Genotoxic and mutagenic evaluation in Eisenia foetida annelids exposed to iron ore tailings from the region of Brumadinho, MG, Brazil.

Soils that have a disproportion of metallic elements due to anthropic activities endanger the terrestrial fauna. This study evaluated whether earthworms (Eisenia foetida) exposed to ore tailings from Brumadinho region presented a higher frequency of genotoxic and mutagenic damages than annelids from a reference area (control). The animals were exposed to substrates containing 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% iron mining waste. The results indicated increased DNA damage (p < 0.05), detected by the comet assay at 25% and 50%. There was a three-fold increase in micronuclei in animals on the substrates with the highest concentrations (75% and 100%) [F = 3.095; p = 0.02]. The earthworms lost weight as the percentage of mining waste increased. We concluded that E. foetida presented DNA damage in the contaminated soils of Brumadinho. However, more research is fundamental, once the environmental disaster in Brumadinho was one of the biggest mining catastrophe in Brazil.

Behavior of deteriogenic fungi in aviation fuels (fossil and biofuel) during simulated storage.

Biofuels are expected to play a major role in reducing carbon emissions in the aviation sector globally. Farnesane ("2,6,10-trimethyldodecane") is a biofuel derived from the synthesized iso-paraffin route wich can be blended with jet fuel; however, the microbial behavior in farnesane/jet fuel blends remains unknown. The chemical and biological stability of blends should be investigated to ensure they meet the quality requirements for aviation fuels. This work aimed at evaluating the behavior of two fungi Hormoconis resinae (F089) and Exophiala phaeomuriformis (UFRGS Q4.2) in jet fuel, farnesane, and in 10% farnesane blend during simulated storage. Microcosms (150-mL flasks) were assembled with and without fungi containing Bushnell & Haas mineral medium for 28 days at a temperature of 20±2°C. The fungal growth (biomass), pH, surface tension, and changes in the fuel's hydrocarbon chains were evaluated. This study revealed thatthe treatment containing H. resinae showed a biomass of 19 mg, 12 mg, and 2 mg for jet fuel, blend, and farnesane respectively. The pH was reduced from 7.2 to 4.3 observed in jet fuel treatment The degradation results showed that compounds with carbon chains between C9 and C11, in jet fuel, and blend treatments were preferably degraded. The highest biomass (70.9 mg) produced by E. phaeomuriformis was in 10% farnesane blend, after 21 days. However, no significant decrease was observed on pH and surface tension measurements across the treatments as well as on the hydrocarbons when compared to the controls. This study revealed that farnesane neither inhibited nor promoted greater growth on both microorganisms.

Cerumenogram: a new frontier in cancer diagnosis in humans.

Cancer is the deadliest human disease and the development of new diagnosis methods is important to increase the chances of a cure. In this work it was developed a new method, named here for the first time as cerumenogram, using cerumen (earwax) as a new biomatrix for diagnosis. Earwax samples collected from cancer patients (cancer group) and cancer-free patients (control group) were analyzed by Headspace/Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (HS/GC-MS), following with multivariate analysis steps to process the raw data generated. In total, 158 volatile organic metabolites (VOMs) were identified in the cerumen samples. The 27 selected as potential VOMs biomarkers for cancer provided 100% discrimination between the cancer and control groups. This new test can thus be routinely employed for cancer diagnoses that is non-invasive, fast, cheap, and highly accurate.

Insights into cerumen and application in diagnostics: past, present and future prospective.

Cerumen or earwax is an emerging bio-fluid in clinical diagnosis that has been very little exploited during the past decades in spite of its high diagnostic potential. It is highly abundant in diagnostic biomarkers such as genetic material, lipids, proteins, chemical elements, internal and external metabolites (e.g. hormones, volatile organic compounds, amino acids, xenobiotics etc.) reaching earwax from the blood circulation. Thus, it is able to reflect not only physiology, pathophysiology of the human body but can also detect recent and long term exposure to environmental pollutants, without the need of invasive blood tests and in the same time overcoming many disadvantages faced by using other diagnostic biological fluids. This review discusses the biology, functions, chemistry of earwax, past and current approaches for the study of its chemical composition, emphasizing how a detected variation in its composition can offer information of high clinical value, which can be useful in diagnosis of many diseases such as metabolic disorders and tumours as well as in forensic applications. It also presents details about techniques of sample collection, storage, and analysis. Moreover, it highlights concerns about the use of earwax for diagnostic purposes, which should be addressed to make earwax diagnostics a reality in the future.