A sensitive, selective, and reproducible GC–MS–SIM method was developed for determination of artemether (ARM) and dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in plasma using artemisinin (ART) as internal standard. Solid phase extraction was performed using C18 Bond Elut cartridges. The analysis was carried out using a HP-5MS 5% phenylmethylsiloxane capillary column. The recoveries of ARM, DHA and ART were 94.9±1.6%, 92.2±4.1% and 81.3±1.2%, respectively. The limit of quantification in plasma was 5 ng/ml (C.V.≤17.4% for ARM and 15.2% for DHA). Calibration curves were linear with R2≥0.988. Within day coefficients of variation were 3–10.4% for ARM and 7.7–14.5% for DHA. Between day coefficients of variations were 6.5–15.4% and 7.6–14.1% for ARM and DHA. The method is currently being used for pharmacokinetic studies. Preliminary data on pharmacokinetics showed Cmax of 245.2 and 35.6 ng/ml reached at 2 and 3 h and AUC0–8h of 2463.6 and 111.8 ngh/ml for ARM and DHA, respectively.
The large-scale air pollution episode due to the out-of-control biomass burning for agricultural purposes in Indonesia started in June 1997, has become a severe environmental problem for itself and the neighboring countries. The fire lasted for almost five months. Its impact on the health and ecology in the affected areas is expected to be substantial, costly and possibly long lasting. Air pollution Index as high as 839 has been reported in Malaysia. API is calculated based on the five pollutants: NO2, SO2, O3, CO, and respirable suspended particulates (PM10). It ranges in value from 0 to 500. An index above 101 is considered to be unhealthy and a value over 201 is very unhealthy (Abidin and Shin, 1996). The solvent-extractable organic compounds from four total suspended particulate (TSP) high-volume samples collected in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Stations Pudu and SIRIM) were subjected to characterization – the abundance was determined and biomarkers were identified. Two of the samples were from early September when the fire was less intense, while the other two were from late September when Kuala Lumpur experienced very heavy smoke coverage which could be easily observed from NOAA/AVHRR satellite images. The samples contained mainly aliphatic hydrocarbons such as n-alkanes and triterpanes, alkanoic acids, alkanols, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The difference between the early and late September samples was very significant. The total yield increased from 0.6 to 24.3μgm-3 at Pudu and 1.9 to 20.1μgm-3 at SIRIM, with increases in concentration in every class. The higher input of vascular plant wax components in the late September samples, when the fire was more intense, was characterized by the distribution patterns of the homologous series n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids, and n-alkanols, e.g., lower U:R, higher >C22/C20/
From July 1993 to September 1994, seasonal variations in the sources of SO42- aerosols in the Arctic lower atmosphere at Alert, Canada, (82 degrees 30' N, 62 degrees 20'W) were investigated using the sulphur isotope abundance of as little as 10 mu g of sulphur analyzed by combustion-flow isotope-ratio mass spectrometry. In conjunction with air mass trajectories and in parallel with measurements of aerosol composition, the sulphur isotope composition was used to discern sources of aerosol SO42-. Total SO42- is composed of seasalt SO42-, marine biogenic, and nonmarine SO42-. From June through September the fraction of biogenic SO42- in the non-sea-salt (nss) component ranged from 0.09 to 0.40 with an average of 0.31 +/- 0.11. Summertime nonmarine SO42- is likely anthropogenic in origin since it is isotopically indistinguishable from SO42- in the polluted winter/spring period of arctic haze (delta(34)S = +5 parts per thousand). In summer there was no significant difference in isotope composition of aerosol sulphate between air which recently traversed Eurasia and the Arctic Ocean and air arriving from North America. In contrast to summer and late winter/spring, delta(34)S values for nonmarine SO42- in fall and early winter were often less than +5 parts per thousand. These isotopically light samples were divisible into two groups: (1) those associated with air mass trajectories potentially affected by North American soils and/or smelters and (2) three weekly samples between October and December which could be attributed to fractionated sea-salt aerosol formed on refrozen Arctic Ocean leads. For the latter the ratio of SO42-/Na was estimated to be a factor of 3.6 lower than in bulk seawater. From November to May, nonmarine aerosol SO42- was apportioned into 10 aerosol components using positive matrix factor analysis of 18 aerosol ions and trace elements [Sirois ann Barrie, this issue]. In turn, a multiple linear regression of delta(34)S values against the scores of the components was used to predict the isotope composition of six components. It was concluded that the main mass of anthropogenic SO42- had a delta(34)S value near +5 parts per thousand and that biogenic SO42- had a delta(34)S Of +16 +/- 3.9 parts per thousand. Reasonable agreement between model results and sulphur isotope measurements at Alert show that SO42- apportionment using positive matrix factor analysis is a reasonable approach which gives realistic results.