Atomic Fluorescence Spectrophotometry Research Articles

Effect of gold mine activity on water quality and human health

ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the levels of heavy metals in surface and groundwater sources within the vicinity of a gold mine in Iran, as well as to evaluate the associated health and carcinogenic risks. A total of 45 water samples were collected from the mine effluent, the downstream of a river receiving the effluent of the mine, and downstream water resources. Subsequent to laboratory digestion of the samples, arsenic levels were determined using atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry, while other heavy metals were quantified using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Data analysis was conducted utilizing IBM SPSS software (Version 22). The health risks and carcinogenic potentials associated with arsenic, lead, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, manganese, mercury, nickel, copper, and zinc were assessed for both pediatric and adult populations. The findings revealed that, in most instances, heavy metal concentrations exceeded the recommended standards for drinking water quality. Furthermore, the health and carcinogenic risks posed to both children and adults were found to surpass the maximum acceptable levels.

Bionanomaterial composed of Bradyrhizobium japonicum and graphene oxide for determination of mercury in water and fruit juice samples

In the present work, the synthesis of a novel hybrid bionanomaterial formed by the bacteria Bradyrhizobium japonicum (BJ) and the graphene oxide (GO) nanomaterial implemented in the miniaturized dispersive microsolid phase extraction technique (D-μ-SPE) was reported for the first time for the preconcentration and determination of Hg in water and fruit juice samples after a multivariate optimization. Selective Hg extraction was achieved by forming a complex with ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC) reagent and a multivariate study was performed to optimize the experimental conditions. The optimal Hg extraction conditions for 25 mL of sample were 3 mg of BJ@GO, NaNO3 at 1% (w/v), 6 min of vortex agitation and 9 min of centrifugation. For back extraction, 500 µL of 14 mol L−1 HNO3, 6 min of vortex agitation and 6 min of centrifugation were used followed by detection by cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry (CV-AFS). Under optimized experimental conditions, an extraction efficiency of 98%, a detection limit of 0.08 µg L−1, a relative standard deviation of 3.5% (at 1 µg L−1 of Hg, n = 10), and a linear range of 0.26 - 4.0 µg L−1 were obtained. In addition, the sustainability of the method developed through the use of the Analytical GREEnness calculator (AGREE) software was evaluated, obtaining a greenness degree of 0.59. This work reports the first application of BJ@GO along with the D-μ-SPE technique for trace Hg determination water and fruit juice samples. In this way, this research work allows the exact and precise determination of low Hg concentrations in water and juice samples, which allows the evaluation of the contamination degree by this toxic metal in beverages widely consumed by the population.

Selenium accumulation in plant foods and selenium intake of residents in a moderately selenium-enriched area of Mingyueshan, Yichun, China

The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of total, organic and inorganic selenium (Se) in edible plants and surrounding soils of a moderately Se-enriched area of Mingyueshan (Yichun, China). The absorption and transport capacity of Se in plants as well as the total daily intake Se by local residents consuming the studied plants were investigated. A total of 167 samples were collected from 31 plants and their surrounding soils and measured by inductively coupled plasmamass spectrometry (ICPMS) and atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry. Selenium, mainly in organic form, was detected in most samples. Most plants were found to easily absorb inorganic Se from the soil, and based on the absorption and transport capacity, the Se distribution was as follows: root > leaf > stem or rhizome > fruit. The total daily intake of Se by local residents consuming the studied plans was 50 µg, mainly owing to Oryza sativa and leafy vegetables.

Total mercury determination in bivalves Anadara tuberculosa sold in open markets from Quito, Ecuador

This study aimed to quantify the amount of total mercury in bivalves Anadara tuberculosa supplied from Esmeraldas Province and sold in markets in the Metropolitan District of Quito, Ecuador. The determined total mercury concentration was compared to the permissible limits established by the European Commission and World Health Organization-Food and Agriculture Organization and health risk subsequently assessed. Sampling was conducted in five open markets and involved collecting fifteen specimens from each market. Total mercury was measured through cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry. Results showed that samples did not exceed the total mercury threshold value (0.5 mg kg−1). However, samples of Anadara tuberculosa from the Ofelia market, which receives fresh products from Eloy Alfaro canton, contained the highest mean levels of mercury contamination, 0.055 mg kg−1. This result could be associated to the influence of illegal mining activity in this area. In addition, methylmercury potential non-carcinogenic risk for consumers exceeded the threshold limit (>1) established by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The daily consumption rate (Rclim) was determined to be 26.61–38.50 g for a child weight of 14.5 kg, and 128.44–185.84 g for an adult weight of 70 kg. Thus, consuming a higher amount of Anadara tuberculosa could negatively affect human health.

