RESUMO
BACKGROUNDS: Restrictions in movement and closure of borders imposed by the Sars-Cov- 2 worldwide pandemic have affected the global illicit drug market, including cocaine trafficking. In this scenario, comparing cutting agents added to the cocaine and the drug purity are valuable strategies to understand how the drug trade has been impacted by the pandemic. METHODS: In this work, 204 cocaine salt materials seized in the Brazilian Federal District, before (2019) and during COVID-19 pandemics (2020) were analyzed by two analytical techniques: gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Statistical analyses, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), were applied to evaluate the COVID-19 pandemic impact in the local market. Bibliometric analysis was performed as a forensic intelligence tool. RESULTS: From 2019-2020, cocaine average purity decreased 26 % while the frequency of cutting agents, as caffeine and anesthetics (lidocaine, tetracaine) increased. The high percentage of unknown were increased. Different cocaine profiling seized in 2020 showed new cutting agents, such as Irganox 1076, and Irgafos 168, indicating a trend on new adulterants/diluents introduced in the local market to mitigate the local drug shortage. Also in 2020, there was an increase in the local cocaine seizures, despite of the cocaine drug purity decreased by 26 % compared to 2019. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these data showed that the covid-19 pandemics has impacted cocaine trafficking in the Brazilian Federal District, an increase in cocaine seizures, which may indicate greater demand for the drug and, specially, changes in the cocaine purity and cutting agents profiling showing how traffickers tried to minimize difficulties in crossing the Brazilian border during COVID-19 restrictions. The information is relevant since Brazil is one of the major departure points for traded cocaine to the world. Bibliometric analysis showed that Irgafos 168 and Irganox 1076 were consistently identified as cocaine cutting agents for the first time.
Assuntos
Hidroxitolueno Butilado/análogos & derivados , COVID-19 , Cocaína , Fosfitos , Humanos , Brasil , Pandemias , Cocaína/análise , Convulsões , Contaminação de MedicamentosRESUMO
A method consisting of multiple headspace solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis was developed and used to determine the main volatile radiolysis products formed by γ-irradiation of flexible multilayer food packaging samples. The developed method allows the use of solid-phase microextraction in the quantification of compounds from plastic solid samples. A screening of volatiles in the γ-irradiated and non-irradiated films was performed and 29 compounds were identified in the irradiated packaging, 17 of which were absent in the non-irradiated samples. The main volatile radiolysis products identified were: 1,3-di-tert-butylbenzene; 2,6-di-tert-butyl-1,4-benzoquinone; 4-tert-butyl-phenol and the off-odor compounds butanoic acid and valeric acid. These volatile radiolysis compounds were determined with the proposed method and the results are shown and discussed. Solid-liquid extraction and headspace solid-phase microextraction methods were also studied for comparative purposes. The automated solvent-free multiple HSPME technique here presented can be used to quantify the radiolysis compounds in irradiated plastic solid samples in a simple way with the advantages of being free from matrix influence and environmentally friendly.
Assuntos
Embalagem de Alimentos , Raios gama , Microextração em Fase Sólida/métodos , Esterilização/métodos , Compostos Orgânicos Voláteis/análise , Derivados de Benzeno/análise , Benzoquinonas/análise , Hidroxitolueno Butilado/análogos & derivados , Hidroxitolueno Butilado/análise , Ácido Butírico/análise , Modelos Lineares , Ácidos Pentanoicos/análise , Fenóis/análise , Volatilização/efeitos da radiaçãoRESUMO
Despite all of the economic problems and environmental discussions on the dangers and hazards of plastic materials, plastic production worldwide is growing at a rate of about 5% per year. Increasing techniques for recycling polymeric materials have been developed during the last few years; however, a large fraction of plastics are still being discarded in landfills or subjected to intentional or incidental open-fire burning. To identify specific tracer compounds generated during such open-fire combustion, both smoke particles from burning and plastic materials from shopping bags, roadside trash, and landfill garbage were extracted for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses. Samples were collected in Concón, Chile, an area frequently affected by wildfire incidents and garbage burning, and the United States for comparison. Atmospheric samples from various aerosol sampling programs are also presented as supportive data. The major components of plastic extracts were even-carbon-chain n-alkanes (C16-C40), the plasticizer di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate, and the antioxidants and lubricants/antiadhesives Irganox 1076, Irgafos 168, and its oxidation product tris(2,4-di-tertbutylphenyl) phosphate. Major compounds in smoke from burning plastics include the non-source-specific n-alkanes (mainly even predominance), terephthalic acid, phthalates, and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, with minor amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (including triphenylbenzenes) and tris(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl)phosphate. 1,3,5-Triphenylbenzene and tris(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl)- phosphate were found in detectable amounts in atmospheric samples where plastics and refuse were burned in open fires, and thus we propose these two compounds as specific tracers for the open-burning of plastics.
Assuntos
Poluentes Atmosféricos/análise , Monitoramento Ambiental/métodos , Compostos Orgânicos/análise , Plásticos/análise , Eliminação de Resíduos , Aerossóis , Antioxidantes/análise , Atmosfera , Benzeno/análise , Hidroxitolueno Butilado/análogos & derivados , Hidroxitolueno Butilado/análise , Carbono/química , Chile , Dietilexilftalato/análise , Resíduos de Alimentos , Cromatografia Gasosa-Espectrometria de Massas , Modelos Químicos , Organofosfatos/análise , Fosfitos/análise , Plastificantes , Hidrocarbonetos Policíclicos Aromáticos , Polímeros/química , Polipropilenos , Fumaça , Fatores de Tempo , Estados UnidosRESUMO
There is considerable interest in the role of the 1-hydroxyethyl radical (HER) in the toxic effects of ethanol. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of HER on classical antioxidant enzymes. The interaction of acetaldehyde with hydroxylamine-o-sulfonic acid has been shown to produce 1, 1'-dihydroxyazoethane (DHAE); this compound appears to be highly unstable, and its decomposition leads to the generation of HER. Addition of DHAE into a solution of PBN led to the appearance of the typical EPR spectra of PBN/HER adduct. No PBN/HER spin adduct was detected when DHAE was incubated with 0.1 M PBN in the presence of GSH. In the absence of PBN, DHAE oxidized ascorbic acid to semidehydroascorbyl radical, presumably via an ascorbate-dependent one-electron reduction of HER back to ethanol. Catalase was progressively inactivated by exposure to DHAE-generated HER in a time and HER concentration-dependent manner. Ascorbic acid and PBN gave full protection to catalase against HER-dependent inactivation. The antioxidants 2-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol, propylgallate, and alpha-tocopherol-protected catalase against inactivation by 84, 88, and 39%, respectively. Other antioxidant enzymes were also sensitive to exposure to HER. Glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase were inactivated by 46, 36, and 39%, respectively, by HER. The results reported here plus previous results showing HER interacts with GSH, ascorbate, and alpha-tocopherol suggest that prolonged generation of HER in cells from animals chronically exposed to ethanol may lower the antioxidant defense status, thereby contributing to mechanisms by which ethanol produces a state of oxidative stress and produces toxicity.