Application of closed-vessel microwave digestion method for the determination of multi-elements in environmental samples by sequential ICP-AES

A closed-vessel microwave digestion method is described for the rapid dissolution of environmental samples such as foods, soils and sediments. Depending on the sample type, 0.1-0.2 g sample was decomposed with HNO3/H2O2 or HNO3 / H2O2/HF acid mixture in a PTFE digestion vessel by using microwave heating for 2-3 min at 500W of microwave power. The solution, or to which 0.5 g of boric acid was added, was diluted to 25-50 ml and directly determined by sequential ICP-AES. The accuracy of the procedure was validated by the analysis of six standard reference materials for 10 elements. Ail results were in a good agreements with the certified values.

Determination of Trace Rare Earth Elements in Biological Samples by ICP-AES with Tungsten-spiral Electrothermal Vaporization Sampling

A method for determination of trace rare earth elements in biological sample by ICP-AES with tungsten-spiral electrothermal vaporization(TETV-ICP-AES)sampling has been developed in this work. Several influencing factors including desolvation and vaporization parameters,carrier gas flow rate and ma- trix effect were investigated in detail.Under optimal experimental conditions,the detection limits for La,Nd, Gd,Dy,Ho,Yb,Lu and Y were obtained in the range of 10^(-9)～10^(-11) g,and they are comparable to and,in most instances,better than those for the GFAAS and conventional pneumatic nebulisation-ICP-AES.The precision(RSD)obtained for this method is less than 6%.

Isolation, Characterization and Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of Lactose-Fermenter Enterobacteriaceae Isolates from Clinical and Environmental Samples

The lactose-fermenter Enterobacteriaceae are the most frequent cause of clinical infection in our country. The objective of this study was to isolate and identify the most common lactose-fermenter Enterobacteriaceae from clinical samples, including urine, blood, wounds, and sputum, obtained from the local hospital and from environmental samples from a chicken farm, agriculture soil, and water from the Tigris River in Baghdad City. The study also aimed at establishing the antibiotic resistance patterns of the isolated bacteria. A total of 155 bacterial isolates were identified from 10 genera according to the Vitek 2 system. The most common bacterial isolates from the clinical and environmental samples were Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, respectively. The antibiotic resistance patterns showed that all clinical and environmental isolates were multidrug resistant to β-lactam (except carbapenems) drug and aminoglycosides and more sensitive to carbapenems.

Determination of Cobalt in Food, Environmental and Water Samples with Preconcentration by Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction

A new method for the determination of cobalt was developed by dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction preconcentra-tion and flame atomic absorption spectrometry. In the proposed approach, 1,5-bis(di-2-pyridyl) methylene thiocarbohydrazide (DPTH) was used as a chelating agent, and chloroform and ethanol were selected as extraction and dispersive solvents. Some factors influencing the extraction efficiency of cobalt and its subsequent determination, including extraction and dispersive solvent type and volume, pH of sample solution, concentration of the chelating agent, and extraction time, were studied and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, a preconcentration factor of 8 was reached. The detection limit for cobalt was 12.4 ng?mL–1, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 3.42% (n = 7, c = 100 ng?mL–1). The method was successfully applied to the determination of cobalt in food, environmental and water samples.

Scanning electron microscopy coupled with energydispersive X-ray spectrometry for quick detection of sulfuroxidizing bacteria in environmental water samples

Detection of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria has largely been dependent on targeted gene sequencing technology or traditional cell cultivation, which usually takes from days to months to carry out. This clearly does not meet the requirements of analysis for time-sensitive samples and/or complicated environmental samples. Since energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry(EDS) can be used to simultaneously detect multiple elements in a sample, including sulfur, with minimal sample treatment, this technology was applied to detect sulfur-oxidizing bacteria using their high sulfur content within the cell. This article describes the application of scanning electron microscopy imaging coupled with EDS mapping for quick detection of sulfur oxidizers in contaminated environmental water samples, with minimal sample handling. Scanning electron microscopy imaging revealed the existence of dense granules within the bacterial cells, while EDS identified large amounts of sulfur within them. EDS mapping localized the sulfur to these granules. Subsequent 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that the bacteria detected in our samples belonged to the genus Chromatium, which are sulfur oxidizers. Thus, EDS mapping made it possible to identify sulfur oxidizers in environmental samples based on localized sulfur within their cells, within a short time(within 24 h of sampling). This technique has wide ranging applications for detection of sulfur bacteria in environmental water samples.

Comparative analysis of current diagnostic PCR assays in detecting pathogenic Leptospira isolates from environmental samples

Objective:To compare the efficiency of routine diagnostic PCR assays in detecting pathogenic Leptospira isolated from water and soils.Methods:Seven routine assays targeting six genes(lip L32,fla B,gyr B,lfb1,sec Y and lig B)were evaluated and compared on the cultures of two groups of pathogenic Leptospira from different sources.One group included 19 described reference strains recovered from infected human or animals,and another group included 22 environmental isolates from recreational and residential sites in Malaysia.The latter have been confirmed for presence of pathogenic Leptospira DNA.PCR positivity or detection sensitivity of each assay was determined and compared between the two groups.Results:Validation on reference strains showed 100.0%PCR sensitivity for all assays except lig B-PCR(95.0%)that failed to amplify Leptospira interrogans serovar Pomona.In marked contrast,there was a notable decline in sensitivity in the environmental isolates(lip L32-PCR,95.5%;fla B-PCR,90.9%;gyr B-PCR,77.3%;lfb1-PCR,59.1%;sec Y-PCRs,40.9%G1/G2-PCR,36.4%;lig B-PCR,13.6%),implying a large genetic distance between the two groups,as well as nucleotide polymorphism among environmental isolates.Conclusions:High proportion of false-negative PCR results suggests a need of prudent selection of primers in detecting environmental pathogenic Leptospira.These findings offer valuable insights on the extensive biodiversity of genus Leptospira and its impact on the efficacy and development of molecular detection tool.

Molecular differentiation of cryptic stage of Echinococcus granulosus and Taenia species from faecal and environmental samples

Objective:To differentiate cryptic stage of Echinococcus granulosus(E.granulosus) and Taenia by PCR-RFLP and sequence information of amplicon.Methods:DNA were isolated from metacestodes stage of Taenia and E.granulosus using DNA isolation kit(Q-BIOgene kit,USA), the amplified and purified DNA product was then cloned and sent for sequencing.The generating sequence information was used for amplicons identification.Results:Out of 112 faecal and environmental samples,16 exhibited positive result.The product size of amplicon positive for E.granulosus was 310 bp;whereas,for Taenia spp.sizes varied from 379 to 388 bp.Restriction pr of ile of actinⅡwith Csp61 also differed Taenia spp.and E.granulosus.Conclusions:The result of the study indicated that,the primers were useful to differentiate cryptic stage of the two genera which is yet to be reported earlier.

Determination of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners in environmental samples

A modified separation method has been developed for determinating polychlorinated biphenyl congeners in environmental samples. Direct treatment of extract with concentrated HzSO4 was employed in the first step for removal of lipids and other interfering substances, then a joint column of alumina-silica gel(Ag+) was applied to separate PCBs fraction from HCH, DDT and its analogs. After this separation, the PCBs fraction was analyzed by capillary gas chromatography with ECD detector and confirmed by GC/MS. The recoveries of individual congeners in Aroclor 1254 through the separation are about 79%-84%. The method is very efficient and useful for determination of trace amount of PCB congeners in environmental samples.

Recent Development in Simultaneous Multi-Element Determination of the Platinum Group Elements and Gold in Geological and Environmental Samples

In recent years, the modern methods of multi-element analysis of precious metals have attracted wide attention in scientific research and industry. The application and development in the decomposition of samples, separation and enrichment, and modern instrumental analysis of the platinum-group elements (PGEs) and gold in geological and environmental samples have been reviewed. Finally, the tendency of analysis of precious metals is also prospected.

Rapid Determination of Three Kinds of Microcystins in Environmental Water Samples by Disk SPE-Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A method of rapidly detecting three kinds of microcystins( MCs) in environmental water samples by using disk SPE- ultra high performance liquid chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry( UPLC- MS / MS) was established. Firstly,environmental water samples were extracted by disk SPE column( C_(18)),and three kinds of MCs were separated by Waters BEH C_(18) chromatographic column with acetonitrile- 0. 2% formic acid solution as the mobile phase. After the gradient elution separation,the external standard method was used for quantitative and qualitative analysis under MRM of UPLC- MS / MS. The results showed that the three kinds of MCs in the range of 0. 05- 10 μg / L showed good linear relation,and the correlation coefficients were higher than 0. 999 4,while the method detection limit was 0. 04 ng / L. Under 0. 1,1,and 5 μg / L standard addition for the same environmental sample,the average recovery was 82. 8%- 108. 8%,and the relative standard deviation of determination results was2. 1%- 10. 1%( n = 6). This method is rapid,sensitive and accurate,so it can be effectively applied in the monitoring of MCs in environmental water samples.

Spectrophotometric Determination of Kelthane in Environmental Samples

Sensitive spectrophotometric method for determination of kelthane in sub parts per million level is described, which is based on Fujiwara reaction. Kelthane on alkaline hydrolysis gives chloroform, which can be reacted with pyridine to produce red colour. The colour is discharged by addition of glacial acetic acid. Then Benzidine (4,4’-Bianiline) reagent is added due to which a yellowish-red colour is formed which has an absorption maximum at 490nm. Beer’s law is obeyed in the range of 3.3 - 26.0 μg (0.13 - 1.04 ppm) of Kelthane per 25ml of final solution. The molar absorptivity and Sandell’s sensitivity were found to be 4.32 × 105 L?mol–1?cm–1 and 0.022 μg?cm–2 respectively. The method is found to be free from interferences of other organochlorine pesticides and various co-pollutants and can be successfully applied for the determination of kelthane in environmental samples.

All-Solid-State Screen-Printed Sensors for Potentiometric Calcium(II) Determinations in Environmental Samples

This paper describes preparation, characterization and electrochemical performance of novel planar miniaturized all-solid-state (ASS) screen-printed potentiometric sensors for the detection of Ca2+ ions in environmental samples. Screen-printed graphite-based ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) and screen-printed reference electrodes based on silver-containing pastes have been applied in a space saving manner on common ceramic substrates with small dimensions. Applications to environmental samples are shown by direct potentiometry and potentiometric titrations in real water samples. Conducting polymers (CPs) have been used as solid-contact materials and as intermediate layer between the polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-containing ion-selective membrane and the graphite-containing substrate. Different diamides have been incorporated into the PVC membrane. In the range from 10-4 mol/L to 10-1 mol/L, the ISEs show linear slopes of 27 mV/decade, which is close to the Nernstian response. Moreover, the ISEs have response times of 6 months. The novel potentiometric ASS sensors enable simple and exact Ca2+ determinations in real samples.

A Highly Sensitive and Selective Spectrofluorimetric Method for the Determination of Arsenic at Pico-Trace Levels in Some Groundwater, Real, Environmental, Biological, Food and Soil Samples Using 2-(<i>α</i>-Pyridyl)-Thioquinaldinamide

A very simple, ultra-sensitive, highly selective and non-extractive new spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of arsenic at pico-trace levels using 2-(α-pyridyl)-thioquinaldinamide (PTQA) has been developed. PTQA has been proposed as a new analytical reagent for the direct non-extractive spectrofluorimetric determination of Arsenic (V). This novel fluorimetric reagent, PTQA becomes oxidized in a slightly acidic (0.025 - 0.1 M H2SO4) solution with Arsenic (V) in absolute ethanol to produce highly fluorescent oxidized product (λex = 303 nm;λem = 365 nm). Constant and maximum fluorescence intensities were observed over a wide range of acidity (0.025 - 0.1 M H2SO4) for the period between 2 min and 24 h. Linear calibration graphs were obtained for 0.001 - 800-μgL-1 of As, having a detection limit of 0.1-ngL-1;the quantification limit of the reaction system was found to be 1-ngL-1 and the RSD was 0% - 2%. A large excess of over 60 cations, anions and complexion agents (like, chloride, phosphate, azide, tartrate, oxalate, SCN, etc.) do not interfere in the determination. The developed method was successfully used in the determination of arsenic in several Certified Reference Materials (alloys, steels, ores, human urine, hair, nails, bovine liver and sediments) as well as in some biological fluids (human blood, urine, hair, nail and milk), soil samples, food samples (vegetables, fruits, rice, corn and wheat), solutions containing both arsenic (III) and arsenic (V) speciation and complex synthetic mixtures. The results of the proposed method for assessing biological, food and soil samples were comparable with both ICP-OES & AHG-AAS and were found to be in excellent agreement.

Development of a loop‑mediated isothermal amplification assay for detection of Austropeplea tomentosa from environmental water samples

Lymnaeid snails are key intermediate hosts for the development and survival of Fasciola spp.,the causative agent of Fascioliasis which are economically important parasites infecting humans and livestock globally.The current control method for treating Fascioliasis is heavily reliant on anthelmintic drugs,particularly Triclabendazole(TCBZ)which has resulted in drug-resistant parasites and poses significant risk as there are no long-term efficacious alternatives available.Sustainable control measures at the farm level could include both parasite and snail control will play an important role in Fasciola spp.control and reduce the reliance on anthelmintic drugs.Implementation of such sustainable control measures requires effective identification of snails on the property however Lymnaeid snails are small and difficult to physically locate.Snail identification using an environmental DNA approach is a recent approach in which physically locating snails are not required.Austropeplea tomentosa,is the primary intermediate snail host for F.hepatica transmission in South-East Australia and we present an in-field loop-mediated isothermal amplification and water filtering method for the detection of A.tomentosa eDNA from water samples to improve current surveillance methods.This methodology is highly sensitive with a detection limit of 5×10^(−6)ng/μL,detected in<20 minutes,with cumulative sample preparation and amplification time under 1 hour.This proposed workflow could assist in monitoring areas to determine the risk of Fascioliasis infection and implement strategies to manage snail populations to ultimately reduce the risk of infection for humans and livestock.

Determination and Quantification of Vanadium(V) in Environmental Samples Using Chemically Modified Chitosan Sorbent

The application of biopolymers such as chitosan is one of the emerging sorption methods for the removal of metal ions, even at low concentrations. A rapid, sensitive and selected method is de- scribed for preconcentrative determination of vanadium(V) using the synthesized 3-Hydroxyben- zaldehyde-4 Amino antipyrine (HBAP), which was chemically immobilized on chitosan. This is easy to prepare in comparison to many other sorbents. The synthesized sorbent material was se- lective to vanadium(V) within a better response time of 30 min. The method was selective in presence of other foreign ions like Cl-, F-, , , Na+, Ca2+, Zn2+, Fe3+, Fe2+, Cu2+, Cr3+, EDTA, Mn2+, Co2+ and Ni2+. The calibration plots were linear over the concentration range of 0.5 μg·L-1 to 7 μg·L-1 of vanadium(V). These values are 100 times lower than by the direct determination of vanadium by FAAS. The developed procedure was reproducible with a relative standard deviation of 2.84%. The developed sorbent was successfully applied for the determination of vanadium(V) in real water and soil samples. Unlike most preconcentration procedures, the present enrichment method allowed for a rapid and reliable determination of vanadium(V) in environmental samples by the simple and routinely available flame atomic absorption spectrometry technique.

Application of in-house method for determinationof radium isotopes in environmental samples usingthe Liquid Scintillation counting technique

A method for determination of 226Ra and 228Ra in environmental samples using the α-β coincidence liquid scintillation counting (LSC) has been developed. Radium were preconcentrated from environmental samples by coprecipitation with BaSO4, then purified from others radionuclide interferences using the cation column exchange (Bio-Rad AG 50 W-X4 resin with 200-400 mesh size and H+ form) and operating in warm temperature which is between 70-80oC. Then, the Ba(Ra)SO4 precipitate was filtered through the Millipore filter paper, dried and weighed to calculate chemical yield. The activity concentration of radium isotopes in mixture of liquid scintillation cocktails were measured using LSC after being stored for over 21 days to allow the growth of the progeny nuclides. The method has been validated with a certi-fied reference material supplied by the International Atomic Energy Agency and reliable results were obtained. The radiochemical yields for radium were 59% - 90% and recovery was 97% and 80% for 226Ra and 228Ra, respectively. Sixteen seawater and fish flesh samples collected in Kapar coastal water have been analyzed with the developed method. The obtained radium activity concentrations in seawater were in the range of 02.08 ± 0.82 mBq/L to 3.69 ± 1.29 mBq/L for 226Ra and 6.01 ± 3.05 mBq/L to 17.07 ± 6.62 mBq/L for 228Ra. Meanwhile, the activity concentrations of 226Ra and 228Ra in fish flesh were in the range of 11.82 ± 5.23 – 16.53 ± 6.53 Bq/kg dry wt. and 43.52 ± 16.34 – 53.57 ± 19.86 Bq/kg dry wt., respectively.

Erratum to “Isolation, Characterization and Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of Lactose-Fermenter Enterobacteriaceae Isolates from Clinical and Environmental Samples” [Open Journal of Medical Microbiology 5 (2015) 169-176]

The lactose-fermenter Enterobacteriaceae are the most frequent cause of clinical infection in our country. The objective of this study was to isolate and identify the most common lactose-fermenter Enterobacteriaceae from clinical samples, including urine, blood, wounds, and sputum, obtained from the local hospital and from environmental samples from a chicken farm, agriculture soil, and water from the Tigris River in Baghdad City. The study also aimed at establishing the antibiotic resistance patterns of the isolated bacteria. A total of 155 bacterial isolates were identified from 10 genera according to the Vitek 2 system. The most common bacterial isolates from the clinical and environmental samples were Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, respectively. The antibiotic resistance patterns showed that all clinical and environmental isolates were multidrug resistant to β-lactam (except carbapenems) drug and aminoglycosides and more sensitive to carbapenems.

Rapid HPLC Method for Monitoring Relevant Residues of Pharmaceuticals Products in Environmental Samples

This work presents a multi-residue analytical method based on solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) with diode array (DAD) detection for the simultaneous determination of a group of pharmaceutical products that include ten antidepressants and three anticanceri- genic in environmental samples (water and soil). Baseline separation of the studied compounds was obtained on an ultrabase C18 (4.6 mm i.d. × 150 mm, 5 μm particle) column using acetonitrile:phosphate buffer pH 2.5 (35:65 v/v) as mobile phase with a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min. Different aspects including linearity, accuracy, precision and detection and quantification limits were examined in order to validate the proposed method. Detection limits between 1 and 50 ng/mL were obtained for all the target compounds. This method was ap- plied to the analysis of environmental samples as waters and soils of different precedence. Prior, the HPLC determination the samples were purified and enriched using SPE or liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) of the tar- get compounds.

A Highly Sensitive and Selective Spectrofluorimetric Method for the Determination of Vanadium at Pico-Trace Levels in Some Real, Environmental, Biological, Soil and Food Samples Using 2-(<i>α</i>-Pyridyl)-Thioquinaldinamide

A new spectrofluorimetric reagent 2-(α-pyridyl)-thioquinaldinamide (PTQA) has been synthesized and characterized through novel reaction techniques. A very simple, ultra-sensitive and highly selective non-extractive new spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of vanadium at Pico-trace levels using 2-(α-pyridyl)-thioquinaldinamide (PTQA) has been developed. PTQA has been proposed as a new analytical reagent for the direct non-extractive spectrofluorimetric determination of vanadium (V). This novel fluorimetric reagent, PTQA becomes oxidized in a slightly acidic (0.0035 - 0.0085 M H2SO4) solution within vanadium (V) in 20% ethanol to produce highly fluorescent oxidized product (λex = 319 nm;λem = 371 nm). Constant and maximum fluorescence intensities were observed over a wide range of acidity (0.0035 - 0.0085 M H2SO4) for the period between 5 min and 24 h. Linear calibration graphs were obtained for 0.001 - 600-μg·L-1 of V, having a detection limit of 0.3-ng·L-1;the quantification limit of the reaction system was found to be 3-ng·L-1 and the RSD was 0% - 2%. A large excess of over 60 cations, anions and complexing agents (like, chloride, phosphate, azide, tartrate, oxalate, SCN- etc.) do not interfere in the determination. The developed method was successfully used in the determination of vanadium in several Certified Reference Materials (alloys, steels, serum, bovine liver, drinking water, soil and sediments) as well as in some environmental waters (potable and polluted), biological fluids (human blood, urine, hair and milk), soil samples and food samples (vegetables, rice and wheat) solutions containing both vanadium (IV) and vanadium (V) speciation and complex synthetic mixtures. The results of the proposed method for assessing biological, food and vegetable samples were comparable with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and atomic-absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) was found to be in excellent agreement.

Direct rapid determination of traces of sulfide in environment samples

An improved ethylene blue method for determination of sulfide is developed. It has been adapted to a direct determination of sulfide by both common spectrophotometric method and total differential spectrophotometric method. In common spectrophotometric method, the calibration curve is A=1.69ρ + 0.006 and the correlation coefficient is 0.9994.The apparent molar absorptivity is 5.42×10 4 L·mol -1 ·cm -1 and calibration curve is liner when ρ is in the range of 0 0.9 mg·L -1 . In total differential spectrophotometric method, the calibration curve is A=9.25ρ +0.004 and the correlation coefficient is 0.9996. The apparent molar absorptivity is 2.96×10 5 L·mol -1 ·cm -1 and calibration curve is liner when ρ is in the range of 0 0.10 mg·L -1 . The sensitivity of this method is increased significantly compared with the former ethylene blue method. The speed of reaction is also faster than the former one. The limit of detection is found to be 1.0 ng·mL -1 by both common spectrophotometric method and total differential spectrophotometric method. Ten replicate analyses of a sample solution containing 100 ng·mL -1 sulfide give a relative standard deviation of 1.8%. The effects of various cations and anions on the determination of sulfide are studied and procedures for removal of interference is described. The method is used for the determination of sulfide in environment samples with satisfactory results.