Ake Bergman

Swedish Toxicology Sciences Research Center | Swetox

Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) eggs have been identified as useful indicators for biomonitoring the environmental pollution in China. In this study, we investigated thirty eggs of black-crowned night heron collected from the upper Yangtze River (Changjiang) Basin, Southwest China, for the occurrence of legacy persistent organic p...

Climate change, urbanisation, chemical pollution and disruption of ecosystems, including biodiversity loss, affect our health and wellbeing. Research is crucial to be able to respond to the current and future challenges that are often complex and interconnected by nature. The HERA Agenda, summarised in this commentary, identifies six thematic resea...

Convergent evidence associates exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) with major human diseases, even at regulation-compliant concentrations. This might be because humans are exposed to EDC mixtures, whereas chemical regulation is based on a risk assessment of individual compounds. Here, we developed a mixture-centered risk assessment st...

Correction for ‘Emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in human milk from Sweden and China’ by Raed Awad et al. , Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts , 2020, 22 , 2023–2030, DOI: 10.1039/D0EM00077A.

The outbreak of COVID-19 raised numerous questions on the interactions between the occurrence of new infections, the environment, climate and health. The European Union requested the H2020 HERA project which aims at setting priorities in research on environment, climate and health, to identify relevant research needs regarding Covid-19. The emergen...

The concept of planetary health in the Rockefeller Foundation-Lancet Commission 1 is based on the understanding that human health and human civilisation depend on flourishing and balanced natural systems and the wise stewardship of those ecosystems. How to deploy the planetary health approach in the EU, particularly in relation to the new growth st...

Abstract Twenty per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were determined in human milk from residents of three Chinese cities (Shanghai, Jiaxing, and Shaoxing), sampled between 2010 and 2016. These data were compared to a combination of new and previously reported PFAS concentrations in human milk from Stockholm, Sweden, collected in 2016. Across...

Accumulating evidence suggests that gestational exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may interfere with normal brain development and predispose for later dysfunctions. The current study focuses on the exposure impact of mixtures of EDCs that better mimics the real-life situation. We herein describe a mixture of phthalates, pesticides a...

Electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) burning and recycling activities have become one of the main emission sources of dioxin-like compounds (DLCs). Workers involved in e-waste recycling operations and residents living near e-waste recycling sites (EWRS) are exposed to high levels of DLCs. Epidemiological and experimental in vivo studies have r...

The test methods that currently exist for the identification of thyroid hormone system-disrupting chemicals are woefully inadequate. There are currently no internationally validated in vitro assays, and test methods that can capture the consequences of diminished or enhanced thyroid hormone action on the developing brain are missing entirely. These...

Short-, medium-, and long-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs, MCCPs, and LCCPs) were analyzed in human milk from the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Scandinavia. Individual samples were collected from Shanghai, Jiaxing, and Shaoxing (China), Stockholm (Sweden), and Bodø (Norway), between 2010 and 2016. Mean concentrations (range) of SCCPs, MCCPs, and...

The number of anthropogenic chemicals, manufactured, by-products, metabolites and abiotically formed transformation products, counts to hundreds of thousands, at present. Thus, humans and wildlife are exposed to complex mixtures, never one chemical at a time and rarely with only one dominating effect. Hence there is an urgent need to develop strate...

The article Chlorinated and brominated organic pollutants in shellfish from the Yellow Sea and East China Sea, written by Ge Yin, Lillemor Asplund, Yanling Qiu, Yihui Zhou, Hua Wang, Zongli Yao, Jianbin Jiang and Åke Bergman

The article Occurrence and risk assessment of trace metals and metalloids in sediments and benthic invertebrates from Dianshan Lake, China, written by Yan Wu, Yihui Zhou, Yanling Qiu, Da Chen, Zhiliang Zhu, Jianfu Zhao and Åke Bergman

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a global environmental pollutant detected in both wildlife and human populations, has several pathophysiological effects in experimental animals, including hepatotoxicity, immunotoxicity, and developmental toxicity. However, details concerning the tissue distribution of PFOA, in particular at levels relevant to humans...

