Pharmaceuticals released from senior residences: occurrence and risk evaluation

One of the main pursuits, yet most difficult, in monitoring studies is to identify the sources of environmental pollution. In this study, we have identified health-care facilities from south European countries as an important source of pharmaceuticals in the environment. We have estimated that compounds consumed in by the elderly and released from effluents of senior residences can reach river waters at a concentration higher than 0.01 μg/L, which is the European Medicines Agency (EMA) threshold for risk evaluation of pharmaceuticals in surface waters. This study has been based on five health institutions in Portugal, Spain, and France, with 52 to 130 beds. We have compiled the pharmaceuticals dispensed on a daily base and calculated the consumption rates. From 54.9 to 1801 g of pharmaceuticals are consumed daily, with laxatives, analgesics, antiepileptics, antibiotics, and antidiabetic agents being the main drug families administered. According to excretion rates, dilution in the sewerage system, and elimination in wastewater treatment plants, macrogol, metformin, paracetamol, acetylcysteine, amoxicillin, and gabapentin, among others, are expected to reach river waters. Finally, we discuss the risk management actions related to the discharge of pharmaceuticals from senior residences to surface waters

Graphites Naturels Expansés (GNE) (Caractérisation de la texture poreuse)

Ce travail repose sur la carctérisation de la texture poreuse d'un graphite naturel expansé (GNE) et sur son utilisation comme transducteur dans les capteurs électrochimiques. Généralement, les milieux poreux sont étudiés par des méthodes d'adsorption de gaz, des mesures au pycnomètre à helium et au porosimètre à mercure. Les propriétés de conduction électronique du GNE nous ont permis d'envisager la caractérisation deu matériau par des méthodes électrochimiques. Les résultats en terme de surface spécifique et de volume poreux sont très satisfaisants mais contrairement aux méthodes classiques, ces méthodes ne permettent pas de connaître la distribution et la taille des pores du matériau. En revanche, elles ont amené à un calcul de diamètre moyen de pore et ont permis de suggérer que la valeur de la capacité de la double couche, initialement supposé constante, semble finalement dépendre des différents types de surface du matériau. Dans un deuxième temps, le matériau est utilisé comme transducteur en vue de construire un biocapteur dont l'élement sensible est une enzyme de la famille des déshydrogénases NAD+/dépendantes. Un traitement préalable du GNE comprimé semble très favorable puisqu'il permets non seulement de générer des groupes fonctionnelles de surface mais aussi de supprimer des substances dénaturantes à l'égard de l'enzyme. L'oxydation électrocatalytique du NADH sur le matériau traité conduit à la formation de NAD enzymatiquement actif. La partie concernant la mise au point proprement dite du biocapteur n'a pu être menée à bien compte tenu des nombreuses difficultés rencontrées. A ce jour, il semblerait que les problèmes persistants soient principalement liés à une dénaturation progressive de l'enzyme immobilisée.PERPIGNAN-BU Sciences (661362101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Pharmaceutical Residues in Senior Residences Wastewaters: High Loads, Emerging Risks

Senior residences are health-care facilities that are socially-accepted for the assistance of elderly people. Since the elderly account for the foremost pharmaceutical-consuming age-group, senior residences become a hot-spot for pharmaceuticals discharge to the sewage grid. The objectives of the present study were to identify the bioactive pharmaceuticals in sewage waters from senior residences and to propose an on-site monitoring strategy for their control. In this study, we have studied the presence of 43 pharmaceuticals highly consumed by the elderly population in six senior residences located in Spain, France and Portugal. Wastewater was sampled directly from the water-chest in each residence during different times of the day throughout one week. Main compounds detected at the high µg L−1 level were analgesic and antipyretic drugs such as acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol, ibuprofen; antibiotics such as amoxicillin and sulfamethoxazole; compounds for the treatment of neuropathies as gabapentin, trazodone and valsartan; pharmaceuticals for the treatment of diabetes (vildagliptin) and anticancer drugs. The daily loads discharged were estimated and their fate was evaluated. The final objective of this study is to highlight the need to implement at-source waste water treatment procedures in senior residences, which have been identified as a point source pollution of pharmaceuticals

