Enhanced removal of chiral emerging contaminants by an electroactive biofilter.

50% of pharmaceuticals and 25% of herbicides used worldwide are chiral. Each enantiomer has a unique toxicity and biodegradation profile, affecting differently to organisms. Chirality plays a key role in the behavior of these emerging contaminants (ECs) in terms of their pharmacological or herbicidal activity, but this peculiarity is often overlooked in environmental research.

Chiral Analysis of Pesticides and Emerging Contaminants by Capillary Electrophoresis-Application to Toxicity Evaluation.

Chiral analysis is a very relevant topic in environmental chemistry. This is due to the different properties of the stereoisomers of chiral compounds. In the case of agrochemicals, the desired activity, degradation rate, or toxicity, among other characteristics, may differ between stereoisomers, and the same is true for emerging contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

Enantioseparation and ecotoxicity evaluation of ibrutinib by Electrokinetic Chromatography using single and dual systems.

In this work, two chiral methods enabling the separation of ibrutinib enantiomers were developed by Electrokinetic Chromatography. A cyclodextrin (CD) or a mixture of the CD and a chiral ionic liquid (CIL) was used as chiral selector. Using the single CD system, seven neutral and six anionic CDs were tested in a formate buffer at pH 3.

Simultaneous microextraction of pesticides from wastewater using optimized μSPEed and μQuEChERS techniques for food contamination analysis.

Food contamination with pesticides poses significant risks to consumer safety and undermines confidence in food supply chains. Detecting pesticides in food samples is a challenging task that requires efficient extraction techniques. This study aims to compare and validate two microextraction techniques, μSPEed and μQuEChERS-dSPE, for the simultaneous extraction of eight pesticides (paraquat, thiabendazole, asulam, picloram, ametryn, atrazine, linuron, and cymoxanil) from wastewater samples.

First eco-toxicological evidence of ivabradine effect on the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri: A chiral view.

Ivabradine (S-ivabradine) is a contemporary antihypertensive drug designed and commercialized for cardiovascular diseases treatment over the world. In this work the enantiomer-specific stability and acute toxicity of ivabradine to the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri as well as the potential mechanism of action were investigated for the first time. With this aim, real concentrations of ivabradine enantiomers under abiotic and biotic conditions were determined by Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) with cyclodextrins (CDs) as chiral selectors.

Trend analysis and outlier distribution of CO and CH: A case study at a rural site in northern Spain.

CO and CH outliers may have a noticeable impact on the trend of both gases. Nine years of measurements since 2010 recorded at a rural site in northern Spain were used to investigate these outliers. Their influence on the trend was presented and two limits were established.

Simultaneous Enantiomeric Separation of Carfentrazone-Ethyl Herbicide and Its Hydrolysis Metabolite Carfentrazone by Cyclodextrin Electrokinetic Chromatography. Analysis of Agrochemical Products and a Degradation Study.

The different activity and toxicity that the enantiomers of agrochemicals may have requires the development of stereoselective analytical methodologies enabling the individual determination of each enantiomer. The aim of this work was to develop the first Electrokinetic Chromatography methodology enabling the simultaneous enantiomeric separation of carfentrazone-ethyl herbicide and its hydrolysis metabolite carfentrazone. The use of an anionic cyclodextrin as chiral selector (captisol at 2.

Stereoselective separation of sulfoxaflor by electrokinetic chromatography and applications to stability and ecotoxicological studies.

An Electrokinetic Chromatography method was developed for the stereoselective analysis of sulfoxaflor, a novel sulfoximine agrochemical with two chiral centers. A screening with fourteen negatively charged CDs was performed and Succinyl-β-CD (Succ-β-CD) was selected. A 15 mM concentration of this CD in a 100 mM borate buffer (pH 9.

Enantiomeric separation of prothioconazole and prothioconazole-desthio by Capillary Electrophoresis. Degradation studies in environmental samples.

