Rodrigo Barcellos Hoff

The presence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in agricultural and fisheries water has raised significant environmental and health concerns. Vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) has shown promise as an effective method for removing non-volatile contaminants, such as CECs, from water. This study presents a novel application of a bench-scale VMD unit to treat water from Lagoa da Conceição, Florianópolis, Brazil, using microporous membranes (0.22 µm) under the following optimized conditions: 75 °C, a flow rate of 24 L·h⁻¹, and a vacuum pressure of −640 mmHg. The system demonstrated remarkable performance in removing several key antimicrobials, including sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, azithromycin, and clindamycin (500 μg·L⁻¹), with rejection rates of 99.1%, 98%, 99.9%, and 99%, respectively, and an average flux of 7.08 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹. Additionally, the VMD unit achieved a substantial 99.98% salt rejection. Ecotoxicity tests revealed low toxicity for sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, and azithromycin but high toxicity for clindamycin, while human risk assessment indicated moderate-to-high risks for ciprofloxacin and clindamycin. The findings highlight the potential of VMD as an effective and sustainable technology for the removal of CECs and biocompounds, enhancing water safety and reducing environmental hazards. This study offers a promising solution for addressing water contamination on a broader scale.

Technological advances have led to a proportional increase in the deposition of contaminants across various environmental compartments, including water sources. Heavy metals, also known as potentially toxic metals, are of particular concern due to their significant harmful impacts on environmental and human health. Among the available methods for mitigating the threat of these metals in water, solar radiation–based technologies stand out for their cleanliness, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency in removing or reducing the toxicity of heavy metals. The performance and productivity of these methods in removing heavy metals such as arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), and uranium (U) from water still need to be comprehensively synthesized. Thus, this work aims to address that gap. The performance, potential, and challenges of real-world applications of conventional solar stills (CSS), membrane-based solar stills, and solar heterogeneous photocatalysis are concisely summarized and critically reviewed. CSS and membrane-based stills are highly effective (efficacy > 98%) in removing and capturing heavy metals from water. However, structural and functional improvements are needed to enhance productivity (especially for CSS) and usability in real-world environmental remediation and drinking water supply scenarios. Solar heterogeneous photocatalysis is highly effective in removing and/or converting As, Cr, Hg, and U into their non-toxic or less toxic forms, which subsequent processes can easily remove. Further research is necessary to evaluate the safety of photocatalytic materials, their integration into scalable solar reactors, and their usability in real-world environmental remediation applications. Graphical Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are organic compounds recognized for their carcinogenic potential and widespread occurrence in food. This chapter addresses the applied dimension of PAH contamination, highlighting the main mechanisms of formation, transfer, and accumulation of these compounds during industrial processing and culinary practices. Operational and compositional factors influencing their generation are discussed, including fuel type, temperature, exposure time, fat content, and distance from the heat source, as well as the food groups most susceptible to contamination, such as meat, fish, oils, fats, cereals, and vegetables. In addition, industrial and household mitigation strategies are presented, aiming to reduce PAH formation without compromising the sensory and microbiological quality of food. Among the promising alternatives are the use of physical barriers, antioxidant ingredients, and emerging technologies such as ohmic heating, infrared, and cold plasma. The chapter thus provides a practical approach to how chemical and technological knowledge can be applied to minimize dietary exposure to potentially carcinogenic compounds.

Food safety aspects related to compounds that are potentially carcinogenic to humans are of considerable concern to public health. Every year, millions of people worldwide are affected by malignant neoplasms. The daily intake of foods contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) has been postulated as a risk factor for cancer development. PAH constitutes a large class of organic compounds formed by two or more fused aromatic rings composed of carbon and hydrogen. They can be introduced into food through natural or anthropogenic sources, resulting from environmental contamination or industrial processing techniques and culinary practices. In this comprehensive review, presented in two parts, the physicochemical and toxicological aspects of PAH are revisited in the context of food science, highlighting the main processes with the potential of introducing these contaminants into the food chain. The principal mechanisms of carcinogenicity and metabolic conversion of PAH in the human body are also discussed, as well as the regulatory frameworks established by food safety authorities.

Sulfite is an additive used in shrimp processing to prevent discoloration. However, sulfite can cause health issues for sensitive consumers, making its monitoring necessary. Determining sulfite concentrations is complex because the Monier‐Williams reference method is laborious and has low analytical throughput. Additionally, new techniques are needed to stabilize sulfite during the extraction process because this analyte undergoes rapid oxidation. A new method involving extraction and derivatization of sulfite with formaldehyde through automated pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), followed by quantitation by capillary zone electrophoresis with diode‐array detector in indirect mode, was developed and optimized using multivariate planning. The PLE procedure was compared to another solid–liquid extraction method. The new method successfully stabilized and extracted sulfite from shrimp in few steps with adequate precision (CV < 3.8%), producing extracts that were stable for 10 days. Recovery was satisfactory (97%–99%), and the limits of detection (4.6 mg kg⁻¹) and quantitation (15.4 mg kg⁻¹) were suitable for the intended purpose.