Chemiluminescence immunoassays for estradiol and ethinylestradiol based on new biotinylated estrogen derivatives

International audienceNew chemiluminescence-based immunoassays for sensitive detection of 17-β estradiol (E2) and ethinylestradiol (EE2) are described on the basis of the use of biotinylated estrogen derivatives. Estrogen derivatives bearing a carboxylic group (E2-COOH and EE2-COOH) on C-3 position were synthesized, covalently bound to aminated biotin and subsequently immobilized on avidin-coated microtiter plates. The assay principle was based on competition between free and immobilized estrogens for their binding to primary antibodies, with subsequent revelation using horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labeled secondary antibodies. Under optimized conditions, the chemiluminescence immunoassays showed a highly sensitive response to E2 and EE2, with respective detection limits of 0.5 and 1.2 ng L-1. The LOD achieved using biotinylated E2 was in the same order of magnitude as those obtained using commercially available E2-bovine serum albumin conjugate (E2-BSA). The developed devices were successfully applied to analysis wastewater treatment plants effluents (WWTP) with negligible matrix effect

Fe(III)-DOTA/Fe(III)-NOTA Complexes: Attractive Alternative Markers for Future Electrochemical Biosensors

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Biosensor-assisted selection of optimal parameters for designing molecularly imprinted polymers selective to phosmet insecticide

International audienceMolecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for phosmet insecticide were synthesized by batch polymerization. The affinity of functional monomers to phosmet was tested using an original method involving an electrochemical biosensor based on acetylcholinesterase inhibition. It was demonstrated that association of phosmet with appropriate functional monomers resulted in a decrease of enzyme inhibition. Using this method, it was shown that N,N-methylenebis(acrylamide) displayed the highest interactions with phosmet using DMSO as solvent. These results were in good accordance with those obtained by conventional computational modeling. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) and non-imprinted polymers (NIPs) were synthesized and adsorption isotherms were studied to describe their interaction with phosmet. Freundlich isotherm was able to fit phosmet adsorption on MIPs with good agreement (R2 = 0.9). The pre-exponential factor KF determined for MIPs was 1.439mg(1-N)g-1LN, more that 10 times higher than for NIPs (0.125mg(1-N)g-1. LN), indicating an increase of binding sites number and average affinity

Salen/salan metallic complexes as redox labels for electrochemical aptasensors

International audienceThis work presents the synthesis and characterization of salen/salan metal complexes for their future application as electrochemicallabels in affinity sensors. Due to its stability and electrochemical properties, an oxovanadium salan complex was selected andcoupled to an estradiol-specific aptamer. The response of the resulting aptasensor was shown to decrease with increasing estradiolconcentration

Solar photo-oxidation process: an innovative technology to partially mineralize three major pharmaceuticals to make them biodegradable

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Synthesis and Characterization of Bis‐1,2,3‐Triazole Ligand and its Corresponding Copper Complex for the Development of Electrochemical Affinity Biosensors

International audienceThe bis-triazole ligand and its corresponding copper complexes were synthesized and characterized for the first time and proposed as new labels for the development of electrochemical aptasensors. The bis-triazole ligand was prepared from methyl 1,6-heptadiyne-4-carboxylate and 2-(azidomethyl)phenol using classical CuAAC in presence of different copper salts. The X-ray structure of bis-triazole showed a symmetry center (C1). UV-Vis and X-band EPR spectra showed that the coordination capacity of the bis-triazole ligand was improved in the presence of triethylamine due to deprotonation of the triazole and phenolate moieties. After complexation with copper, the obtained complex was successfully attached to an anti-estradiol aptamer through thiol-maleimide coupling, and the resulting labelled aptamer was immobilized on a carbon screen-printed electrode by carbodiimide coupling. The electrochemical response of the resulting sensor was shown to decrease in the presence of estradiol, demonstrating that the developed complexes can be applied for the development of aptasensors