Estudio preliminar sobre la determinación de elementos traza en cervezas venezolanas por ICP-OES

The levels of several chemical elements were determined simultaneously in ten different beers of the Venezuelan market by ICP-OES. With the exception of chromium, beer does not provide important amounts of nutritional oligoelements. The average chromium content found (33 µg/L) is higher than one reported for USA's beer (10 µg/L) but smaller than another reported for Brazilian beer (66 µg/L). The average percentage of chromium RDA by beer consumption found for Venezuela (6.3%) is similar to that reported for Belgium (5%). Regarding toxic elements, one of the samples contained an elevated amount of aluminium, probably dissolved from the aluminium can

LÍQUENES COMO BIOMONITORES DE LA CONTAMINACIÓN ATMOSFÉRICA POR HIDROCARBUROS AROMÁTICOS POLICÍCLICOS (HAP) - REVISIÓN - / Lichens as Biomonitors of Air Pollution with Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) - A Review-

Los líquenes pueden ser empleados como biomonitores para la investigación y el control de la contaminación del aire, porcomportarse como instrumentos válidos para evaluar la calidad del aire afectada por emisiones provenientes de fuentesmóviles o fijas. En este contexto, esta publicación pretende recopilar abundante información sobre el progreso de lasinvestigaciones relativas al uso de los líquenes como biomonitores de la calidad del aire, con énfasis en la determinaciónde hidrocarburos aromáticos policíclicos (HAP). El objetivo de esta revisión es recopilar los resultados de investigacionesque en esta materia se han desarrollado, posteriores al año 2001, cuando se realiza la publicación de Conti & Cecchetti(Biological monitoring: lichens as bioindicators of air pollution assessment – a review). La presente revisión señala laslíneas más importantes en el estado del arte del conocimiento en este campo, evaluando las aplicaciones metodológicas delos líquenes (muestreo, tratamiento físico y químico, instrumentación analítica, herramientas estadísticas y perspectivasfuturas) al igual que las ventajas/desventajas con respecto a los métodos de monitoreo convencionales.ABSTRACTLichens can be used as a biomonitors for research and control of air pollution since they are valid instruments for assessingair quality affected by emissions from mobile or fixed sources. In this context, this paper manages to collect extensiveinformation about the progress of research on the use of lichens as biomonitors of air quality, with emphasis on thedetermination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The aim of this review is to compile the results of researchin this area that have been developed after 2001, when performing the publication of Conti and Cecchetti (Biologicalmonitoring: lichens as bioindicators of Pollution assessment - a review). This review discusses the most important linesin the state of the art knowledge in this field, assessing the lichens methodological applications (sampling, physicaland chemical treatment, instrumental analysis techniques, statistical tools and future prospects) and their advantages /disadvantages with respect to conventional research methods.Keywords: Air pollution, Biological monitoring, Lichens, Bioaccumulation, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Lichens as biomonitors for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Caracas Valley, Venezuela

Biomonitoring of PAH air pollution using lichens was carried out. Sixteen PAHs were studied in 11 locations along the valley of Caracas (Venezuela). The results of this work indicate that 14 of the 16 analysed PAHs were highly accumulated into the lichen thalli of Pyxine coralligera Malme. PAH levels in the samples revealed that the several volatile PAHs (naphthalene, acenaphtylene, acenaphtene, and fluoranthene) have the highest levels in the majority of the studied locations. The fluoranthene/pyrene and phenantrene/antracene ratios suggested that the major sources of PAHs are anthropogenic, mainly associated with gasoline and diesel combustion (pyrolytic) and unburnt oil derivates (petrogenic). The total PAH concentrations obtained in the present study were in the range of 0.24 to 9.08 µg/g, similar to those reported by other works in European and Asian cities