Lithium salts cytotoxicity and accumulation in melanoma cells in vitro.

Boron neutron capture therapy is a perspective selective technology for the destruction of cancer cells, while the use of lithium instead of boron may represent a new and promising vector for the development of neutron capture therapy (NCT). The aim of the study was a comparative assessment of the cytotoxicity of various lithium salts, as well as an analysis of the accumulation of lithium in tumor cells in vitro to determine the possibility of using lithium in NCT. The cytotoxicity of lithium salts was determined using MTT-test and colony forming assay on human fibroblasts BJ-5ta, human skin melanoma SK-Mel-28, and mouse skin melanoma B16 cell lines. An assessment of lithium concentration in cells was performed using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Our results showed that three different lithium salts at a concentration of 40 µg/ml are not toxic for both tumor and normal cells. The highest uptake values were obtained on murine melanoma B16 cells when exposed to lithium carbonate (0.8 µg/106 cells); however, human melanoma SK-Mel-28 cells effectively accumulated both lithium carbonate and lithium citrate (about 0.46 µg/106 cells for two salts). Thus, our results demonstrate a range of non-toxic doses of lithium salts and a high uptake of lithium by tumor cells, which indicates the possibility to use the lithium in NCT.

Automated rapid solid-phase extraction system for separation and preconcentration of trace elements using carboxymethylated polyethyleneimine-type chelating resin.

An automated system for the rapid separation and preconcentration of trace elements was developed. Carboxymethylated polyethyleneimine 600 (CM-PEI600), which is a partially carboxymethylated polyethyleneimine with a molecular weight of 600 Da, was used as a chelating resin to quantitatively recover trace elements under high-flow-rate conditions. For accurately and precisely determining trace elements, even with a rough control of the sample and eluent flow volumes, an internal standardization technique was employed for the solid-phase extraction and separation. A recovery test of the deionized water-based sample solution was conducted using this system, and good results, with a recovery of 92% or higher, were obtained for 11 elements (Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Ti, V, and Zn). Eight elements present in certified groundwater and wastewater reference materials (ES-L-1 and EU-L) were separated and preconcentrated using this system. Almost all the determined values were within their tolerance intervals, and no significant differences were observed between the determined and certified values, demonstrating the validity of this method. The time required for the separation and preconcentration using approximately 100 mL of the sample solution was approximately 6.5 min, and theoretically, the system could be used to preconcentrate 17 samples in an hour because extraction and elution could be conducted simultaneously using two cartridges packed with the chelating resin. Using this system equipped with cartridges packed with CM-PEI600 resin, solid-phase extraction and the separation of multiple elements were performed simultaneously, automatically, and rapidly, enabling the accurate and precise determination of trace elements in environmental water and inorganic salts even by rapidly flowing the sample solutions using peristaltic pumps. Compared to NOBIAS Chelate PA-1, a commercially available chelating resin, the CM-PEI600 resin can recover trace elements even under an extremely high flow rate of approximately 50 mL min-1.

Age dependence of chemical element contents in normal human breast investigated using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry / Estudio mediante espectrometría de emisión atómica de plasma acoplado inductivamente de la dependencia de la edad en el contenido de elementos químicos en las mamas humanas normales

Introduction: Breast cancer in women is an actual global medical and social problem. The etiology of this disease remains largely unclear. However, it is well known that the incidence of breast cancer increases with age. In the presented work, for the first time, the age dependence of Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P, S, Si, Sr, and Zn content in the mammary gland of women aged 16-60 years was investigated.Material and methods: For this purpose, a method of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) was developed, which makes it possible to determine the content of these elements in microsamples (mass from 10 mg) of breast tissue. With the help of the developed technique, the material obtained during the autopsy of 38 practically healthy women aged 16-60 years who died suddenly was studied.Results: Using the parametric Student's t-test and the non-parametric Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney U-test to compare two age groups (16-40 years and 41-60 years), as well as Pearson's correlation coefficients between age and chemical element content, it was found that the level of K, Mg, Na and S in normal breast tissue decrease with age.Conclusions: The phenomenon of the age-related decrease in the chemical element contents in the normal mammary gland, discovered for the first time, requires further detailed study. (AU)

