Arsenic (As) pollution, which is on the increase around the world, poses a growing threat to the environment. Phytoremediation, an important green technology, uses different strategies, including As uptake, transport, translocation, and detoxification, to remediate this metalloid. Arsenic hyperaccumulator plants have developed various strategies to accumulate and tolerate high concentrations of...

According to recent reports, millions of people across the globe are suffering from arsenic (As) toxicity. Arsenic is present in different oxidative states in the environment and enters in the food chain through soil and water. In the agricultural field, irrigation with arsenic contaminated water, that is, having a higher level of arsenic contamination on the top soil, which may affects the qua...

A steady-state mouse model was developed to determine arsenic (As) relative bioavailability (RBA) in rice to refine As exposure in humans. Fifty-five rice samples from 15 provinces of China were analyzed for total As, with 11 cooked for As speciation and bioavailability assessment. Arsenic concentrations were 38-335 μg kg-1, averaging 133 μg kg-1, with AsIII being dominant (36-79%), followed by...

The bacterial community and genes involved in geobiocycling of arsenic (As) from sediment impacted by long-term gold mining were characterized through culture-based analysis of As-transforming bacteria and metagenomic studies of the arsC, arrA, and aioA genes. Sediment was collected from the historically gold mining impacted Mina stream, located in one of the world's largest mining regions know...

Microbially-mediated arsenic (As) transformation in soils affects As speciation and plant uptake. However, little is known about the impacts of As on bacterial communities and their functional genes in the rhizosphere of As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata. In this study, arsenite (AsIII) oxidase genes (aroA-like) and arsenate (AsV) reductase genes (arsC) were amplified from three soils, which w...

Widespread arsenic (As) contamination in paddy rice (Oryza sativa) from both geologic and anthropogenic origins is an increasing concern globally. Substantial efforts have been made to elucidate As transformation and uptake processes in rhizosphere and metabolism in rice plant, which provides an essential foundation for the development of mitigation strategies. However, a range of crucial mecha...

A coupled system for arsenic speciation determination based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), on-line UV photooxidation and continuous-flow hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HGAAS) was built from commercially available modules with minor modifications to the electronic interface, the software and the gas-liquid separator. The best results were obtained with stro...

BACKGROUND Early life exposure to inorganic arsenic may be related to adverse health effects in later life. However, there are few data on postnatal arsenic exposure via human milk. In this study, we aimed to determine arsenic levels in human milk and the correlation between arsenic in human milk and arsenic in mothers and infants urine. METHODS Between March 2011 and March 2012, this prospec...

Monosodium methanearsonate (MSMA) is frequently used as an herbicide for the control of weeds in turf grasses at golf courses in Florida. There are concerns about arsenic (As) contamination of local shallow groundwater from the application of MSMA. The distinction between "free" As and colloid-bound/complexed As in soil solution is important for understanding the mobility and bioavailability of...

BACKGROUND Both total astragalus saponins (AST) and it's main component astragaloside IV (ASIV) have been used in China as cardiovascular protective medicines. However, the anti-inflammatory activities that are beneficial for cardiovascular health have never been compared directly and the molecular mechanisms remain unresolved. This study was conducted to compare the inhibitory effects of these...