Destruction of Lysozyme Amyloid Fibrils Induced by Magnetoferritin and Reconstructed Ferritin.

Neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), or systemic amyloidosis, are characterized by the specific protein transformation from the native state to stable insoluble deposits, e.g., amyloid plaques. The design of potential therapeutic agents and drugs focuses on the destabilization of the bonds in their beta-rich structures. Surprisingly, ferritin derivatives have recently been proposed to destabilize fibril structures. Using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and fluorescence spectrophotometry, we confirmed the destructive effect of reconstructed ferritin (RF) and magnetoferritin (MF) on lysosome amyloid fibrils (LAF). The presence of iron was shown to be the main factor responsible for the destruction of LAF. Moreover, we found that the interaction of RF and MF with LAF caused a significant increase in the release of potentially harmful ferrous ions. Zeta potential and UV spectroscopic measurements of LAF and ferritin derivative mixtures revealed a considerable difference in RF compared to MF. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the mechanism of fibril destabilization by ferritin-like proteins. From this point of view, ferritin derivatives seem to have a dual effect: therapeutic (fibril destruction) and adverse (oxidative stress initiated by increased Fe2+ release). Thus, ferritins may play a significant role in various future biomedical applications.

The arsenic species in the sulfidic environments: Determination, transformation, and geochemical implications

The species and fate of arsenic (As) are closely related to sulfide (S−II) in the anaerobic and sulfidic environment. In this work, the mechanisms and kinetics of arsenate (AsV) reduction by S−II at different pHs, S−II/AsV molar ratios, and initial AsV concentrations in the absence (or presence) of Al-hydroxide were studied, where the concentrations of various kinds of As species, namely AsV, arsenite (AsIII), and thioarsenics (ThioAs) were qualitatively and quantitatively determined by liquid chromatography with atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry. The results showed that under acidic or neutral conditions, ThioAs may act as intermediate(s), where amorphous As2S3 precipitate was observed at pH 5 in high S−II condition. By comparison, at pH 9, AsV was probably directly reduced to AsIII with polysulfide as the byproduct. The reaction rate was faster at mildly acidic pH than that of neutral or alkaline pH, as well as in the presence of Al-hydroxide. The findings may give further insights about the role of ThioAs in the biogeochemical cycle of As.

Analysis and Evaluation of Nutritional Components in Akebia trifoliate Fruit

In order to analyze and evaluate the nutritional value of Akebia trifoliata fruit,Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry,Liquid Chromatography,Fluorescence Spectrophotometry and other experimental methods was used to detect and analyze the nutritional components in the peel,pulp and seed of Akebia trifoliata. Based on the detection and analysis,it could be seen that Akebia trifoliata fruit had high nutritional value. Among them:The peel of Akebia trifoliata contains mineral nutrients of Mn and K,the contents of Mn and K were 0.645 and 342 mg/100 g respectively. The total amino acid content in the peel of Akebia trifoliata was 0.313 mg/100 g,containing 15 kinds of amino acids,including 7 kinds of essential amino acids. The proportion of essential amino acids reached the ideal protein conditions proposed by WHO/FAO. The content of essential amino acids was less than that of pulp,and the nutritional value was lower than that of pulp. It contained a small amount of vitamin E,pectin,protein and fat. The seed of Akebia trifoliate contained many mineral nutrients,including K,P,Ca and Fe,with the contents of 586,180,191 and 2.85 mg/100 g,respectively. The seed of Akebia trifoliata was rich in many mineral nutrients,including Mn,Cu and Mg,with the contents of 4.63,1.3 and 157 mg/100 g,respectively. The fatty acid content was 2.662 g/100 g,and the proportion of unsaturated acid was 76%. The pulp of Akebia trifoliate contains Cu mineral nutrients and the content was 0.25 mg/100 g,was rich in Mn mineral nutrients and the content was 7.51 mg/100 g. The total amino acid content of Akebia trifoliata was 0.419 mg/100 g,containing 16 kinds of amino acids,including 8 kinds of essential amino acids. The proportion of essential amino acids reached the ideal protein conditions proposed by WHO/FAO,the content of essential amino acids was balanced and the nutritional value was high small amounts of vitamins,fats,proteins and flavonoids. This paper can provide theoretical support and technical guidance for the development and utilization of Akebia trifoliata,and promote the theoretical research process of Akebia trifoliata.

