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Query: "author" (Alja Štern) .

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1.
Exploring BPA alternatives : environmental levels and toxicity review
Ondrej Adamovsky, Ksenia J Groh, Anna Białk-Bielińska, Beate I. Escher, R. Beaudouin, Liadys Mora Lagares, K. E. Tollefsen, Alja Štern, Tina Eleršek, Marjan Vračko, Bojana Žegura, 2024, review article

Abstract: Bisphenol A alternatives are manufactured as potentially less harmful substitutes of bisphenol A (BPA) that offer similar functionality. These alternatives are already in the market, entering the environment and thus raising ecological concerns. However, it can be expected that levels of BPA alternatives will dominate in the future, they are limited information on their environmental safety. The EU PARC project highlights BPA alternatives as priority chemicals and consolidates information on BPA alternatives, with a focus on environmental relevance and on the identification of the research gaps. The review highlighted aspects and future perspectives. In brief, an extension of environmental monitoring is crucial, extending it to cover BPA alternatives to track their levels and facilitate the timely implementation of mitigation measures. The biological activity has been studied for BPA alternatives, but in a non-systematic way and prioritized a limited number of chemicals. For several BPA alternatives, the data has already provided substantial evidence regarding their potential harm to the environment. We stress the importance of conducting more comprehensive assessments that go beyond the traditional reproductive studies and focus on overlooked relevant endpoints. Future research should also consider mixture effects, realistic environmental concentrations, and the long-term consequences on biota and ecosystems.
Keywords: BPA alternatives, biological activity, in silico, invertebrates, vertebrates, toxicity
Published in DiRROS: 03.06.2024; Views: 125; Downloads: 74
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2.
Genotoxicity and heating performance of VxFe3-xO4 nanoparticles in health applications
Beatriz Sanz-Sagué, Amaia Sáenz-Hernández, Bojana Žegura, Alja Štern, Katja Kološa, Iza Rozman, 2024, original scientific article

Abstract: The applications of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as biocatalysts in different biomedical areas have been evolved very recently. One of the main challenges in this field is to design affective MNPs surfaces with catalytically active atomic centres, while producing minimal toxicological side effects on the hosting cell or tissues. MNPs of vanadium spinel ferrite (VFe2O4) are a promising material for mimicking the action of natural enzymes in degrading harmful substrates due to the presence of active V5+ centres. However, the toxicity of this material has not been yet studied in detail enough to grant biomedical safety. In this work, we have extensively measured the structural, compositional, and magnetic properties of a series of VxFe3-xO4 spinel ferrite MNPs to assess the surface composition and oxidation state of V atoms, and also performed systematic and extensive in vitro cytotoxicity and genotoxicity testing required to assess their safety in potential clinical applications. We could establish the presence of V5+ at the particle surface even in water-based colloidal samples at pH 7, as well as different amounts of V2+ and V3+ substitution at the A and B sites of the spinel structure. All samples showed large heating efficiency with Specific Loss Power values up to 400 W/g (H0 = 30 kA/m; f = 700 kHz). Samples analysed for safety in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cell line with up to 24h of exposure showed that these MNPs did not induce major genomic abnormalities such as micronuclei, nuclear buds, or nucleoplasmic bridges (MNIs, NBUDs, and NPBs), nor did they cause DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) or aneugenic effects—types of damage considered most harmful to cellular genetic material. The present study is an essential step towards the use of these type of nanomaterials in any biomedical or clinical application.
Keywords: magnetic nanoparticles, vanadium ferrite, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, specific power absorption, cell viability
Published in DiRROS: 23.05.2024; Views: 123; Downloads: 126
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