Introducción: El cáncer de mama en la mujer es un problema médico y social actual a nivel mundial. La etiología de esta enfermedad sigue sin estar clara. Sin embargo, es bien sabido que la incidencia del cáncer de mama aumenta con la edad. En el trabajo presentado se analiza por primera vez la dependencia de la edad del contenido de Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P, S, Si, Sr y Zn en la glándula mamaria de mujeres de 16 a 60 años. fue investigado.Material y métodos: Para ello se desarrolló un método de espectrometría de emisión atómica con plasma acoplado inductivamente (ICP-AES), que permite determinar el contenido de estos elementos en micromuestras (masa a partir de 10 mg) de tejido mamario. Con la ayuda de la técnica desarrollada se estudió el material obtenido durante la autopsia de 38 mujeres prácticamente sanas de entre 16 y 60 años que murieron repentinamente.Resultados: Utilizando la prueba t de Student paramétrica y la prueba U no paramétrica de Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney para comparar dos grupos de edad (16-40 años y 41-60 años), así como los coeficientes de correlación de Pearson entre edad y elemento químico. contenido, se encontró que el nivel de K, Mg, Na y S en el tejido mamario normal disminuye con la edad.Conclusiones: El fenómeno de la disminución del contenido de elementos químicos en la glándula mamaria normal relacionado con la edad, descubierto por primera vez, requiere un estudio más detallado. (AU)

[A Rapid Determination Method of Metals in Foods for Emergency Response to Health Crisis].

A rapid determination method for emergency response to health crisis caused by metals in foods, was developed using microwave decomposition equipment and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The method was assessed for 18 elements (Al, As, B, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, Tl and Zn) in 5 kinds of beverages and 7 kinds of foods. A single-laboratory method validation study was performed using food samples added with 20 mg/kg of each metal. Trueness was 88-108% and intralaboratory reproducibility was 0.2-11.3%. Time required for analysis was less than 3 hr. Thus, the presented method could be useful for rapid analysis of metals involved food poisoning cases.

Physiologically relevant hCys concentrations mobilize MeHg from rabbit serum albumin to form MeHg-hCys complexes.

Methylmercury (MeHg) is one of the most potent neurotoxins to which humans are exposed via the consumption of fish, from which it is effectively absorbed via the gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream. Its interactions with plasma proteins, small-molecular-weight (SMW) molecules, and red blood cells, however, are incompletely understood, but critical as they determine whether and how much MeHg reaches target organs. To better define the role that SMW thiols play in the delivery of MeHg to known transporters located at the placental and blood-brain barrier, we have employed size exclusion chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy to analyze MeHg-spiked rabbit plasma in the absence and presence of SMW thiols dissolved in the phosphate-buffered saline buffer mobile phase. While 300 µM methionine did not affect the binding of MeHg to rabbit serum albumin (RSA), cysteine (Cys), homocysteine (hCys), and glutathione resulted in the elution of the main Hg peak in the SMW elution range. In addition, 50 µM of hCys or Cys in the mobile phase resulted in the mobilization of MeHg from RSA in rabbit plasma and from pure RSA in solution. The Hg peak that eluted in the SMW elution range (50 µM of hCys) was identified by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry as an MeHg-hCys complex. Since l-type amino acid transporters are present at the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which facilitate the uptake of MeHg-Cys species into the brain, our results contribute to establish the bioinorganic mechanisms that deliver MeHg to the BBB, which is critical to predict organ-based adverse health effects.

