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In recent years, trials to reuse fused slags, obtained through the further treatment of incinerated ash produced in the process of the disposal of garbage or sewer sludge, such as for building materials including bricks, have drawn attention. To establish the safety of using such substances, elution tests for metals and metal contents were investigated in this study. As the result of examining 13 slags, which were made by different methods, little elution of toxic metals was found in the elution tests when water was used as a solvent. However when acid was used, there was a tendency for the elution of many kinds of metals to become greater. On other hand, the results of content measurements showed that arsenic and selenium, which were not seen to be eluted from any of the slags tested, were detected; and that aluminum and manganese existed in the slags in high concentrations.

Diesel exhaust particulates were extracted with benzene-ethanol (3:1, v/v) and separated into five fractions by silica-gel column chromatography. Direct-acting mutagenic activity was assayed by the Ames test using the Salmonella typhimurium YG1024 strain. The total activity of five fractions was about four times greater than that of the crude extract, suggesting that the activities in the fractions were suppressed in the crude extract. Strong activity was observed in fraction 4 which was eluted with dichloromethane (61.5% of the total activity) and fraction 5 which was eluted with ethanol (35.3%). Nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with chemiluminescence detection. They were found mainly in fraction 4, although one NPAH was in fraction 3 which was eluted with n-hexane-dichloromethane (3:1, v/v). Based on these results, 53.1% of the activity in fraction 4 was attributed to NPAHs. The contribution of 1-nitropyrene and 1,3-, 1,6- and 1,8-dinitropyrenes was great and that of the other NPAHs was small. The mutagenic compound in fraction 5 was not identified. Fractions 1 and 2, which were eluted with n-hexane, and fraction 3 suppressed the activity of fraction 4. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fractions 2 and 3 were considered as possible suppressors of NPAHs.

A sensitive postcolumn derivatization/UV detection system has been developed for HPLC analysis of antitumor divalent and quadrivalent platinum complexes. It is based on the derivatization of platinum complexes by reaction with sodium bisulfite to corresponding product(s) which has enhanced absorptivity at 280-300 nm. Platinum complexes examined in this study were cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin (divalent platinum complexes) and oxoplatin and tetraplatin (quadrivalent ones). The proposed detection system was sensitive to all these complexes. Under the detection conditions optimized for individual complexes, the HPLC gave linear relationships between the complex concentration and the peak height. Detection limits at 290 nm with 100 microliters injection were 20 nM for cisplatin, 40 nM for oxoplatin, 60 nM for carboplatin and tetraplatin and 100 nM for oxaliplatin (S/N = 3 at 0.005 AUFS). The proposed system was successfully applied for the determination of cisplatin and oxoplatin in plasma and urine. Pharmacokinetic behavior of oxoplatin and its reduced product cisplatin following a single intravenous injection of oxoplatin in rabbits has been discussed.

Auranofin [(2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-1-thio-beta-D-glucopyranosato-S) (triethylphosphine)gold(I): AF] is a unique orally active chrysotherapy agent. A HPLC method has been developed for determining AF in urine. The proposed method comprises initial chromatographic separation of AF followed by on-line decomposition by potassium iodide with a released mercapto group undergoing a color-developing reaction with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid). An aliquot (100 microliters) of a urine sample was chromatographed on a YMC AM-302 octadecylsilica column (4.6 mm i.d. x 15 cm, ambient) with a water-methanol (35:65) eluent delivered at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. A reagent solution for a postcolumn reaction comprised of 50 microM 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid), 0.3 M potassium iodide and a 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.4), was delivered at a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min. The postcolumn reactor consisted of a poly(tetrafluoroethylene) tube (0.5 mm i.d. x 5 m) at 60 degrees C. Detection wavelength was 412 nm. The identity of the AF peak was confirmed by a 3-dimensional chromatogram as well as by atomic absorption spectrophotometric analysis of gold in the column effluent. Under the conditions described above, a linear relationship was obtained between peak height and AF concentration in the range 0.1 to 10 microM, with a correlation coefficient of 0.999. The detection limit was 50 nM (S/N = 3 at 0.005 AUFS) and the reproducibility was within 4% for 5 determinations. The AF concentrations in the urine of a rabbit given AF intraperitoneally were determined.