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Engineered nanomaterials are increasingly used in everyday life applications and, in consequence, significant amounts are being released into the environment. From soil, water, and air they can reach the organelles of edible plants, potentially impacting the food chain and human health. The potential environmental and health impact of these nanoscale materials is of public concern. TiO2 and ZnO are among the most significant nanomaterials in terms of production amounts. Our study aimed at evaluating the effects of large-scale TiO2 (~100 nm) and ZnO (~200 nm) nanoparticles on soybean plants grown in vitro. The effect of different concentrations of nanoparticles (10, 100, 1000 mg/L) was evaluated regarding plant morphology and metabolic changes. ZnO nanoparticles showed higher toxicity compared to TiO2 in the experimental set-up. Overall, elevated levels of chlorophylls and proteins were observed, as well as increased concentrations of ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acids. Also, the decreasing stomatal conductance to water vapor and net CO2 assimilation rate show higher plant stress levels. In addition, ZnO nanoparticle treatments severely affected plant growth, while TEM analysis revealed ultrastructural changes in chloroplasts and rupture of leaf cell walls. By combining ICP-OES and TEM results, we were able to show that the nanoparticles were metabolized, and their internalization in the soybean plant tissues occurred in ionic forms. This behavior most likely is the main driving force of nanoparticle toxicity.

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Persistent pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, musk fragrances, and dyes are frequently detected in different environmental compartments and negatively impact the environment and humans. Understanding the impacts of diffuse environmental pollutants on plants is still limited, especially at realistic environmental concentrations of contaminants. We studied the effects of key representatives of two major classes of environmental pollutants (nine different antibiotics and six different textile dyes) on the leaf carotenoid (violaxanthin and neoxanthin) content in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) using different pollutant concentrations and application times. The wheat plants were watered with solutions of selected environmental pollutants in two different concentrations of 0.5 mg L-1 and 1.5 mg L-1 for one week (0.5 L) and two weeks (1 L). Both categories of pollutants selected for this study negatively influenced the content of violaxanthin and neoxanthin, whereas the textile dyes represented more severe stress to the wheat plants. The results demonstrate that chronic exposure to common diffusively spread environmental contaminants constitutes significant stress to the plants.

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In this data article, we present supplementary data related to the research article entitled "Starch-coated green synthesized magnetite nanoparticles for removal of textile dye Optilan Blue from aqueous media" Stan et al., 2019. Data interpretations are included in the related research article Stan et al., 2019. The synthesized starch-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles (ST-coated Fe3O4 NPs) were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) to illustrate the shape and surface coating of nanoparticles. Moreover, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) technique was used to evidence starch deposition on magnetite nanoparticles. The obtained nanocomposites were used for adsorption of Optilan Blue (OB) in batch conditions and the optimum agitation speed and point of zero charge (pHpzc) were established. After OB adsorption on ST-coated Fe3O4 NPs, the nanocomposites were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The stability of starch coated Fe3O4 NPs in the acidic as well as alkaline pH was also evidenced by FTIR spectroscopy. In addition, to test the stability of ST-coated Fe3O4 NPs, leaching experiments were carried out. The experimental data were compared with isotherm and kinetic models in order to determine the most suitable for fitting.

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As an integrated approach to defeat diabetic retinopathy, a common complication of diabetes leading to vision loss, a delivery vehicle able to transport resveratrol (Rv) directly into retina pigmented epithelial D407 cells was designed. Rv, a molecule with known therapeutic potential, was successfully inserted into a microcapsule based on porous CaCO3 templates revealing an encapsulation efficiency of 96.8 ±â€¯4.0%. Four alternative layers of polyelectrolytes were deposited via electrostatic-driven layer-by-layer assembly approach on the template and covered by rhodamine 6G (Rh6G). The as-designed PMs-Rv-Rh6G microcapsules were internalized into D407 cells grown in normal and high glucose-induced inflammation conditions, being able to cross the cellular membrane and localize near the nucleus after 24 h treatment. The metabolic activity of D407 cells was not diminished by PMs-Rv-Rh6G even after 24 h treatment, meaning that the microcapsules do not exert any toxicity toward the cells, based on WST-1 and lactate dehydrogenase assays. Notably, the PMs-Rv-Rh6G treatment is able to inhibit the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein, as was proved by the ELISA assay. Therefore, the proposed PMs-Rv-Rh6G microcapsules could be implemented as a potential self-reporting intraocular Rv-delivery vehicle with anti-VEGF activity in the management of diabetic retinopathy.

