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Hormesis induced by silver iodide, hydrocarbons, microplastics, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals: Implications for agroforestry ecosystems health
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This review examines how silver iodide from weather modification programs, along with microplastics, pharmaceuticals, hydrocarbons, and pesticides, can induce hormesis in agroforestry ecosystems. Researchers found that these contaminants produce a biphasic dose response, with potentially stimulatory effects at low doses but toxic effects at higher concentrations. The study highlights the complex and often unpredictable interactions between multiple environmental contaminants in agricultural and forest settings.
Increasing amounts of silver iodide (AgI) in the environment are expected because of the recent massive expansion of weather modification programs. Concurrently, pharmaceuticals, microplastics, hydrocarbons, and pesticides in terrestrial ecosystems continue contaminating forests and agroforests. Our review supports that AgI induces hormesis, a biphasic dose response characterized by often beneficial low-dose responses and toxic high-dose effects, which adds to the evidence for pharmaceuticals, microplastics, hydrocarbons, and pesticides induced hormesis in numerous species. Doses smaller than the no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) positively affect defense physiology, growth, biomass, yields, survival, lifespan, and reproduction. They also lead to negative or undesirable outcomes, including stimulation of pathogenic microbes, pest insects, and weeds with enhanced resistance to drugs and potential negative multi- or trans-generational effects. Such sub-NOAEL effects perplex terrestrial ecosystems managements and may compromise combating outbreaks of disease vectors that can threaten not only forest and agroforestry health but also sensitive human subpopulations living in remote forested areas.
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Stimulation of insect vectors of pathogens by sublethal environmental contaminants: A hidden threat to human and environmental health?
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Researchers reviewed evidence showing that sublethal doses of environmental contaminants, including microplastics and pesticides, can stimulate rather than inhibit insect disease vectors such as mosquitoes and agricultural pests. The study suggests these hormetic responses could enhance pathogen transmission and disease spread, representing an underappreciated threat to public health and food security that warrants further investigation.
Effect of microplastics on aquatic biota: A hormetic perspective
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Researchers analyzed 43 published studies covering over 3,700 aquatic organisms and found that at low, environmentally relevant concentrations, microplastics sometimes stimulated growth and reproduction rather than causing harm. This pattern, known as hormesis, means that microplastics can produce opposite biological effects at low versus high doses. The study suggests that current risk assessments for microplastics should account for these non-linear dose-response patterns to better reflect real-world conditions.
Combined exposure to microplastics and pesticides with endocrine-disrupting potential: evidence of interaction, reproductive biomarkers, and tissue bioaccumulation in humans and animal models
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This review study examines how tiny plastic particles (microplastics) and certain pesticides might work together to disrupt hormones and affect fertility in humans and animals. The research suggests these common pollutants may be more harmful when combined than when encountered separately, potentially impacting reproductive health. Understanding these interactions is important because people are exposed to both microplastics and pesticides daily through food, water, and the environment.
Combined pollution of soil by heavy metals, microplastics, and pesticides: Mechanisms and anthropogenic drivers
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This study investigated how heavy metals, microplastics, and pesticides interact when they contaminate soil together, finding that their combined effects are complex and often worse than any single pollutant. Microplastics can absorb and concentrate both heavy metals and pesticides, changing how these chemicals move through soil and into plants. The findings highlight how agricultural soils contaminated with multiple pollutants could increase human exposure through crops grown in that soil.
Toxicological complexity of microplastics in terrestrial ecosystems
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This review summarizes how microplastics interact with other pollutants like heavy metals and pesticides in soil, creating combined toxic effects that threaten ecosystems and agriculture. The paper highlights that microplastics can change soil structure and disrupt the communities of microorganisms that keep soil healthy, with ripple effects on crop yields and food security.
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