Chemical, ecotoxicological, cytotoxic, and mutagenic evaluation of gelling agents used in the production of 70% alcohol gel

Natália Cristina de Oliveira D'Alessandro; Ryan Marques Rezende; João Antonio Xavier Manso; Dayane Cristina da Costa; Simone Maria Teixeira de Saboia-Morais; Daniela de Melo E Silva; Emmanuel Bezerra D Alessandro; Hugo Freire Nunes; Nelson Roberto Antoniosi Filho

doi:10.1016/j.etap.2023.104322

Chemical, ecotoxicological, cytotoxic, and mutagenic evaluation of gelling agents used in the production of 70% alcohol gel

Environ Toxicol Pharmacol. 2024 Jan:105:104322. doi: 10.1016/j.etap.2023.104322. Epub 2023 Nov 21.

Authors

Natália Cristina de Oliveira D'Alessandro¹, Ryan Marques Rezende², João Antonio Xavier Manso³, Dayane Cristina da Costa⁴, Simone Maria Teixeira de Saboia-Morais⁵, Daniela de Melo E Silva⁶, Emmanuel Bezerra D Alessandro⁷, Hugo Freire Nunes⁸, Nelson Roberto Antoniosi Filho⁹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Extraction and Separation Methods, Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. Electronic address: nco.ambiental@gmail.com.
² Laboratory of Cellular Behavior, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. Electronic address: ryan@discente.ufg.br.
³ Laboratory of Mutagenesis, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. Electronic address: mansojax@gmail.comA.
⁴ Laboratory of Extraction and Separation Methods, Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. Electronic address: dayanecristina_3@hotmail.com.
⁵ Laboratory of Cellular Behavior, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. Electronic address: simone_saboia@ufg.br.
⁶ Laboratory of Mutagenesis, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. Electronic address: danielamelosilva@ufg.br.
⁷ Laboratory of Extraction and Separation Methods, Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. Electronic address: dalessandro.e.b@gmail.com.
⁸ Laboratory of Extraction and Separation Methods, Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. Electronic address: hugofreire@ufg.br.
⁹ Laboratory of Extraction and Separation Methods, Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. Electronic address: nelsonroberto@ufg.br.

PMID: 37993075
DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2023.104322

Abstract

With COVID-19, there has been an increase in the use of gelling agents for hand sanitizer production, and as a result, the release of this product into wastewater could induce impacts and adverse reactions in living organisms. Thus, ecotoxicological and cytotoxicological assessments of gelling agents with test organisms from different trophic levels are necessary to assess their environmental safety. For this, seven cellulose-based gelling agents and a polyacrylic acid derivative (C940) were selected for tests with Artemia salina. The most toxic agent was tested on Allium cepa to assess cytotoxicity. The volatile compounds of the gelling agents were analyzed. Cellulose-based gelling agents were not considered toxic according to their LC₅₀, but C940 presented moderate toxicity to A. salina and cytotoxicity to Allium cepa, but without mutagenicity. In addition, C940 contained cyclohexane as a volatile compound. Thus, cellulose-based gelling agents are better environmental options than carbomer for 70% alcohol gel sanitizer.

Keywords: Covid-19; Environment; Ethanol; Pandemic.

MeSH terms

Animals
Artemia
Cellulose / toxicity
Ethanol*
Lethal Dose 50
Mutagens* / toxicity

Substances

Mutagens
Ethanol
Cellulose