Sensitivity of Daphnia spinulata Birabén, 1917 to glyphosate at different salinity levels.

Daphnia spinulata Birabén, 1917 is an endemic cladoceran species, frequent in the zooplankton communities of the shallow lakes of the Pampean region of Argentina. These lakes have varying salinity levels and, being located in agricultural areas, are frequently subject to pesticide pollution. This study aimed to determine the effects of the herbicide glyphosate (Panzer Gold®) in combination with different salinity levels on the biological parameters of D. spinulata and its recovery ability after a short exposure. Three types of assays were performed: an acute toxicity test, a chronic assessment to determine survival, growth and reproduction, and recovery assays under optimal salinity conditions (1 g L-1). The LC50-48 h of glyphosate was 7.5 mg L-1 (CL 3.15 to 11.72). Longevity and the number of offspring and clutches were significantly reduced due to the combined exposure of glyphosate and increased salinity. The timing of the first offspring did not recover after glyphosate exposure. Our results reveal that D. spinulata is sensitive to the herbicide Panzer Gold® at concentrations well below those indicated in the safety data sheet of this commercial formulation, which causes stronger negative effects in conditions of higher salinity. Further research is needed to shed light on the sensitivity of this cladoceran to glyphosate and its variability under other interactive stress factors.

An overview on multi-elemental profile integrated with chemometrics for food quality assessment: toward new challenges.

Food products, especially those with high value-added, are commonly subjected to strict quality controls, which are of paramount importance, especially for attesting to some peculiar features related, for instance, to their geographical origin and/or the know-how of their producers. However, the sophistication of fraudulent practices requires a continuous update of analytical platforms. Different analytical techniques have become extremely appealing since the instrumental analysis tools evolution has substantially improved the capability to reveal and understand the complexity of food. In light of this, multi-elemental composition has been successful implemented solving a plethora of food authentication and traceability issues. In the last decades, it has existed an ever-increasing trend in analysis based on spectrometry analytical platforms in order to obtain a multi-elemental profile that combined with chemometrics have been noteworthy analytical methodologies able to solve these problems. This review provides an overview of published reports in the last decade (from 2011 to 2021) on food authentication and quality control from their multi-element composition in order to evaluate the state-of-the-art of this field and to identify the main characteristics of applied analytical techniques and chemometric data treatments that have permit achieve accurate discrimination/classification models, highlighting the strengths and the weaknesses of these methodologies.