Identification of Growth Years of Scutellariae Radix By Characteristic Spectrum of Inorganic Elements Combined with Chemometrics / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo obtain content characteristics of inorganic elements in Scutellariae Radix （aged 1-4 years）， and to explore the feasibility of identifying the growth years of Scutellariae Radix based on characteristic spectrum of inorganic elements combined with chemometric models. MethodAfter microwave digestion， the contents of Mn， Zn， Ca， Fe， Mg， Na， K， Cr， Cu， Se， As， Cd， Hg， Pb and Ni in 21 batches of Scutellariae Radix were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry （ICP-OES） and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry （ICP-MS）. Meanwhile， characteristic spectrum of inorganic elements in samples was drawn. The identification model was constructed to discriminate the growth years of Scutellariae Radix based on the combination of principal component analysis （PCA）， Fisher discriminant function and support vector machine （SVM）. ResultThe contents of Mn （7.79-36.48 μg·g-1）， Zn （10.12-31.43 μg·g-1）， Cu （6.38-17.20 μg·g-1）， K （2.98-13.89 μg·g-1）， Mg （3.45-7.78 μg·g-1） and Ca （2.32-7.09 μg·g-1） in Scutellariae Radix were detected by ICP-OES and ICP-MS， and their contents increased with the prolongation of growth years. PCA results showed that Cu， Ni， Cd， Na， Mg， Fe， Ca， Zn， Mn and Hg were characteristic elements of Scutellariae Radix. Samples with different years could be divided into four categories in the spatial characteristic diagram of Fisher discriminant analysis. The correct rate of SVM model for identifying the growth years of samples was 95.2%. ConclusionThis established method is accurate and rapid for discriminating the growth years of Scutellariae Radix， which can provide reference for the identification of other Chinese medicinal materials. It is suggested that some elements should be considered as indexes in subsequent construction of the quality evaluation system of Scutellariae Radix.

Optimization of Lithium Metaborate Fusion and Post-ultrasonic Extraction for Multi-element Determination in Graphite by ICP-AES.

Existing methods can not achieve rapid mass decomposition and multi-element analysis of graphite ore samples. In this study, it is found that molten lithium metaborate can destroy the structure of graphite, causing graphite C to be oxidized and decomposed in an oxygen environment. We have established a method for testing graphite ore samples with lithium metaborate at 950°C with melting-ultrasonic extraction-ICP-AES multi-element (Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Si, and Ti) testing. The verification results of the national first-level reference materials show that the detection limit of this method is low and the accuracy and precision are good. The results of the measured samples show no significant difference between this method and the classical chemical analysis method. This method has the following advantages over the existing ones: simple operation process, faster decomposition and testing, low reagent consumption, reduced possibility of sample contamination, and better results reproducibility.

Elemental composition of hair as a marker for forensic human identification.

BACKGROUND: Hair is one of the most common evidence types found in criminal investigations. Analysis of human hair reveals the mineral composition accumulated within it over time spent in a specific area, thereby providing additional information for forensic identification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To identify patterns of the elemental composition of hair in territories with different natural and anthropogenic features, hair samples of 1238 residents and 217 corpses of Central Kazakhstan were studied. The determination of 14 chemical elements in hair by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry were presented. The data were analysed in terms of place of residence, gender, age and condition. RESULTS: The results showed that the concentration of trace elements like Cu, Fe, Cd, and As significantly differed among all regions (p < 0.05). The composition of hair samples obtained from women significantly differed from those obtained from men for certain major and trace elements (p < 0.05). Concentrations of Ca and Mg in men were significantly lower than in women (p < 0.05) and were decreasing with age (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The present investigation revealed a relationship between the elemental composition of hair and the place of permanent residence of a person, formed under the influence of regional industrial complexes, and determining gender and age-related differences. These findings enhance the possibilities of forensic human identification.

Variation in the mineral composition of wine produced using different winemaking techniques.

It has been reported that the concentrations of minerals in wines can be used to discriminate their geographical origin. However, some winemaking techniques may also affect the mineral concentration of the final product. In this study, we examined the effects of various winemaking techniques, including (i) fining, (ii) aging with oak tips, (iii) maceration with grape skins, (iv) chaptalization and acidification, and (v) yeast nutrient addition for alcohol fermentation, on the concentration of 18 minerals (Li, B, Na, Mg, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Mn, Co, Ni, Ga, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ba and Pb) in a total of 154 wine samples using grapes from different production areas. Among the various winemaking techniques, maceration with grape skin had the largest effect on mineral content, significantly changing the concentrations of 17 or 18 elements (B, Na, Mg, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Mn, Co, Ni, Ga, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ba and Pb). Fining treatment using bentonites had the second largest effect, altering the concentrations of 14 elements (Li, B, Na, Si, P, S, Ca, Co, Ga, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ba and Pb). However, in principal component analysis using all data (n = 154), the wine samples were clearly clustered according to grapes used in the experiments rather than the winemaking technique. In conclusion, some winemaking techniques significantly altered the concentration of some minerals in wine; however, the principal factor influencing wine mineral composition seems to be its geographical origin.

Potential Health Risk Assessment of Different Heavy Metals in Wheat Products.

