Seaweeds enjoy a rich history as human foodstuff for populations around the world. The omnipresence of seaweeds in all climate belts, the great biodiversity, their bounty of important nutrients, ...combined with the fact that most seaweeds are edible, suggest that seaweeds have played an important role as human food during human evolution. Seaweeds have served as a cheap and easily accessible crop in the daily fare for coastal populations. In many food cultures, in particular in Southeast Asia, seaweeds have for millennia been considered as valuable sea vegetables. In recent years, regional seaweed cuisines around the world have been rediscovered and reinvigorated, and many chefs up to the top level have initiated, often in collaboration with scientists, a trend towards a new seaweed gastronomy (phycogastronomy).
The emergency of SARS-CoV-2 in China started a novel challenge to the scientific community. As the virus turns pandemic, scientists try to map the cellular mechanisms and pathways of SARS-CoV-2 ...related to the pathogenesis of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19). After transmembrane angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) has been found to be SARS-CoV-2 receptor, we hypothesized an immune-hematological mechanism for Covid-19 based on renin-angiotensin system (RAS) imbalance to explain clinical, laboratory and imaging findings on disease course. We believe that exaggerated activation of ACE/Angiotensin II (Ang II)/Angiotensin Type 1 (AT1) receptor RAS axis in line with reduction of ACE2/Angiotensin-(1-7)/Mas receptor may exert a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of Covid-19. In this perspective, we discuss potential mechanisms and evidence on this hypothesis.
This paper reviews the impact of beer-making stages (malting, mashing, boiling, and fermentation) on the behavior of pesticide residues. The large use of pesticides on barley and hop could cause the ...occurrence of their residues in beer. The foremost factors influencing the stability of residues (pH, temperature, and water content) and the physical-chemical properties of pesticides (octanol–water partition coefficient, vapor pressure, and water solubility) are essential to know their final fate. Most pesticides show a decrease in the unhopped wort because they are adsorbed onto the spent grains after mashing. In addition, their concentrations decrease during boiling and fermentation. Generally, maltsters should dedicate particular attention to the residues of hydrophobic pesticides because they can remain on the malt. Contrarily, brewers should control residues of hydrophilic pesticides because they can be carried over into young beer, disturbing the quality and organoleptic properties (flavor, aroma, taste, or color) of the beer.
The addition of organic wastes is a common agronomic practice in some Mediterranean regions to increase soil organic matter. In addition, they consume high amounts of agrochemicals. Hand-packed soil ...columns were used to evaluate the effect of three different composted organic soil amendments (agro-forestry, agro-industrial and animal manure) on the leachability of eight persistent herbicides. A new leaching index based on the amounts recovered from leachates and referred as Experimental Leaching Index (ELI) is proposed according to the mean annual precipitation in a specific place. This index is compared with others such as Groundwater Ubiquity Score (GUS), Relative Leaching Potential Index (RLPI) and Leachability Index (LIX), which only include degradation (DT50) and sorption (KOC) parameters. According to ELI, metribuzin is very mobile in all cases, while terbuthylazine, chlorotoluron and isoproturon present high leachability only in unamended soil reducing their leaching potential in amended soils. Aclonifen, oxyfluorfen, trifluralin and pendimethalin behave in all cases as immobile (non-leacher) compounds.
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•Sorption, degradation and leaching of eight herbicides were assessed on a loam soil.•Three different composted organic wastes were added to the soil.•Disturbed soil columns filled with a Haplic calcisol were used.•The addition of organic wastes decreased the herbicide leaching.•A new leaching index referred as Experimental Leaching Index (ELI) is proposed.
The removal of 17 pesticides (pymetrozine, flonicamid, imidacloprid, acetamiprid, cymoxanil, thiachloprid, spinosad, chlorantraniliprole, triadimenol, tebuconazole, fluopyram, difenoconazole, ...cyflufenamid, hexythiazox, spiromesifen, folpet and acrinathrin) found in agro-wastewater from washing of containers and phytosanitary treatments equipment, has been carried out using sodium persulfate (Na2S2O8) at pilot plant scale under natural sunlight. Persulfate is a strong oxidant, inexpensive and environmentally appropriate. However, this oxidant is slow in kinetics under ordinary conditions. Na2S2O8 can be activated by ultraviolet light, generating SO4− radicals, which are also a very strong oxidizing species (E0 = 2.6 V). Previously, preliminary experiments were carried out at laboratory scale using a photoreactor to optimize the Na2S2O8 (300 mg L−1) concentration on the rate constants of the found pesticides. The residual levels of the studied pesticides in agro-wastewater (900 L) were in the range 0.02–1.17 mg L−1 for acrinathrin and fluopyram, respectively. After treatment, nearly complete degradation (>97%) of the parent molecules was achieved although 13% of initial DOC was measured. No significant differences (p < 0.05) were found when comparing grown broccoli using reclaimed and unreclaimed water.