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The textile industry uses many raw materials (natural and synthetic dyes and fibers) and different dyeing techniques that can be considered important pollutants with a negative impact on the environment (toxic working conditions, discharged wastewater, and contamination). Although synthetic dyes are intensively used, offer a wide range of colors and hues and properties of adhesion, longevity, and resistance to sunshine and chemical processes, and are cost-effective, they have begun to be restricted by many textile producers because they are nonbiodegradable and have toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic effects that generate some imbalances in plant, animal, and human life. Natural dyes of plant and animal origin exhibit very good tolerance to washing, rubbing, and light and are biodegradable and nontoxic; these properties have led to a call for the renewed use of these dyes. Modern analytical techniques (solid-phase extraction, spectrophotometry, HPLC, HPTLC, capillary electrophoresis) with different spectroscopy (UV-Vis, diode-array detection, pulsed amperometric detection) and/or MS/tandem mass spectrometry detectors have an important role in the textile industry in obtaining essential information about dyeing techniques, material origin, historical trade routes of ancient textiles, and environmental pollution. For this purpose, isolation, separation, and quantification methods of natural and synthetic textile dyes from various matrices (ancient and modern fabrics, water, biota, etc.) are presented.

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In the present work, a procedure to determine three textile azo dyes, chromium-complexes [Nylosan Dark Brown (NDB), Lanasyn Dark Brown (LDB), and Lanasyn Red (LR)], from wastewater using solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by LC-electrospray ionization negative mode tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI(-)-MS/MS) has been developed. The extraction/concentration and recovery degree of these dyes from liquid matrices were done on Strata WAX/NH2 cartridges. The chromatographic separation was performed using a Luna C18 (2) 100Å column by isocratic elution with a methanol-acetonitrile-water (0.2% formic acid and 2 mM ammonium formate) mixture. The linearity, the LOD, and the LOQ were determined for each textile dye. The accuracy, the precision (intra- and inter-day), and the matrix effect were also performed for the validation of the developed procedure. These chromium-complex azo dyes often used in the dyeing process by a textile factory in Romania were monitored in the influent and effluent wastewater from a treatment plant situated in its area. Applying the developed SPE-LC-ESI(-)-MS/MS procedure, the following textile dyes were detected (ng/L) in the collected wastewater samples during a 24-h period: NDB 150.1, LDB 200.6, and LR 89.0-244.0 in influents and NDB 22.8, LDB 78.6, and LR 74.0 in effluents.

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Textile dyes and antibiotics are two main classes of environmental pollutants which could be found in soil and water. Those persistent pollutants can have a negative influence on plant growth and development and affect the level of secondary metabolites. In the present work we studied the effect of textile dyes and antibiotics on total leaf flavonoid contents in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Contaminant solutions were applied daily using concentrations of 0.5 mg L-1 (lower) and 1.5 mg L-1 (higher dose) for either one or two weeks. We observed that exposure to the higher concentration of textile dyes resulted in a reduction in flavonoid content while antibiotics enhanced flavonoid contents at lower doses of exposure, and reduced at higher doses of exposure. These results suggest that diffuse chronic pollution by artificial organic contaminants can importantly alter antioxidative capacity of plants.

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Extensive worldwide use of antibiotics has resulted in significant diffuse pollution of antibiotics in environment, but understanding the effects of many important antibiotics on plant physiological activity is still limited, especially at realistic environmental concentrations of antibiotics. To gain insight into influences of different antibiotics on plant performance and identify the most promising traits for fast assessment of toxicity, we studied impacts of nine antibiotics (amoxicillin, ampicillin, penicillin G, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, tetracycline, doxycycline, ciprofloxacin and erythromycin) on foliage photosynthesis, photosynthetic pigment content and emissions of secondary volatile metabolites in wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. "Lovrin"). The antibiotics were applied at concentrations of 0.5 mg L⁻¹ or 1.5 mg L⁻¹ either by watering for one week (0.5 L solution) or for two weeks (1 L solution) with given solution. Net assimilation rate was inhibited most strongly by ciprofloxacin and cephalosporins, but the inhibition was mainly due to reductions in stomatal conductance. Photosynthetic electron transport rate was affected by penicillins, cephalosporins and tetracyclines. Contents of photosynthetic pigments, chlorophylls and carotenoids, were most strongly reduced in treatments with tetracyclines, ciprofloxacin and erythromycin. The magnitude of plant photosynthetic and pigment responses generally increased with increasing the antibiotics' dose, but the overall effects were moderate, 10-20 percent in most cases. Emissions of the lipoxygenase pathway products (LOX, green leaf volatiles) were most sensitive indicators of antibiotic treatments. LOX emissions were increased by five to six fold in response to antibiotic treatments and the emissions were quantitatively associated with the treatment dose. Monoterpene emissions were also strongly enhanced by antibiotic treatments, but the dose dependence was weaker. These data collectively suggest that analysis of leaf volatiles can provide a novel sensitive assay to gauge the toxicity of different antibiotics.

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