1,720,983 research outputs found
Gli effetti dei contaminanti sulla vita delle api
No full textL'agricoltura influisce in maniera significativa sul nostro benessere e su quello degli ecosistemi. Purtroppo, negli ultimi cinquant'anni il massiccio utilizzo della chimica ha favorito una produzione intensiva orientata più alla massimizzazione delle rese che alla qualità. Oggi, però, nel nostro paese è in corso una trasformazione radicale, guidata da una rete di produttori pionieri, esempio di sostenibilità ed eccellenza del made in Italy. Se infatti l'agroecologia è stata a lungo tenuta al margine delle politiche nazionali ed europee, grazie anche alle strategie Farm to Fork e Biodiversità 2030 della Commissione Europea negli ultimi anni si è imposta come una delle realtà più promettenti nel contrasto ai cambiamenti climatici e per la tutela della biodiversità. Attraverso i contributi di docenti universitari, professionisti del settore e le testimonianze di 30 tra le aziende italiane innovative, "Agroecologia circolare" analizza gli aspetti fondamentali di un settore agroalimentare rispettoso dell'ambiente e capace di produrre cibo sano ed equo. Inoltre, attraverso la valorizzazione degli scarti, l'utilizzo di materiali eco-compatibili, lo sviluppo delle rinnovabili e di nuove tecnologie, riesce a favorire la resilienza delle comunità e a trasferire l'amore per la terra alle nuove generazioni
Biomarkers responses in the earthworm Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826) exposed to commercial fungicides: laboratory and field toxicity assessment
No full textThe use of pesticides in agriculture is a common practice to protect crops all over the world. However, pesticides potentially affect soil macro-and microorganism because only 0.1% of an applied pesticides reaches the target organism. Earthworm is a model organism in ecotoxicological research and it is a useful bioindicator of chemical toxicity in terrestrial ecosystem. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential toxic effects of commercial fungicides (two foliar and two ear diseases with double and single active substance) on the earthworm Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826). E. fetida was exposed to sub lethal concentration of fungicides in laboratory and field condition and a set of biomarkers were investigated. In laboratory experiments, animals were exposed in a filter paper test to increasing concentration of the four fungicides. Field investigations were conducted transplanting E. fetida in cages in the soil of wheat and durum wheat fields during treatment with different combinations of the four fungicides. All the E. fetida were analysed to evaluate vitality, inhibition of acetylcholinesterase activity, glutathione S-transferase, lipid peroxidation, catalase activity, total glutathione, Comet assay and lysozyme activity. Laboratory studies with the fungicide with double active substances showed alterations in organism’s vitality which increased with increasing treatment doses. Significant alteration of GST enzymes with respect to controls were detected at environmentally relevant doses
of ear deseases fungicide. The laboratory treatment with foliar fungicides caused an alteration of LPO which increased with increasing treatment doses, and an increase inhibition of lysozime activity. All the fungicides showed a total glutathione levels decrease probably due to a cellular degeneration caused by oxidative stress. The Comet assay showed the highest DNA fragmentation values in the experiment with fungicides with double active principle. In the field studies, the test proved that leaf fungicides have greater toxicity compared to those applied to the ears. Foliar fungicide with double active substances revealed to have the most toxic effects, inhibiting the lysozyme activity and determining high levels of GST and LPO. This study represents a first step towards a better understanding of commercial fungicides toxicological potential to non-target organisms and a wide set of biomarkers allowed to investigate the main toxicological effect on these organism
Toxicity of Four Commercial Fungicides, Alone and in Combination, on the Earthworm Eisenia fetida: A Field Experiment
Full text linkThis study investigated the sub-lethal effects of four commercial fungicides—two foliar (Amistar®Xtra and Mirador®) and two ear fungicides (Prosaro® and Icarus®)—applied alone and in combination to wheat crops on caged earthworms (Eisenia fetida). We measured biomarkers that included detoxification responses (glutathione S-transferase, GST), oxidative stress levels (lipid peroxidation, LPO, and catalase, CAT), DNA damage (comet assay), energy reserves (lactate dehydrogenase, LDH), and immune response (lysozyme activity, LYS). The absence of significant differences in catalase and lipid peroxidation levels suggested no oxidative stress due to fungicide exposure. However, the foliar fungicide Amistar®Xtra induced the highest GST activity and DNA fragmentation, suggesting synergistic effects between its active ingredients and undisclosed co-formulants. Similar effects observed with the Amistar®Xtra-Prosaro® mixture confirmed the greater toxicity of Amistar®Xtra. This study provides novel insights into the sub-lethal effects of single and combined commercial fungicides on a standard toxicity test organism, shedding light on the ecological implications of fungicide use in agroecosystems and reinforcing the need for pesticide reduction
First application of comet assay in blood cells of Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta)
