Investigation of the performance of activated carbon cloth to remove glyphosate, glufosinate, aminomethylphosphonic acid and bialaphos from aqueous solutions by adsorption/electrosorption.

The present study investigates the removal of glyphosate, glufosinate, aminomethylphosphonic acid and bialaphos herbicides from their 5 × 10-5 M aqueous solutions onto activated carbon cloth by adsorption and electrosorption. Analysis of these highly polar herbicides was achieved by UV-visible absorbance measurements, after derivatization with 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl chloride. The limit of quantification values of glyphosate, glufosinate, aminomethylphosphonic acid and bialaphos were 1.06 × 10-6 mol L-1, 1.38 × 10-6 mol L-1, 1.32 × 10-6 mol L-1 and 1.08 × 10-6 mol L-1, respectively. Glyphosate, glufosinate, aminomethylphosphonic acid and bialaphos were removed from their aqueous solutions with higher efficiencies by means of electrosorption (78.2%, 94.9%, 82.3% and 97%, respectively) than of open-circuit adsorption (42.5%, 22%, 6.9% and 81.8%, respectively). Experimental kinetic data were fitted to pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order kinetic models. It was determined that pseudo-second order kinetic model represents experimental data better with satisfactory coefficient of determination, r2 (> 0.985) and normalized percent deviation, P (< 5.15) values. Adsorption isotherm data were treated according to Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models. Based on the r2 (> 0.98) and P (< 5.9) values, it was found that experimental data well fitted to Freundlich isotherm model. Adsorption capacities of activated carbon cloth for glyphosate, glufosinate, aminomethylphosphonic acid and bialaphos, expressed in terms of Freundlich constant, were calculated as 20.31, 118.73, 239.33 and 30.68 mmol g-1, respectively. The results show that the studied ACC can be used in home/business water treatment systems as an adsorbent due to its high adsorption capacity.

Traces of intact paraben molecules in endometrial carcinoma.

Endometrial carcinoma is the most commonly encountered gynecological cancer in women worldwide and is also one of the popular models of the hormone-dependent carcinomas. This study was aimed to evaluate and compare the concentrations of five paraben molecules (methylparaben, ethylparaben, N-propylparaben, benzylparaben, isobutylparaben + N-butylparaben) in the endometrial and myometrial tissue samples of patients diagnosed with endometrial carcinoma and benign gynecologic diseases. A total of 88 patients were included in the study and chemical analysis was performed on 176 tissue samples. The study group comprised of 33 patients with endometrial carcinoma and 6 patients with endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia. The control group comprised of 49 patients. One endometrial and one myometrial tissue samples were collected from each patient. The analyses were performed using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). At least one type of paraben molecule was detected in 23.07% (9/39) of the patients in the study group, and in 2.04% (1/49) of the patients in the control group; this difference between the groups was statistically significant (p = .002). N-Propylparaben and isobutyl + N-butylparaben were the most frequently detected (in 7/10 of the samples) paraben molecules in the study. Tumor characteristics (tumor diameter, myometrial invasion, architectural grade, nuclear grade, lymphovascular space invasion, and tumor stage) were comparable between the two groups of endometrial carcinoma (paraben-detected and paraben-undetected groups). In conclusion, paraben molecules were more frequently detected in the endometrial carcinoma tissue samples than in the normal endometrium.

Health Risk Assessment of Exposure to Heavy Metals and Aflatoxins via Dietary Intake of Dried Red Pepper from Marketplaces in Antalya, Southern Turkey.

Red pepper is used as raw material in industry and as a seasoning in various foods. In this study, the cadmium, lead and arsenic content of 33 red pepper samples sold in open and sealed packages on different markets was investigated in terms of their synthetic color components, aflatoxin amounts and toxic elements, which have been declared as cancerous by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the results, synthetic colorants, arsenic and cadmium were not detected in any of the samples, while lead was detected in 11 samples and aflatoxins were detected in eight of the samples. As a consequence of these investigations, a health risk analysis was carried out by taking into account the amount of consumption in the region. The B1 aflatoxin content in the samples, according to daily consumption data, exceeded the limits set by the European Commission (EC) by almost 150%.

Investigation of the composition and antioxidant activity of acetone and methanol extracts of Daphne sericea L. and Daphne gnidioides L.

The compositions of methanol and acetone extracts obtained from Daphne sericea L. and Daphne gnidioides L. were investigated. The antioxidant activities of each extract were determined by various test methods. Phenolic composition profile analysis by HPLC-DAD showed that D. gnidioides extracts contain more phenolic compounds than D. sericea extracts. Among the components, syringic acid was found to be the most abundant one in D. gnidioides extracts (42.8 and 38.4 mg per g dry extract of methanol and acetone, respectively). Total flavonoid, total phenolic and total carotenoid contents of methanolic D. gnidioides extracts were found to be 244.5 mg rutin/g dry weight of extract, 1219.3 mg GAE/g dry weight of extract and 11.9 mg/g dry weight of extract, respectively. DPPH·, ABTS·+ and O2·- assays were applied to plant extracts as radical scavenging activity tests. Methanolic extracts of D. sericea and D. gnidioides showed the highest radical scavenging activities according to DPPH· and ABTS·+ tests (61.6 and 147.2 in terms of IC50, respectively). Antioxidant activity tests for measuring lipid oxidation inhibiting capacity were carried in low density lipoprotein (LDL) and bovine brain extract (BBE). Methanolic extracts of D. gnidioides and D. sericea demonstrated remarkable lipid oxidation inhibiting capacity in LDL and BBE tests.

Development of an analysis method for determination of sulfonamides and their five acetylated metabolites in baby foods by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (Orbitrap-MS).

A high sensitive and reliable multiresidue method was developed and validated for determination of twelve sulfonamides and five acetylated metabolites in baby foods by using UHPLC-Orbitrap-MS. The sample preparation included two extraction methods as QuEChERS and ASE. The original QuEChERS method was performed, whereas ASE method was optimized to achieve the best recovery for all analytes. UHPLC-Orbitrap-MS parameters were optimized to obtain good retention and separation in LC and high sensitivity and selectivity in MS. The performance of the method was evaluated according to the European Commision Decision 2002/657/EC. Matrix matched calibration curves showed good r2 (≥0.999) and LOQ was ranged from 0.10 to 0.55µg/kg. ASE was significantly more effective for extraction of the analytes (recovery ranged from 75.5 to 96.6% with RSD≤10.1%) than QuEChERS (recovery ranged from 60.9 to 85.9% with RSD≤19.1%). This method was applied to the analysis of 47 different baby foods and no positive samples were found.