Arsenic, lead and cadmium concentration in food and estimated daily intake in the Cuban population and the health risks using a Total Diet Study

This study estimates the intake of arsenic, lead and cadmium by the adult population (aged 18-91) of Cuba. The food consumption indices were obtained through 24-h dietary recall surveys applied to 450 people between October 2020 and March 2021. The Estimated Dietary Intake (EDI) of t-As (54.6 μg/day), Pb (118.5 μg/day) and Cd (35.1 μg/day) complied with Cuban legislation but was higher than the EDI for Cd established by the CONTAM Panel. The Target Hazard Quotients for the three contaminants were: iAs (0.220), Pb (0.409) and Cd (0.424), making the value of the Total Target Hazard Quotient 1.05, which indicates potential health risks for the population. Additionally, associated carcinogenic risks were: iAs (1.0·10-4), Pb (7.2·10-4) and Cd (25.9·10-4). Therefore, 10, 72 and 259 persons per 100,000 inhabitants are likely prone to developing cancer due to the ingestion of iAs, Pb and Cd, respectively.

CO2-responsive deep eutectic solvents for the enhanced extraction of hesperidin from Fertile orange peel

Hesperidin, also known as vitamin P, is widely studied for its distinctive potential in food and pharmaceutical industries. This work focuses on the research of CO2-responsive deep eutectic solvents (DESs) used as recyclable extractants for efficient extraction of hesperidin from Fertile orange peel. Reversible phase transformation of DES solution was achieved by bubbling CO2/N2. The maximum extraction yield of 22.39 mg/g was obtained for hesperidin under the following conditions: DES-6 (triethanolamine: 4-methoxyphenol = 1:1) used as extractant, water content of 35 wt%, solid-liquid ratio of 1:60 g/mL, extraction temperature of 25 °C, and ultrasonic time of 25 min, which was much higher than that extracted by methanol. Hesperidin of 74.38% was recovered in top phase after CO2 triggering. Density function theory (DFT) results indicated that hydrogen and π-π bonds were the main factors affecting hesperidin extraction. This study provides a new idea for extracting natural bioactive compounds using recyclable extractants.

A Switchable Solvent-Based Liquid Phase Microextraction Method for the Detection of Cadmium in Water Samples with Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

BACKGROUND

The natural concentration of trace elements in water and soil depends on the geological, geomorphological, and climate characteristics of the region. The rapid increase of technology in recent years has increased concentrations of trace elements in nature.

OBJECTIVE

Separation and enrichment methods are needed to detect trace amounts of heavy metals that cannot be detected due to the detection limit of the instruments or the matrix effect in samples. Recently, low hazard solvents compatible with green chemistry have been used in preconcentration/separation studies of Cd(II).

METHODS

Switchable solvent-based liquid phase microextraction is an environmentally-friendly, simple, and fast procedure for the determination of Cd(II) ions in environmental samples combined with flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS).

RESULTS

The switchable polarity solvent was prepared with N,N-dimethyl-n-octylamine. 2-(5-Bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-(diethylamino) phenol was used as the complexing agent. Important parameters such as pH, amount of switchable polarity solvent and NaOH, as well as ligand and sample volume, all of which might affect the microextraction efficiency were optimized. Under optimal experimental conditions, linear range was found to be between 5 and 500 µg/L. The limit of detection, preconcentration factor, and relative standard deviation were 0.89 μg/L, 150, and 3.2%, respectively.

HIGHLIGHTS

The accuracy of our method was confirmed by the analysis of certified reference material SPS-WW1 Batch 106 (Waste Waters). The developed procedure was successfully applied to determine the cadmium contents of environmental water samples. We believe that this environmentally-friendly method will be useful in detecting Cd(II) ions in water samples.