An Automated Micro Solid-Phase Extraction (μSPE) Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Method for Cyclophosphamide and Iphosphamide: Biological Monitoring in Antineoplastic Drug (AD) Occupational Exposure

Despite the considerable steps taken in the last decade in the context of antineoplastic drug (AD) handling procedures, their mutagenic effect still poses a threat to healthcare personnel actively involved in compounding and administration units. Biological monitoring procedures usually require large volumes of sample and extraction solvents, or do not provide adequate sensitivity. It is here proposed a fast and automated method to evaluate the urinary levels of cyclophosphamide and iphosphamide, composed of a miniaturized solid phase extraction (µSPE) followed by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) analysis. The extraction procedure, developed through design of experiments (DoE) on the ePrep One Workstation, required a total time of 9.5 min per sample, with recoveries of 77–79% and a solvent consumption lower than 1.5 mL per 1 mL of urine sample. Thanks to the UHPLC-MS/MS method, the limits of quantification (LOQ) obtained were lower than 10 pg/mL. The analytical procedure was successfully applied to 23 urine samples from compounding wards of four Italian hospitals, which resulted in contaminations between 27 and 182 pg/mL

Automated GC-FID Analysis of Brominated Flame Retardants in Polyester Resins with Hydrogen Carrier Gas

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs), including tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and dibromoneopentyl glycol (DBNPG), are present in both saturated and unsaturated polyester resins (UPRs). Given their toxicity, it is imperative to assess the content of this group of chemicals to ensure product safety and environmental sustainability, considering the paucity in the literature of analytical methods to evaluate them, particularly in solid matrices as UPRs. This study aimed to develop a fully automated gas chromatographic analysis of these BFRs, utilizing a flame ionization detector (FID), with prior derivatization of TBBPA and DBNPG with acetic anhydride. A chemometric evaluation was conducted for the derivatization step to enhance the yield of the procedure. The optimized method met the desired requirements for specificity, accuracy, and sensitivity, showing limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ), respectively, of 1.1 µg/mL and 3.3 µg/mL for DBNPG and 3.6 µg/mL and 10.8 µg/mL for TBBPA. Other conventional detectors, i.e., an Electron Capture Detector (ECD) and a Mass Spectrometer (MS), were tested. The ECD showed a higher sensitivity than the FID and MS; however, its linearity proved to be more limited, making it unsuitable for higher concentration scenarios. The MS detector yielded results comparable with those of the FID, yet the latter is a cheaper and more sensitive alternative

Evaluation of the risk of occupational exposure to antineoplastic drugs in healthcare sector: part II - the application of the FMECA method to compare manual vs automated preparation

Healthcare workers handling antineoplastic drugs (ADs) in preparation units run the risk of occupational exposure to contaminated surfaces and associated mutagenic, teratogenic, and oncogenic effects of those drugs. To minimise this risk, automated compounding systems, mainly robots, have been replacing manual preparation of intravenous drugs for the last 20 years now, and their number is on the rise. To evaluate contamination risk and the quality of the working environment for healthcare workers preparing ADs, we applied the Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) method to compare the acceptable risk level (ARL), based on the risk priority number (RPN) calculated from five identified failure modes, with the measured risk level (MRL). The model has shown higher risk of exposure with powdered ADs and containers not protected by external plastic shrink film, but we found no clear difference in contamination risk between manual and automated preparation. This approach could be useful to assess and prevent the risk of occupational exposure for healthcare workers coming from residual cytotoxic contamination both for current handling procedures and the newly designed ones. At the same time, contamination monitoring data can be used to keep track of the quality of working conditions by comparing the observed risk profiles with the proposed ARL. Our study has shown that automated preparation may have an upper hand in terms of safety but still leaves room for improvement, at least in our four hospitals.Zdravstveni radnici koji rukuju antineoplastičnim lijekovima u posebnim jedinicama za njihovu pripremu izlažu se zagađenim površinama i riziku od s njima povezanim mutagenim, teratogenim i onkogenim učincima. Da bi se smanjio taj rizik, u posljednjih se 20-ak godina ručna priprema intravenskih lijekova sve više zamjenjuje automatiziranom. Da bismo ocijenili rizik od zagađenja i kakvoću radnog okoliša zdravstvenih radnika koji pripremaju antineoplastične lijekove, oslonili smo se na metodu analize mogućih pogrešaka u postupcima I kritičnosti njihovih posljedica (engl. failure mode effects and criticality analysis, krat. FMECA) radi usporedbe prihvatljive razine rizika (engl. acceptable risk level, krat. ARL), koja je zbroj ocjena prioriteta rizika (eng. risk priority number, krat. RPN) pet utvrđenih načina pogreške s izmjerenom razinom rizika (engl. measured risk level, krat. MRL). Taj nam je model pokazao da antineoplastični lijekovi u prahu i spremnicima koji nisu zaštićeni vanjskim plastičnim omotačem donose povećani rizik, ali nismo utvrdili dosljednu razliku u riziku od zagađenja između ručne i automatizirane pripreme. Ovaj pristup može biti koristan u procjeni i kontroli rizika od profesionalne izloženosti u zdravstvenih radnika rezidualnim citotoksičnim spojevima, bilo da se radi o postojećim ili tek planiranim/novoosmišljenim postupcima pripreme lijekova. Podatci dobiveni redovitim nadzorom (monitoringom) istodobno mogu poslužiti za praćenje kakvoće radnih uvjeta tako što će se usporediti s predviđenim profilom rizika koji je utvrđen ARL-om. Iako je naše istraživanje pokazalo da automatizirana priprema ima prednost nad ručnom u smislu sigurnosti, prostora za njezino poboljšanje ima podosta, naročito u našim četirima bolnicama koje su sudjelovale u istraživanju

