RSC Advances Blog

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are harmful compounds resistant to biological, chemical and photolytic degradation. They are persistent in the environment especially in soils, sediments and air for several decades. Due to their toxicity, they pose a significant threat to animal, human and environmental health, as they accumulate in the fatty tissues of humans and animals. In humans, POPs have been linked to adverse health effects, such as alterations in the development of reproductive, endocrine, neurological, and immune behavior. In animals, they have caused disease and abnormalities, including certain types of birds, fish and mammals.

Dioxin-like compounds have been classified as POPs by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) due to their hazardous properties including long shelf life, global distribution, accumulation and bioamplification in food chains; and its toxicological effects in humans, such as teratogenesis, tumor promotion, and modulation of the immune system. The POPs present in the environment have generated great interest within the scientific community due to their toxic effect, both for animal and human health.

Polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDFs) are compounds with similar chemical properties: they are organic solids, with high melting points and low vapor pressure, have extremely low solubility in water and are adsorbed strongly on particulate matter surfaces. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of organic chemical compounds that can cause a number of different adverse effects, and there are no known natural sources of PCBs in the environment. Although biphenyls are oily liquids or solids with an appearance that varies from colorless to light yellow, some PCBs are volatile and can exist as vapor in the air. PCBs have no known odor or taste, they enter the environment as mixtures containing a variety of individual components of polychlorinated biphenyls. They do not degrade easily and therefore remain for a long time, and can be easily detected in air, water and soil. Among the harmful effects they cause on human health, such as immune and neurological dysfunctions, they are also classified as possible human carcinogens and toxic in reproduction.

Currently, there are numerous gaps with respect to knowledge about these substances, in particular about methodologies for their detection and quantification, as well as about the levels that are potentially dangerous for humans. For this reason, the development, fine-tuning and validation of new methodologies that allow innovation and improvement of novel traceability systems for these compounds is of great interest. With the advent of sophisticated chromatography techniques, the development of innovative and alternative highly sensitive analytical methods for trace analysis of these compounds is a challenge.

Finally, it is of great importance to note that there are no laboratories in Argentina with analytical methodologies that detect and quantify these analytes, which is why they become so important and of great interest to study. In this way, it would allow to have the first bases for the quality control of products of agri-food origin for export and/or of the domestic market, and the great economic impact that it generates on their traceability.

Read the article:

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ra/d1ra00599e

Ying Li, Yanan Han, Zhuochao Teng, Xianwei Zhao, Yanhui Sun, Fei Xu, Qingzhu Zhang and Wenxing Wang. RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 12626-12640.

About the Web Writer:

BIOGRAPHY

Cristian M. O. Lépori is Doctor in Chemical Sciences and is currently a researcher at JLA Argentina S.A., General Cabrera – Argentina. He researched and developed analytical methods for the detection of contaminants in food, water, and soil. He likes to plan, organize and carry out science dissemination activities. You can find him on Twitter at @cristianlepo.

Treatment for cancer and bacterial infections is challenging to approach due to various reasons such as the development of resistant and unwanted side effects. Development of new chemotherapeutic agents often ends up with a blunt end. Therefore, finding a new formulation and an effective delivery method for the currently available agents is a gold alternative.

Curcumin and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO Nps) are such compounds that have enormous advantages. Of the potent bioactive metabolites that have been identified from plant sources, curcumin is one of the most-investigated safe chemical compounds. Research over the last two decades has shown it to be a potent anticancer and antimicrobial agent in cell- and animal studies. But inheritably, curcumin has low efficacy mainly due to the poor bioavailability, contributed to by its insolubility, instability, poor absorption, and rapid biotransformation. ZnO Np is a well-investigated biocompatible and apparently nontoxic nanomaterial that has shown promising anticancer and antimicrobial activity as well. In the article “Curcumin loaded zinc oxide nanoparticles for activity-enhanced antibacterial and anticancer applications”, different shapes of curcumin loaded ZnO Nps were investigated for their effectiveness and safety as an anticancer and antibacterial agent. The results indicate that curcumin loaded ZnO Nps are low toxic and a highly effective combination compared with their bare counterparts. Moreover, since nanoparticles show different absorption mechanisms through the gastrointestinal tract, it is a good alternative to mask compound which has low absorption capacity. In this study, other than the synergetic effect of curcumin loaded Nps, ZnO Nps act as a carrier system for curcumin, which has bioavailability issues.

Of particular note is the potential of this platform to act as an antibiotic-free formulation for use against infections caused by a range of different bacterial pathogens. Given the anticancer activity of the platform, it may prove to be of great use as an oncotherapy supplement, helping manage both the disease condition and opportunistic bacterial infections. The findings of this research open doors for different angles of curcumin and ZnO Np research. Therefore, the responsibility of the scientists is to use this finding to develop appropriate dosage foam for curcumin loaded ZnO Np.

