Mycotoxins in herbal teas marketed in Latvia and dietary exposure assessment.

The occurrence of 12 mycotoxins has been analysed by liquid chromatography - time of flight mass spectrometry in the batch of 60 herbal teas purchased from drugstores in Latvia. Among the dry tea samples, 90% were positive for one to eight mycotoxins. Enniatin B and deoxynivalenol (DON) were the most frequently detected mycotoxins in 55% and 45% of the samples, respectively. DON reached the highest level, from 129 µg kg-1 in herbal blend to 5,463 µg kg-1 in wormwood tea. Ochratoxin A (OTA) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) were found in 10% and 20% of the samples at the concentrations ranged between 2.99-30.3 µg kg-1 and 3.40-23.7 µg kg-1. Studies of the tea infusion process indicated that 32-100% of DON and zearalenone present in dry teas were extracted into the infusions. Dietary exposure assessment was performed, using the determined mycotoxin levels and the available consumption data.

Determination of acidic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in aquatic samples by liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry combined with carbon nanotubes-based solid-phase extraction.

A solid-phase extraction (SPE) method based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) was developed for the determination of 12 acidic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in surface waters and tap water. Pristine and functionalised CNTs were evaluated as sorbent materials. Batch experiments were used to optimise sorption and desorption conditions (sorbent type and amount, adsorption time, pH). The adsorption equilibrium was reached after 8 to 48 h duration, which increased with the pH of solution. Non-agglomerated pristine CNTs (20 mg) showed the most optimal adsorption (94 to 100%) for all of the analytes after a 30-min contact period in acidified water solutions (100 mL). The compounds retained at those conditions were recovered by 40 to 95% by using 5% ammonium hydroxide in methanol as the desorbing solution at ambient conditions. A comprehensive liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-QqQ-MS/MS) was used for the analysis of real water samples. The method showed sufficient recovery (65-125%) and good precision (2-14% relative standard deviation (RSD)). The limits of detection and quantification ranged between 0.01 and 1.3 ng L-1 and 0.04 and 3.9 ng L-1. Only diclofenac and ibuprofen were found in the analysed surface water samples from Latvia (n = 10) and Norway (n = 14). Diclofenac was found at 1.7-8.4 ng L-1 concentration in two samples of surface waters, whereas the concentrations of ibuprofen ranged between 1.0 and 9.2 ng L-1 in seven samples collected in Norway and 3.9-17 ng L-1 in three samples from Latvia.

Determination of pharmaceutical residues and assessment of their removal efficiency at the Daugavgriva municipal wastewater treatment plant in Riga, Latvia.

Pharmaceutical products (PPs) belong to emerging contaminants that may accumulate along with other chemical pollutants in wastewaters (WWs) entering industrial and/or urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In the present study, the technique of ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (Orbitrap-HRMS) was applied for the analysis of 24 multi-class PPs in WW samples collected at different technological stages of Daugavgriva WWTP located in Riga, Latvia. Caffeine and acetaminophen levels in the range of 7,570-11,403 ng/L and 810-1,883 ng/L, respectively, were the predominant compounds among 19 PPs determined in the WW. The results indicate that aerobic digestion in biological ponds was insufficiently effective to degrade most of the PPs (reduction efficiency <0-50.0%) with the exception of four PPs that showed degradation efficiency varying from 55.0 to 99.9%. Tests of short-term chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis for PP degradation in WW samples were performed, and the results reflected the complexity of different degradation mechanisms and physicochemical transformations of PPs. The toxicological studies of WW impact on Daphnia magna indicated gradual reduction of the total toxicity through the treatment stages at the WWTP.