Hollow Zinc Oxide Microflowers for Selective Preconcentration of Selenium Ions in Natural Water

Background: Selenium’s popularity in a wide variety of products and industries means that it has, unfortunately, become a common environmental pollutant, particularly from sources such as industrial wastewater discharge and agricultural runoff. Objective: Quantification of the selenium (IV) ion content of natural water sources via atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry (AFS) was performed using hollow ZnO microflowers as the enriched materials. The hollow ZnO microflowers were prepared via a hydrothermal method with polystyrene (PS) microspheres as the template. Methods: Since the pH of the selenium (IV) solution is known to influence the degree of adsorption onto the sorbent, both the acidity of adsorption and elution were studied at various pH values to obtain the adsorption isotherm and adsorption capacity of the sorbent. AFS was used to quantify the amount of selenium ion that was present in the samples. The structure of the hollow ZnO microflowers was characterized using XRD, SEM, and TEM characterization methodologies. Results: When the pH was between 6.0 and 7.0, the percentage of Se (IV) adsorption was as high as 93%. It was found that the amount of Se (IV) that was eluted from the sorbent exceeded 96% with 5.0 mL of a 0.01 mol L−1 NaOH solution over the course of 10 minutes. The maximum adsorption capacity was 31.5, 31.8, and 32.0 mg·g−1 at 273, 333, and 353 K, respectively. Conclusion: The LOD for Se (IV) detection via enrichment was achieved at 0.006 μg L−1 with a linear range between 0.1 and 200 μg L−1. Thus, this method is applicable to the analysis of natural water samples and GBW(E)080394.

Analytical Study of the Suspected Wushi Powder Excavated from the Southern Dynasty Tombs in Xiangyang, Hubei, China

Wushi Powder initially was used as medicine for typhoid fever in ancient China. In the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties, Wushi Powder became fashionable among the upper classes. However, because of the limitation of documentary evidence, it is difficult to find the true identity of Wushi Powder. Little archaeological evidence has been discovered to date, and no scientific analysis have been performed for Wushi Powder. This paper focuses on the suspected items of Wushi Powder from the Xiangyang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. X‐ray diffraction (XRD), X‐ray fluorescence (XRF), polarized optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry (AFS) were employed to characterize the compositions. The results show that the granular suspected items consist of quartz (SiO2), magnesium calcite [(Mg0.03Ca0.97)CO3], muscovite [KAl (Si3AlO10)(OH,F)2], alum [KAl (SO4)2(OH)6], sulfur (S8), chlorite or clinochlore [(MgAl)6(Si,Al)4O10(OH)8], kaolinite [Al2Si2O5(OH)4] and albite (NaAlSi3O8). According to the mineral paragenetic relationship and modern knowledge of mineral medicine, the granules contain quartz, alum, kaolinite, sulfur, stalactite and lapis chloriti. They are probably the famous Wushi Powder from history. These findings provide further new clues for the study of Chinese medical history.

Total mercury in hair as biomarker for methylmercury exposure among women in central Sweden- a 23 year long temporal trend study.

Exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) through fish is a global public health problem. Exposure monitoring is essential for health risk assessment, especially in pregnant women and children due to the documented neurotoxicity. Herein, we evaluate a time series of MeHg exposure via fish in primiparous Swedish women, covering a time period of 23 years (1996-2019). The 655 included mothers were part of the POPUP study (Persistent Organic Pollutants in Uppsala Primiparas) conducted by the Swedish Food Agency (SFA). MeHg exposure was assessed via measurements of total mercury (Hg) in hair using either cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry or inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, showing very good linear agreement (R2=0.97). Maternal characteristics and fish consumption were obtained via questionnaires. The median concentration of total Hg in hair was 0.38mg/kg (range 0.17-1.5) in 1996 and 0.25mg/kg (range 0.03-1.1) in 2019. On average the women consumed 11±8.2 meals of fish per month, and fish consumption was positively correlated with total Hg in hair (Spearman correlation: 0.39; p<0.001). In multiple regression analyses, the geometric mean annual decrease of total Hg in hair was-2.5% (95% CI: -3.2,-1.8%). Total fish consumption increased up to 2011 (B: 0.32 times/month per year; 95% CI 0.17, 0.46) after which it started to decline (B: -0.66 times/month per year; 95% CI -0.92,-0.40). Moreover, both total Hg in hair and fish consumption was positively associated with maternal age and education, and inversely associated with pre-pregnancy BMI. In conclusion, the exposure to MeHg via fish appears to be slowly declining among Swedish pregnant women.