In the present work, health risk of heavy metals such as As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn in Iranian urban and rural samples including wheat, wheat flour, bread, pasta and sweets were assessed. The real amount of heavy metals in target samples were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Wet ashing and hydride generation techniques were used in sample preparation step. Results demonstrated that heavy metal contaminations in cereal samples were significant. The average concentrations of heavy metals in wheat products were between 0.01 mg kg-1 to 46 mg kg-1. Finally, the health risk assessment results showed that heavy metal contents in rural samples were higher than those in urban samples. The risk of Cu and Zn was significant in two areas and risk of Cr and Cd was not significant.

Interference correction for determination of cadmium,chromium,manganese,nickel and lead in workplace air by ICP-AES / 中国职业医学

OBJECTIVE: To explore the interference correction reduction method for the determination of cadmium(Cd), chromium(Cr), manganese(Mn), nickel(Ni) and lead(Pb) concentration in workplace air by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry(ICP-AES). METHODS: The interference sources in the determination of metals in workplace air with ICP-AES was analyzed. The results before and after the background correction or the internal standard calibration were compared. Linear regression is performed on the interference element mass concentration by interference error to obtain a table of interference factors. The measurement results of actual samples were corrected using background subtraction, internal standard correction, and interference factor method. RESULTS: The relative deviation of results and theoretical values without background subtraction were 219.5% and 131.5% for Cd and Pb, respectively. The relative deviation between the measured values and theoretical values was less than 10.0% after background subtraction. When the total metal ion concentration was >800.00 mg/L, the relative deviation between measured result and the theoretical values was-21.0%--11.0% without internal standard correction, and the absolute value of them were less than 10.0% after internal standard correction. The interference correction method was used to correct the concentration of Cd, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb in welding smoke. The mass concentrations of Cd before and after interference correction were 3.90-32.50 and 1.20-7.10 μg/L, respectively. The mass concentrations of nickel before and after interference correction were 111.00-1 220.00 and 99.00-1 120.00 μg/L, respectively. The mass concentration of Cr,Mn and Pb remained unchanged before and after the interference correction. CONCLUSION: The background correction, internal standard correction and interference factor table can eliminate the interference for determination of metals in workplace air by ICP-AES and ensure the accuracy of results.

Determination and Analysis of Heavy Metals of Paridis Rhizoma from Different Localities and Pieces / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To analyze and determine heavy metal content in Paridis Rhizoma from different genus and localities,in order to provide a reference for selecting cultivation areas and establishing the quality standard of Paridis Rhizoma of heavy metals content. Method:Microwave digestion method combined with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry method (ICP-AES) method were applied to determine the contents of 6 heavy metals,i.e. As,Cu,Hg,Cd,Pb and Cr in 39 samples of Paridis Rhizoma of different genus and localities in Yunnan Province. Cluster analysis,statistical analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to compare the differences of heavy metals contents in different localities and species. Result:The contents of six heavy metals in Paridis Rhizoma met the ISO international standard of Heavy Metal Limit of Traditional Chinese Medicine-traditional Chinese Medicinal Materials. Under the limited value standard of Green Trade Standards of Importing Medicinal Plants and Preparations,the over-standard rate of heavy metal As was 15.4%,the excess rate of Cd was 5.1%,and the excess rate of Pb was 2.6%. The contents of Cu and Hg conformed to relevant requirements. Cluster analysis,statistical analysis and principal component analysis showed that for the same variety,differences in producing places had significant effects on heavy metal content,while differences in species had little effects. Conclusion:The results of this study indicated that the heavy metal content of Paris planted in and around Dali basically conformed to relevant standards. The differences of heavy metal content in Paris were mainly regional differences,which provided a theoretical basis for standardizing the cultivation of medicinal materials and formulating the limit standards of heavy metals for Paridis Rhizoma.

Determination of toxic metals in leather by wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) with emphasis on chromium.

