Kuwait's total diet study: dietary intake of organochlorine, carbamate, benzimidazole and phenylurea pesticide residues

The State of Kuwait in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted a Total Diet Study (TDS) to estimate intakes of pesticide residues by the population. The levels of organochlorine (OC) pesticides, carbamates, benzimidazoles, and phenylureas in the TDS core list are reported here. The TDS core list was established through a national food consumption survey. All food items (140 for the Kuwaiti adult) were prepared as eaten and analyzed for the pesticides mentioned above. The FDA's multiresidue methods in Volume I of the Pesticide Analytical Manual were used in gas, liquid, and gel permeation chromatographic analyses. Only vegetable and fruit samples contained pesticide residues (mg/kg), including the carbamates 1-naphthol (1.4) and 3H-carbofuran (0.94) in carrots; the OC pesticide vinclozolin (0.47), 3H-carbofuran (0.66), and fenuron (0.6) in kiwi fruit; the OC pesticide procymidone (0.32) and carbendazim (0.5) in grapes; 3H-carbofuran (5.0) in apricots; the OC pesticides captan (0.013) and thiabendazole (0.63) in pears; captan (0.035) in plums; and carbendazim (0.4) in mandarin oranges. The levels of 3H-carbofuran found in both apricots and kiwi fruit exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRLs) of the Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) of the United Nations. The daily intakes of pesticides by the different population groups are discussed in light of the FAO/WHO acceptable daily intakes.     

Chromatographic separation of inorganic ions on thin layers of lanthanum silicate ion-exchanger

Summary Thin layers of lanthanum silicate have been used to study the chromatographic behaviour of 28 metal ions in aqueous and mixed systems. As³⁺, Mo⁶⁺, Sb³⁺, Ti⁴⁺ and others can be easily separated from a number of inorganic ions. Fast ternary and binary separations have also been achieved and various separations are discussed. It is shown that Alberti's relation is also obeyed by thin layers of lanthanum silicate. Presented at the 21^st ISC held in Stuttgart, Germany, 15^th–20^th September, 1996     

Anion-exchange behaviour of several elements in systems containing formic acid

The anion-exchange characteristics of 27 elements toward the strongly basic anion-exchange resin Amberlite CG-400 in media containing aqueous formic acid and mixtures of formic acid with sodium formate, hydrochloric acid, sodium nitrite, acetone and methanol have been investigated. Possible separations are described and discussed. The quantitative separations achieved are Sr-La, Zn-Cd-Hg, and Ni-Fe.     

A simple experimental method to generate partially coherent optical bottle beam

An experimental study is carried out to investigate a special kind of three-dimensional intensity distribution of a partially coherent optical beam known as optical bottle beam produced by using an annular aperture and lens combination (Lens Aperture System). In this paper, we are demonstrating the experimental results of our observations. The investigation also includes the effects of coherence modulation and central obstruction of the annular aperture (used in Lens Aperture System) on the resultant partially coherent optical bottle beam. The method discussed in this paper is simple and cost effective.     

Quantitative Ion-Exchange TLC of p-Hydroxybenzoic Acid in the Presence of Preservatives

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - Rapid separation of p-hydroxybenzoic acid from methyl p-hydroxy-benzoate, ethyl p-hydroxybenzoate, propyl p-hydroxybenzoate,...     

Photooxidation of acyclovir with thermally generated triplet excited ketones. A comparison with type I and II photosensitizers

The antiviral drug acyclovir (Ac, 1) was treated with triplet excited ketones, which have been generated in thermal decomposition of 3-(hydroxymethyl)-3,4,4-trimethyl-1,2-dioxetane (HTMD), in the dark. Three major oxidation products were detected by means of spectroscopic measurements. The products were (2-hydroxyethoxy) methyl spiroiminodihydantoin (2), (2-hydroxyethoxy) methyl (amino)-2-imino-1,2-dihydroimidazole-5-one (3), and 2,2-diamino-4-[(2-hydroxyethoxy) methyl) amino)-5-[2H]-oxazolone (4). Equal amounts of type I and type II photooxidation products were found, as could be established by comparison with predominant type I (riboflavin) and type II (rose bengal) photosensitizers. The concentration and time profiles for the HTMD-induced oxidation of Ac were also determined. The participation of singlet oxygen in HTMD-induced oxidation was confirmed by the substantial D(2)O effect in the formation of spiroiminodihydantoin (2).     

Molecularly imprinted polymer Based PVC-Membrane-Coated graphite electrode for the determination of metoprolol

A PVC-based membrane containing metoprolol molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) coated directly on graphite electrode for the determination of metoprolol in real samples is reported. This potentiometric sensor was designed by dispersing the MIP particles in dioctylphthalate plasticizer as solvent mediator and then embedded in polyvinyl chloride matrix. The electrode exhibited a near-Nernstian slope of 55.4 ± 1 mV decade^-1 for metoprolol over a wide concentration range between 2.0 × 10^-7-8.0 × 10^-3 M and a detection limit of 1.3 × 10^-7 M. With a response time of about 14 s it could be used for at least 6 months without any divergence in potential. The proposed electrode can be used in the pH range of 3.5-10.5 and can reveal good selectivities for metoprolol over a wide variety of ions. Finally, the designed sensor was successfully applied as an indicator electrode to determine the concentration of metoprolol in tablets, human urine and plasma. The results were compared favorably with those obtained by HPLC method and showed satisfactory agreements with them.     

Solid-Phase Extraction of Metoprolol onto(Methacrylic acid-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate)-based Molecularly Imprinted Polymer and Its Spectrophotometric Determination

A new adsorbent for molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction (MISPE) of metoprolol was synthesized using methacrylic acid (MAA) as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as cross‐linking agent causing a non‐covalent, bulk, thermal radical‐polymerization. Control polymer (non‐imprinted polymer) was prepared under well defined conditions without the use of metoprolol. The synthesized polymers were characterized by IR spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction and thermal analysis techniques. This polymer was used for the rapid extraction and preconcentration of metoprolol from real samples prior to spectrophotometric determination. Extraction efficiency and the influence of flow rates of sample and stripping solutions, pH, type of eluent for elution of metoprolol from polymer, break through volume and limit of detection were studied. The detection limit of the proposed method is 0.4 ng·mL^?1. The method was applied successfully to the recovery and determination of metoprolol in tablets, human urine and plasma samples.     

Influence of the Synthesis pH on Sorption Behavior of Mesoporous MCM-41 for Toxic Metal Ions

Two samples of mesoporous MCM‐41 have been prepared in acidic and basic conditions with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as template and characterized by powder X‐ray diffraction and N₂ adsorption‐desorption measurement to confirm the ordered mesoporous structure. Sorption of 21 toxic metal ions on these sorbents has been studied and discussed. The results show that distribution coefficient of Ba(II), Fe(III), Th(IV) on the synthesized MCM‐41 in basic condition and Cu(II), Pb(II), Zr(IV) on the synthesized MCM‐41 in acidic condition has been enhanced.