Optimization of a Digestion Method to Determine Total Mercury in Fish Tissue by Cold Vapor Atomic Fluorescence Spectrophotometry.

Several microwave-assisted digestion methods were tested at the Centro de Estudios Aplicados en Química laboratory in Quito, Ecuador, to determine the accuracy and performance efficiency of the mineralization process for the determination of total mercury in fish tissue by cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry. The use of MARSEasyPrep high-pressure vessels, low amounts of reagents (1 cm3 HNO3, 1 cm3 H2O2, and 1 cm3 HClO4), an irradiation temperature of 210 °C, and 35 min of mineralization time resulted in accurate performance, with recoveries of certified reference material DORM-4 between 90.1% and 105.8%. This is better than the Association of Official Analytical Chemists 2015.01 method, which has a reported accuracy of 81%. The repeatability precision and intermediate precision were established at three concentration levels (0.167, 0.500, and 0.833 mg·kg−1) and expressed as the percentage of the relative standard deviation ranging from 1.5% to 3.0% and 1.7% to 4.2%, respectively. Further, the method was satisfactorily applied to analyze fortified samples of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), with recoveries ranging from 98.3% to 104.3%. The instrumental limits of detection and quantification were 0.118 µg·dm−3 and 0.394 µg·dm−3, respectively.

Portable smartphone-based device for on-site detection of Hg2+ in water samples

ABSTRACT In this paper, a smartphone-based portable device was designed for on-site and real-time detection of Hg2+ concentration levels in water samples. A rhodaminespirolactam-based derivative3ʹ,6ʹ-bis(diethylamino)-2-((3,4,5-trimethoxybenzylidene)amino)spiro[isoindoline-1,9ʹ-xanthen]-3-one, which had selective response to Hg2+,was used as Off-On fluorescent probe. The enhanced emission was observed by a high-pixel camera integrated on the smartphone. The grey value was analysed by an android/apple application ‘Detection’, and showed good linearly with Hg2+ concentration ranged from 0.01 to 0.1 μg/ml. The limit of detection (LODs) was found at 0.9 μg/l, which was sensitive enough to detect Hg2+ in industrial wastewater and drinking water. The accuracy of the proposed method was validated by reference Hg2+ solution, and the result was in good agreement with the certified value. Compared with cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry, atomic absorption spectrophotometry methods and fluorescence method, etc., the developed platform is simpler, cost-less and portable for on-site and real-time application, and can be used for sharing of in-field sensing data from any remote location to the central water quality monitoring station.

MERCURIO EN UN ARROYO ALTOANDINO CON ALTO IMPACTO POR MINERÍA AURÍFERA ARTESANAL (LA RINCONADA, PUNO, PERÚ)

La Rinconada, in the high Andes at southern Peru, is a town heavily engaged in artisanal gold mining, where tailings and waste are dumped into streams of river headwaters. For this reason, mercury was evaluated in surface water and sediments of the Lunar de Oro stream, in its origins at the Ananea glacier. Four points were sampled in the months of December 2014, and January and March 2015. In both segments, mercury was determined by atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry (EPA 245.2), and pH, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids and temperature were determined by multiparameter and in laboratory. In the four sampling points, mercury in water presented similar levels, with values between < 0.00005 and 0.00043 mg/L (n = 12), although in March, related to a lower flow, higher levels were determined (0.00034 ± 0.000032 mg/L), surpassing the Peruvian standards and the Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines (CEQG); pH recorded an average of 3.44 ± 0.12 and oxygen 2.84 ± 0.23 mg/L, values that confirmed its low quality. Sediments showed values between 9 and 373 mg/kg, with no significant differences between zones and months, exceeding NOAA and CEQG limits for 100 % of the samples. Pollution rates confirmed that the site is extremely contaminated by mercury, corroborating its high risk for public health and the ecosystems involved.