In 2017, the black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) eggs, including 9 embryo-free eggs and 21 embryogenic eggs, were collected from Yibin, Sichuan Province, China. The residues of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in heron eggs were analyzed. The result showed that 8 OCPs were found in night heron eggs, with the total concentrations range...

The egg samples of four heron species, including black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), little egret (Egretta garzetta), Chinese pond heron (Ardeola bacchus) and cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis), were collected from the upper Yangtze River (Changjiang) Basin, Southwest China in early summer of 2017. Nine out of ten target organophosphate fl...

Background Novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) have been increasingly used as alternatives to legacy BFRs (e.g., PBDEs and HBCDs) in consumer products, but are liable to emigrate and contaminate indoor dust. In this study, a total of 154 house dust samples including floor dust (FD) and elevated surface dust (ESD) were collected in the biggest...

Background: Freshwater sediments have been recognized as a long-term sink and potential source for environmen- tal pollutants released into the aquatic ecosystems. In this study, the sediment quality of Taihu Lake, which is sus- ceptible to anthropogenic contamination, was assessed by a combination of chemical analytical and biological end points....

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) from the environment are associated with reproductive abnormalities (i.e. decreased sperm concentration; increased endometriosis) and alterations of the cardiovascular system (i.e. increased blood pressure and risk of coronary disease). Some phthalates esters have been identified as EDCs, for which inhalation i...

Many chemicals accumulate in organisms through a variety of different mechanisms. Cationic amphiphilic drugs (CADs) accumulate in lysosomes and bind to membranes causing phospholipidosis, whereas many lipophilic chemicals target adipose tissue. Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are widely used as surfactants, but many of them are highly bioaccumula...

Convergent evidence associates endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) with major, increasingly-prevalent human disorders. Regulation requires elucidation of EDC-triggered molecular events causally linked to adverse health outcomes, but two factors limit their identification. First, experiments frequently use individual chemicals, whereas real life e...

Endocrine disruptive properties have been described for phthalates, and little is known regarding the exposure to these components at outdoor environments. We aim to assess on different age groups and genders the exposure levels to seven phthalates present in PM10 and PM2.5 at different times, dates and seasons in Mexico City. PM10 and PM2.5 were s...

Background: Chlorinated paraffins (CPs, polychlorinated n-alkanes) are versatile, high-production-volume chemicals. A previous study indicated that hand blenders leak CPs into prepared food. Objectives: (1) to estimate exposure to CPs from hand blender use compared to background CP exposure from diet; (2) to assess the risk from human dietary ex...

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) are highly toxic to humans and wildlife. In the present study, PCDD/Fs were analyzed in the eggs of whiskered terns (Chlidonias hybrida), and genetically identified eggs from black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) sampled from two lakes in the Yangtze Ri...

The present study measured concentrations of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Sb, and Pb in surface sediments and two benthic invertebrate species (Anodonta woodiana and Bellamya aeruginosa) collected from Dianshan Lake, located in the Yangtze River Delta. The Dianshan Lake acts as one of the most important drinking water sources to Shanghai, the biggest ci...

The acaricide, dicofol, is a well-known pesticide and partly a substitute for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). Only few reports on environmental occurrence and concentrations have been reported calling for improvements. Hence, an analytical method was further developed for dicofol and dichlorobenzophenone (DCBP) to enable assessments of their...

Pet cats may be used as a biomarker for assessing exposures to organohalogen compounds (OHCs) adsorbed to household dust in home environments. This study explores two exposure routes of OHCs, i) ingestion of OHCs via house dust and ii) via cat food. House dust from 17 Swedish homes and serum from the participating families’ pet cats were collected...

Endocrine disruption is a specific form of toxicity, where natural and/or anthropogenic chemicals, known as “endocrine disruptors” (EDs), trigger adverse health effects by disrupting the endogenous hormone system. There is need to harmonize guidance on the regulation of EDs, but this has been hampered by what appeared as a lack of consensus among s...

