Determination of sodium monofluoroacetate (compound 1080) in tissues and baits as its benzyl ester by reaction-capillary gas chromatography.

A reaction-capillary gas-chromatographic procedure using photo-ionization (PID) or flame-ionization (FID) detection was developed for the determination of sodium monofluoroacetate (compound 1080), a pesticide, in tissues and baits. Fluoroacetic acid from tissue (1 g) and bait (10 g) extracts was first partitioned into ethyl acetate and then into 0.5 M benzyldimethylphenylammonium hydroxide. Benzylation was achieved by pyrolysis of the quaternary ammonium salt in the injection port. Chloroacetic acid was used as the internal standard. A linear relationship (r = 0.999) was observed between the peak area ratio of the substrate/internal standard and the fluoroacetic acid concentration. The detection limit for compound 1080 using the described analytical procedure, was 15 micrograms/kg with PID and 100 micrograms/kg with FID.

Liquid chromatographic determination of strychnine in stomach contents.

A chloroform extract of stomach contents at basic pH is concentrated and then extracted with 0.1 M phosphoric acid. The acid extract is chromatographed on a 10 cm reverse phase column, using 0.005 M phosphate buffer (pH 3.0)-acetonitrile-tetrahydrofuran (750 + 135 + 115) containing 0.01 M octanesulfonic acid at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min for elution. Strychnine eluted in 7.3 min. Recoveries from spiked stomach contents averaged 92%. The method can be used without modification for other alkaloids.

Observations on an outbreak of nutritional steatitis (yellow fat disease) in fitch (Mustella putorius furo).

An outbreak of nutritional steatitis in farmed fitch (Mustella putorius furo) caused by feeding high levels of dietary polyunsaturated fat was investigated. The disease affected mainly 13 to 15 week rapidly growing kits; 793 kits were affected and 183 died. The outbreak was quickly controlled by lowering the level of polyunsaturated fat in the diet and administering high doses of vitamin E. Affected animals had severe generalised steatitis characterised grossly by yellow brown granular fat, which histologically consisted of diffusely necrotic adipose tissue heavily infiltrated with macrophages and neutrophils. There were extensive deposits of PAS-positive, fluorescent lipopigment within macrophages and extracellularly throughout the inflamed fat. Affected fitch had normochromic microcytic anaemia, lowered liver iron levels, increased thrombocytes and acute inflammatory leucograms. Skeletal or cardiac myopathy was not observed grossly or histologically in any of the animals examined. The diet contained high levels of polyunsaturated fat (7.7%DM), a high proportion being docosahexaenoic and eicosapentaenoic acids which were derived from the squid component (40%) of the ration. The livers from affected fitch contained correspondingly high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The diet provided 13 mg Vitamin E per fitch daily, which was clearly inadequate considering the high levels of polyunsaturated fat being fed. Liver selenium levels were extremely high as a result of the high selenium levels in the squid portion of the diet.