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•Removal of 17 pesticides in real agro-wastewater was studied under natural sunlight.•Persulfate photolysis was proven to be highly efficient in pesticide disappearance.•After solar treatment the remaining percentage of pesticides was <3% of the total initial mass.•H90 ranged from 30 kJ m−2 (spinosyns) to 76,753 kJ m−2 for the most refractory compound (flonicamid).•No differences in quality of broccoli were found from the use of reclaimed and usual irrigation water.
This work assesses the behavior (adsorption, degradation and leaching) of four insecticides (chlorantraniliprole, thiametoxam, imidacloprid and pirimicarb) and their main reaction intermediates in a ...clay-loam textured soil (1.6% OM). Following the batch equilibrium method, the KOC (as log values) ranged from 1.2 to 3.9 (thiametoxam and pirimicarb, respectively). All the insecticides were moderately persistent (t½ = 39–100 days) in the following order: thiametoxam > imidacloprid > pirimicarb > chlorantraniliprole. Two major transformation products, desmethyl-formamido pirimicarb and desmethyl pirimicarb, were formed as consequence of dealkylation of the parent compound. Using disturbed soil columns only thiametoxam (93% of the initial amount) and imidacloprid (42% of the initial amount) were recovered from leachates. In the case of pirimicarb and chlorantraniliprole, 74% and 30%, respectively, were recovered from the soil. Thiametoxam and imidacloprid can be catalogued as mobile compounds, while pirimicarb and chlorantraniliprole are classified as immobile according to the screening indices used (GUS and ELI). Leachates containing thiametoxam and imidacloprid were subjected to photocatalytic treatment for 240 min using TiO2/Na2S2O8 with the help of a photochemical reactor equipped with LED lamp. Both compounds had a very fast degradation rate (half-lives ≤ 0.5 min) in deionized water, while their half-lives were 112 min and 178 min, respectively, in leaching water. This implies a strong effect of the water matrix composition, mainly due to organic matter dissolved (quenching). Only traces of thiametoxam urea and hydroxy imidacloprid were detected during the photocatalytic experiment.
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•The behavior of four insecticides were studied in a clay-loam textured soil.•The calculated half-lives categorize them as moderately persistent.•Only thiametoxam and imidacloprid behave as leached compounds.•A strong effect of water matrix was observed during treatment of leachates.•Different reaction intermediates were found in soil and water.
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•A coupled biological-photocatalytic system was tested for EPs removal in wastewater.•13 pharmaceuticals and 11 pesticides were monitored using HPLC-QqQMS2.•78% pharmaceuticals and ...48% pesticides were removed by biological treatment.•Solar photocatalysis showed high effectivity for detoxification of polluted water.•Reclaimed water could be used for crop irrigation without environmental risk.
This work focuses on the detoxification of aqueous waste solutions polluted with 24 emerging pollutants (13 pharmaceuticals and 11 pesticides) using a coupled biological-photocatalytic facility under natural sunlight for use in crop irrigation. The polluted wastewater (urban, agricultural, and industrial) processed by conventional wastewater treatment plants is in some cases insufficient to reach the degree of purity required. This concern is of particular interest, especially in areas where a low rainfall pattern provides insufficient water resources to meet the demands caused by agriculture, which requires increased reuse of wastewater effluents. For this purpose, polluted water was first subjected to biological treatment followed by a photocatalytic process using the tandem TiO2/Na2S2O8. Residues of pharmaceuticals and pesticides were isolated by solid phase extraction (SPE) and analysed by HPLC-QqQ-MS2. A notorious removal of pharmaceuticals was observed after biological treatment (average removal = 78%), except for diclofenac (31%) and carbamazepine (1%). In a contrary way, biodegradation of pesticides was inconspicuous (average removal = 48%) due to their recalcitrant properties. However, all compounds were rapidly degraded during the photocatalytic treatment because the fluence (H) required to obtain 90% degradation (H90) was<470 kJ m−2 for the most persistent pollutant (terbuthylazine). Single first order kinetic model satisfactorily explained the photooxidation of all micropollutants. Therefore, solar heterogeneous photocatalysis is presented as a promising technology to be incorporated as a tertiary process in wastewater treatment plants to remove biorecalcitrant pollutants. This implementation could be interesting especially in arid and semi-arid areas characterised by water scarcity but receiving many hours of sunshine per year, where a high percentage of reclaimed water is used for crop irrigation.
