Application of SR-XRF methodologies to determine the biotargets of environmental pollutants

LAMELA, PAULA A.; SOTOMAYOR, VERÓNICA; ROLDÁN, CECILIA; PEREZ, CARLOS A; PEREZ, ROBERTO D.; VODOPIVEZ, CRISTIANL.; NAVONI, JULIO A.; BONGIOVANNI, GUILLERMINA A.

CAMPINAS

Workshop; Application of Synchrotron Radiation for Environmental and Earth Sciences.; 2014

Due to the fact that toxic elements have a strong impact on the ecosystems, including human health, understanding their natural occurrence in the surface environments is of paramount important in assessing sources and pathways of human exposition. Thus, the methods of their determination have received special attention in recent years. In the present work, SR-μXRF and SR-TXRF were used for elemental determination biological target of environmental pollutants. Furthermore, As, Fe, Cu and Zn protein association was determined by SR-μXRF. North Patagonia and Antarctica were selected as study areas because their volcanic origin introduced toxic elements in their ecosystems. Toxic elements as Mn and As were abundant in natural waters near Copahue volcano, while As-bioaccumulation was found in algae, bird, molluscs, antartic krill and fishes. Mainly metal-binding proteins were Fe-associated proteins. However, relevant As concentration was also observed into some protein bands. The future identification of metal-associated proteins may help to understand the mechanisms of toxicity of environmental pollutant. The results from this study indicate that XRF technique would be a powerful tool for the assessment of environmental transference of toxic elements in ecosystems as well as to identify the molecular targets.