Nuclear and morpho-histopathological alterations in Astyanax altiparanae exposed to effluent from the process of anodizing aluminum.

Aluminum is a metal widely used from household utensils to civil construction. Anodizing aluminum is a procedure to form a thick layer of aluminum oxide on the surface in order to confer greater resistance to the material. This process generates an effluent with acidic pH and a high concentration of sulfate. Alternatives for the treatment of this effluent involve the use of the chemical precipitation technique, which can be used with salts of barium chloride (BaCl2), calcium chloride (CaCl2), and aluminum hydroxide with commercial limestone (Cc/Al (OH)3). The objective of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of effluents on Astyanax altiparanae (Lambari), by means of somatic, genetic, morphological, and histological markers after 24 and 96 h of exposure. After measuring the biometric data of the animals and the weight of the liver, we found that the condition factor (K) of individuals exposed to the effluent CaCl2 showed a slight reduction in growth after 96 h while the hepatosomatic index (HSI) remained unchanged for all effluents in both sampling times. The micronucleus test with erythrocytes indicated that the raw effluent (E2) induced nuclear changes after 24 h; however, this effect did not persist after 96 h of exposure. Branchial arches were collected and according to Bernet's index for histopathology, all effluents except Cc/Al (OH)3, induced significant changes in the gills. In accordance with the index of Poleksic and Mitrovic-Tutundzic, CaCl2 was the only effluent to compromise branchial operation. The branchial morphology investigated by SEM showed that the raw effluent (E1) induced injuries and compromised gill functions. This study reinforces the importance of biological tests for the assessment and validation of physical chemicals used and effluent treatment techniques as well as the development and application of biological parameters before the wastewater release, whether in a raw state or a treated one.

Simple chemical tests to identify Cannabis derivatives: Redefinition of parameters and analysis of concepts.

The chemical identification of Cannabis is commonly carried out using the Duquenois-Levine (DL) colorimetric test. On the other hand, its active substances called cannabinoids are differentiated by thin-layer chromatography (TLC). This work aims to optimize parameters of these two chemical tests using different samples of Cannabis in natura and previously heated (decarboxylated), as well as their isolated bioactive and possible false positives. The efficiency of the DL test without using ether and aliphatic aldehyde was evaluated, comparing the removal or not of the solid sample from the reaction medium after applying different concentrations of the vanillin ethanolic solution. The chemical properties of different cannabinoids and solvents were estimated and correlated with the TLC retention factors. DL tests applied directly to the plant matrix did not show the expected color, even using a high concentration of vanillin. However, obtaining ethanolic extracts from the samples using low vanillin concentration was sufficient without detecting false positives described in the literature. Cannabinoids with high dipole moment ( µ ) were poorly eluted in TLC, indicating a great interaction with the stationary phase. Their identifications could be conducted based on their distinct lipophilic characteristics ( log P OW ) and the choice of a more polar solvent mix ( µ mix ). It is concluded that the DL test can be conducted with reagents of less toxicity, but it is necessary to remove the plant matrix from the reaction medium. The correlation of the TLC results with the chemical properties of cannabinoids and solvents was consistent and can be extrapolated for more complex analyses.