The tanning industry is one of the largest environmental polluters due to high generation waste in all production processes, but the tanning is particularly worrisome due to the use of significant amounts of chromium. Cr is an element potentially toxic to both health and the environment, depending on the concentration and the oxidation state. Cr(VI) can come in contact with human skin when using leather goods, which can cause allergies and dermatitis, besides being carcinogenic. Considering that approximately 90% of the world production of leather is performed with Cr salts, the determination of this element in leather is necessary to avoid exposure to the risks that the element can provide. The main goal of this study was the development of an alternative analytical method for the determination of Cr in leathers (ovine and bovine leather tanned with Cr and vegetable tannin) using wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) for direct solid analysis. Besides performing analysis of the chemical composition and determination of Al, As, Ba, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sr, Ti, and Zn in leather by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES). Principal component analysis (PCA) was also used in the evaluation of the WDXRF and ICP OES data sets. WDXRF calibration models for Cr presented satisfactory figures of merit and the analysis of the leathers revealed an alarming concentration of total Cr in the samples reaching 21,353 mg kg-1.

Hydrodemetallation and Hydrodesulfurization Spent Catalysts Elemental Analysis: Comparison of Wavelength Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence and Atomic Emission Spectrometries.

Petroleum industries continuously consume catalysts on very large scales. The recycling of spent catalysts is thus of major economic and environmental importance and its first step consists of the characterization of the valuable metal content. Wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) analysis is compared with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) for the analysis of five samples of spent hydrodesulphurization (HDS) and hydrodemetallization (HDM) catalysts. The elements are considered for their economic interest (Co, Ni, Mo, and V) or for the problems that can arise when they are present in the sample in significant quantities (Al, As, P, Fe). First, the systematic comparison of the analysis of known synthetic samples was performed. The originality here is that the samples were first beaded with lithium tetraborate (Li2B4O7) for WDXRF analysis and then dissolved in hot HCl 6M for ICP-AES measurements. With this processing, we were able to clearly identify the origin of analytical problems when they arose. Second, the semi-quantitative protocol of WDXRF is compared with the quantitative procedure. Finally, the analysis of the spent catalysts is presented and the information gained by the systematic comparison of ICP-AES and WDXRF is shared. The interest of the simultaneous determination by the two techniques when such complicated heterogeneous matrices are involved is clearly demonstrated.

Geographical traceability of wild Boletus edulis based on data fusion of FT-MIR and ICP-AES coupled with data mining methods (SVM).

In this work, the data fusion strategy of Fourier transform mid infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) was used in combination with Support Vector Machine (SVM) to determine the geographic origin of Boletus edulis collected from nine regions of Yunnan Province in China. Firstly, competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) was used for selecting an optimal combination of key wavenumbers of second derivative FT-MIR spectra, and thirteen elements were sorted with variable importance in projection (VIP) scores. Secondly, thirteen subsets of multi-elements with the best VIP score were generated and each subset was used to fuse with FT-MIR. Finally, the classification models were established by SVM, and the combination of parameter C and γ (gamma) of SVM models was calculated by the approaches of grid search (GS) and genetic algorithm (GA). The results showed that both GS-SVM and GA-SVM models achieved good performances based on the #9 subset and the prediction accuracy in calibration and validation sets of the two models were 81.40% and 90.91%, correspondingly. In conclusion, it indicated that the data fusion strategy of FT-MIR and ICP-AES coupled with the algorithm of SVM can be used as a reliable tool for accurate identification of B. edulis, and it can provide a useful way of thinking for the quality control of edible mushrooms.

Influence of Cultivation Parameters on the Mineral Composition of Kiwi Fruit from Corsica.

The effect of four cultivation parameters (postmaturity harvest date, storage period at 0 °C, and input of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers) on the mineral composition of kiwi fruit (Actinidia deliciosa var. Hayward) from Corsica were evaluated. The kiwi fruit were harvested on three dates at two-week intervals and some fruit were stored for three and four months. The kiwi fruit orchard was fertilized with controlled levels of nitrogen (five levels) and potassium (three levels) during one growing season. The concentrations of 67 elements in kiwi fruit were measured using various analytical methods, such as flow injection spectrophotometry, flame atomic absorption spectrometry, flame atomic emission spectrometry, electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and filtration. The main elements in kiwi fruit are K, N, Cl, P, and Si and, to a lesser amount, Ca, Mg, Na, and Fe. This study demonstrates a high degree of difference in the amount of 23 mineral elements depending on the harvest date, the time of storage, and the input of fertilizers.

Analysis of high-purity germanium dioxide by ETV-ICP-AES with preliminary concentration of trace elements.

