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[Display omitted] • Dithiocarbamate determination method is proposed for first time for yerba mate. • Miniaturized sample preparation suitable in commercial yerba mate samples. • Analysis of 65 yerba mate commercial brands samples, from 46 Latin American cities. • Dithiocarbamate was detected in 33.8% and quantified in 10.8%, totalizing circa of 45% of the total samples with residues. • In Brazil, there are no authorized pesticides for yerba mate, and consequently there is no MRL. This work presents an easy and quick miniaturized procedure for the analysis of dithiocarbamates fungicides (DTC), by GC-MS, in yerba mate, an important product in South America. The sample amount, the volume of extracting solvent and acid solution, and the time of hot bath shaking were minimized. A clean-up procedure based on PSA, GCB and MgSO4 was studied in order to improve analytical signal and reduce GC-MS system damage. Blank yerba mate samples were spiked with thiram at equivalent CS 2 concentrations of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 1 mg kg–1. The validated method at least 2 times faster than the traditional method and was according to the latest European guidelines for pesticide residue analysis. Linearity, limits of detection and quantification, matrix effects, trueness and precision were assessed. Sixty-five commercialized samples from southern Brazil and Argentina were analyzed; 14% of samples presented CS 2 concentration greater than LOQ (0.1 mg kg–1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that examines volatile organic compounds (VOC) concentrations in outdoor and indoor areas in La Plata, Argentina to determine VOC exposures in different types of environment. The study collected indoor and outdoor VOC samples during winter condition, extracted them with carbon disulfide solution, and determines their calibration functions. Result shows variation of VOC concentrations depending on which site they are collected, whereas higher concentrations were found on indoors compared to outdoors due to their poor ventilations. Meanwhile, the study mentions alkanes and aromatic compounds as the most common type of VOCs on both site, which are said to be driven by traffic and human activities in outdoor and indoor site, respectively.