Background: The issue of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is receiving wide attention from both the scientific and regulatory communities. Recent analyses of the EDC literature have been criticized for failing to use transparent and objective approaches to draw conclusions about the strength of evidence linking EDC exposures to adverse health...

The environmental and human health concerns for organohalogen contaminants (OHCs) extend beyond the 23 persistent organic pollutants (POPs) regulated by the Stockholm Convention. The current, intense industrial production and use of chemicals in China and their bioaccumulation makes Chinese wildlife highly suitable for the assessment of legacy, nov...

Contamination of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated diphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (OH-PBDEs) and their methylated counterparts (MeO-PBDEs) were determined in Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) and Whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida) from two drinki...

The production of sewage sludge is increasing in China but with unsafe disposal practices, causing potential risk to human health and the environment. Using literature from the past 30 years (N = 159), we conducted a meta-analysis of organic contaminants (OCs) in Chinese sludge. Most data were available from developed and populated regions, and no...

From the lectures presented at the 2nd International Workshop on Obesity and Environmental Contaminants, which was held in Uppsala, Sweden, on 8–9 October 2015, it became evident that the findings from numerous animal and epidemiological studies are consistent with the hypothesis that environmental contaminants could contribute to the global obesit...

The Swedish toxicology sciences research center (Swetox) has been established as a national resource for academic interdisciplinary collaboration within toxicology sciences. An important challenge is how chemicals with undesirable characteristics may be replaced by less hazardous substances, so-called substitution. The Stockholm County Council has...

The Swedish toxicology sciences research center (Swetox) has been established as a national resource for academic interdisciplinary collaboration within toxicology sciences. An important challenge is how chemicals with undesirable characteristics may be replaced by less hazardous substances, so-called substitution. The Stockholm County Council has...

The Swedish toxicology sciences research center (Swetox) has been established as a national resource for academic interdisciplinary collaboration within toxicology sciences. An important challenge is how chemicals with undesirable characteristics may be replaced by less hazardous substances, so-called substitution. The Stockholm County Council has...

An increasing number of studies and reports indicates that the Zika virus probably underlie the reported surge of microcephaly in Brazilian fetuses and infants. But earlier outbreaks have not been linked to birth defects, and doctors in Latin America have pointed out the increased use of the insecticide pyriproxyfen in drinking water as a possible...

Evidence has accumulated that exposure to widespread environmental toxicants, such as heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, and tobacco smoke adversely affect fetal development and organ maturation, even after birth. The developing immune and respiratory systems are more sensitive to environmental toxicants due to their long-term physical de...

h i g h l i g h t s g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t A number of POPs were determined in two water bird eggs from Yangtze River Delta. Highly chlorinated biphenyls (CB194-209) were detected in all individual eggs. 4,4 0-DDE was the predominant pesticide in all samples, followed by b-HCH and Mirex. The exposure level of POPs was in the median or lo...

51st Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology (EUROTOX)

Background: Electronic waste (e-waste) is produced in staggering quantities, estimated globally to be 41.8 million tonnes in 2014. Informal e-waste recycling is a source of much-needed income in many low- to middle-income countries. However, its handling and disposal in underdeveloped countries is often unsafe and leads to contaminated environment...

We present a detailed response to the critique of "State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals 2012" (UNEP/WHO 2013) by financial stakeholders, authored by Lamb et al. (2014). Lamb et al.'s claim that UNEP/WHO (2013) does not provide a balanced perspective on endocrine disruption is based on incomplete and misleading quoting of the repor...

Reproductive disturbances in Baltic fish. Research programme for the period 1994/95-1997/98. The programme was financed jointly by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the National Board of Fisheries, the Swedish Council for Agricultural Research, the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Swedish Power Board. The cover photo shows a yolk-sac...

Non-dioxin-like (NDL) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and their hydroxyl metabolites (OH-PCBs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants in human tissues and blood. The toxicological impact of these metabolites is poorly understood. In this study rats were exposed to ultrapure PCB180 (10 - 1000 mg/kg bw) for 28 days and induction of genotoxic stre...

