Feasibility of DS-GF AAS for the determination of metallic impurities in raw material for polymers production.

A new procedure is proposed for the determination of metal contaminants (Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na and Ni) in polymeric diphenylmethane diisocyanate (PMDI), a raw material used to produce polyurethane polymers. The feasibility of using Zeeman-effect background correction graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF AAS) and direct sampling (DS) was evaluated. Calibration using aqueous standard solutions was feasible and chemical modifiers as well as reference materials for this purpose were unnecessary. Relatively high sample masses (up to 23 mg) were used allowing very low limits of detection ranging from 0.06 ng g-1 to 1 ng g-1 (Fe and Mg) up to 3  ng g-1 (Ni), with relative standard deviation lower than 15%. The following parameters were evaluated: pyrolysis and atomization temperatures , sample mass, as well as the use of low sensitivity conditions (Zeeman effect background correction magnetic field strength adjustment and the use of a secondary wavelength for Fe and Na determinations, respectively). Results were compared with those obtained by microwave-assisted digestion and microwave-induced combustion with subsequent analytes determination by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). No significant difference was observed between the results obtained by DS-GF AAS, ICP-MS and ICP-OES after both digestion systems. The proposed DS-GF AAS method allowed the determination of six elements in PMDI (which is considered as a complex matrix) with limits of detection lower than those achieved by other methods. This new procedure can be used as quality control of polyurethanes industry for ultra-trace inorganic impurities.

Ilex Paraguariensis exposition to As and Cd in a closed soilless system.

The exposition of mate (Ilex Paraguariensis A. St.-Hil.) to As and Cd was investigated in plants derived from young mini-cuttings. Mate plants were cultivated in a closed soilless system, composed of coarse sand as substrate and flood fertirrigation. Plantlets were fertirrigated with nutritive solution and As and Cd solutions were added to the nutritive solution in the final concentration of 8 and 17 mg L-1 (As) and of 17 and 33 mg L-1 (Cd) during 14 days. Results show that stem diameter and Dickson quality index (DQI) variables could not be used as a potential indicator of accumulation of As and Cd. The shoot height, number of leaves and chlorophyll index are variables easy and quick to measure and they can be used as parameters to evaluate the stress caused in mate plants cultivation in a closed soilless system. The highest concentration of As and Cd was in roots of plants. Beyond the roots, As and Cd also can be translocated to the leaves achieving high concentrations. In addition, leaves from the treated mate plants were submitted to a hot infusion extraction in order to simulate the traditional beverage and As and Cd were determined in the infusion. Regarding to the infusion procedure, considerable As and Cd amounts were extracted from the leaves leading to conclude that this way of consumption can be an important source of toxic elements for the human diet.

New possibilities for pharmaceutical excipients analysis: Combustion combined with pyrohydrolysis system for further total chlorine determination by ICP-OES.

An alternative method for the determination of total chlorine content in hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) was applied, combining a recently developed system based on a combustion step followed by pyrohydrolysis reaction. Using this approach it the determination of total chlorine by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) without interferences was feasible. It overcame the limitations of European Pharmacopoeia (EP) method for HPC analysis regarding to the inability to determine total chlorine in HPC, once some chlorine compounds (e.g., chloroform) that can not be identified by the official method (EP). The following parameters of combustion and pyrohydrolysis were evaluated: absorbing solution, sample mass, the use of powdered silica as retardant of combustion, oxygen flow rate and reaction time. Reference values for total chlorine were obtained after digestion using microwave-induced combustion and determination by ion chromatography (IC). Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) was also investigated for Cl extraction. The accuracy of the proposed method was also evaluated by analyte recovery tests (agreement of 95-103%), as well as by the analysis of certified reference materials (CRMs). The agreement with the certified values was higher than 95% and the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 50 µg g-1. Up to 500 mg of sample were efficiently digested by the proposed method in 5 min (dissolved carbon in digests was below 50 mg L-1). Total chlorine content in samples of modified cellulose ranged from 284 to 576 µg g-1. Despite the relatively high chlorine content in all samples, the concentration was lower than the maximum limit allowed by the EP for HPC (0.5%).