No full textThe aim of this study was to validate the comet assay in erythrocytes of Caretta caretta, a species never investigated for genotoxicity. We studied 31 loggerhead sea turtles from three Italian marine rescue centres. Peripheral blood samples were collected from all the animals and the comet assay applied. All comet cells were analysed using two methods: visual scoring and computer image analysis. The % DNA in tail mean value±SD and Damage Index were 21.56±15.41 and 134.83±94.12, respectively. A strong and statistically significant statistically correlation between the two analytical methods was observed (r=0.95; p<0.05). These results demonstrate that the comet assay is a useful method to detect the possible effects of genotoxic agents in loggerhead sea turtle and to increase the knowledge about the ecotoxicological health status of this threatened species
Abundance and characterization of floating microplastics along the Tuscany coast (Italy): the first aplication of the MSFD monitoring proticol
No full textDue to the increasing use of plastic and its dispersion in the marine environment andaccumulation in all habitats, the issue of plastic debris needs to be deeply investigated [1]. In particular, despite the Mediterranean sea is one of the hot spot area in the world for plastic debris accumulation [2], the knowledge on distribution and occurrence of floating microplastics is still lacking. Microplastics can affect marine biota increasing the likelihoodof ingestion of plastics by marine organisms entering the food web. For this reason the European Union has promoted the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) with the aim of reaching the "Good Environmental Status" by 2020. This work has been carried out as part of implementation of the Descriptor 10.1.3 [3] of the MSFD in Tuscany (Italy), with the aim to gain information on abundance and distribution of microplastics. Sampling has been realized in two seasons (winter and spring) using a manta trawl (330 μm mesh size). Samples were collected along 4 transects 100 km far from each other, located from the estuary of Arno river to the promontory of Argentario. Each transect was divided into 4 stations located at increasing distance from the coast (20 km, 10 km, 5 km, 0.5 km). The analysis were performed according to the MSFD protocol. All data was normalized to the total volume of water filtered and expressed as items/m3 and microplastics were characterized by colour, shape and size. A total of 2670 microplastics were isolated in the 72 samples, white was the predominant color; the majority of items are fragments and the most of microplastics fall in the measured from 1 to 2.5mm size class. In the winter, the highest values of microplastics have been found in the station at 20 km from the coast with a gradient decreasing in the stations closer to coast; whereas in spring, the highest was found in the station at 10 km. This work represents the first application of the MSFD protocol in the monitoring of microplastics in Tuscany and will allow to understand the distribution and abundance of microplastics in the Tuscany coastal waters
Abundance and characterization of microplastics in the coastal waters of Tuscany (Italy): The application of the MSFD monitoring protocol in the Mediterranean Sea
No full textMonitoring efforts are required to understand the sources, distribution and abundance of microplastic pollution. To verify the abundance of microplastics along the Tuscan coastal waters (Italy), water-column and surface samples were collected in two seasons across four transects at different distances to the coast (0.5, 5, 10 and 20 km), within the implementation of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The results show an average concentration of 0.26 items/m3 in the water-column samples and 41.1 g/km2 and 69,161.3 items/km2 of floating microplastics, with an increase with the distance to the coast The seasonality and the sampling area do not affect the abundance of microplastics. The most abundant size class is 1-2.5 mm as fragments and sheets suggesting that fragmentation of larger polyethylene and polypropylene items could be the main source of microplastics. These data represent the application of a harmonized protocol to make the data on microplastics comparable and reliable
Induction of CYP1A in skin biopsy slices of loggerhead sea turtle treated with lipophilic contaminants.
No full textOxidative stress and DNA alteration on the earthworm Eisenia fetida exposed to four commercial pesticides
Full text linkModern agriculture is mainly based on the use of pesticides to protect crops but their efciency is very low, in fact, most of
them reach water or soil ecosystems causing pollution and health hazards to non-target organisms. Fungicide triazoles and
strobilurins based are the most widely used and require a specifc efort to investigate toxicological efects on non-target
species. This study evaluates the toxic efects of four commercial fungicides Prosaro® (tebuconazole and prothioconazole),
Amistar®Xtra (azoxystrobin and cyproconazole), Mirador® (azoxystrobin) and Icarus® (Tebuconazole) on Eisenia fetida
using several biomarkers: lipid peroxidation (LPO), catalase activity (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST), total glutathione
(GSHt), DNA fragmentation (comet assay) and lysozyme activity tested for the frst time in E. fetida. The exposure to Mirador® and AmistarXtra® caused an imbalance of ROS species, leading to the inhibition of the immune system. AmistarXtra®
and Prosaro®, composed of two active ingredients, induced signifcant DNA alteration, indicating genotoxic efects. This
study broadened our knowledge of the efects of pesticide product formulations on earthworms and showed the need for
improvement in the evaluation of toxicological risk deriving from the changing of physicochemical and toxicological properties that occur when a commercial formulation contains more than one active ingredient and several unknown co-formulants
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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