Biomedical subjects

William J Adams

Publications and source records attributed to William J Adams.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

No association of the C677T methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphism with schizophrenia.

Some serological and genetic studies have suggested that alterations in folate metabolism are associated with increased vulnerability to schizophrenia. In particular, these findings are most striking for the role of a putatively functional variant (C677T) in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene. To test the hypothesis that the T allele and the TT genotype are risk factors for psychosis, we genotyped the C677T polymorphism in 206 participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 359 participants from a population control sample. Neither the T allele nor the TT genotype was associated with increased risk for schizophrenia. These results do not support a role for the C677T MTHFR variant in schizophrenia.

Alleles↗

PubMed2005

Setting site-specific water-quality standards by using tissue residue thresholds and bioaccumulation data. Part 2. Calculating site-specific selenium water-quality standards for protecting fish and birds.

In a companion paper, a method for deriving tissue residue-based site-specific water-quality standards (SSWQSs) was described. In this paper, the methodology is applied to selenium (Se) as an example. Models were developed to describe Se bioaccumulation in aquatic-dependent bird eggs and whole fish. A simple log-linear model best described Se accumulation in bird eggs (r2 = 0.50). For fish, separate hockey stick regressions were developed for lentic (r2 = 0.65) and lotic environments (r2 = 0.37). The low r2 value for the lotic fish model precludes its reliable use at this time. Corresponding tissue residue criteria (i.e., tissue thresholds) for bird eggs and whole fish also were identified and example model predictions were made. The models were able to predict SSWQSs over a wide range of water-tissue combinations that might be encountered in the environment. The models also were shown to be sensitive to variability in measured tissue residues with relatively small changes in variability (as characterized by the standard error) resulting in relatively large differences in SSWQSs.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Setting site-specific water-quality standards by using tissue residue criteria and bioaccumulation data. Part 1. Methodology.

We have developed a method for determining site-specific water-quality standards (SSWQSs) for substances regulated based on tissue residues. The method uses a multisite regression model to solve for the conditional prior probability density function (PDF) on water concentration, given that tissue concentration equals a tissue residue threshold. The method then uses site-specific water and tissue concentration data to update the probabilities on a Monte Carlo sample of the prior PDF by using Bayesian Monte Carlo analysis. The resultant posterior PDF identifies the water concentration that, if met at the site, would provide a desired level of confidence of meeting the tissue residue threshold contingent on model assumptions. This allows for derivation of a SSWQS. The method is fully reproducible, statistically rigorous, and easily implemented. A useful property of the method is that the model is sensitive to the amount of site-specific data available, that is, a more conservative or protective number (water concentration) is derived when the data set is small or the variance is large. Likewise, as the site water concentration increases above the water-quality standard, more site-specific information is needed to demonstrate a safe concentration at the site. A companion paper demonstrates the method by using selenium as an example.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Derivation of a chronic site-specific water quality standard for selenium in the Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA.

The purpose of this study was to develop a site-specific water quality standard for selenium in the Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA. The study examined the bioavailability and toxicity of selenium, as selenate, to biota resident to the Great Salt Lake and the potential for dietary selenium exposure to aquatic dependent birds that might consume resident biota. Because of its high salinity, the lake has limited biological diversity with bacteria, algae, diatoms, brine shrimp, and brine flies being the only organisms present in the main (hypersaline) portions of the lake. To evaluate their sensitivity to selenium, a series of acute and chronic toxicity studies were conducted on brine shrimp (Artemia franiciscana), brine fly (Ephydra cinerea), and a hypersaline alga (Dunaliella viridis). The resulting acute and chronic toxicity data indicated that resident species are more selenium tolerant than many freshwater species. Because sulfate is known to reduce selenate bioavailability, this selenium tolerance is thought to result in part from the lake's high ambient sulfate concentrations (>5,800 mg/L). The acute and chronic test results were compared to selenium concentrations expected to occur in a mining effluent discharge located at the south end of the lake. Based on these comparisons, no appreciable risks to resident aquatic biota were projected. Field and laboratory data collected on selenium bioaccumulation in brine shrimp demonstrated a linear relationship between water and tissue selenium concentrations. Applying a dietary selenium threshold of 5 mg/kg dry weight for aquatic birds to this relationship resulted in an estimate of 27 microg/L Se in water as a safe concentration for this exposure pathway and an appropriate chronic site-specific water quality standard. Consequently, protection of aquatic birds represents the driving factor in determining a site-specific water quality standard for selenium.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Chronic toxicity of arsenic to the Great Salt Lake brine shrimp, Artemia franciscana.