In this work, two analytical methodologies by Capillary Electrophoresis were developed. The first one enabled the rapid and cost-effective enantioseparation of prothioconazole and was applied to the analysis of prothioconazole-based commercial agrochemical formulations. The second methodology enabled the simultaneous enantioseparation of prothioconazole and its metabolite prothioconazole-desthio and was applied to degradation studies of both compounds in soil and sand samples.

Natural radioactivity and total K content in wild-growing or cultivated edible mushrooms and soils from Galicia (NW, Spain).

The radioactive isotope, K, of naturally occurring potassium (0.012%) is present in the Earth's crust in a low percentage of all potassium, leading to its presence in almost all foodstuffs. The impact of K activity concentrations was assessed in wild and cultivated edible mushrooms and in growing substrates.

Spatial analysis and evolution of four air pollutants in England and Wales.

Pollution control is based on an exhaustive knowledge of concentration distributions. This study analyses a detailed database of NO, O, PM and PM in England and Wales over the period 2007-2011. Daily and annual means were considered in a 1-km spatial resolution.

Enantiomeric separation of panthenol by Capillary Electrophoresis. Analysis of commercial formulations and toxicity evaluation on non-target organisms.

The first CE methodology enabling the enantiomeric separation of panthenol was developed in this work. Electrokinetic chromatography with cyclodextrins (CD-EKC) was the CE mode employed for this purpose. The effect of different experimental variables such as the nature and concentration of the cyclodextrin, the temperature and the separation voltage was investigated.

Key Points in Air Pollution Meteorology.

Although emissions have a direct impact on air pollution, meteorological processes may influence inmission concentration, with the only way to control air pollution being through the rates emitted. This paper presents the close relationship between air pollution and meteorology following the scales of atmospheric motion. In macroscale, this review focuses on the synoptic pattern, since certain weather types are related to pollution episodes, with the determination of these weather types being the key point of these studies.

Villari Effect at Low Strain in Magnetoactive Materials.

Magnetic composites of soft magnetic FeGa particles embedded in a silicone matrix have been synthesized. The Villari effect has been studied depending on the size and concentration of the particles and on the magnetic state of the composite. The results indicate a decrease in the Villari effect when the concentration of the magnetic particles increases.

Selenium intake from tuna in Galicia (Spain): Health risk assessment and protective role against exposure to mercury and inorganic arsenic.

This study aims to quantify the selenium contribution from tuna to the Spanish diet and evidence the Se protective role against mercury and inorganic arsenic toxicity. Selenium concentrations in tuna were determined by ICP-MS spectrometry (expressed as mg kg), and the risk assessment was evaluated joined to Hg and iAs contrasting criteria of regulatory agencies with those that consider the Se protective role. Differences between Se average concentrations in fresh (1.

Enantiomeric Determination of Drugs in Pharmaceutical Formulations and Biological Samples by Electrokinetic Chromatography.

Chirality is a relevant issue in the pharmaceutical field due to the different biological activity that enantiomers of a chiral drug can show. In fact, the desired biological or pharmaceutical activity might be present in only one of the enantiomers, while the other enantiomer(s) may have different biological activity, be inactive or even toxic. This has motivated in recent years the development of drugs marketed as pure enantiomers to avoid exposing the organism to the action of enantiomers that may not be active or even harmful to health.

Modeling-based optimization of the simultaneous enantiomeric separation of multicomponent mixtures of phenoxy acid herbicides using dual cyclodextrin systems by Capillary Electrophoresis.

In this work, the Dubsky's model proposed for Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) enantioseparation systems with a mixture of chiral selectors was applied to the rapid optimization of the simultaneous enantiomeric separation of a multicomponent mixture of six phenoxy acid herbicides using a dual system of two cyclodextrins (CDs), (2-hydroxypropyl)-β-CD (HP-β-CD) and heptakis(2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-β-CD (TM-β-CD). Simply by carrying out a small number of individual experiments separately with each CD, the Dubsky's model enabled to foresee the results that could be obtained for any possible combination of concentrations and relative proportion of both CDs in the mixture. Results obtained in this work demonstrated that the model was successful by improving the previous results experimentally obtained by the trial and error method for the simultaneous enantiomeric separation of the six phenoxy acid herbicides studied in this work.