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been of environmental and health concern for more than half a century and have their own intergovernmental regulation through the Stockholm Convention, from 2001. One major concern is the nursing child's exposure to POPs, a concern that has led to a very large number of scientific studies on POPs in mothers...

Serum from 82 individual cats was analyzed for decabromobiphenyl (BB-209), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hydroxylated PBDEs (OH-PBDEs) and 2,4,6-TBP in order to study differences in body burden between healthy and sick cats diagnosed with Feline Hyperthyroidism (FH). Within the study group, 60 of these cats had a euthyroid (n=23) or hyper...

The metabolism of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is complex and has an impact on toxicity, and thereby on the assessment of PCB risks. A large number of reactive and stable metabolites are formed in the processes of biotransformation in biota in general, and in humans in particular. The aim of this document is to provide an overview of PCB metabo...

Halogenated flame retardants have been a serious concern to health and environmental scientists. This chapter reviews the availability of alternative fire retardants, and describes the environmental distribution and adverse health effects of halogenated flame retardants. The mode of action and applications of halogenated flame retardants are descri...

Several recent publications reflect debate on the issue of "endocrine disrupting chemicals" (EDCs), indicating that two seemingly mutually exclusive perspectives are being articulated separately and independently. Considering this, a group of scientists with expertise in basic science, medicine and risk assessment reviewed the various aspects of th...

Hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (OH-PBDEs) are of growing concern, as they have been detected in both humans and wildlife and have been shown to be toxic. Recent studies have indicated that OH-PBDEs can be more toxic than PBDEs, partly due to their ability to disrupt oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), an essential process in energy met...

Disruption of Oxidative Phosphorylation (OXPHOS) by Hydroxylated Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (OH-PBDEs) Present in the Marine Environment Chemical structures of the OH-PBDEs and BDE-47 studied, measurement of respiration rate (V) versus mitochondria membrane potential (MMP) and respiration rate (V) versus concentration of 2′-OHBDE68, dose-respon...

The global contamination with persistent organic pollutants (POPs), or compounds with similar characteristics, is well known. Still there are data gaps for POP concentrations from many areas in the world. The aim of the present study is to assess several legacies POPs and also hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) and methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl...

The use of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in aircraft is the result of high fire safety demands. Personnel working in or with aircraft might therefore be exposed to several BFRs. Previous studies have reported PBDE exposure in flight attendants and in passengers. One other group that may be subject...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are bioaccumulating flame retardants found in rising concentrations in human tissue. Epidemiological and animal studies have raised concern for their potential to induce developmental neurotoxicity (DNT). Considering the essential role of calcium homeostasis in neurodevelopment, PBDE-induced disturbance of int...

Perfluorobutanesulfonyl fluoride (PBSF) has been introduced as a replacement for its eight-carbon homolog perfluorooctanesulfonyl fluoride (POSF) in the manufacturing of fluorochemicals. Fluorochemicals derived from PBSF may give rise to perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) as a terminal degradation product. Although basic mammalian toxicokinetic da...

Hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (OH-PBDEs) have been identified as metabolites of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and/or as natural products. The OH-PBDEs and polybromophenols have come into focus over the last decade due to their abundance in biota and their potential adverse health effects. The present recovery study aims to va...

Temporal trends of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) in mothers' milk are still quite rare. Data are particularly scarce when it comes to concentrations from the last decade, 2000 and onwards. The aims of the present study were to assess temporal trends of PCDD, PCDF...

The "common sense" intervention by toxicology journal editors regarding proposed European Union endocrine disrupter regulations ignores scientific evidence and well-established principles of chemical risk assessment. In this commentary, endocrine disrupter experts express their concerns about a recently published, and is in our considered opinion i...

