This study examined the prevalence of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in river water samples (n = 56) and suspended solids (n = 5) from three major Western Cape rivers, in South Africa. Solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by liquid chromatography combined with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) using an analytical method developed in ISO 25101 (2009), PFOS and PFOA concentration in river water and in suspended solids from the rivers was investigated and quantified. From the results, PFOA and PFOS were detected in all the river water samples and were found in concentrations up to 314 and 182 ng/L for Diep River; 390 and 47 ng/L for Salt River; and 146 and 23 ng/L for Eerste River, respectively. In suspended solids, concentrations for PFOS and PFOA were 28 and 26 ng/g for Diep River; 16 and less than limit of detection for Eerste River; and 14 and 5 ng/g for Salt River, respectively. Some of these concentrations are higher than those previously reported in similar studies in various countries, and this suggests there is a cause for concern, in the Western Cape, South Africa, particularly in catchments where river and ground water is drawn for agricultural purposes in the province.

Between the late 1940s and early 1950s, humans manufactured polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) using electrochemical fluorination and telomerisation technologies, whereby hydrogen atoms are substituted by fluorine atoms, thus conferring unnatural and unique physicochemical properties to these compounds. Presently, there are wide ranges of PFCs, and owing to their bioaccumulative properties, they have been detected in various environmental matrices and in human sera. It has thus been suggested that they are hazardous. Hence, this review aims at highlighting the recent development in PFC research, with a particular focus on perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), the most studied and predominantly found PFCs in various environmental matrices, although recent reports have included perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS), which was previously regarded as innocuously harmless, when compared to its counterparts, PFOA and PFOS. As such, proper investigations are thus required for a better understanding of short-chain PFC substitutes, which have been suggested as suitable replacements to long-chained PFCs, although these substitutes have also been suggested to pose various health risks comparable to those associated with long-chain PFCs. Similarly, several novel technologies, such as PFC reduction using zero-valent iron, including removal at point of use, adsorption and coagulation, have been proposed. However, regardless of how efficient removers some of these techniques have proven to be, short-chain PFCs remain a challenge to overcome for scientists, in this regard.

As plants have been shown to accumulate organic compounds from contaminated sediments, there is a potential for long-lasting ecological impact as a result of contaminant accumulation in riparian areas of wetlands, particularly the accumulation of non-biodegradable contaminants such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). In this study, commonly found riparian wetland plants including reeds, i.e., Xanthium strumarium, Phragmites australis, Schoenoplectus corymbosus, Ruppia maritime; Populus canescens, Polygonum salicifolium, Cyperus congestus; Persicaria amphibian, Ficus carica, Artemisia schmidtiana, Eichhornia crassipes, were studied to determine their susceptibility to PFOA accumulation from PFOA contaminated riparian sediment with a known PFOA concentration, using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The bioconcentration factor (BCF) indicated that the plants affinity to PFOA accumulation was; E. crassipes, > P. sali-cifolium, > C. congestus, > P. x canescens, > P. amphibian, > F. carica, > A. schmidtiana, > X. strumarium,> P. australis, > R. maritime, > S. corymbosus. The concentration of PFOA in the plants and/or reeds was in the range 11.7 to 38 ng/g, with a BCF range of 0.05 to 0.37. The highest BCF was observed in sediment for which its core water had a high salinity, total organic carbon and a pH which was near neutral. As the studied plants had a higher affinity for PFOA, the resultant effect is that riparian plants such as E. crassipes, X. strumarium, and P. salicifolium, typified by a fibrous rooting system, which grow closer to the water edge, exacerbate the accumulation of PFOA in riparian wetlands.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the most common form of diabetes and it is characterized by high blood sugar and abnormal sera lipid levels. Although the specific reasons for the development of these abnormalities are still not well understood, traditionally, genetic and lifestyle behavior have been reported as the leading causes of this disease. In the last three decades, the number of diabetic patients has drastically increased worldwide, with current statistics suggesting the number is to double in the next two decades. To combat this incurable ailment, orthodox medicines, to which economically disadvantaged patients have minimal access to, have been used. Thus, a considerable amalgamation of medicinal plants has recently been proven to possess therapeutic capabilities to manage T2DM, and this has prompted studies primarily focusing on the healing aspect of these plants, and ultimately, their commercialization. Hence, this review aims to highlight the potential threat of pollutants, i.e., polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs), endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and heavy metals, to medicinal plants, and their prospective impact on the phytomedicinal therapy strategies for T2DM. It is further suggested that auxiliary research be undertaken to better comprehend the factors that influence the uptake of these compounds by these plants. This should include a comprehensive risk assessment of phytomedicinal products destined for the treatment of T2DM. Regulations that control the use of PFC-precursors in certain developing countries are also long overdue.