I thank Dr. Ranga K. Dissanayake for his cordial responses.

Read the article:

Curcumin loaded zinc oxide nanoparticles for activity-enhanced antibacterial and anticancer applications

W. P. T. D. Perera, Ranga K. Dissanayake, U. I. Ranatunga, N. M. Hettiarachchi, K. D. C. Perera, Janitha M. Unagolla, R. T. De Silva and L. R. Pahalagedara. RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 30785–30795.

About the Web Writer:

Cristian M. O. Lépori is Doctor in Chemical Sciences and currently has a postdoctoral position at the Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola, CONICET – Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina. He works in the area of green chemistry. He likes to plan, organize and carry out science dissemination activities. You can find him on Twitter at @cristianlepo.

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Current increasing demands for the effective photocatalytic system for the treatment of industrial effluent with low cost and highly effective tools influenced the use of systems based on TMO (tri-metal oxide) that work in both acidic and basic pH systems, and that combat resistance to multiple drugs in bacterial infections and cancer. To solve the global environmental problems and save people from carcinogenic exposure, work has been done to establish highly effective, highly reliable and sensitive electrochemical methods involving the I–V approach for the detection of toxins present in environmental samples as well as in food/drinks or in their containers.

Dyes are extensively used in the textile industry, and considerable amounts are discharged into natural water reservoirs without any treatment. To treat wastewater, many catalysts have been investigated. However, it is tough to find an effective and efficient system for the waste- effluent treatment. The TMO system reported in the article “Photocatalysis, photoinduced enhanced antibacterial functions and development of a selective m-tolyl hydrazine sensor based on mixed Ag∙NiMn₂O₄ nanomaterials” was designed to meet the current need of industrial waste water treatment problem world-wide. For industrial effluent, especially from fabric and other industries where huge amounts of dyes are used, a proper treatment system is needed. This TMO system is very effective and highly efficient for the treatment of industrial waste water, it can degrade dyes present in waste water naturally in presence of sunlight. In particular, Ag·NiMn₂O₄ TMO can degrade dyes in both acidic and basic medium (in a wide pH range) in presence of sunlight. So, this TMO is useful for the treatment of varieties of industrial waste water. Further, its activity can be boosted by the use of a catalytic amount of H₂O₂ (as catalyst booster).

Ag·NiMn₂O₄ TMO is highly effective against both Gram positive and Gram negative MDR (multi drug resistant bacteria). This result is very promising because it is highly challenging to kill both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria with a single drug (compound). It is expected that this compound can be a promising sterilizing agent for numerous industrial uses.

The authors also reports on a highly reliable and sensitive electrochemical method involving the I–V approach for the detection of hydrazine. Hydrazine is used as an industrial raw material to produce pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, corrosion inhibitors, pharmaceutical intermediates, dyestuffs, antioxidants, explosives, catalysts, fuel cells and rocket fuel, and it is a carcinogenic compound. In this study, the development of an electrochemical sensor using Ag·NiMn₂O₄ TMO nanomaterial on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was developed. The m-tolyl hydrazine chemical sensor was fabricated with GCE coated with the Ag·NiMn₂O₄ TMO nanomaterial. The stability of the sensor probe was implemented by applying conductive Nafion (5% in ethanol) as a chemical glue under ambient conditions.

Finally, various real samples (collected from various environmental sources) were analyzed to check the applicability as well as the validity of the chemical sensor probe. As a potential sensor, it is reliable due to its good reproducibility, rapid response, high sensitivity, working stability for long duration and efficiency in the analysis of real environmental samples. Therefore, this method introduces a new route to develop selective chemical sensors using TMO nanomaterials for safety in the environmental and healthcare fields.

The authors strongly believe that the TMO research will have a tremendous effect on current as well as upcoming health and environmental global issues. Specifically, for a sustainable environment, medical and other health care issues.

I thank Dr. Md Abdus Subhan for his cordial responses.

Read the article:

“Photocatalysis, photoinduced enhanced antibacterial functions and development of a selective m-tolyl hydrazine sensor based on mixed Ag∙NiMn₂O₄ nanomaterials”. Md Abdus Subhan, Pallab Chandra Saha, Md Anwar Hossain, M. M. Alam, Abdullah M. Asiri, Mohammed M. Rahman, Mohammad Al-Mamun, Tanjila Parvin Rifat, Topu Raihan A. K. Azad. RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 30603–30619.

About the Web Writer:

Cristian M. O. Lépori is Doctor in Chemical Sciences and currently has a postdoctoral position at the Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola, CONICET – Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina. He works in the area of green chemistry. He likes to plan, organize and carry out science dissemination activities. You can find him on Twitter at @cristianlepo.

Submit to RSC Advances today! Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest HOT articles, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.