The awareness of citizens concerning the health risks caused by environmental pollution is growing, but studies on determinants of pro-environmental behaviors have rarely examined health-related aspects. In this study, we investigated these determinants using data from a large survey among Italian university students (15 Universities: 4778 filled questionnaires). Besides the health-related aspects, represented by environmental health risk perception and functional health literacy, we considered social and demographic characteristics (gender, area of residence, sources of information, trust in institutional and non-institutional subjects, and students’ capacity of positive actions, indicated as internal locus of control). The attitudes towards pro-environmental behaviors were positive for more than 70% of students and positively related with health risk perception, internal locus of control, and health literacy. The correspondence between the positive attitudes towards pro-environmental behaviors and the real adoption of such behaviors was approximately 20% for most behaviors, except for the separate collection of waste (60%). Such a discrepancy can be attributable to external obstacles (i.e., lack of time, costs, lack of support). The health-related aspects were linked to the pro-environmental attitudes, but to a lesser extent to pro-environmental behaviors, owing to the complexity of their determinants. However, they should be taken in account in planning education interventions.

The intensive use of pesticides has led to their increasing presence in water, soil, and agricultural products. Mounting evidence indicates that some pesticides may be endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), being therefore harmful for the human health and the environment. In this study, three pesticides, glyphosate, thiacloprid, and imidacloprid, were tested for their ability to interfere with estrogen biosynthesis and/or signaling, to evaluate their potential action as EDCs. Among the tested compounds, only glyphosate inhibited aromatase activity (up to 30%) via a non-competitive inhibition or a mixed inhibition mechanism depending on the concentration applied. Then, the ability of the three pesticides to induce an estrogenic activity was tested in MELN cells. When compared to 17β-estradiol, thiacloprid and imidacloprid induced an estrogenic activity at the highest concentrations tested with a relative potency of 5.4 × 10⁻¹⁰ and 3.7 × 10⁻⁹, respectively. Molecular dynamics and docking simulations predicted the potential binding sites and the binding mode of the three pesticides on the structure of the two key targets, providing a rational for their mechanism as EDCs. The results demonstrate that the three pesticides are potential EDCs as glyphosate acts as an aromatase inhibitor, whereas imidacloprid and thiacloprid can interfere with estrogen induced signaling.

Oxidative stress (OS) has been recognized to play a primary role in many acute and chronic diseases. Environmental and lifestyle factors, such as physical activity and dietary intake are involved in the oxidative balance, but their specific influence remains unclear. In order to contribute to a greater characterization of the oxidative status in relation to exercise training and to environmental and lifestyle factors, different biomarkers—pro-oxidant capacity (d-ROMs), anti-oxidant capacity (BAP), radical scavenging activity (DPPH) and DNA damage (8-OHdGuo)—were measured in biological samples of a group of healthy middle aged subjects. The evaluation of the investigated biomarkers highlighted a significant effect of exercise training on OS, measured as d-ROMs and 8OhdGuo, in subjects playing regular physical activity. An association of the OS status measured by DPPH and 8-OhdGuo with the condition of living in urban high traffic areas was also found. Otherwise dietary habits did not reveal any significant effect on OS levels by the investigated biomarkers. As a whole the results obtained in this investigation suggested that a correct lifestyle, with regular physical activity practice, contributes to control the OS status in middle age subjects.