Effect of fungal mycelia on the HPLC-UV and UV-vis spectrophotometric assessment of mycelium-bound epoxide hydrolase using glycidyl phenyl ether.

The use of mycelia as biocatalysts has technical and economic advantages. However, there are several difficulties in obtaining accurate results in mycelium-catalysed reactions. Firstly, sample extraction, indispensable because of the presence of mycelia, can bring into the extract components with a similar structure to that of the analyte of interest; secondly, mycelia can influence the recovery of the analyte. We prepared calibration standards of 3-phenoxy-1,2-propanediol (PPD) in the pure solvent and in the presence of mycelia (spiked before or after extraction) from five fungi (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus tubingensis, Penicillium aurantiogriseum, Penicillium sp. and Aspergillus terreus). The quantification of PPD was carried out by HPLC-UV and UV-vis spectrophotometry. The manuscript shows that the last method is as accurate as the HPLC method. However, the colorimetric method led to a higher data throughput, which allowed the study of more samples in a shorter time. Matrix effects were evaluated visually from the plotted calibration data and statistically by simultaneously comparing the intercept and slope of calibration curves performed with solvent, post-extraction spiked standards and pre-extraction spiked standards. Significant differences were found between the post- and pre-extraction spiked matrix-matched functions. Pre-extraction spiked matrix-matched functions based on A. tubingensis mycelia, selected as the reference, were validated and used to compensate for low recoveries. These validated functions were successfully applied to the quantification of PPD achieved during the hydrolysis of glycidyl phenyl ether by mycelium-bound epoxide hydrolases and equivalent hydrolysis yields were determined by HPLC-UV and UV-vis spectrophotometry. This study may serve as starting point to implement matrix effects evaluation when mycelium-bound epoxide hydrolases are studied.

Preliminary health risk assessment for polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans in seafood from Guangzhou and Zhoushan, China.

Dietary intake is one of the important routes of human exposure to brominated flame retardants (BFRs) such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The use of PBDEs may also result in exposure to polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDDs/DFs), as these compounds are impurities in technical mixtures of BFRs and can also be formed unintentionally by the same processes that generate chlorinated dioxins. This study determined the concentrations of polybrominated compounds in common seafood in Guangzhou and Zhoushan, and assessed the health risks of these chemicals via consumption of contaminated seafood. Seafood samples (fish, bivalves, shrimp, crab, and cephalopods) purchased from local markets in 2003 and 2004 were analyzed for PBDEs and PBDDs/DFs. The highest concentration of total PBDEs (46.3 ng g(-1) lipid wt.) was detected in fish from Guangzhou, in which BDEs 47 and 209 were the two predominant congeners. The total daily intakes of PBDEs, PBDDs, and PBDFs were, 946, 6.39, and 6.54 pg kg(-1) body weight (bw) in Guangzhou, and 489, 4.99, and 7.65 pg kg(-1) bw in Zhoushan, respectively. The hazard ratios for PBDDs and PBDFs were both greater than unity, indicating that these compounds may pose some health risks to the local population.

Modeling atmospheric vegetation uptake of PBDEs using field measurements.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are flame retardants used in a variety of consumables. Models indicate that air-vegetation exchange plays an important role in their global distribution. The present study surveyed PBDEs in spruce needles and air (gaseous and particulate-bound) over an annual cycle to model accumulation of PBDEs in vegetation. Air-particulate distributions revealed that penta and higher BDE congeners were mainly associated with particulates even in warmer temperatures, whereas for the tri- and tetra-BDE congeners, a significant temperature dependence was observed. Using measured vegetation and atmospheric concentrations from bud burst 2004 to June 2005, a modeling concept was developed to determine PBDE deposition velocities to vegetation. Particulate-bound deposition velocity was calculated to be 3.8 m/h. Net gaseous transfer velocities ranged from 2.4 to 62.2 m/h and correlated significantly with log K(OA). These derived values were used to model PBDE accumulation by vegetation through time, and these agreed well with measured values. This study provides the necessary background for modeling PBDE transport between air and coniferous vegetation globally.