The continuous discharge of cyanide-containing effluents to the environment has necessitated for the development of environmentally benign treatment processes that would result in complete detoxification of the cyanide-containing wastewaters, without producing additional environmental toxicants. Since biological detoxification of hazardous chemical compounds has been renowned for its robustness and environmental-friendliness, the ability of the Exiguobacterium acetylicum (GenBank accession number KT282229) and Bacillus marisflavi (GenBank accession number KR016603) to co-metabolise thiocyanate (SCN−) and free cyanide (CN−) under alkaline conditions was evaluated. E. acetylicum had an SCN− degradation efficiency of 99.9 % from an initial SCN− concentration of 150 mg SCN−/L, but the organism was unable to degrade CN−. Consequently, B. marisflavi had a CN− degradation efficiency of 99 % from an initial concentration of 200 mg CN−/L. Similarly, the organism was unable to degrade SCN−; hence, this resulted in the evaluation of co-metabolism of SCN− and CN− by the two microbial species. Optimisation of operational conditions was evaluated using response surface methodology (RSM). A numeric optimisation technique was used to evaluate the optimisation of the input variables i.e. pH, temperature, SCN− and CN− concentrations. The optimum conditions were found to be as follows: pH 9.0, temperature 34 °C, 140 mg SCN−/L and 205 mg CN−/L under which complete SCN− and CN− degradation would be achieved over a 168-h period. Using the optimised data, co-metabolism of SCN− and CN− by both E. acetylicum and B. marisflavi was evaluated, achieving a combined degradation efficiency of ≥99.9 %. The high degradative capacity of these organisms has resulted in their supplementation on an active continuous biological degradation system that is treating both SCN− and CN−.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13205-016-0491-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

It has been extensively demonstrated that plants accumulate organic substances emanating from various sources, including soil and water. This fact suggests the potentiality of contamination of certain vital bioresources, such as medicinal plants, by persistent contaminants, such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS). Hence, in this study, the propensity of Tagetes erecta L. (a commonly used medicinal plant) to accumulate PFOA, PFOS, and PFBS was determined using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS-8030). From the results, PFOA, PFOS, and PFBS were detected in all the plant samples and concentration levels were found to be 94.83 ng/g, 5.03 ng/g, and 1.44 ng/g, respectively, with bioconcentration factor (BCF) ranges of 1.30 to 2.57, 13.67 to 72.33, and 0.16 to 0.31, respectively. Little evidence exists on the bioaccumulative susceptibility of medicinal plants to these persistent organic pollutants (POPs). These results suggest that these medicinal plants (in particular, Tagetes erecta L., used for the management of diabetes) are also potential conduits of PFOA, PFOS, and PFBS into humans.

This study focused on the identification of free cyanide (CDO) and thiocyanate (TDO) degrading microbial communities using a culture-dependent and independent approach. Culturable microbial species were isolated from the CDOs ( = 13) and TDOs ( = 18). The CDOs were largely dominated by sp. while the TDOs were dominated by sp., , sp. and sp. However, 16S rRNA amplicon gene-sequencing revealed the complexity and diversity of the microbial communities in contrast to the organisms that were detected using culture-dependent technique. Overall, the organisms were mainly dominated by and sp. at 37.82 and 30.5% for CDOs, and 35.26 and 17.58% for TDOs, respectively. The co-culturing of the CDOs and TDOs resulted in biochemical changes of key metabolic enzymes, and this resulted in the complete degradation of CN and SCN simultaneously; a phenomenon which has not been witnessed, especially under alkaline conditions. Current ongoing studies are focused on the application of these organisms for the biodegradation of CN and SCN in a continuous system, under changing operational parameters, to assess their effectiveness in the biodegradation of CN and SCN.

The data presented in this article contains the bacterial community structure of the free cyanide (CN-) and thiocyanate (SCN-) degrading organisms that were isolated from electroplating wastewater and synthetic SCN- containing wastewater. PCR amplification of the 16S rRNA V1-V3 regions was undertaken using the 27F and 518R oligonucleotide primers following the metacommunity DNA extraction procedure. The PCR amplicons were processed using the illumina® reaction kits as per manufacturer׳s instruction and sequenced using the illumina® MiSeq-2000, using the MiSeq V3 kit. The data was processed using bioinformatics tools such as QIIME and the raw sequence files are available via NCBI׳s Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database.