Evaluation of diclofenac on chicory plants. Possible effects on human health.

PODIO, NATALIA S.; SANTIAGO, ANA NOEMÍ; WUNDERLIN D.A.

Córdoba

Congreso; VII° Congreso Internacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos (CICyTAC); 2018

MINCYT GOBIERNO PROVINCIA DE CÓRDOBA

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) have been an increasingresearch topic over the past decade. PPCPs can enter aquatic ecosystemsthrough wastewater treatment systems, aquaculture facilities and wastewaterirrigation, among other processes. These processes lead to soil and watercontamination, and as a consequence PPCPs can also be found in drinkingwater, and even in crops irrigated with contaminated water. Among PPCPs ofincreasing concern is the widely used drug diclofenac. This compound can beaccumulated and have toxic effects on plants. The main goal of this study is toevaluate the translocation and bio-concentration of diclofenac on chicory plantsin soil-plant systems to understand the risks for human health associated withchicory consumption. For this study, chicory plants were irrigated with water(control) and with 50 mL of diclofenac solution (3.42 μM; 0.1% v/v MeOH) every3 days for 22 days to simulate the irrigation with contaminated water. Diclofenacfrom soil, root and aerial chicory samples was extracted with QuEChERSmethodology and the quantification was made with a HPLC-PDA-QTOFspectrometer. The bioconcentration and the translocation of diclofenac wereevaluated following the equations: BAF = Croot+aerial part (μg/100g)/Csoil (μg/100g),and TF = Caerial part (μg/100g)/Croot (μg/100g) for the bioconcentration and thetranslocation factors, respectively. Potential human health risks associated withthe consumption of this compound, have also been assessed estimating theaverage daily intake (EDI) in children and adults. The results obtained in thisstudy showed a passage of diclofenac from water to the soil, the root and theaerial part of the chicory. The highest concentration was found in soil (54μg/100g wet weight), while the roots and aerial parts showed a diclofenacuptake of 3.9 μg/100g and 2.6 μg/100g, respectively. Although some phytotoxiceffects on roots were observed, the bioconcentration and translocation factorshowed low values, indicating that diclofenac does not bioaccumulate in chicoryand that it is little translocated from roots to aerial parts. However, the average daily intake of chicory contaminated with diclofenac showed that 0.035μg/kg/day would be consumed by children, while 0.013 μg/kg/day would beingested by adults. While this is far from the recommended dose of diclofenacfor the treatment of a disease, permanent exposure to it can generateresistance to the drug, as well as favor the increase of diseases related toexcessive consumption of this medicine (cardiovascular diseases, digestive problems, allergic reactions, among others). This shows the importance ofstudying the effect that PPCPs have on our food, in order to measure thepossible risks that this can have for human health.