Enantiomeric separation of ivabradine by cyclodextrin-electrokinetic chromatography. Effect of amino acid chiral ionic liquids.

A chiral methodology was developed for the first time to ensure the quality control of ivabradine, a novel anti-ischemic and heart rate lowering drug commercialized as a pure enantiomer. With this aim, electrokinetic chromatography (EKC) was employed and the enantiomeric separation of ivabradine was investigated using different anionic and neutral cyclodextrins (CDs) and amino acid-based chiral ionic liquids (CILs) as sole chiral selectors. Baseline separation was only achieved with sulfated CDs, and the best enantiomeric resolution was obtained with sulfated-γ-CD.

Enantiomeric analysis of pyrethroids and organophosphorus insecticides.

The use of pesticides has increased sharply in the last decades, not only in agriculture, but also in industry, public health, and other areas. Pyrethroids and organophosphorus insecticides are among the most employed pesticides. These chemicals usually contain asymmetric chiral atoms; thus, they are characterized by stereoisomerism.

CO spatio-temporal analysis in the Iberian Peninsula.

A comparison between monthly CO values calculated in the Iberian Peninsula and those measured during six years commencing on October 2010 in the centre of its upper plateau is presented. Gaussian and Epanechnikov kernels are used to calculate CO concentration and its growth rate in the study region from values at certain grid points. Slight spatial differences are obtained, revealing that both concentration and growth rate are nearly uniform in the region.

Stability and toxicity studies for duloxetine and econazole on Spirodela polyrhiza using chiral capillary electrophoresis.

Stability and toxicity studies for duloxetine and econazole were achieved using individual solutions and their mixtures. Stability of drugs racemates and enantiomers was investigated under abiotic and biotic conditions. Toxicity was evaluated for the first time on Spirodela polyrhiza.

Enantiomer stability and combined toxicity of duloxetine and econazole on Daphnia magna using real concentrations determined by capillary electrophoresis.

Enantiomer stability was investigated in this work for the first time for duloxetine and econazole in individual solutions and their mixtures under the standardized ecotoxicity test experimental conditions for Daphnia magna and abiotic conditions. Real (and not nominal) enantiomer concentrations were employed for calculations since their determination was achieved by Capillary Electrophoresis. Relevant differences were found in stability profiles for both drugs in any case.

Analysis of PM10 and PM2.5 Concentrations in an Urban Atmosphere in Northern Spain.

This work analyses levels of particles PM10 and PM2.5 recorded at four air-quality monitoring stations located in the urban area of Valladolid (Spain) during 2015-2016. To achieve this, the evolution of particle concentrations at different time scales was determined.

Cationic amine-bridged periodic mesoporous organosilica materials for off-line solid-phase extraction of phenoxy acid herbicides from water samples prior to their simultaneous enantiomeric determination by capillary electrophoresis.

Two novel materials based on periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) with cationic amine-bridged ligands, (styrylmethyl)bis(triethoxysilylpropyl)ammonium chloride (PMO-STPA) and bis(3-triethoxysilylpropyl)amine (PMO-TEPA), were synthesized in this work to obtain materials with reverse-phase/strong anionic exchange mixed-mode or strong anionic exchange retention mechanism, respectively. The resulting materials were comprehensively characterized and showed functionalization with cationic amine-bridged ligands, and values of surface areas characteristic of mesoporous materials (higher than 100m/g). These materials were evaluated for the off-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) of a mixture of six phenoxy acid herbicides (fenoprop, mecoprop, dichlorprop, 2-(4-chlorophenoxy)propionic acid (4-CPPA), 2-(3-chlorophenoxy)propionic acid (3-CPPA), 2-phenoxypropionic acid (2-PPA)) from water samples previous to their analysis by CE with diode-array detection using a dual chiral selector system (20mM of heptakis(2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-β-CD (TM-β-CD) and 7mM of (2-hydroxypropyl)-β-CD (HP-β-CD) dissolved in 50mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.