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Synthetic phenolic antioxidants (SPAs), including 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxytoluene (BHT), are extensively used in food, cosmetic and plastic industries. Nevertheless, limited information is available on human exposures, other than the dietary sources, to SPAs. In this study, occurrence of 9 SPAs and their metabolites/degradation products was determined in 339 indoor dust collected from 12 countries. BHT was found in 99.5% of indoor dust samples from homes and microenvironments at concentrations that ranged from < LOQ to 118 μg/g and 0.10 to 3460 μg/g, respectively. This is the first study to measure BHT metabolites in house dust (0.01-35.1 μg/g) and their concentrations accounted for 9.2-58% of the sum concentrations (∑SPAs). 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (BHT-CHO), 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-(hydroxymethyl)phenol (BHT-OH), 2,6-di-tert-butyl-1,4-benzoquinone (BHT-Q) were the major derivatives of BHT found in dust samples. The concentrations of gallic acid esters (gallates) in dust from homes and microenvironments ranged from < LOQ to 18.2 and < LOQ to 684 μg/g, respectively. The concentrations and profiles of SPAs varied among countries and microenvironments. Significantly elevated concentrations of SPAs were found in dust from an e-waste workshop (1530 μg/g). The estimated daily intake (EDI) of BHT via house dust ingestion ranged from 0.40 to 222 ng/kg/d (95th percentile).

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Zingiber officinale Roscoe, one of the most widely used spices, has been reported to have anti‐obesity and anti‐diabetes effects. In the present study, we investigated the effects of 6‐shogaol, a bioactive compound present in ginger, on the adipogenic process in 3T3‐L1 preadipocytes. The anti‐adipogenic effects of 6‐shogaol was significantly higher than the more widely investigated 6‐gingerol, another major ginger constituent. We observed that 6‐shogaol inhibited the expression of two master regulators of adipogenesis, PPARγ and C/EBPα, and also stimulated lipolysis in mature 3T3‐L1 adipocytes. Collectively, these results suggest that 6‐shogaol, not 6‐gingerol, is the major compound present in ginger responsible for its reported anti‐adipogenic properties. Practical Applications Ginger is widely consumed all over the world, and has been associated with various health benefits. At least some of these benefits have been previously attributed to 6‐gingerol. In the present study, we observed that 6‐shogaol has more potent anti‐adipogenic effects than 6‐gingerol in 3T3‐L1 cells. This is the first study to investigate the anti‐obesity effect of 6‐shogaol in vitro, and provides a new perspective on future development of ginger‐based anti‐obesity strategies.

Perchlorate is a widespread environmental contaminant and potent thyroid hormone disrupting compound. Despite this, very little is known with regard to the occurrence of this compound in indoor dust and the exposure of humans to perchlorate through dust ingestion. In this study, 366 indoor dust samples were collected from 12 countries, the USA, Colombia, Greece, Romania, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, India, Vietnam, and China, during 2010-2014. Dust samples were extracted by 1% (v/v) methylamine in water. Analyte separation was achieved by an ion exchange (AS-21) column and analysis was performed by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The overall concentrations of perchlorate in dust were in the range of 0.02-104μg/g (geometric mean: 0.41μg/g). The indoor dust samples from China contained the highest concentrations (geometric mean: 5.38μg/g). No remarkable differences in perchlorate concentrations in dust were found among various microenvironments (i.e., car, home, office, and laboratory). The estimated median daily intake (EDI) of perchlorate for toddlers through dust ingestion in the USA, Colombia, Greece, Romania, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, India, Vietnam, and China was 1.89, 0.37, 1.71, 0.74, 4.90, 7.20, 0.60, 0.80, 1.55, 0.70, 2.15, and 21.3ng/kgbodyweight (bw)/day, respectively. Although high concentrations of perchlorate were measured in some dust samples, the contribution of dust to total perchlorate intake was <5% of the total perchlorate intake in humans. This is the first multinational survey on the occurrence of perchlorate in indoor dust.

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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The complex etiology is attributed to many factors like heredity, cirrhosis, hepatitis infections or the dysregulation of the different molecular pathways. Nevertheless, the current treatment regimens have either severe side effects or tumors gradually acquire resistance upon prolonged use. Thus, developing a new selective treatment for HCC is the need of the hour. Many anticancer agents derived from plants have been evaluated for their cytotoxicity towards many human cancer cell lines. Strigolactones (SLs)-a newly discovered class of phytohormones, play a crucial role in the development of plant-root and shoot. Recently, many synthetic analogues of SLs have demonstrated pro-apoptotic effects on different cancer cell lines like prostate, breast, colon and lung. In this study, we tested synthetic SLs analogues on HCC cell line-HepG2 and evaluated their capability to induce cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis. Primary WST-1 assays, followed by annexin-V/7AAD staining, demonstrated the anti-proliferative effects. The SLs analogues TIT3 and TIT7 were found to significantly reduce HepG2 cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner and induce apoptosis. Interestingly, though TIT3 and TIT7 strongly affected cancer cell proliferation, both compounds showed moderate anti-proliferative effect on normal cells. Further, migration of cancer cells was suppressed upon treatment with TIT3 and TIT7 in a wound healing assay. In summary, these findings suggest that two SLs analogues TIT3 and TIT7 exert selective inhibitory effects on cancer cells most likely through targeting microtubules. SLs analogues could be used in future as potential anti-cancer candidates in chemotherapy.