The paper presents a combined technique of germanium dioxide analysis by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) with preconcentration of trace elements by distilling off matrix and electrothermal (ETV) introduction of the trace elements concentrate into the ICP. Evaluation of metrological characteristics of the developed technique of high-purity germanium dioxide analysis was performed. The limits of detection (LODs) for 25 trace elements ranged from 0.05 to 20ng/g. The accuracy of proposed technique is confirmed by "added-found" («or spiking¼) experiment and comparing the results of ETV-ICP-AES and ICP-AES analysis of high purity germanium dioxide samples.

Mapping Copper and Lead Concentrations at Abandoned Mine Areas Using Element Analysis Data from ICP-AES and Portable XRF Instruments: A Comparative Study.

Understanding spatial variation of potentially toxic trace elements (PTEs) in soil is necessary to identify the proper measures for preventing soil contamination at both operating and abandoned mining areas. Many studies have been conducted worldwide to explore the spatial variation of PTEs and to create soil contamination maps using geostatistical methods. However, they generally depend only on inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) analysis data, therefore such studies are limited by insufficient input data owing to the disadvantages of ICP-AES analysis such as its costly operation and lengthy period required for analysis. To overcome this limitation, this study used both ICP-AES and portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) analysis data, with relatively low accuracy, for mapping copper and lead concentrations at a section of the Busan abandoned mine in Korea and compared the prediction performances of four different approaches: the application of ordinary kriging to ICP-AES analysis data, PXRF analysis data, both ICP-AES and transformed PXRF analysis data by considering the correlation between the ICP-AES and PXRF analysis data, and co-kriging to both the ICP-AES (primary variable) and PXRF analysis data (secondary variable). Their results were compared using an independent validation data set. The results obtained in this case study showed that the application of ordinary kriging to both ICP-AES and transformed PXRF analysis data is the most accurate approach when considers the spatial distribution of copper and lead contaminants in the soil and the estimation errors at 11 sampling points for validation. Therefore, when generating soil contamination maps for an abandoned mine, it is beneficial to use the proposed approach that incorporates the advantageous aspects of both ICP-AES and PXRF analysis data.

Aluminium content of foods originating from aluminium-containing food additives.

Aluminium (Al) levels of 90 food samples were investigated. Nineteen samples contained Al levels exceeding the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for young children [body weight (bw): 16 kg] when consuming two servings/week. These samples were purchased multiple times at specific intervals and were evaluated for Al levels. Al was detected in 27 of the 90 samples at levels ranging from 0.01 (limit of quantitation) to 1.06 mg/g. Of these, the Al intake levels in two samples (cookie and scone mix, 1.3 and 2 mg/kg bw/week, respectively) exceeded the TWI as established by European Food Safety Authority, although the level in the scone mix was equivalent to the provisional TWI (PTWI) as established by Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives. The Al levels markedly decreased in 14 of the 19 samples with initially high Al levels. These results indicated reductions in the Al levels to below the PTWI limits in all but two previously identified food samples.

Biokinetics of ultrafine gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) relating to redistribution and urinary excretion: a long-term in vivo study.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) of ultrafine size have drawn attention for their use in drug delivery systems. Tissue toxicity may be an issue when AuNPs are used for such applications. We investigated the long-term biokinetics (90 d), redistribution, and urinary excretion of three different-sized (2 ± 0.5 nm, 5 ± 1 nm, and 10 ± 2 nm) AuNPs after a single intravenous (i.v.) administration of 1250 µg/kg dose in mice. ICP-AES analysis of lungs, liver, spleen, heart, kidney, brain, blood, and urine revealed highest accumulation of gold in spleen around 15 d after injection. A low concentration was detected in brain after 1 d without any residual AuNPs after 30 d. Ultrastructural study of brain tissue also showed few AuNPs in lysosome with no changes in cellular architecture. Renal retention of AuNPs was limited indicating low nephrotoxic potential. AuNPs were detectable in urine till 30 d after single injection indicating slow excretion from the body. No evidence of significant toxicity was observed in hemogram, serum biochemistry, and tissue histology. No mortality, changes in behavior, hair color, weight, and food intake was observed as compared to control mice. Therefore, we conclude that the ultrafine AuNPs are predominantly excreted in urine without any systemic toxicity following i.v. administration and are hence safe for use in drug delivery systems.