum perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), PFNA, PFDA, and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUdA) were significantly associated with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) [β (95% CI): 0.100 (0.023, 0.178), 0.080 (0.033, 0.126), 0.068 (0.025, 0.111), 0.061 (0.021, 0.101), respectively], and were also associated with higher levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Both WQS and BKMR models indicated positive associations between PFAS mixtures and liver function markers, particularly ALT, AST, and ALP. Similar patterns were observed in NHANES data. In animal experiments, gestational exposure to PFDA (0.3 mg/kg/day) and PFNA (0.2 mg/kg/day) at human-relevant levels altered maternal liver function markers in pregnant rats, while transcriptomic analyses revealed disruptions in key hepatic metabolic pathways, including unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis, peroxisome, and PPAR/AMPK signaling. This study provides epidemiological and experimental evidence supporting an association between PFAS exposure and altered maternal liver function during pregnancy, suggesting potential implications for maternal health.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"209 ","pages":"Article 110184"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147371267","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}