Determination of thiocyanate as a biomarker of tobacco smoke constituents in selected biological materials of human origin.

In order to protect human health, it is necessary to biomonitor toxic substances originating from tobacco smoke in biological materials sampled from persons with different exposures to tobacco smoke constituents. Thiocyanate anion is a biomarker of exposure to tobacco smoke components which is characterized by a relatively long half-life in the human body, i.e. 6 days. In this work, we present the results of thiocyanate determinations performed on samples of placenta, meconium, saliva, breast milk, sweat and blood. The placenta samples were subjected to accelerated solvent extraction with water. The thiocyanate concentrations were determined using ion chromatography. The analyzed biological materials were compared with regard to their applicability for biomonitoring toxic substances originating from tobacco smoke. The highest mean concentrations of thiocyanate were observed in the samples of biological materials collected from active smokers.

Effects of addictive substances during pregnancy and infancy and their analysis in biological materials.

The use of addictive substances during pregnancy is a serious social problem, not only because of effects on the health of the woman and child, but also because drug or alcohol dependency detracts from child care and enhances the prospect of child neglect and family breakdown. Developing additive substance abuse treatment programs for pregnant women is socially important and can help ensure the health of babies, prevent subsequent developmental and behavioral problems (i.e., from intake of alcohol or other additive substances such as methamphetamine, cocaine,or heroine) and can reduce addiction costs to society. Because women of childbearing age often abuse controlled substances during their pregnancy, it is important to undertake biomonitoring of these substances in biological samples taken from the pregnant or nursing mother (e.g., blood, urine,hair, breast milk, sweat, oral fluids, etc.), from the fetus and newborn (e.g., meconium,cord blood, neonatal hair and urine) and from both the mother and fetus (i.e.,amniotic fluids and placenta). The choice of specimens to be analyzed is determined by many factors; however, the most important is knowledge of the chemical and physical characteristics of a substance and the route of it administration. Maternal and neonatal biological materials reflect exposures that occur over a specific time period, and each of these biological specimens has different advantages and disadvantages,in terms of accuracy, time window of exposure and cost/benefit ratio.Sampling the placenta may be the most important biomonitoring choice for assessing in utero exposure to addictive substances. The use of the placenta in scientific research causes a minimum of ethical problems, partly because its sampling is noninvasive, causes no harm to mother or child, and partly because, in any case,placentas are discarded and incinerated after birth. Such samples, when properly analyzed, may provide key essential information about fetal exposure to toxic substances, and may provide the groundwork for protecting the fetus or newborn and the mother from further damage.Several sensitive and specific bioanalytical methods are commonly utilized to accurately measure for drug biomarkers of in utero drug exposure. Moreover, several immunoassay methods are used to rapidly screen for drugs in many biological specimen types. However, results from immunoassays should be carefully interpreted,and should be confirmed by more specific and sensitive chromatographic methods, such as GC-MS or LC-MS. Although techniques for analysis of addictive substances are still being developed or are being refined, current methods are efficient and sensitive and provide valuable information on human exposures to addictive substances and their metabolites.

Determination of thiocyanate (biomarkers of ETS) and other inorganic ions in human nasal discharge samples using ion chromatography.

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is a mixture of air and tobacco smoke containing more than 4000 chemical substances. In view of the health risks of many of these substances, studies are needed to determine biomarkers of exposure to ETS constituents in people who actively or passively are exposed to the toxic compounds. The methodologies for determining most biomarkers from saliva, urine and blood samples are known, but methods for analyzing these compounds in nasal discharges are not available. The objective of this work was to develop an analytical procedure for the determination of thiocyanate and other biomarker compounds in samples of nasal discharge using ion chromatography.

Cyanides in the environment-analysis-problems and challenges.

Cyanide toxicity and their environmental impact are well known. Nevertheless, they are still used in the mining, galvanic and chemical industries. As a result of industrial activities, cyanides are released in various forms to all elements of the environment. In a natural environment, cyanide exists as cyanogenic glycosides in plants seeds. Too much consumption can cause unpleasant side effects. However, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is the most common source of cyanide. Live organisms have the ability to convert cyanide into less toxic compounds excreted with physiological fluids. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of knowledge on the behaviour of cyanide in the environment and its impact on the health and human life.

Determination of cyanide in urine and saliva samples by ion chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection.

ABSTRACT: Commonly known as a highly toxic chemical, cyanide is also an essential reagent for many industrial processes. It naturally occurs in plant seeds as cyanogenic glycosides. Another relatively common mode of cyanide exposure is inhalation of environmental tobacco smoke. This study concerns importance to determine cyanide ion in human biological samples. Urine and saliva samples were collected healthy volunteers exposed to tobacco smoke (active smokers) and environmental tobacco smoke (passive smokers). Chromatographic separation was achieved with an anion-exchange column and separated ions were detected by a pulsed amperometric detector. The method produced linear response in a specific concentration range of cyanide ion. The limit of detection was estimated at 0.1  and 0.5 µg/dm3 for urine and saliva samples, respectively. Cyanide ion concentrations in samples ranged from not detected (below LOD) to 12.88 µg/dm3. The comparison of results of biological samples analyses shows an increasing trend in cyanide concentration that may suggest that environmental tobacco smoke might have an impact on human health.

Development of an Analytical Protocol for Determination of Cyanide in Human Biological Samples Based on Application of Ion Chromatography with Pulsed Amperometric Detection.

A simple and accurate ion chromatography (IC) method with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD) was proposed for the determination of cyanide ion in urine, sweat, and saliva samples. The sample pretreatment relies on alkaline digestion and application of Dionex OnGuard II H cartridge. Under the optimized conditions, the method showed good linearity in the range of 1-100 µg/L for urine, 5-100 µg/L for saliva, and 3-100 µg/L for sweat samples with determination coefficients (R) > 0.992. Low detection limits (LODs) in the range of 1.8 µg/L, 5.1 µg/L, and 5.8 µg/L for urine, saliva, and sweat samples, respectively, and good repeatability (CV < 3%, n = 3) were obtained. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the analysis of human biological samples.

Meconium samples used to assess infant exposure to the components of ETS during pregnancy.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to use meconium samples to assess fetal exposure to compounds present in environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: In order to assess fetal exposure to toxic tobacco smoke compounds, samples of meconium from the offspring of women with different levels of tobacco smoke exposure, and the samples of saliva from the mothers were analyzed. Thiocyanate ion as a biomarker of tobacco smoke exposure, and other ions that are indices of such exposure were determined by means of ion chromatography. RESULTS: The results of ion chromatography analysis of the meconium and maternal saliva samples for the presence of cations and anions (including thiocyanate ion) indicate that the concentration level of specific ions depends on the intensity of environmental tobacco smoke exposure of pregnant women. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results, it can be concluded that meconium samples can be used to determine the substances from tobacco smoke. The results confirm the effect of smoking during pregnancy on the presence and content of substances from tobacco smoke.

Prenatal exposure to substance of abuse: a worldwide problem.

Substance abuse during pregnancy is an important public health issue affecting the mother and the growing infant. Preterm labor, miscarriage, abruption and postpartum hemorrhage are obstetric complications which have been associated with women who are dependent on abused substances. Moreover, women are also at an increased risk of medical problems such as poor nutrition, anemia, urinary tract infections as well as sexually transmitted infections, hepatitis, HIV and problems related to infection. Intrauterine growth restriction, prematurity, stillbirth, neonatal abstinence syndrome, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome represent only some of fetal effects. Later on, during childhood, it has been shown that in utero exposure to substances of abuse is associated with increased rates of respiratory infections, asthma, ear and sinus infections. Moreover, these children are more irritable, have difficulty focusing their attention, and have more behavioral problems. Therefore, the assessment of in utero exposure to abused substance is extremely necessary and is relevant for the care of the mother and the offspring. In this sense, several approaches are possible; however, recently the evaluation of in utero exposure to abused drugs has been achieved by testing biological specimens coming from fetus or newborn, pregnant or nursing mother, or from both the fetus and the mother. Maternal and neonatal biological materials reflect exposure in a specific time period and each of them has different advantages and disadvantages in terms of accuracy, time window of exposure and cost/benefit ratio. The methodology for identification and determination of abused substances in biological materials are of great importance. Consequently, sensitive and specific bioanalytical methods are necessary to accurately measure biomarkers. Different immunoassays methods are used as screening methods for drug testing in the above reported specimens, however, the results from immunoassays should be carefully interpreted and confirmed by a more specific and sensitive chromatographic methods such as GC-MS or LC-MS. The interest in the development and optimization of analytical techniques to detect abused substances in different specimens is explained by the several possibilities and information that they can provide.