Data on distribution, concentration and trends of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) is scarce in biota from the sub-Arctic region of the Atlantic. The present study is an investigation on PBDE and HBCD concentrations in eggs from seven marine bird species from Iceland, i.e. common eider (Somateria mollissima...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are known brominated flame retardants that have now been banned or phased out in many parts of the world. As a consequence, interest in the environmental occurrence of non-PBDE flame retardants has increased. In the present study several potential PBDE replacement products together with short chained chlorinat...

Ever since the interest in organic environmental contaminants first emerged 50years ago, there has been a need to present discussion of such chemicals and their transformation products using simple abbreviations so as to avoid the repetitive use of long chemical names. As the number of chemicals of concern has increased, the number of abbreviations...

Introduction The number of environmental contaminants has increased dramatically over the past 50 years. One group of chemicals of concern is flame retardants (FRs) such as brominated-, chlorinated-and phosphorous FRs (BFRs, CFRs and PFRs). The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) has over the last two years produced five hitherto adopted EFSA opinio...

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl-ethers (PBDEs) are metabolized into hydroxylated metabolites (OH-PCBs/PBDEs), which can disrupt the thyroid hormone homeostasis. Binding of these metabolites to transport proteins such as transthyretin (TTR) is an important mechanism of their toxicity. Several methods to quantify the comp...

Human serum and mother's milk are frequently used to assess exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), including transplacental transfer to the foetus. However, little is known about the kinetics of PBDEs, especially the highly brominated BDE congeners. In this pilot study, maternal serum samples were collected from 10 women at delivery an...

In the present study were two favorite edible fish species for local residents, i.e., mandarin fish and crawfish, collected from the Shanghai market and analyzed for selected organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and methoxylated PBDEs (MeO-PBDEs)....

EFSA was asked by the European Commission to deliver a scientific opinion on brominated phenols and their derivatives, other than tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) or its derivatives, in food. Brominated phenols and their derivatives comprise a complex group of brominated flame retardants, used as reactive as well as additive flame retardants in a larg...

Here, we describe for the first time the synthesis of [(35)S] PFOS and [(35)S] PFBS with sulfur-35 enriched sulfur dioxide as the radiolabelled reagent, resulting in 2.5 and 2.3 mCi of product, respectively. Basic information concerning the physicochemical properties of perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS) and perfluoroo...

The incidence of cats being diagnosed with feline hyperthyroidism (FH) has increased greatly since it was first described in 1979. The cause of FH has not been established. Hypothetically, there is a link between increasing FH and exposure to brominated flame retardants. Much greater polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) concentrations have been re...

Introduction In last years naturally produced hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (OH-PBDEs) have been reported in several wildlife species from the Baltic Sea (e.g. in mussels, fish, birds and seals), for references see Table 1. OH-PBDEs are not known to be produced commercially or used in any industrial processes. Instead they are likely...

Many chemicals in use today lack appropriate documentation on their environmental properties, fate, and effects. To counteract this lack of documentation it is vital to thoroughly investigate a compound's fate in the environment before it comes into use. The present study is describing a novel method for assessing the reduction potential of polybro...

EFSA was asked by the European Commission to deliver a scientific opinion on tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and its derivatives in food. TBBPA and its derivatives are widely used as flame retardants. TBBPA is primarily used as reactive flame retardant covalently bound to epoxy and polycarbonate resins. TBBPA derivatives are used as either reactive o...

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals are well known environmental pollutants. Even though numerous studies have been carried out to assess human exposures to these compounds, there is still a lack of data on humans from developing countries, especially in underprivileged children. The objective of this study was to assess the expos...

Perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS) has been found in biological samples from wildlife and humans. The human geometric mean serum PFHxS elimination half-life has been estimated to be 2665days. A series of studies was undertaken to establish pharmacokinetic parameters for PFHxS in rats, mice, and monkeys after single administration with pharmacokinetic...

EFSA was asked by the European Commission to deliver a scientific opinion on hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs) in food. HBCDDs are additive flame retardants primarily used in expanded and extruded polystyrene applied as construction and packing materials, and in textiles. Technical HBCDD predominantly consists of three stereoisomers (α-, β-and γ-HBC...