Solar heterogeneous photocatalysis was used to remove trihalomethanes (THMs) from drinking water. THMs, mainly trichloromethane (TCM), tribromomethane (TBM), bromodichloromethane (BDCM) and ...dibromochloromethane (DBCM) are one of the main class of disinfection by-products (DBPs). THMs were determined by HSGC-MS with detection limits (LODs) ranging from 0.5 μg L−1 to 0.9 μg L−1 for TCM and BDCM, respectively. Results show that a great proportion of THMs present in water are finally transferred to air as a result of their high volatility in the order TCM > BDCM > DBCM > TBM. The use of band-gap semiconductor materials (TiO2 and mainly ZnO) used as photocatalysts in combination with Na2S2O8 as electron acceptor and sulfate radical anion (SO4•-) generator enhanced the photooxidation of all THMs as compared to photolytic test. The time required for 50% of THMs to disappear (DT50) from water calculated for the most effective treatment (ZnO/Na2S2O8) were 12, 42, 57 and 61 min for TCM, TBM, BDCM, and DBCM, respectively. Therefore, solar heterogeneous photocatalysis can be considered as an interesting strategy for THMs removal, especially in sunny areas like Mediterranean basin.
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•Solar heterogeneous photocatalysis was tested for Trihalomethanes (THMs) removal.•The effectivity of TiO2 and ZnO in tandem with Na2S2O8 was assessed in tap water.•Volatilisation had greater influence on the disappearance of THMs than photolysis.•Disappearance times (DT50) of THMs ranged from 12 to 61 min for ZnO/Na2S2O8 system.•Lower degradation rates (DT50 = 48–87 min) were observed for the tandem TiO2/Na2S2O8.
The removal of pesticides and other organic pollutants from water through advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) holds great promise. The main advantage of these technologies is that they remove, or at ...least reduce, pesticide levels by mineralization rather than transfer, as in conventional processes. This study first evaluated the effectiveness of UV/Ssub.2Osub.8 sup.= compared to heterogeneous photocatalysis using UV/TiOsub.2 processes on the degradation of two commonly used herbicides (terbuthylazine and isoproturon) in aqueous solutions using a laboratory photoreactor. In addition, the effect of the UV wavelength on the degradation efficiency of both herbicides was investigated. Although the degradation rate was greater under UV(254)/Ssub.2Osub.8 sup.= nm than under UV(365)/Ssub.2Osub.8 sup.= nm, complete degradation of the herbicides (0.2 mg Lsup.−1) was achieved within 30 min under UV-366 nm using a Nasub.2Ssub.2Osub.8 dose of 250 mg Lsup.−1 in the absence of inorganic anions. To assess the impact of the water matrix, the individual and combined effects of sulfate (SOsub.4 sup.=), bicarbonate (HCOsub.3 sup.−), and chloride (Clsup.−) were evaluated. These can react with hydroxyl (HOsup.•) and sulfate (SOsub.4 sup.•−) radicals generated during AOPs to form new radicals with a lower redox potential. The results showed negligible effects of SOsub.4 sup.=, while the combination of HCOsub.3 sup.− and Clsup.− seemed to be the key to the decrease in herbicide removal efficiency found when working with complex matrices. Finally, the main intermediates detected during the photodegradation process are identified, and the likely pathways involving dealkylation, dechlorination, and hydroxylation are proposed and discussed.
Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in the 10−40 nm size range and with a reduced distribution in size have been synthesized under argon by using ammonium bases R4NOH (R = CH3, C2H5, C3H7) and a ...hydrothermal treatment. The size is tuned owing to the base to iron ratio and to the length of the alkyl chain R. We precipitate first ferric hydroxides at pH 1.5−2, then ferrous hydroxide at pH 5.5−6. The rapid increase of pH up to basic pH leads to the formation of magnetic iron oxide particles of 12 nm. For base to Fe ratio above 3.5, a homogeneous growth occurs during further hydrothermal treatment at 250 °C. The higher the quantity of base added and the longer the alkyl chain used, the smaller the particle size produced. For sizes above 20 nm, the Verwey transition at 120 K, characteristic of magnetite, is observed on the field cooling−zero field cooling magnetization curve. The nanoparticles can be described by a core−shell model, that is, a magnetite core surrounded by an oxidized layer close to maghemite. The fractional volume of maghemite increases as the particle size decreases so that below 20 nm, nanoparticles cannot be properly labeled as “magnetite”.
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