Search results for "contamination"

Quantitative determination of trichothecenes in breadsticks by gas chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry.

2014

Breadsticks are pencil-sized sticks of dry bread widely consumed as a pre-meal appetiser. They are basically wheat-based snacks, which makes them a good matrix to evaluate mycotoxin contamination, since wheat is very susceptible to fungal attack. In this sense, the fast, selective and sensitive gas chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (GCQqQ- MS/MS) method proposed here allows simultaneous determination of deoxynivalenol (DON), 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol, fusarenon-X, diacetoxyscirpenol, nivalenol, neosolaniol, HT-2 and T-2 toxin in breadsticks after QuEChERS extraction and clean-up. The performance of the method was assessed with respect to European Commission Regulations …

Effect of soil moisture on pesticide toxicity to an enchytraeid worm, Enchytraeus sp.

1997

The aim of the study was to find out whether soil moisture affects toxicity of organic pesticides to an enchytraeid worm. Laboratory experiments were carried out with dimethoate and benomyl, using a small Enchytraeus sp. as the test species. Substrate was natural agricultural field soil cultivated without pesticides for several years. Experimental design consisted of three soil moistures (40, 55, and 70% of water holding capacity) and five pesticide concentrations, plus controls. Measured parameters were survival, size of the parent worms and number and size of juveniles produced. Dimethoate was relatively non-toxic to this species. Dimethoate did not decrease survival, but sublethal effect…

Assessment of ecotoxicity and total volatile organic compound (TVOC) emissions from food and children's toy products

2018

The development of new methods for identifying a broad spectrum of analytes, as well as highly selective tools to provide the most accurate information regarding the processes and relationships in the world, has been an area of interest for researchers for many years. The information obtained with these tools provides valuable data to complement existing knowledge but, above all, to identify and determine previously unknown hazards. Recently, attention has been paid to the migration of xenobiotics from the surfaces of various everyday objects and the resulting impacts on human health. Since children are among those most vulnerable to health consequences, one of the main subjects of interest…

Potential use of grapevine cv Askari for heavy metal phytoremediation purposes at greenhouse scale

2020

Grapevine varieties possess desirable characteristics for phytoremediation purposes. We investigated the potential of grapevine cv Askari in phytoremediation of heavy metal (HM) pollutions. In total 80 grapevine seedlings were exposed to four levels of HM stress (mild, low, moderate, and severe) in greenhouse condition during two growing years (2018 and 2019). The HM concentrations (Zn, Cu, Cd, Cr, and Pb) were subsequently determined in the soils, roots, and grapevine aboveground parts (AGPs), and then phytoextraction and phytostabilization potential assessment indices, i.e., biological absorption coefficient (BAC), bioconcentration factor (BCF), and translocation factor (TF), were calcula…

Study on Trichothecene and Zearalenone Presence in Romanian Wheat Relative to Weather Conditions

2019

To evaluate the influence of weather conditions on mycotoxin presence in wheat, deoxynivalenol (DON), 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3AcDON), 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15AcDON), fusarenon-X (FUS-X), nivalenol (NIV), HT-2 toxin (HT-2), T-2 toxin (T-2), diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), neosolaniol (NEO) and zearalenone (ZEN) were evaluated in 102 Romanian wheat samples coming from five wheat growing areas during 2015. Only six mycotoxins were detected, while FUS-X, DAS, NEO and NIV were not present in the wheat samples. Mycotoxin concentrations were correlated with precipitation and temperature values during anthesis and the preharvest period. Overall, the highest frequency was registered for DON, while the…

Assessment of the Microbiological Quality of Groundwater in Three Regions of the Valencian Community (Spain)

2014

Urban groundwater development was traditionally constrained by concerns about its quality. This study was conducted in the regions of La Ribera Alta and Ribera Baja and La Plana de Requena-Utiel of the Valencian Community (Valencia, Spain) where population density, demand for drinking water and agricultural activities are high. Groundwater bodies (GWBs) are regarded as management areas within each territory, and were used to establish protection policies. This study analyzed eleven GWBs. We used two databases with microbiological measurements from 154 wells over a 7-year period (2004–2011), risk factors and groundwater information. Wells were grouped according to frequency of microbiologica…

Occurrence of glyphosate in beer from the Latvian market.

2018

A sensitive LC-MS/MS method for the determination of glyphosate in beer has been developed, validated, and applied to analyse 100 beer samples from 24 different producers and distributors in Latvia. The selected samples represented most beer brands and varieties sold in local supermarkets. Different procedures for sample preparation and chromatographic separation were compared. The final version of the method consisted of solid phase extraction, chromatographic separation on aminopropyl stationary phase, and detection using tandem mass spectrometry. The concentration of glyphosate in beer varied from below the LOD of 0.2 μg kg-1 up to 150 μg kg-1, higher than previously reported. Significan…

Assessing soil contamination and temporal trends of heavy metal contents in greenhouses on semiarid land

2018

Information about the behavior and temporal evolution of heavy metals in agricultural soils is limited, particularly about greenhouse soils on semiarid lands, indeed it nonexistent. Western Almería (Southern Spain) is a semiarid land where some 30,000 ha are occupied by greenhouses with high productivity. As these greenhouses are fundamental to the socioeconomic development of this area, they should be maintained and well conserved. However, there are indications that long-term intensive agriculture with considerable agrochemicals use can deteriorate soil quality, which in turn, would reduce productivity and food quality. This study was conducted to investigate soil contamination and the te…

2019

Contamination of fresh water bodies by human enteric viruses from wastewater discharge is a well-established phenomenon. Here we propose a model of viral contamination of rivers based on acute gastroenteritis epidemiology and assess how well it can simulate in situ experimental monitoring. Noroviruses, rotaviruses, enteroviruses, adenoviruses and hepatitis A viruses were quantified by molecular methods after water concentration. Water flows were obtained from the Hydro databank and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) data. Acute gastroenteritis cases based on medical prescriptions were recorded by the French public health agency. We estimated the total number of daily viral acute gastroenteri…

Current trends on the determination of organic UV filters in environmental water samples based on microextraction techniques – A review

2018

UV filters are a group of cosmetic ingredients commonly used in a wide variety of cosmetic products to protect users from UV solar radiation. They belong to different chemical families, such as benzophenones, p-aminobenzoates, salicylates, cinnamates, benzotriazoles, benzimidazoles, camphor derivatives, triazines, etc. These cosmetic ingredients are considered as emerging contaminants since they easily reach the aquatic environment, where they are accumulated causing harmful effects in the flora and fauna despite being present at the ng L-1 level. Therefore, the development of sensitive and selective analytical methods for their environmental surveillance monitoring is of high interest. In …