Adriana S. Ridolfi

Caffeine levels in beverages from Argentina's market: application to caffeine dietary intake assessment

The caffeine content of different beverages from Argentinas market was measured. Several brands of coffees, teas, mates, chocolate milks, soft and energy drinks were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet detection. The highest concentration level was found in short coffee (1.38 mg ml−1) and the highest amount per serving was found in instant coffee (95 mg per serving). A consumption study was also carried out among 471 people from 2 to 93 years of age to evaluate caffeine total dietary intake by age and to identify the sources of caffeine intake. The mean caffeine intake among adults was 288 mg day−1 and mate was the main contributor to that intake. The mean caffeine intake among children of 10 years of age and under was 35 mg day−1 and soft drinks were the major contributors to that intake. Children between 11 and 15 years old and teenagers (between 16 and 20 years) had caffeine mean intakes of 120 and 240 mg day−1, respectively, and mate was the major contributor to those intakes. Drinking mate is a deep-rooted habit among Argentine people and it might be the reason for their elevated caffeine mean daily intake.

Organochlorinated Contaminants in General Population of Argentina and Other Latin American Countries

Organochlorinated contaminants integrate the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) group, according to the Stockholm Convention. Persistent organic pollutants are synthetic chemicals highly lipophilic that cause harmful effects on human health. The extensive use of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in agriculture and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on industry, in confluence with its resistance to metabolic degradation, determined its persistence in the environment.

Relationship between exposure, body burden and target tissue concentration after oral administration of a low-dose mixture of pyrethroid insecticides in young adult rats

Pyrethroids (PYRs) are synthetic insecticides increasingly used in agricultural and household pest control. Little is known on how the toxicity of highly effective bolus doses of single compounds compares to more realistic scenarios of low-level exposure to PYR mixtures. In this study, we examined a quaternary mixture of two noncyano (tefluthrin, TEF; bifenthrin, BIF) and two cyano (α-cypermethrin, α-CPM; deltamethrin, DTM) PYRs in young adult rats. These compounds are mostly composed of PYR isomers ranking top ten in acute lethality in rats. Concurrently, we administered near-threshold levels of the four PYRs dissolved in corn oil by oral route. Six hours later blood was collected and the liver and cerebellum were dissected out to determine PYR concentrations in these tissues using Gas Chromatography with Electron Capture Detector (GC-ECD). The mixture caused mild-to-moderate changes in non-locomotor behaviors and subcutaneous body temperature (up to +1.2-1.5 °C increase at 2-4 h after dosing, respectively, compared to pre-dosing records). The most toxic PYRs BIF and TEF reached higher concentrations in the cerebellum than the cyano-compounds α-CPM and DTM. In addition, PYR concentrations in the cerebellum were correlated to single compound proportions in the dosing solution and changes in body temperature. Our results suggest that aggregate exposures resulting in a target tissue burden of ∼10-1 nmoles PYR/g may be toxicologically relevant, expanding the evidence on exposure-dose-effect relationships for PYRs, and serving to design convenient pharmacokinetic models for environmentally relevant exposures to PYR mixtures.