17 documents found, page 1 of 2
Microplastics in rice: an invisible threat
Ferreira-Marques, Iva; Silva, Sara A. M.; Prata, Joana C.Background: Humans are exposed to various dangers in their daily lives, including exposure to contaminants through food. Microplastics are increasingly being studied as an environmental contaminant in both marine and terrestrial systems [1]. They are present in air, water, and soil, leading to their internalization by organisms and, ultimately, to the contamination of the human food chain [2]. Moreover, micropl...
Dietary habits and health conditions associated with microplastics in human feces
Silva, Sara A. M.; Walker, Tony R.; Prata, Joana C.Background: Microplastics (MPs) are emerging environmental contaminants that have been detected in various human biological samples, raising concerns about their potential health impacts [1]. Given the increasing presence of MPs in food, beverages, and the environment, understanding exposure pathways and human health effects is crucial. Objective: This review aims to evaluate recent epidemiological studies on M...
Unveiling a Listeria monocytogenes Outbreak in a Rabbit Farm: Clinical Manifest...
Rodrigues, Inês C.; Ribeiro-Almeida, Marisa; Silveira, Leonor; Prata, Joana C.; de Carvalho, André Pinto; Roque, Carla; Gomes, João Paulo; Borges, VítorListeria monocytogenes poses a threat to both human and animal health. This work describes an L. monocytogenes outbreak in a Portuguese rabbit farm, detailing the isolates’ clinical manifestations, necropsy findings, and phenotypic and genomic profiles. Clinical signs, exclusively observed in does, included lethargy and reproductive signs. Post-mortem examination of does revealed splenomegaly, hepatomegaly with...
Do’s and don’ts of microplastic research: a comprehensive guide
Prata, Joana C.; Padrão, Jorge; Khan, Muhammad Tariq; Walker, Tony R.Microplastics are environmental contaminants consisting of small plastics ≤ 5 mm. Concerns over the adverse effects of microplastics have led to a rapid growth in the available literature despite the lack of harmonized methods and materials. Therefore, the field is becoming increasingly daunting to new researchers. A state-of-theart guide was assembled following a comprehensive literature review of microplastic...
Gulls in Porto Coastline as Reservoirs for Salmonella spp.: Findings from 2008 ...
Rodrigues, Inês C.; Cristal, Ana Paula; Ribeiro-Almeida, Marisa; Silveira, Leonor; Prata, Joana C.; Simões, Roméo; Vaz-Pires, Paulo; Pista, ÂngelaGulls act as intermediaries in the exchange of microorganisms between the environment and human settlements, including Salmonella spp. This study assessed the antimicrobial resistance and molecular profiles of Salmonella spp. isolates obtained from fecal samples of gulls in the city of Porto, Portugal, in 2008 and 2023 and from water samples in 2023. Antimicrobial susceptibility profiling revealed an improvemen...
Occurrence of Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria Resulting from the Selective Pressur...
Rodrigues, Inês C.; Ribeiro-Almeida, Marisa; Ribeiro, Jorge; Silveira, Leonor; Prata, Joana C.; Pista, Angela; Martins da Costa, PauloBecause of public health concerns, much greater scrutiny is now placed on antibiotic use in pets, especially for antimicrobial agents that have human analogs. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the phenotypic and genotypic profiles of multidrug-resistant bacteria isolated from nasal swabs samples taken from a one-year-old male Serra da Estrela dog with rhinorrhea that was treated with amikacin. An exte...
A One Health perspective of the impacts of microplastics on animal, human and e...
Prata, Joana C.; da Costa, João P.; Lopes, Isabel; Andrady, Anthony L.; Duarte, Armando C.; Rocha-Santos, TeresaMicroplastics contamination is widespread in the environment leading to the exposure of both humans and other biota. While most studies overemphasize direct toxicity of microplastics, particle concentrations, characteristics and exposure conditions being used in these assays needs to be taken into consideration. For instance, toxicity assays that use concentrations over 100,000 times higher than those expected ...
An urgent call to think globally and act locally on landfill disposable plastic...
Patrício Silva, Ana L.; Prata, Joana C.; Duarte, Armando C.; Barcelò, Damià; Rocha-Santos, TeresaLandfilling and illegal waste disposal have risen to deal with the COVID-19 potentially infectious waste, particularly in developing countries, which aggravates plastic pollution and inherent environmental threats to human and animal health. It is estimated that 3.5 million metric tonnes of masks (equivalent to 601 TIR containers) have been landfilled worldwide in the first year, with the potential to increase ...
Selection of microplastics by Nile Red staining increases environmental sample ...
Prata, Joana C.; da Costa, João P.; Fernandes, António José Silva; da Costa, Florinda Mendes; Duarte, Armando C.; Rocha-Santos, TeresaNile Red staining enables visual identification and quantification of fluorescent particles as a proxy to microplastics at low cost and high throughput, including those of small sizes (≥2 μm), when preceded by proper natural organic matter removal, but providing no chemical characterization. On the other hand, micro-spectroscopy methods allow chemical characterization of particles based on their spectra, essent...
Microplastics and fibers from three areas under different anthropogenic pressur...
Prata, Joana C.; Godoy, Veronica; da Costa, João P.; Calero, Monica; Martín-Lara, M. A.; Duarte, Armando C.; Rocha-Santos, TeresaSources contributing to specific concentration of microplastics and fibers are still not completely understood. This study aimed at assessing the concentrations of microplastics (2-5000 μm) and fibers (18-5667 μm) in three areas of distinct influences in the Douro river, Porto, Portugal: (i) a countryside area; (ii) a wastewater treatment effluent release zone; and (iii) an area in proximity to a boat dock and ...