Fecal carriage of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli in South American camelids and biosecurity practices among farms in northern Italy

South American camelids (SACs), particularly llamas (Lama glama) and alpacas (Vicugna pacos) are gaining popularity in Europe. Initially valued for their fiber and land management capabilities, these animals are now also kept for animal therapy, outdoor activities, and as companion animals. Despite their close interactions with humans and other animals, there is limited research on the transmission of microbes or antimicrobial resistance genes from SACs. This study aimed to survey the fecal carriage of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase ESBL-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL- E. coli) in SACs. A questionnaire was administered on-site to the farmers to survey management and biosecurity measures. Twelve farms from northern Italy (Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna) participated in the study. Fecal samples were analyzed to identify ESBL- E. coli and subjected to bacteriological culture on CHROMagarTM ESBL plates. Isolate identification was accomplished by MALDI-TOF MS, then subjected to the double-disk synergy test (DDST) and examined for 3 ESBL-encoding genes (blaCTX-M, blaTEM, blaSHV) via PCR analysis. A total of 125 SACs (19 llamas and 106 alpacas) were included. Four (3.2%) of these animals were positive for ESBL- E. coli. Two isolates carried the blaCTX-M gene; one had both blaCTX-M and blaTEM, and one was negative for all ESBL-encoding genes. Furthermore, none of the ESBL- E. coli isolates tested positive for the blaSHV gene. Several data from our questionnaire revealed a lack of biosecurity protocols, which aligns with other studies. The prevalence of ESBL-producing bacteria identified in this study was lower than in different other studies. Despite the low biosecurity levels observed on the SAC farms, our findings showed a low occurrence of ESBL- E. coli and a low carriage rate of multidrug-resistant (MDR) ESBL- E. coli

Učinkovitost u kontroli izloženosti formaldehidu s novom generacijom radnih stanica / digestora koja obećava sigurniju uporabu u praksi anatomske patologije