Relation of Blood Arsenic Concentration with Effect and Safety of Arsenic-Containing Qinghuang Powder (青黄散) in Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndrome

To investigate the relation of blood arsenic concentration (BAC) with clinical effect and safety of arsenic-containing Qinghuang Powder (, QHP) in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Totally 163 patients with MDS were orally treated with QHP for 2 courses of treatment, 3 months as 1 course. The BACs of patients were detected by atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry at 1, 3, and 6 months during the treatment, and the effective rate, hematological improvement and safety in patients after treatment with QHP were analyzed. After 2 courses of treatment, the total effective rate was 89.6% (146/163), with 31.3% (51/163) of hematological improvement and 58.3% (95/163) of stable disease. The hemoglobin increased from 73.48 ± 19.30 g/L to 80.39 ± 26.56 g/L (P<0.05), the absolute neutrophil count increased from 0.81 ± 0.48 × 109/L to 1.08 ± 0.62 × 109/L (P<0.05), and no significant changes were observed in platelet counts (P>0.05). Among 46 patients previously depended on blood transfusion, 28.3% (13/46) completely got rid of blood transfusion and 21.7% (10/46) reduced the volume of blood transfusion by more than 50% after treatment. The BACs were significantly increased in patients treated for 1 month with 32.17 ± 18.04 μ g/L (P<0.05), 3 months with 33.56 ± 15.28 μ g/L (P<0.05), and 6 months with 36.78 ± 11.92 μ g/L (P<0.05), respectively, as compared with those before treatment (4.08 ± 2.11 μ g/L). There were no significant differences of BACs among the patients treated for 1, 3 and 6 months (P>0.05). The adverse reactions of digestive tract during the treatment were mild abdominal pain and diarrhea in 14 cases (8.6%), and no patients discontinued the treatment. The BACs of patients with gastrointestinal adverse reactions were significantly lower than those without gastrointestinal adverse reactions (22.39 ± 10.38 vs. 37.89 ± 11.84, μ g/L, P<0.05). The BACs of patients with clinical effect were significantly higher than those failed to treatment (40.41 ± 11.69 vs. 23.84 ± 12.03, μ g/L, P<0.05). QHP was effective and safe in the treatment of patients with MDS and the effect was associated with BACs of patients.

Investigation of the potential risk of coal fire to local environment: A case study of Daquanhu coal fire, Xinjiang region, China

Underground coal fires are disasters associated with coal mining activities. This study, attempts to investigate the impact of coal fires on the soil and atmosphere by measuring heavy metal concentration and borehole gas emissions for the Daquanhu coal fire zone. Different methods and equipment were used in this study, such as remote sensing, determination of the surface temperature and vegetation, field meteorological surveys, air/smoke analysis, flame photometry, atomic absorption spectrophotometry, atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry, and alkali diffusion. The results show that the surface temperature of the Daquanhu coal fire zone was reduced with a progress in coal fire extinction since 2015. Surface vegetation grew better in 2016 than in other years. The mercury (Hg) content in the western part of the fire zone is much higher than that in other parts of the fire zone. The arsenic (As) content in the eastern part is much higher than that of other parts. Data show that the estimated total amount of gas emissions during fire extinction is ~31,500 kg for CO, 489 kg for SO2, 12,885 kg for NO, 576 kg for NO2, and 20,295 kg for NOx. The intensity of the gas emissions during extinction is notably higher than that before extinction. The results also indicate coal fire's potential risk to adjacent communities, especially the risks associated with borehole injection of large amounts of possible harmful slurry, which needs to be taken seriously.

Metal oxide nanoparticle-modified graphene oxide for removal of elemental mercury

ABSTRACTMercury is an extremely toxic element that is primarily released by anthropogenic activities and natural sources. Controlling Hg emissions, especially from coal combustion flue gas, is of practical importance in protecting the environment and preventing human health risks. In the present work, three metal oxides (MnO2, CuO, and ZnO) were loaded on graphene oxide (GO) sorbents (designated as MnO2-GO, CuO-GO, and ZnO-GO). All three adsorbents were successfully synthesized and were well characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that the metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) successfully decorated the GO. The elemental Hg adsorption capabilities of the three sorbents were subsequently evaluated using an in-house built setup for cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry (CVAFS) with argon as the carrier gas for mercury detection. The testing temperature ranged from 50°C to 200°C at intervals of 50°C. MnO2-GO showed an excel lent Hg0 adsorption capacity via chemisorption from 50 to 150°C and a mercury removal efficiency as high as 85% at 200°C, indicating that the MnO2-NP-modified GO is applicable for enhancing gas-phase elemental mercury removal. However, neither CuO-GO nor ZnO-GO performed well. This work provides useful insights into the development of novel sorbent materials for the elemental mercury removal from flue gases.

