Mancozeb (MZ), a manganese- and zinc-containing ethylene-bis-dithiocarbamate, is a broad-spectrum fungicide. Harmful effects of this fungicide have been reported in nontarget organisms via a not fully understood mechanism. Drosophila melanogaster has provided remarkable contributions for toxicological studies. This work was aimed at evaluating the biochemical targets and implication of oxidative stress in MZ-mediated toxicity in drosophilas. Exposure of flies for fifteen days to MZ at 5 and 10 mg/mL through the diet impaired locomotor performance and induced fly mortality. In parallel, it caused lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and Mn overload. MZ inhibited superoxide dismutase and inducted catalase and glutathione S-transferase activities. Nitric oxide and reduced glutathione levels were significantly decreased by MZ. Heat shock proteins (HSP70 and HSP83) and Nrf2 mRNA levels were significantly augmented in MZ-exposed flies. Our study reinforced the use of Drosophila melanogaster as a reliable model for the study of biochemical targets of pesticides, and based on our data, MZ induced oxidative damage and Mn accumulation in a concentration-dependent manner. An adaptative cellular state was inducted by the lower concentration of pesticide, possibly contributing to the slighter damage observed.

The halogen determination is important in view of their biological and environmental roles, but their determination has still been considered a challenge, especially at low concentrations. Therefore, a method for honey decomposition using microwaveinduced combustion (MIC) combined with ion chromatography and conductimetric detection (for Cl, F, and S determination) or mass detection (for Br and I determination) (IC-CD-MS) is proposed. Trueness was evaluated by adding reference materials (RMs) or a standard solution in the sample. By using 50 mmol L −1 NH 4 OH as the absorbing solution, recoveries for all analytes were between 94 and 103%, in both tests. Moreover, no statistical difference (t test, confidence level of 95%) was observed for the results obtained by IC in comparison with those obtained by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (Cl and S) and by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (Br and I). Finally, the proposed method was applied to 19 honey samples from different origins. The concentrations ranged from < 0.45 to 2.39 mg kg −1 (Br), 21.8 to 671 mg kg −1 (Cl), and 11 to 154 mg kg −1 (S), while the F and I concentrations were below that their quantification limits (LOQs) in all analyzed samples. The LOQs for Br, Cl, F, I, and S were 0.45, 21, 3.7, 0.077, and 8.7 mg kg −1 , respectively. The MIC method provided a compatible solution to IC for the halogen and S determination in honey by a single analysis.

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A microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) method for further Cl, Br, and I determination in medicinal plants was developed. The halogen determination was performed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and...

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Urban dust is a mixture of deposited particles from different sources usually linked to potentially toxic elements (PTEs). Despite the industrialization of many South American countries, little is known about the impact of particulate matter in large cities; these data are necessary to promote environmental policies aiming to protect human health. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the particle size distribution, composition, and environmental and human health risks of settled dust particles from Barranquilla, a Colombian Caribbean industrialized area. Trace elements were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry from 35 different sites, covering all city areas. Dust was mostly composed of 10-to-70-μm particles. The average concentrations of V,

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