Influence of soil type on bacterial growth and tolerance to experimentally added human antibiotics.

The human antibiotics cefuroxime (CXM) and azithromycin (AZI) are among the most commonly prescribed. A significant portion of both are excreted and has been detected in sewage treatment plant effluents. The increasing use of such effluents in crops for irrigation and as fertilisers poses a threat to soil microbiota because of the presence of antibiotics.

Impact of drinking water treatment processes on the residues of plant protection products for consumer and aquatic risk assessment: theoretical and experimental studies.

Pesticides residues can occur in ground and surface waters, and potentially react with chemicals used for water disinfection treatments, such as chlorine. This can lead to the formation of unknown reaction products, which can be more toxic and/or persistent than the active substances themselves, and therefore become a potential risk for human health and environment. Thus, in the framework of the EU Regulation 1107/2009, the identification of these by-products and their potential risk should be assessed.

A study using QSAR/QSPR models focused on the possible occurrence and risk of alloxydim residues from chlorinated drinking water, according to the EU Regulation.

Any active substance with phytosanitary capacity intended to be marketed in Europe must pass exhaustive controls to assess its risk before being marketed and used in European agriculture. Since the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, agrochemical companies have been obliged to study the formation of pesticide transformation products (TPs) during the treatment of drinking water containing pesticide residues. However, there is no consensus on how to address this requirement.

Computational-Based Study of QuEChERS Extraction of Cyclohexanedione Herbicide Residues in Soil by Chemometric Modeling.

Assessment of two buffered QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) versions (i.e., citrate and acetate) modified by including methanol to recover the residues of three cyclohexanedione oxime (CHD) herbicides and three of their byproducts from agricultural soil was performed.

Considerations of nano-QSAR/QSPR models for nanopesticide risk assessment within the European legislative framework.

The European market for pesticides is currently legislated through the well-developed Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009. This regulation promotes the competitiveness of European agriculture, recognizing the necessity of safe pesticides for human and animal health and the environment to protect crops against pests, diseases and weeds.

Computational Study of the Structure and Degradation Products of Alloxydim Herbicide.

Density functional theory calculations allowed us to study alloxydim herbicide and to identify the most stable conformers, the factors that governs their stability, and the interconversion mechanisms among the most relevant conformers. The degradation chain involves, as a first step, the cleavage of the N-O bond and the formation of a stable intermediate difficult to characterize experimentally. The study performed also allowed us to identify the properties of this elusive intermediate and to determine that the dominant fragmentation process in the gas phase is the homolytic fragmentation.

Photolysis of clethodim herbicide and a formulation in aquatic environments: Fate and ecotoxicity assessment of photoproducts by QSAR models.

The photochemical fate of the herbicide clethodim in natural waters was investigated under simulated and natural sunlight radiation. This herbicide exhibited a rapid degradation rate in simulated aquatic environment with half-lives ranged from 27.9min to 4.

Quantum chemistry in environmental pesticide risk assessment.

The scientific community and regulatory bodies worldwide, currently promote the development of non-experimental tests that produce reliable data for pesticide risk assessment. The use of standard quantum chemistry methods could allow the development of tools to perform a first screening of compounds to be considered for the experimental studies, improving the risk assessment. This fact results in a better distribution of resources and in better planning, allowing a more exhaustive study of the pesticides and their metabolic products.

Industrial potential of lipoxygenases.

Lipoxygenases (LOXs) are iron- or manganese-containing oxidative enzymes found in plants, animals, bacteria and fungi. LOXs catalyze the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids to the corresponding highly reactive hydroperoxides. Production of hydroperoxides by LOX can be exploited in different applications such as in bleaching of colored components, modification of lipids originating from different raw materials, production of lipid derived chemicals and production of aroma compounds.

Lipophilic phytochemicals from banana fruits of several Musa species.

The chemical composition of the lipophilic extract of ripe pulp of banana fruit from several banana cultivars belonging to the Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana species (namely 'Chinese Cavendish', 'Giant Cavendish', 'Dwarf Red', 'Grand Nain', 'Eilon', 'Gruesa', 'Silver', 'Ricasa', 'Williams' and 'Zelig') was studied by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the first time. The banana cultivars showed similar amounts of lipophilic extractives (ca. 0.

Biopesticides in the framework of the European Pesticide Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009.

Background: The European Pesticide Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009 encourages the use of less harmful active substances. Two main concerns involve the application of cut-off criteria for pesticides without losing tools for future agriculture (especially for minor uses) and the implementation of zonal evaluations.

Formation of oligomeric alkenylperoxides during the oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids: an electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry study.

This study reports the identification of oligomeric alkenylperoxides by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS(2)), during the oxidation of oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids with Fenton's (Fe(2+)/H(2)O(2)) and Fe(2+)/O(2) systems. The reactions were followed by ferrous oxidation-xylenol orange method together with GC-MS and GC-FID, allowing to observe that both oxidation systems are different in terms of hydroperoxide evolution, probably due to the presence of different intermediate reactive species: perferryl ion and OH(·) radical responsible for the decomposition of lipid hydroperoxides and formation of new compounds. The analysis of ESI-MS in the negative mode, obtained after oxidation of each fatty acid, confirmed the presence of the monomeric oxidation products together with other compounds at high mass region above m/z 550.

Miscanthus x giganteus bark organosolv fractionation: fate of lipophilic components and formation of valuable phenolic byproducts.

The behavior of Miscanthus x giganteus bark lipophilic extractives during three acid organosolv pulping processes (Acetosolv, formic acid fractionation, and Milox) was investigated. It was demonstrated that nearly 90% of the lipophilic extractives were removed from pulps by either dissolution in the organosolv liquors (fatty acids and alcohols) or extensive degradation (sterols). The organosolv liquors were found to be rich in vanillin, syringaldehyde, and ferulic, vanillic, and p-coumaric acids.

Native lignin structure of Miscanthus x giganteus and its changes during acetic and formic acid fractionation.

Milled wood lignin (MWL) and acetic and formic acid lignin (AL and FL) from Miscanthus x giganteus bark were produced, respectively, before and after organosolv fractionations under optimal conditions, in terms of organic and hydrochloric acid concentrations, liquid/wood ratio, and reaction time. In order to study the M. x giganteus native lignin structure and its modifications during the fractionation process, the lignins were studied by two-dimensional heteronuclear single quantum coherence (2D-(HSQC)), (13)C- and (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) both before and after thioacidolysis, and elemental analysis.

Bleaching Miscanthus x giganteus Acetosolv pulps with hydrogen peroxide/acetic acid. Part 1: Behaviour in aqueous alkaline media.

Miscanthus x giganteus bark samples subjected to fractionation by the Acetosolv process under optimal conditions were bleached using hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid in aqueous media under alkaline conditions. The influence of the main operational variables in the bleaching of Acetosolv pulps of M. x giganteus (i.