重金属的危害及其在食品包装材料上的快速检测方法

对于食品来说，包装不仅起着宣传和美化的作用，更对食品起着保护作用。但是食品包装材料中存在一些重金属对食品食用安全有一定隐患。用激光诱导击穿光谱结合移动窗口偏最小二乘法、原子荧光光度法、X射线荧光光谱等方法能安全快速的对重金属离子进行检测，其中，荧光光度法、X射线荧光光谱测量成为了食品包装材料重金属离子快速检测研究的一个重要方面。本工作对各种材料中重金属快速检测的方法进行归纳、总结，并对最新的技术方法进行了分析，这对人们了解食品包装安全及检测方法方面具有重要意义。 For food, food packaging plays a very important role, which not only plays a role in publicity and beautification, but also plays a protective role in food. However, there are some heavy metals in food packaging materials, which have some hidden dangers to food safety. By laser induced breakdown spectroscopy combined with moving window partial least-squares method, atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry, X-ray fluorescence spectrum method, these heavy metals of packaging material can be rapidly detected. The rapid detection methods for the various heavy metals in materials were summarized, and the latest detection method was analyzed, which are of great significance to the understanding of the food packaging safety and detection.

Hydrothermal-assisted derived ion-imprinted sorbent for preconcentration of antimony(III) in water samples

ABSTRACTIon-imprinted iodole-functionalized silica-supported (IIS) sorbent was prepared by the hydrothermal-assisted surface imprinting approach. IIS indicated had a high static adsorption capacity of 39.6 mg·g–1 for Sb(III), displayed stable removal efficiency in the range of pH 4–9, offered a rapid removal rate with an equilibrium within 30 min, and could be used repeatedly without a considerable adsorption capacity loss. The IIS sorbent had been successfully applied to solid-phase extraction coupled with hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry for the preconcentration and determination of Sb(III) in certified reference materials and real water samples, since recoveries in the range of 97.6%–102.8% were obtained.

Study on the Clinical Safe and Effective Methods of Arsenic-Containing Compound-Qinghuang Powder in the Treatment of Myelodysplastic Syndrome.

Objective To establish the clinical safe and effective methods of arsenic-containing compound-Qinghuang Powder (compound-QHP) in the treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Methods 200 patients with MDS were treated with compound-QHP (daily dose of 0.1 g realgar). The blood arsenic concentrations (BACs) were detected by atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry (HF-AFS). After treatment for 1 month, the patients were randomly divided into group A and group B when the BACs were less than 20 μg/L. Daily dose of realgar was maintained in group A and it was increased to that when the BACs were more than 20 μg/L in group B. The BAC and clinical efficacy and safety in two groups were compared at the end of the treatment with compound-QHP. Results The average BAC of group B was significantly higher than that of group A (P < 0.01). The rates of hematology improvement and reduced transfusion were significantly higher in group B than in group A (P < 0.05). The HGB, ANC, and PLT significantly increased in group B after treatment (P > 0.05). Conclusions Monitoring the BAC and adjusting the daily dose of realgar to increase the effective BAC and then improving efficacy without increasing the clinical toxicity are the clinical safe and effective methods in the treatment of MDS.

Recent Studies on the Speciation and Determination of Mercury in Different Environmental Matrices Using Various Analytical Techniques.

This paper reviews the current research on the speciation and determination of mercury by various analytical techniques, including the atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), voltammetry, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), ICP-mass spectrometry (MS), atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS), spectrophotometry, spectrofluorometry, and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Approximately 96 research papers on the speciation and determination of mercury by various analytical instruments published in international journals since 2015 were reviewed. All analytical parameters, including the limits of detection, linearity range, quality assurance and control, applicability, and interfering ions, evaluated in the reviewed articles were tabulated. In this review, we found a lack of information in speciation studies of mercury in recent years. Another important conclusion from this review was that there were few studies regarding the concentration of mercury in the atmosphere.