Remediation of endosulfan-contaminated water by hairy roots: removal and phytometabolization assessment.

Although many countries banned the insecticide endosulfan, it is still an environmental pollutant. Plants metabolize the two diastereomers of the formulations known as technical grade endosulfan (TGE) by two phase I pathways: hydrolysis leading to less toxic derivatives and oxidation giving endosulfan sulfate which is as toxic as endosulfan itself. We assessed the removal, bioaccumulation and phase I metabolization of TGE from water matrices using hairy root clones (HRs) of three edible species, Brassica napus, Raphanus sativus and Capsicum annuum. B. napus and C. annuum HRs removed 86% of TGE from the bioreaction media in 2 and 96 h, respectively, whereas R. sativus HRs removed 91% of TGE within 6 h of biotreatment. In the experiments with B. napus, only endosulfan sulfate was detected in both biomass and medium, whereas R. sativus and C. annuum accumulated endosulfan sulfate and endosulfan alcohol. Besides, endosulfan lactone was detected in C. annuum reaction medium. Acute ichthyotoxicity assays toward Poecilia reticulata showed that media contaminated with TGE lethal levels did not produce mortality after the phytotreatments. This research highlights the feasibility of using HRs to evaluate plant enzymatic abilities toward xenobiotics and their potential for the design of ex situ decontamination processes.

Treatment of endosulfan contaminated water with in vitro plant cell cultures.

Endosulfan is a Persistent Organic Pollutant insecticide still used in many countries. It is commercially available as mixtures of two diastereomers, α- and ß-endosulfan, known as technical grade endosulfan (TGE). A laboratory model based on the use of axenic plant cell cultures to study the removal and metabolization of both isomers from contaminated water matrixes was established. No differences were recorded in the removal of the two individual isomers with the two tested endemic plants, Grindelia pulchella and Tessaria absinthioides. Undifferentiated cultures of both plant species were very efficient to lower endosulfan concentration in spiked solutions. Metabolic fate of TGE was evaluated by analyzing the time course of endosulfan metabolites accumulation in both plant biomass and bioremediation media. While in G. pulchella we only detected endosulfan sulfate, in T. absinthioides the non-toxic endosulfan alcohol was the main metabolite at 48h, giving the possibility of designing phytoremediation approaches.

Oil quality and sugar content of peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) grown in Argentina: their relationship with climatic variables and seed yield.

The ratio of oleic to linoleic acids (O/L) and the tocopherol content are important features in determining peanut (Arachis hypogaea) seed shelf life. Soluble carbohydrates are known to be important precursors in roasted peanut flavor. The chemical qualities of Argentine grain are different from those of other countries, but no previous studies that associate grain quality and environmental parameters have been performed. Relationships were determined between O/L, tocopherol and sugar contents, and variations in temperature and rainfall during the grain filling period of Florman INTA peanuts. Dry seed yield was used as another explanatory variable. Multiple regression procedure gave mean temperature (positive coefficient) and total precipitation (negative coefficient) as the explanatory variables for variations in O/L. Total precipitation and dry seed yield (both negative coefficients) were found to be predictor variables for tocopherol and sugar contents. Total precipitation was an explanatory variable included in all of the linear regression models obtained in this study.

Validacion de la metodologia para analisis de residuos de plaguicidas en agua para consumo humano / Validation of methodology for pesticide residue analysis in drinking water

Debido a que los plaguicidas ocupan un lugar importantedentro de las sustancias químicas a las que el hombre estaexpuesto, y frente a la necesidad de que los resultadosobtenidos sean confiables, el objetivo de este trabajo consisteen la validación de la metodología analítica, basada en elmétodo de Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 505revision 2.1 (1995): Analysis of organohalide Pesticide andcommercial polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) products inwater by microextraction and gas chromatography, utilizandocomo valores de referencia los establecidos por el CódigoAlimentario Argentino, siguiendo los lineamientos de lanorma de calidad ISO17025 :2005.Para la extracción de los plaguicidas se utiliza la extracciónliquido-liquido con hexano y posterior identificación ycuantificación por cromatografía de gases...

Evaluación de la exposición ambiental a plaguicidas orgánicos persistentes en dos barrios de la provincia de Córdoba / Assessment of environmental exposure to persistent organic pesticides in two neighborhoods of the province of Corodba

Se determinó la concentración de plaguicidas organoclorados en 167 muestras de sangre entera de habitantes de dos barrios (Sitio Nº 1 y Sitio Nº 2) de la provincia de Córdoba ubicados en los alrededores de depósitos de plaguicidas obsoletos. La presencia de plaguicidas se determinó por cromatografía gaseosa con detector de captura electrónica utilizando columnas capilares de distinta polaridad. Los plaguicidas más frecuentemente encontrados fueron p,p’-DDE, β-HCH y HCB. La máxima concentración detectada fue 7,31 μg/l y correspondió a p,p’-DDE. El β-HCH mostró valores más altos que los otros isómeros en la familia de los hexaclorociclohexanos (HCH). Se observó buena correlación entre la concentración de p,p’-DDE yla edad tal como se esperaba para un contaminante persistente y bioacumulable. El trabajo aporta información sobre los niveles de plaguicidas organoclorados en sangre en una población con exposición ambiental estudiada frente a denuncias periodísticas y de los mismos habitantes del lugar.

Organochlorine pesticides were analyzed in 167 samples of whole blood colleted from people from two different sites in the province of Córdoba (Site Nº 1 and Site Nº 2). These sites were close to unused pesticides store. The presence of pesticides was determined by gas-chromatography with electron-capture detection using capillary columns. p,p’-DDE, β-HCH and HCB were the most frequently pesticide detected. The highest concentration found was 7,31 μg/l of p,p’-DDE. β-HCH showed highest values than its two isomers. As expected, significant relationship was found between the level of p,p’-DDE andthe age, since the former is a persistent and bioacumulative compound. This paper shows the organochlorine pesticides levels in a population with environmental exposure.