Development of quantitative immunochromatographic kit and visual screening immunoassay strip for cadmium.

Cadmium is a highly toxic heavy metal for humans. In 2006, the Codex Alimentarius Commission set the international standard value of Cd contained in polished rice at 0.4 mg kg(-1), thus requiring the monitoring of Cd in food. We developed two types of Cd immunochromatographic kit by using anti-(Cd-EDTA) antibody. One is the quantitative Cd immunochromatographic device which can precisely measure Cd concentrations. The other is the Cd screening strip that enables visible evaluation of Cd exceeding 0.003 mg L(-1). Compared with conventional instrumental analysis methods, the immunoassay kits provide rapid, simple, and inexpensive on-site methods. For these kits, we also developed an efficient pretreatment method that can be easily administrated on-site. In this method, brown rice samples are coarsely crushed by a hand-held grinder then mixed with an enzyme solution, and Cd is extracted with HCl. The extracted solution is then purified by a newly developed Cd-selective ion exchange column. Cd concentrations measured by the quantitative Cd immunochromatographic devices correlated well with those obtained by ICP-OES (r (2) = 0.96). The Cd screening strips performed well in tests; pretreated purification solution which gave Cd concentrations exceeding 0.4 mg kg(-1) according to the Cd immunochromatographic devices gave corresponding results with the Cd screening strips with no false positives or false negatives. These results indicate that the two immunochromatographic kits are useful for on-site measurement of Cd concentrations and screening of Cd present in brown rice.

Immunochromatography for the rapid determination of cadmium concentrations in wheat grain and eggplant.

BACKGROUND: A simple and quick on-site test for trace levels of cadmium (Cd) in food is needed because of the human toxicity of this heavy metal. We developed an immunochromatography kit which uses the antigen-antibody complex reaction between the Cd-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (Cd-EDTA) complex and an anti-Cd-EDTA antibody. We previously reported the successful use of this kit to determine Cd concentrations in brown rice with respect to the international standard: 0.4 mg kg⁻¹. Here, we measured, using this immunochromatography kit, Cd concentrations in crops with lower international standards than rice. RESULTS: Cadmium extracted with 0.1 mol L⁻¹ HCl from wheat grain and fresh eggplant was purified sufficiently using an ion-exchange column treatment. Appropriate HCl extraction rates and dilution rates for the column eluate were selected; Cd concentrations in wheat grain and fresh eggplant were determined successfully by immunochromatography with respect to the international standards of 0.2 mg kg⁻¹ and 0.05 mg kg⁻¹ fresh weight, respectively. CONCLUSION: Approximate Cd concentrations in wheat grain and fresh eggplant can be monitored easily and quickly by this method at locations where facilities for acid digestion and precision analysis are not available.

Cadmium purification and quantification using immunochromatography.

One of the pathways by which cadmium enters human beings is through the consumption of agricultural products. The monitoring of cadmium has a significant role in the management of cadmium intake. Cadmium purification and quantification using immunochromatography were conducted in this study as an alternative means of cadmium analysis. The samples used in this study were rice, tomato, lettuce, garden pea, Arabidopsis thaliana (a widely used model organism for studying plants), soil, and fertilizer. The cadmium immunochromatography has been produced from the monoclonal antibody Nx2C3, which recognize the chelate form of cadmium, Cd.EDTA. The immunochromatography can be used for quantification of cadmium in a range from 0.01 to 0.1 mg/L at 20% mean coefficient of variance. A chelate column employing quaternary ammonium salts was used for the purification of cadmium from HCl extracts of samples. Recoveries of cadmium were near 100%, and the lowest recovery was 76.6% from rice leaves. The estimated cadmium concentrations from the immunochromatography procedure were evaluated by comparison with the results of instrumental analysis (ICP-AES or ICP-MS). By comparison of HCl extracts analyzed by ICP-MS and column eluates analyzed by immunochromatography of the samples, the estimated cadmium concentrations were closely similar, and their recoveries were from 98 to 116%.

Development of MAb-based immunochromatographic assay for cadmium from biological samples.

Cadmium (Cd) is a general environmental pollutant of increasing global concern. In 2005 the joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission proposed new international food legislation for low-level Cd contaminants. In this study we demonstrate the use of novel monoclonal antibody (MAb) to Cd-EDTA in an immunochromatography (IC) format for the quick testing for trace Cd. This IC device could detect 0.3 microg kg(-1) (0-3 ppb) Cd. Contaminated Zn, Mn, Mg, and Cu, which would interfere the measurement of Cd by cross reaction to the MAb, could be removed by using a column that could separate trace Cd from other heavy metals in the extract of brown rice.