We determined the chronic toxicity of arsenic (sodium arsenate) to the Great Salt Lake brine shrimp, Artemia franciscana. Chronic toxicity was determined by measuring the adverse effects of arsenic on brine shrimp growth, survival, and reproduction under intermittent flow-through conditions. The study commenced with <24-h-old nauplii, continued through reproduction of the parental generation, and ended after 28 days of exposure. The concentrations tested were 4, 8, 15, 31, and 56mg/L dissolved arsenic. The test was conducted using water from the Great Salt Lake, Utah as the dilution water. Adult survival was the most sensitive biological endpoint, with growth and reproduction somewhat less sensitive than survival. The no observed effect concentration (NOEC) for survival was 8mg/L, and the lowest observed effect concentration (LOEC) was 15mg/L dissolved arsenic. The LOEC for growth and reproduction was greater than the highest concentration tested, 56mg/L. Based on survival, the final chronic value (geometric mean of the NOEC and LOEC) was 11mg/L dissolved arsenic. The F(1) generation appeared to acclimate to the prior arsenic exposure of the parental generation and was significantly less sensitive than the parental generation. For example, survival for the F(1) generation through day 12 was 100% in 56mg/L dissolved arsenic, compared to 26% for the parental generation. Growth of the F(1) generation was significantly less than that of the parental generation across all concentrations including the control, indicating a generational difference in brine shrimp growth rather than an arsenic effect. This study represents one of the few full life cycle toxicity tests conducted with brine shrimp.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Inverse relationship between bioconcentration factor and exposure concentration for metals: implications for hazard assessment of metals in the aquatic environment.

The bioconcentration factor (BCF) and bioaccumulation factor (BAF) are used as the criteria for bioaccumulation in the context of identifying and classifying substances that are hazardous to the aquatic environment. The BCF/BAF criteria, while developed as surrogates for chronic toxicity and/or biomagnification of anthropogenic organic substances, are applied to all substances including metals. This work examines the theoretical and experimental basis for the use of BCF/BAF in the hazard assessment of Zn, Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, and Ag. As well, BCF/BAFs for Hg (methyl and inorganic forms) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were evaluated. The BCF/BAF data for Zn, Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, and Ag were characterized by extreme variability in mean BCF/BAF values and a clear inverse relationship between BCF/BAF and aqueous exposure. The high variability persisted when even when data were limited to an exposure range where chronic toxicity would be expected. Mean BCF/BAF values for Hg were also variable, but the inverse relationship was equivocal, in contrast with HCB, which conformed to the BCF model. This study illustrates that the BCF/BAF criteria, as currently applied, are inappropriate for the hazard identification and classification of metals. Furthermore, using BCF and BAF data leads to conclusions that are inconsistent with the toxicological data, as values are highest (indicating hazard) at low exposure concentrations and are lowest (indicating no hazard) at high exposure concentrations, where impacts are likely. Bioconcentration and bioaccumulation factors do not distinguish between essential mineral nutrient, normal background metal bioaccumulation, the adaptive capabilities of animals to vary uptake and elimination within the spectrum of exposure regimes, nor the specific ability to sequester, detoxify, and store internalized metal from metal uptake that results in adverse effect. An alternative to BCF, the accumulation factor (ACF), for metals was assessed and, while providing an improvement, it did not provide a complete solution. A bioaccumulation criterion for the hazard identification of metals is required, and work directed at linking chronic toxicity and bioaccumulation may provide some solutions.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2003

Analysis of field and laboratory data to derive selenium toxicity thresholds for birds.

In this paper, we critically evaluate the statistical approaches and datasets previously used to derive chronic egg selenium thresholds for mallard ducks (laboratory data) and black-necked stilts (field data). These effect concentration thresholds of 3%, 10% (EC10), or 20% have been used by regulatory agencies to set avian protection criteria and site remediation goals, thus the need for careful assessment of the data. The present review indicates that the stilt field dataset used to establish a frequently cited chronic avian egg selenium threshold of 6 mg/kg dry weight lacks statistical robustness (r2 = 0.19-0.28 based on generalized linear models), suggesting that stilt embryo sensitivity to selenium is highly variable or that factors other than selenium are principally responsible for the increase in effects observed at the lower range of this dataset. Hockey stick regressions used with the stilt field dataset improve the statistical relationship (r2 = 0.90-0.97) but result in considerably higher egg selenium thresholds (EC10 = 21-31 mg/kg dry wt). Laboratory-derived (for mallards) and field-derived (for stilts) teratogenicity EC10 values are quite similar (16-24 mg/kg dry wt). Laboratory data regarding mallard egg inviability and duckling mortality data provide the most sensitive and statistically robust chronic threshold (EC10) with logit, probit, and hockey stick regressions fitted to laboratory data, resulting in mean egg selenium EC10 values of 12 to 15 mg/kg dry weight (r2 = 0.75-0.90).

Animals↗