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Cyclodextrins as effective tools to reduce the toxicity of atrazine

Energy, Ecology and Environment volume 3, pages 81–86 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Atrazine (ATZ) is an agrochemical that is still widely used in the Americas to control intrusive weeds in large monocultures. However, its intrinsic toxicity can cause diseases of the endocrine and nervous systems. Cyclodextrins (CDs) are molecular carriers that can be employed to reduce the toxicity of ATZ. In this work, CDs (α, β, and γ) were anchored on silica, forming a hybrid material (CDSI). Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) was used as a model organism to evaluate the toxicity of the following treatments: ATZ; ATZ/α-CD; ATZ/β-CD; ATZ/γ-CD; ATZ/α-CDSI; ATZ/β-CDSI; and ATZ/γ-CDSI. The greatest chromosomal aberrations (CA) and nuclear abnormalities (NA) in the lettuce were observed with non-complexed ATZ. Reductions of CA ranged from 21% for ATZ/α-CD to 59% for ATZ/γ-CDSI, compared to non-complexed ATZ. In the case of NA, the decreases ranged from 29% for ATZ/β-CDSI to 68% for ATZ/α-CD, compared to non-complexed ATZ. The new synthesized CDSI material was found to be a viable option for reducing the toxicity of atrazine herbicide.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Cytogenetics Laboratory of DBI/UFLA for providing access to the analytical equipment. Financial support was provided by FAPEMIG (#APQ-00687-13) and CAPES (Science without Frontiers Program, #A107/2013). A.F.A.V. received a grant from CAPES to undertake this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), P.O. Box 3037, Lavras, Minas Gerais, 37.200-000, Brazil

    Adneia de Fátima Abreu Venceslau, Aline de Fátima Silva, Denise Alvarenga Rocha, Carlos Jaime & Luciana de Matos Alves Pinto

  2. Department of Biology, Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Fabio Eduardo dos Santos & Larissa Fonseca Andrade-Vieira

  3. Department of Administration, Faculty of Sciences and Technology of Campos Gerais (FACICA), Campos Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Ademir José de Abreu

  4. Department of Chemistry, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    Carlos Jaime

Authors
  1. Adneia de Fátima Abreu Venceslau
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  2. Fabio Eduardo dos Santos
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  3. Aline de Fátima Silva
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  4. Denise Alvarenga Rocha
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  5. Ademir José de Abreu
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  6. Carlos Jaime
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  7. Larissa Fonseca Andrade-Vieira
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  8. Luciana de Matos Alves Pinto
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Correspondence to Luciana de Matos Alves Pinto.

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de Fátima Abreu Venceslau, A., dos Santos, F.E., de Fátima Silva, A. et al. Cyclodextrins as effective tools to reduce the toxicity of atrazine. Energ. Ecol. Environ. 3, 81–86 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-017-0073-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-017-0073-8

Keywords

  • Herbicide
  • Hybrid material
  • Cyclodextrins
  • Inclusion complex
  • Cytotoxicity