Column: Atomic Perspectives

Articles

Illegal artisanal gold mining using mercury amalgamation is poisoning people and the ecosystem in the Amazon rain forest. By taking the technique of direct mercury analysis to a remote, field-based laboratory, the team of Professor Luis Fernandez is measuring the extent of the contamination in a wide variety of samples, including soil, fish, air and human hair.

The Impact of Illegal Artisanal Gold Mining on the Peruvian Amazon: Benefits of Taking a Direct Mercury Analyzer into the Rain Forest to Monitor Mercury Contamination

With analytical advances, the clinical practice threshold for lead has dropped from 60 to 5 μL/dL.

The Critical Role of Atomic Spectroscopy in Understanding the Links Between Lead Toxicity and Human Disease

This study explores the possibility of measuring the metal content of crude oils using EDXRF in samples as received in both the direct and indirect excitation mode.

Measuring the Metal Content of Crude and Residual Fuel Oils by EDXRF: A Rapid, Alternative Approach to ICP-OES

A look at the implementation of the new United States Pharmacopeia (USP) chapters and the International Conference for Harmonization (ICH) guidelines for elemental impurities from an historical perspective, providing insight into the changes and considering the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead as the industry embraces the new methodology.

From Heavy Metals Testing to the Measurement of Elemental Impurities in Pharmaceuticals: Over 100 Years in Making the Change

Robert Thomas has more than 30 years of experience in trace element analysis. He is the principal of his own freelance writing and scientific consulting company, Scientific Solutions, based in Gaithersburg, MD.

How to select the optimum atomic spectroscopic technique for orally delivered drugs, based on the J-values described in the validation protocols outlined in USP Chapter 

Choosing the Right Atomic Spectroscopic Technique for Measuring Elemental Impurities in Pharmaceuticals: A J-Value Perspective

How much lead is in our daily lives? We take a look at current research concerning lead in the United States food supply and investigations using ICP-MS into the measurement of high concentrations of lead in food.



Our Daily Dose of Poison: A Look at Lead in the Food Supply

An evaluation of the ability of XRF spectrometry to perform elemental impurity analysis of 12 elements in various pharmaceutical materials

Using XRF as an Alternative Technique to Plasma Spectrochemistry for the New USP and ICH Directives on Elemental Impurities in Pharmaceutical Materials

Over the last few decades, elemental imaging using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has emerged as an important tool in the study of solid samples from a variety of scientific disciplines, including medicine, biology, and geology. This article highlights recent analytical trends towards high-speed, high-spatial resolution, multi-elemental imaging that became possible with advances in both LA and ICP-MS technology, including the design of fast-washout ablation cells and commercialization of high-speed ICP-MS such as time-of-flight mass analyzers (TOFMS), This study will demonstrate the new imaging approach by coupling LA with an-ICP-TOFMS system (icpTOF from TOFWERK, Thun, Switzerland) on two application areas: quantitative mapping of trace elements in a sulfide mineral (sphalerite), and imaging of the distribution of a chemotherapy drug (Cisplatin) in a rat kidney. High-performance LA-ICP-TOFMS provides researchers with an effective new tool to study biological and geological processes, with much greater speed and in much greater detail than previously possible with conventional ICP-MS instrumental designs.

Laser Ablation and Inductively Coupled Plasma–Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry—A Powerful Combination for High-Speed Multielemental Imaging on the Micrometer Scale

The National Nanotechnology Initiative defines engineered nanomaterials (ENM) as those with dimensions of 1–100 nm, where their unique characteristics enable novel applications to be carried out. ENMs often possess different properties than their bulk counterparts of the same composition, making them of great interest for a broad spectrum of industrial, commercial, and health care uses. However, the widespread application of ENMs will inevitably lead to their release into the environment, which raises concerns about their potential adverse effects on the ecosystems and their impact on human health.

Single-Particle ICP-MS: A Key Analytical Technique for Characterizing Nanoparticles

October’s AP column highlights a team of geochemists at the University of Houston who have been developing methods to streamline multi-element analysis for a more complete fingerprinting of oils by using one sample preparation method utilizing a single reaction chamber microwave digestion system and then analyzing these solutions for major, and minor elements by ICP-OES and low abundance trace elements by triple quadrupole (QQQ) ICP-MS. Results to date using this approach have shown that complete elemental recovery and removal of organic matrices can be achieved safely and that up to 57 elements can be determined in oils with good accuracy and precision. Removal of organic matrices during digestion not only helps to limit the formation of polyatomic spectral interferences, but improves instrument stability and reduces carbon build in the sample introduction and interface regions, which have traditionally plagued “dilute and shoot” methods.

New Approaches in Sample Preparation and Precise Multielement Analysis of Crude Oils and Refined Petroleum Products Using Single-Reaction-Chamber Microwave Digestion and Triple-Quadrupole ICP-MS