Articles

The authors describe the use of a range of complementary methods to explore cellular, physiological and behavioural mechanisms underlying Al accumulation and toxicity, and its eventual fate, using the pond snail as a model organism.

Imaging of organic and inorganic constituents of tablets represents a considerable challenge and no single spectroscopic approach can provide definitive characterisation of all components and/or satisfy key measurement criteria such as sensitivity, specificity, resolution and speed of analysis. Laser ablation in combination with ICP emission spectrometry represents a powerful new tool for imaging elemental distribution in pharmaceutical tablets.

This article highlights the versatility of the developed methodology for the measurement of arsenic species in a range of materials from Devon Great Consols (DGC), one of many former mining sites in the south- west of England.

Lead exposure is an international issue. Pb may enter biological systems (as Pb²⁺) via food (e.g. food contaminated from cans containing Pb solders in the joints), water (e.g. use of lead pipes), air and soil (the combustions of leaded fuels have contributed to the accumulation of atmospheric and soil Pb). In the USA, the major source of ingestion in young children seems to be the dust and chips originating from old lead paint (used from 1884 to 1978).¹ Foetuses and very young children (up to 36 months of age) are more sensitive than adults to relatively high blood lead levels because their brains and nervous systems are still developing and their blood-brain barrier is still incomplete. Childhood lead exposure has been correlated with school absenteeism, low class ranks, poorer vocabulary, longer reaction times and diminished hand-eye coordination, among other neurobehavioural disorders.

Analysis of used lubrication oil for metals is commonplace in many industries. The metals analysed fall into three categories: wear metals, contaminants and additive elements. The concentration of these metals and elements can then be interpreted to schedule maintenance of engines and machinery such as construction machinery and aeroplanes. The cost of unscheduled maintenance can be high, not only in materials and parts, but also in lost profits due to downtime. Once the oil has been sampled, Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) analysis is a very useful tool for this application.

(Image courtesy Shell Motorsport)

Teresa Jeffries,^a Craig Storey^b and Javier Fernandez-Suarez^c

^aDepartment of Mineralogy, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
^bDepartment of Earth Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK
^cUniversidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, s/n - 28040, Madrid, Spain

Qi Jun Song^a and Gillian M. Greenway^b*

^aSchool of Chemical and Material Engineering, Southern Yangtze University, China
^bHull Environment Research Institute, University of Hull, UK

J. Morton^a and Simon M. Nelms^b

^aBiological Monitoring, Health and Safety Laboratory, Broad Lane, Sheffield, S3 7HQ, UK
^bThermo Electron Corporation, Ion Path, Road Three, Winsford, Cheshire, CW7 3BX, UK

J. Sabine Becker

Central Department of Analytical Chemistry, Research Centre Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany