Publications by authors named "Alexandra Spyrou"

Tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) is a widely used flame retardant in numerous commercial and industrial products. Due to its widespread release and detection in various environmental matrices, TCEP has raised great concerns about its risk to aquatic biota and human health. To this end, the present study investigates the TCEP environmental and human health mediated effects on aquatic biological species/models belonging to different trophic levels, as well as on human peripheral blood lymphocytes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Roscoe (ginger) is a plant from the family, and its extracts have been found to contain several compounds with beneficial bioactivities. Nowadays, the use of environmentally friendly and sustainable extraction methods has attracted considerable interest. The main objective of this study was to evaluate subcritical propane (scPropane), supercritical CO (scCO), and supercritical CO with ethanol (scCO + EtOH) as co-solvent methods for the extraction of high value products from ginger.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Considering that the PFOA and PFOS are widely spread chemicals with harmful effects in human and environmental health as well as the increasing interest of the scientific community in the implications that might present especially when they co-exist, this study aims to assess their harmful impacts, both individually and as a mixture on human lymphocytes and aquatic microorganisms. The cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay was used to examine their potential for cytotoxicity and genotoxicity towards human cells, and Microtox assay using Aliivibrio fischeri assay was used to estimate the environmental risk. Regarding the human lymphocytes, the tested concentrations ranged between 250 and 1000 μg L, for all cases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are anthropogenic synthetic compounds, with high chemical and thermal stability and a persistent, stable and bioaccumulative nature that renders them a potential hazard for the environment, its organisms, and humans alike. Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are the most well-known substances of this category and even though they are phased out from production they are still highly detectable in several environmental matrices. As a result, they have been spread globally in water sources, soil and biota exerting toxic and detrimental effects.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The development and implementation of safe natural alternatives to synthetic pesticides are urgent needs that will provide ecological solutions for the control of plant diseases, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, pests, and weeds to ensure the economic stability of farmers and food security, as well as protection of the environment and human health. Unambiguously, production of botanical pesticides will allow for the sustainable and efficient use of natural resources and finally decrease the use of chemical inputs and burden. This is further underlined by the strict regulations on pesticide residues in agricultural products and is in harmony with the Farm to Fork strategy, which aims to reduce pesticide use by 50% by 2030.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Paroxetine (PRX) is one of the most used antidepressants and an emerging contaminant with potential harmful effects to the environment and human health. The present study investigates in detail the toxic potential of PRX using a battery of bioassays on fresh- and marine species, marine bacteria, and human lymphocytes. All the tested organisms and human lymphocytes were exposed at concentrations ranging from μg L to mg L.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pharmaceutical Active Compounds (PhACs) are of particular interest among the emerging contaminants detected in the aquatic environment. Commonly, PhACs exist as complex mixtures in aquatic systems, causing potential adverse effects to the environment and human health than those of individual compounds. Based on the increasing interest in the contamination of water resources by PhACs, the photocatalytic degradation of Cimetidine and Amisulpride as a mixture in combination with their toxic and genotoxic effects before and after the treatment were evaluated for the first time.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Malignant pilomatricoma or pilomatric carcinoma, the malignant counterpart of pilomatricoma, is a rare, low-grade malignant lesion that usually arises from a pilomatricoma and is usually found in elderly men. We report a case of malignant pilomatricoma in an 8-year-old girl.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF