Speciation of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in geological and water samples by ytterbium(III) hydroxide coprecipitation system and atomic absorption spectrometry

A novel coprecipitation method with ytterbium(III) hydroxide has been established for speciation of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in geological and water samples. At pH 10, while Cr(III) was quantitatively recovered, Cr(VI) was recovered under 10% levels. Total chromium was determined reducing of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) in acidic media with KI reagent. The concentration of Cr(VI) was calculated by the concentration difference between the total chromium and Cr(III). For the quantitative recovery of Cr(III), parameters such as pH, amount of ytterbium, centrifugation time and speed, matrix effect, KI amount, and sample volume were investigated. The preconcentration factor was 30. The limit of detection was obtained as 1.1 μg/L for Cr(III). The accuracy was checked by analyte addition and analyses of standard reference materials (TMDA-54.4 Certified Reference Water, NIST 2710 Montana Soil). Method has been successfully applied to the chromium speciation for industrial waste water of leather factories located in Bor-Nigde, and also for mine and soil samples.     

Utilization of membrane filtration for preconcentration and determination of Cu(II) and Pb(II) in food,water and geological samples by atomic absorption spectrometry

A method for separation–preconcentration of Cu(II) and Pb(III) ions by membrane filtration has been presented. The analyte ions were collected on acetate membrane filter as their 1-2-pyridylazo 2-naphthol (PAN) complexes. The analytes were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The analytical parameters including pH, eluent type, sample volume, amount of PAN, etc. were examined in order to gain quantitative recoveries of analyte ions. The effects of foreign ions on the recoveries of analyte ions were also investigated. The detection limits by three sigma were found to be 1.2 and 3.5 μg L⁻¹ for Cu(II) and Pb(II), respectively. The preconcentration factor was 60 for Cu(II) and 20 for Pb(II). The validation of the presented procedure was checked by the analysis of certified reference materials. The optimized method was successfully applied to food, water and geological samples with good results.     

Solid-phase extraction and determination of trace amount of some metal ions on Duolite XAD 761 modified with a new Schiff base as chelating agent in some food samples

A method for preconcentration of trace heavy metal ions in environmental samples has been reported. The presented method is based on the sorption of Cr³⁺, Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Fe³⁺, Ni²⁺, and Zn²⁺ ions with 2-(2,4-dichlorobenzylideneamino) benzenethiol as respective chelate on modified Duolite XAD 761. The metals content of the sorbed complexes are eluted using 6 ml of 4 M nitric acid. The influences of the analytical parameters including pH, amount of ligand and solid phase and condition of eluting solution, the effects of matrix ions on the retentions of the analytes were examined. The recoveries of analytes are generally higher than 94% and the RSD is between 1.5% and 2.2%. The method has been successfully applied for the evaluation of understudy metals content in some food samples.     

Mercury(II) and methyl mercury determinations in water and fish samples by using solid phase extraction and cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry combination

A method has been developed for mercury(II) and methyl mercury speciation on Staphylococcus aureus loaded Dowex Optipore V-493 micro-column in the presented work, by using cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry. Selective and sequential elution with 0.1 mol L⁻¹ HCl for methyl mercury and 2 mol L⁻¹ HCl for mercury(II) were performed at the pH range of 2–6. Optimal analytical conditions including pH, amounts of biosorbent, sample volumes were investigated. The detection limits of the analytes were 2.5 ng L⁻¹ for Hg(II) and 1.7 ng L⁻¹ for methyl mercury. The capacity of biosorbent for mercury(II) and methyl mercury was 6.5 and 5.4 mg g⁻¹, respectively. The validation of the presented procedure is performed by the analysis of standard reference material. The speciation procedure established was successfully applied to the speciation of mercury(II) and methyl mercury in natural water and microwave digested fish samples.     

Simultaneous coprecipitation of lead, cobalt, copper, cadmium, iron and nickel in food samples with zirconium(IV) hydroxide prior to their flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination

A simple and new coprecipitation procedure is developed for the determination of trace quantities of heavy metals (lead, cobalt, copper, cadmium, iron and nickel) in natural water and food samples. Analyte ions were coprecipitated by using zirconium(IV) hydroxide. The determination of metal levels was performed by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The influences of analytical parameters including pH, amount of zirconium(IV), sample volume, etc. were investigated on the recoveries of analyte ions. The effects of possible matrix ions were also examined. The recoveries of the analyte ions were in the range of 95–100%. Preconcentration factor was calculated as 25. The detection limits for the analyte ions based on 3 sigma (n = 21) were in the range of 0.27–2.50 μg L⁻¹. Relative standard deviation was found to be lower than 8%. The validation of the presented coprecipitation procedure was performed by the analysis certified reference materials (GBW 07605 Tea and LGC 6010 Hard drinking water). The procedure was successfully applied to natural waters and food samples like coffee, fish, tobacco, black and green tea.     

Determination of As(III) and As(V) species in some natural water and food samples by solid-phase extraction on Streptococcus pyogenes immobilized on Sepabeads SP 70 and hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry

The speciation of arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) by using Streptococcus pyogenes immobilized on Sepabeads SP 70 resin has been investigated with solid-phase extraction method. The arsenic levels were determined hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HGAAS) in sample solutions. The procedure presented based on quantitative recoveries of As(III) as >95%. Also the As(V) recoveries were obtained as <5% using the presented method. After reduction of As(V) by using KI and ascorbic acid and waiting 1 h later, the system was applied to determination of total arsenic. As(V) was found as the difference between the total As and As(III) content. Various experimental parameters such as pH, amount of microorganism, sample volume, etc. were investigated. The capacity of biosorbent for arsenic(III) was calculated as 7.3 mg/g. The preconcentration factor was found as 36. The relative standard deviation was calculated below 8%. Limit of detection was calculated as 13 ng/L. The validation of the presented procedure was tested by analysis of standard reference materials (NIST SRM 1568a Rice floor and GBW 07605 Tea) and obtained fairly compatible results. The procedure was also successfully applied to arsenic speciation and determination of some natural water and food samples.     

Application of a screening method for fentanyl and its analogues using UHPLC‐QTOF‐MS with data‐independent acquisition (DIA) in MSE mode and retrospective analysis of authentic forensic blood samples

The steady appearance of new fentanyl analogues and the associated overdose deaths require the development of sensitive screening approaches to detect these compounds in biological samples and seizures. We developed a targeted screening method to detect 50 4‐anilidopiperidine‐related fentanyl analogues in whole blood using ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry in data‐independent acquisition mode. Sample preparation was performed using protein precipitation on a fully automated robotic setup. Thirteen analogues were selected to validate the method. A small matrix ion enhancement effect (110–123%) was observed for all of the compounds; the recovery ranged from 67% to 81% and the process efficiency from 81% to 98%. Limit of detection was within 0.0005–0.001 mg/kg and limit of identification ranged from 0.001 to 0.005 mg/kg. In the retrospective analysis of 2339 forensic blood samples, the major finding was fentanyl (n = 56), followed by alfentanil (n = 5) and remifentanil (n = 1). Identification of 34 fentanyl analogues was based on the predicted product ions resulting from common fentanyl‐specific collision‐induced cleavages, particularly on the product ion result of the fragmentation on the C‐N bond between the phenylamide moiety and the piperidine ring. The proposed hypothesis was supported by the targeted analysis of 16 fentanyl analogues using this method and available published mass spectral data sources for fentanyl analogues. A targeted screening method for 50 fentanyl analogues was successfully validated and implemented to analyse authentic blood samples, where identifying targeted fentanyl analogues was tentatively achieved without using reference standards.     

Case studies putting the decision-making framework for the grouping and testing of nanomaterials (DF4nanoGrouping) into practice

Case studies covering carbonaceous nanomaterials, metal oxide and metal sulphate nanomaterials, amorphous silica and organic pigments were performed to assess the Decision-making framework for the grouping and testing of nanomaterials (DF4nanoGrouping). The usefulness of the DF4nanoGrouping for nanomaterial hazard assessment was confirmed. In two tiers that rely exclusively on non-animal test methods followed by a third tier, if necessary, in which data from rat short-term inhalation studies are evaluated, nanomaterials are assigned to one of four main groups (MGs). The DF4nanoGrouping proved efficient in sorting out nanomaterials that could undergo hazard assessment without further testing. These are soluble nanomaterials (MG1) whose further hazard assessment should rely on read-across to the dissolved materials, high aspect-ratio nanomaterials (MG2) which could be assessed according to their potential fibre toxicity and passive nanomaterials (MG3) that only elicit effects under pulmonary overload conditions. Thereby, the DF4nanoGrouping allows identifying active nanomaterials (MG4) that merit in-depth investigations, and it provides a solid rationale for their sub-grouping to specify the further information needs. Finally, the evaluated case study materials may be used as source nanomaterials in future read-across applications. Overall, the DF4nanoGrouping is a hazard assessment strategy that strictly uses animals as a last resort.