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Total element concentrations by themselves are not always good predictors of toxicity and are therefore not suitable for eco- and/or human toxicological risk determination. In addition, despite the growing call for harmonization, countries show significant variation in risk assessment tools, screening/background values, protocols and legal management of soils. By incorporating mobility and bioaccessibility/availability into soil risk assessments, location-specific physico-chemical and geological conditions can be considered in routinely applied general risk assessment methodologies. Minette soils and rocks are a great case in point since they often are associated with high geogenic As concentrations and consequently potential risks. Minette iron ores form the world largest Fe ore deposits since the "great oxidation". For the first time, oral bioaccessibility during direct ingestion was assessed on Minettes from Luxembourg by applying the in vitro Solubility/Bioavailability Research Consortium (SBRC) method. Out of > 180 samples, 25 representative samples were selected providing a unique dataset which showed an average gastric bioaccessibility of ∼10% (7.8 ± 4.0 mg/kg) of the total As-concentration, with a maximum of 45% (17.9 mg/kg). Of importance is that bioaccessibility of As in Minette rocks and soils are controlled by, and can be estimated from, lithology, mineralogy and total Ca content. Soils and ooid grainstones with an iron oxide or clayey matrix, are characterized by average gastric bioaccessible As concentrations < 6 mg/kg. Gastric As bioaccessibility is highest in Fe-bearing calcite-cemented bioclastic grainstones (∼12 mg/kg). Importantly, for all samples the maximal bioaccessible As concentrations remain below the threshold from which significant adverse non-carcinogenic and/or carcinogenic health effects are expected. These new results are in strong contrast with what total As concentrations might suggest. Considering bioaccessibilities, consequently, can help to avoid disproportionate, costly and environmentally impacting risk management strategies. Furthermore, this study illustrates the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration between geo- and health scientists., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Hannes Claes reports financial support was provided by Environment Agency Luxembourg. Pol Tock reports a relationship with Environment Agency Luxembourg that includes: employment., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Sediment geochemistry of the Jakarta region, a densely populated tropical coast, is studied - with particular focus on rivers discharging to Jakarta Bay. Weathering volcanics in the river catchment area control the composition of major elements, As, Cr and in part Cu. In contrast, Zn, Ni, Pb and partly Cu are affected by anthropogenic sources, mainly in central Jakarta City. The data reflect a high variability of local emission sources, among which metal processing industries, fertilizers or untreated animal waste may be important. In particular, the role of street dusts is emphasized. Locally, heavy metals reach levels considered to have adverse biological effects. River discharge leads to anthropogenic enrichment of heavy metals in the coastal sediments. Element data also show geogenic effects on the composition of the coastal sediments, such as mixing of detrital silicates with biogenic carbonates as well as suspended particulate matter from the ocean., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes host populations of edible fish species including Oreochromis niloticus, Labeobarbus intermedius and Clarias gariepinus, which are harvested also in other tropical countries. We investigated the occurrence of six heavy metals in tissues of these fish species as well as in the waters of Lake Koka and Lake Awassa. Both lakes are affected by industrial effluents in their catchments, making them ideal study sites. Mercury concentrations were very low in the water samples, but concentrations in the fish samples were relatively high, suggesting a particularly high bioaccumulation tendency as compared with the other investigated metals. Mercury was preferentially accumulated in the fish liver or muscle. It was the only metal with species-specific accumulation with highest levels found in the predatory species L. intermedius. Lower mercury concentrations in O. niloticus could be attributed to the lower trophic level, whereas mercury values in the predatory C. gariepinus were unexpectedly low. This probably relates to the high growth rate of this species resulting in biodilution of mercury. Accumulation of lead, selenium, chromium, arsenic and cadmium did not differ between species, indicating that these elements are not biomagnified in the food chain. Values of cadmium, selenium and arsenic were highest in fish livers, while lead and chromium levels were highest in the gills, which could be related to the uptake pathway. A significant impact of the industrial discharges on the occurrence of metals in the lakes could not be detected, and the respective concentrations in fish do not pose a public health hazard.

At a hydrostatic pressure of up to 2 kbar, the isolated alpha-subunit of tryptophan synthase from Escherichia coli proved to be a stable enzyme by virtue of specific activity as well as UV absorption and fluorescence emission spectra. The protein can therefore be regarded as a suitable effector for the investigation of structure-function relationships in the dimeric beta 2-subunit under the influence of high hydrostatic pressure. Complete deactivation of the beta 2-component in the alpha 2 beta 2 bienzyme complex occurs above 1300 bar (midpoint of transition for alpha apo beta 2, 790 bar; for alpha 2 holo beta 2, 1057 bar). Sucrose (13%) shifts both midpoints of transition to values higher by about 300 bar. As shown by sucrose gradient centrifugation and limited trypsinolysis, deactivation of the beta 2-dimer is paralleled by dissociation into denatured beta-chains. At 10 degrees C, the corresponding dissociation constants K at 1 bar as well as the reaction volumes of dissociation delta V are calculated as 4.2 x 10(-9) M and -196 mL/mol for the apo-beta 2-component and as 9.8 x 10(-19) M and -632 mL/mol for the holo-beta 2-component in the bienzyme complex. Furthermore, large negative activation volumes are determined, reflecting the rate increase with increasing pressure: -89 mL/mol for the apo-beta 2-dimer and -195 mL/mol for the holo-beta 2-dimer.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A new method to continuously change the buffer conditions in samples prior to electrophoresis by counter-current dialysis has been developed using a hollow fiber membrane module (VariPerm M, bitop, Witten). It is demonstrated that the collected fractions of a column eluate after hydrophobic interaction chromatography cannot be analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) due to the high content of ammonium sulfate. In contrast, when the hollow fiber membrane module is used for on-line desalting of the eluate during chromatography, it is possible to detect distinct bands on SDS-gels even after sample concentration by evaporation. Moreover, adding polyethyleneglycol 20,000 to the counter-current dialysis buffer the hollow fiber membrane module is suitable for combined on-line sample desalting and sample concentration of living organisms during free flow electrophoresis (FFE): a culture of Nitrosomonas eutropha which could not significantly be detected by FFE without conditioning was successfully analyzed when concentrated and desalted on-line during sample application.