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Fulltext Cryptic footprints of rare earth elements on natural resources and living organisms

Adeel M, Lee JY, Zain M, Rizwan M, Nawab A, Ahmad MA, et al.

Environ Int, 2019 06;127:785-800.
PMID: 31039528 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.03.022

BACKGROUND: Rare earth elements (REEs) are gaining attention due to rapid rise of modern industries and technological developments in their usage and residual fingerprinting. Cryptic entry of REEs in the natural resources and environment is significant; therefore, life on earth is prone to their nasty effects. Scientific sectors have expressed concerns over the entry of REEs into food chains, which ultimately influences their intake and metabolism in the living organisms.
OBJECTIVES: Extensive scientific collections and intensive look in to the latest explorations agglomerated in this document aim to depict the distribution of REEs in soil, sediments, surface waters and groundwater possibly around the globe. Furthermore, it draws attention towards potential risks of intensive industrialization and modern agriculture to the exposure of REEs, and their effects on living organisms. It also draws links of REEs usage and their footprints in natural resources with the major food chains involving plants, animals and humans.
METHODS: Scientific literature preferably spanning over the last five years was obtained online from the MEDLINE and other sources publishing the latest studies on REEs distribution, properties, usage, cycling and intrusion in the environment and food-chains. Distribution of REEs in agricultural soils, sediments, surface and ground water was drawn on the global map, together with transport pathways of REEs and their cycling in the natural resources.
RESULTS: Fourteen REEs (Ce, Dy, Er, Eu, Gd, Ho, La, Lu, Nd, Pr, Sm, Tb, Th and Yb) were plighted in this study. Wide range of their concentrations has been detected in agricultural soils (<15.9-249.1 μg g-1) and in groundwater (<3.1-146.2 μg L-1) at various sites worldwide. They have strong tendency to accumulate in the human body, and thus associated with kidney stones. The REEs could also perturb the animal physiology, especially affecting the reproductive development in both terrestrial and aquatic animals. In plants, REEs might affect the germination, root and shoot development and flowering at concentration ranging from 0.4 to 150 mg kg-1.
CONCLUSIONS: This review article precisely narrates the current status, sources, and potential effects of REEs on plants, animals, humans health. There are also a few examples where REEs have been used to benefit human health. However, still there is scarce information about threshold levels of REEs in the soil, aquatic, and terrestrial resources as well as living entities. Therefore, an aggressive effort is required for global action to generate more data on REEs. This implies we prescribe an urgent need for inter-disciplinary studies about REEs in order to identify their toxic effects on both ecosystems and organisms.
Natural and synthetic estrogens in leafy vegetable and their risk associated to human health

Adeel M, Zain M, Fahad S, Rizwan M, Ameen A, Yi H, et al.

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2018 Dec;25(36):36712-36723.
PMID: 30377972 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-3588-4

Since the inception of global industrialization, the growth of steroid estrogens becomes a matter of emerging serious concern for the rapid population. Steroidal estrogens are potent endocrine-upsetting chemicals that are excreted naturally by vertebrates (e.g., humans and fish) and can enter natural waters through the discharge of treated and raw sewage. Steroidal estrogens in plants may enter the food web and become a serious threat to human health. We evaluated the uptake and accumulation of ethinylestradiol (EE2) and 17β-estradiol (17β-E2) in lettuce plants (Lactuca sativa) grown under controlled environmental condition over 21 days growth period. An effective analytical method based on ultrasonic liquid extraction (ULE) for solid samples and solid phase extraction (SPE) for liquid samples with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) has been developed to determine the steroid estrogens in lettuce plants. The extent of uptake and accumulation was observed in a dose-dependent manner and roots were major organs for estrogen deposition. Unlike the 17β-E2, EE2 was less accumulated and translocated from root to leaves. For 17β-E2, the distribution in lettuce was primarily to roots after the second week (13%), whereas in leaves it was (10%) over the entire study period. The distribution of EE2 at 2000 μg L-1 in roots and leaves was very low (3.07% and 0.54%) during the first week and then was highest (12% in roots and 8% in leaves) in last week. Bioaccumulation factor values of 17β-E2 and EE2 in roots were 0.33 and 0.29 at 50 μg L-1 concentration as maximum values were found at 50 μg L-1 rather than 500 and 2000 in all observed plant tissues. Similar trend was noticed in roots than leaves for bioconcentration factor as the highest bioconcentration values were observed at 50 μg L-1 concentration instead of 500 and 2000 μg L-1 spiked concentration. These findings mainly indicate the potential for uptake and bioaccumulation of estrogens in lettuce plants. Overall, the estrogen contents in lettuce were compared to the FAO/WHO recommended toxic level and were found to be higher than the toxic level which is of serious concern to the public health. This analytical procedure may aid in future studies on risks associated with uptake of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in lettuce plants.
Encapsulation of probiotic bacteria using polyelectrolytes stabilized nanoliposomes for improved viability under hostile conditions

Adeel M, Afzaal M, Saeed F, Ahmed A, Mahmood K, Abbas Shah Y, et al.

J Food Sci, 2023 Sep;88(9):3839-3848.
PMID: 37530623 DOI: 10.1111/1750-3841.16709

Probiotics viability and stability is a core challenge for the food processing industry. To prolong the viability of probiotics (Lactobacillus acidophilus), gelatin (GE)-chitosan (CH) polyelectrolytes-coated nanoliposomes were developed and characterized. The average particle size of the nanoliposomes was in the range of 131.7-431.6 nm. The mean zeta potential value of the nanoliposomes differed significantly from -42.2 to -9.1 mV. Scanning electron micrographs indicated that the nanoliposomes were well distributed and had a spherical shape with a smooth surface. The Fourier transform infrared spectra revealed that the GE-CH polyelectrolyte coating has been effectively applied on the surface of nanoliposomes and L. acidophilus cells were successfully encapsulated in the lipid-based nanocarriers. X-ray diffraction results indicated that nanoliposomes are semicrystalline and GE-CH polyelectrolyte coating had an influence on the crystalline nature of nanoliposomes. Moreover, the coating of L. acidophilus-loaded nanoliposomes with GE-CH polyelectrolytes significantly improved its viability when exposed to simulated gastrointestinal environments. The findings of the current study indicated that polyelectrolyte-coated nanoliposomes could be used as an effective carrier for the delivery of probiotics and their application to food matrix for manufacturing functional foods.

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