Healthcare needs to re-evaluate its resources and make the processes more efficient. The pathologist’s workspace is often narrow and limits access to grossing information mid-procedure. An ergonomic, open-front containment console – called grossing station – can improve this situation. Besides collecting airborne formaldehyde and chemical fumes, its cupboard with adjustable vertical protective screen simplifies the workflow with a customisable open work surface that allows image acquisition and includes voice recognition and waste dispensers. However, its containment efficiency and compliance with international safety standards has not yet been investigated. The aim of our study was to address this lack of information and propose a standard procedure for testing containment efficacy of nextgeneration grossing stations. For this purpose we ran the potassium iodide test and a formaldehyde leak test with a new tracer-gas method on a new DFB900 grossing station model and established that its protection factor of 105 complied with the EU standards and the NIOSH safety limits. Future research should include a range of new grossing stations and a wide spectrum of harmful compounds that pose occupational health risk to their operators.Redovita procjena resursa i povećanje učinkovitosti postupaka nužnost su u zdravstvenoj skrbi. Radni prostor patologa često je uzak i ograničava pristup informacijama tijekom analize uzoraka materijala. Ergonomska konzola s otvorenim prednjim dijelom – koja se često naziva radna stanica i/ili digestor – može poboljšati ovu situaciju. Osim što sprječava širenje formaldehidnih i kemijskih isparina, njezin ormar s podesivim vertikalnim zaštitnim zaslonom pojednostavljuje rad s prilagodljivom otvorenom radnom površinom koja omogućava snimanje, uključuje prepoznavanje glasa i uređaje za odlaganje otpada. Međutim, njezina učinkovitost u kontroli izloženosti formaldehidu iz zraka i usklađenost s međunarodnim sigurnosnim standardima još uvijek nisu istražene. Cilj našeg istraživanja bio je utvrditi upravo to: koliko su takve stanice/digestori uspješni u zaštiti radnog prostora te predložiti standardizirani postupak za njihovo testiranje učinkovitosti kontrole formaldehida u zraku. U tu svrhu proveli smo test kalijeva jodida (pomoću KI disk metode) i test ispitivanja koncentracije formaldehida u zraku pomoću nove metode praćenja curenja plinova na modelu radne patološke stanice/digestora DFB900 te ustanovili da je njezin zaštitni faktor 105 i da udovoljava EU-ovim standardima i zaštitnim ograničenjima NIOSH-a. Buduća istraživanja trebaju obuhvatiti niz novih radnih stanica za anatomsku patologiju i širok spektar štetnih spojeva koji predstavljaju rizik za zdravlje radnika u patološkim laboratorijima

Breath fingerprint of colorectal cancer patients by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis preparatory to e-nose analyses

Colorectal cancer (CRC), according to the most recent data provided by GLOBOCAN, ranks fourth worldwide in incidence and third in mortality among all cancers. Current estimates project a global increase in colorectal cancer incidence of 60.5 % and mortality of 76.9 % between 2022 and 2045. The low sensitivity and adherence, coupled with the high costs associated with current diagnostic methods for CRC, underscore the need to explore innovative procedures for the early detection of tissue abnormalities. Existing research suggests that patients affected by this condition exhibit distinctive alterations in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) ratios in their exhaled breath.This study presents a characterization of exhaled breath using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) in patients with varying stages of the disease, as determined by conventional medical and clinical analyses. An electronic nose was utilized to develop a method aimed at rapidly analyzing a subject's exhaled breath to identify the group of belonging (healthy, affected). The aim of the study was to develop a rapid, cost-effective, and non-invasive early diagnostic system employing an electronic nose. Statistical analysis identified 12 compounds with the potential to distinguish between healthy and affected individuals and were selected for testing the application potential of the Cyranose 320 electronic nose. The ability of the method to identify the 40 subjects analyzed as Healthy Controls (HC) or CRC in terms of sensitivity and specificity (0.8 and 0.85, respectively) demonstrates the feasibility of using this method for rapid, low-cost, and non-invasive disease recognition

Vacuum-Assisted MonoTrap^TM Extraction for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Profiling from Hot Mix Asphalt

MonoTrapTM was introduced in 2009 as a novel miniaturized configuration for sorptive sampling. The method for the characterization of volatile organic compound (VOC) emission profiles from hot mix asphalt (HMA) consisted of a two-step procedure: the analytes, initially adsorbed into the coating in no vacuum- or vacuum-assistance mode, were then analyzed following an automated thermal desorption (TD) step. We took advantage of the theoretical formulation to reach some conclusions on the relationship between the physical characteristics of the monolithic material and uptake rates. A total of 35 odor-active volatile compounds, determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/olfactometry analysis, contributed as key odor compounds for HMA, consisting mainly of aldehydes, alcohols, and ketones. Chemometric analysis revealed that MonoTrapTM RGC18-TD was the better coating in terms of peak area and equilibrium time. A comparison of performance showed that Vac/no-Vac ratios increased, about an order of magnitude, as the boiling point of target analytes increased. The innovative hybrid adsorbent of silica and graphite carbon monolith technology, having a large surface area bonded with octadecylsilane, showed effective adsorption capability, especially to polar compounds