SELECTED POLYCYCLIC AND HETEROCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS IN THE ENVIRONMENT: A MASS SPECTROMETRIC APPROACH

CANALES, ROMINA; CERUTTI, SOLEDAD; GUIÑEZ, MARÍA EVANGELINA

Mendoza

Simposio; 24th Latin American Symposium on Biotechnology, Biomedical, Biopharmaceutical and Industrial Applications of Capillary Electrophoresis and Microchip Technology; 2018

LACE Argentina

Responsibility for environment is a matter of global importance. Due to the changes in climatic conditions and pollution, new toxic agents and effects are identified and recognized. Therefore, the health and safety consequences of hazardous chemicals in the environment have worldwide implications.Surveillance studies have shown that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their derivatives (such as nitrated and oxygenated PAHs), along with heterocyclic aromatic compounds (e.g. heterocyclic aromatic amines), constitute a major class of chemical carcinogens present in the environment. They are generated primarily during the incomplete combustion of organic materials. Emissions from anthropogenic activities predominate; nevertheless, natural sources also contribute to their occurrence. Atmospheric partitioning between the particulate and the gaseous phases strongly influences their fate and transport in the atmosphere and the way they enter into the human body. In recent times, exposure to the mentioned compounds in the environment and the lack of related legislation have become a cause of growing concern.In this context, ensuring environmental safety requires new methods for identification, monitoring and assessing of pollutants. The use of mass spectrometry for the identification and quantification of relevant pollutants yields a more accurate ecotoxicological risk assessment.This presentation will summarize research and ongoing challenges on the development of analytical approaches based on mass spectrometry to successfully perform high-level research in the area of identification, quantitative evaluation and monitoring of compounds relevant to the environmental safety.