Carbendazim in Orange Juice

UCT has developed a simple and fast method based on the QuEChERS extraction, dSPE cleanup with PSA and C18, followed by LCMSMS detection for the determination of carbendazim in orange juice. With this method a clear extract, excellent recoveries (average recovery of 101% for three spiking levels), and low LOQ of 5 ng/mL were achieved. This method is applicable for the determination of carbendazim in real orange juice samples. Please contact us today for more information on this extraction and how to order our QuEChERS products.

EtG Detection in Fingernails using CUQAX12Z

Over the past decade the use of hair specimens for the long-term detection of the alcohol biomarker ethyl glucuronide has been increasing in popularity. In a paper by Dr. Joseph Jones and his team at the United States Drug Testing Laboratory (Des Plaines Il), they evaluated the usefulness of fingernail clippings as a suitable alternative to hair for ethyl glucuronide detection (American Journal of Analytical Chemistry (e-published January 2012)). A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the detection of ethyl glucuronide in fingernail clippings was fully validated and used to analyze the hair and/or fingernail specimens of 606 college-aged study participants. The limit of detection was 2 pg/mg, the limit of quantitation was 8 pg/mg and the method was linear from 8 to 2000 pg/mg, which is a clear demonstration of the efficiency of the SPE method which was performed using UCT’s Clean-up CUQAX12Z SPE columns. This group showed that as alternative matrices go, fingernail clippings can be just as useful as hair samples, and that UCT’s SPE can be employed no matter what the matrix is. Dr. Jones reports that ethyl glucuronide levels in fingernails were higher than ethyl glucuronide levels in hair. The study results demonstrated that fingernail may be a suitable alternative to hair for ethyl glucuronide detection and may be the preferred sample type due to the lack of a gender bias.

Don Shelly to speak on Food and Environmental issues

UCT's Food and Environmental specialist, Don Shelly, will be presenting at the Orange County Water District (OCWD) workshop in Fountain Valley, California on February 8, 2012. Topics will include The Chemistry behind Solid Phase Extraction with an emphasis on current drinking water methods and Enviro-Clean: Products Designed to Save You Time and Reduce Costs. Please contact Don at ext. 219 or Bill Leavitt at ext. 184 for more details.

UCT Specialties adhesives and coatings

If you’re having trouble getting your adhesive or coating to stick to a difficult substrate, then UCT Specialties has the solution to your problem. We manufacture an extensive line of high quality organosilanes for use as adhesion promoters/coupling agents for a wide variety of substrates including glass, ceramics, precious metals and both thermoplastic and thermoset materials. Organosilanes are also used to modify a substrates critical surface tension to improve wettability or to create hydrophobic or hydrophilic surfaces. Please see our ad in the 2012 ASI Buyers’ Guide and visit us at booth # 307 at the ASC EXPO this April in Denver, Colorado.

Phenazepam and UCT CSDAU206

In recent months Phenazepam, a drug originally precribed for the Russian market, has become very popular for off-label uses in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia. Phenazepam is prescribed for the reduction of anxiety but has now been found in blood and urine samples of drivers stopped by enforcement agencies in traffic cases in these countries. In the most recent issue of LC-GC magazine (December 2011), a validated method for the analysis of Phenazepam in whole blood has been published. UCT scientist Dr. Jeff Hackett, working with analysts at the Massachussets State Police Crime Laboratory have developed a sensitive and higly efficient method for this analysis using UCT's flagship sorbent Clean Screen (CSDAU206). In this procedure whole blood samples were extracted and analyzed down to concentrations less than 1 ng per mL of whole blood. The samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry where the clean extracts were shown to have minimal matrix effects (less than 6% overall). The recoveries of the drug from whole blood using CSDAU206 SPE columns were found to be greater than 90%. These excellent analytical characteristics demonstrate why UCT is the premier manufacturer in SPE and our Clean Screen SPE columns are the best sorbents for the extraction of drugs in biological fluids.

Gamma hydroxybutyrate and CUQAX156

In the field of Forensic Toxicology, analysts are often asked to analyze for Gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) in cases where drug facilitated crimes may have occurred. With this in mind, UCT is proud to announce that a validated method has been published in the Journal of Chromatography B (879 (2011) 3752– 3758) using Clean-Up QAX SPE columns . This methodology, developed in collaboration with a major crime laboratory, employs UCT's CUQAX156 column to extract GHB from human urine. With the use of an anionic exchange sorbent, Dr. Jeff Hackett and Albert Elian were able to extract GHB from only 50 microliters of urine down a concentration of 50 nanograms per milliliter. The procedure, performed on LC-MS/MS, produced very low matrix effects (less than 6 percent). The samples extracted from the SPE are of the highest quality, allowing instruments to stay cleaner, longer and permitting many more analyses to be performed.

CHQAX and Bisphosphonates in Australia

Clinical toxicologists often face the challenge of working to quantify difficult and low concentration medications in human beings. Falling into this category is the series of compounds known as Bisphosphonates. These pharmaceuticals are prescribed to counter the effects of bone disorders. Bisphosphonates are known to be difficult to analyze due to their phoshonic acid functional groupings and high polar character. One of the main issues with working with these types of materials is to produce a clean extract for analysis by modern instrumentation such as LC-MS/MS.

In Australia, a team lead by Dr. Sussan Ghassabian, PharmD has recently reported a validated method for the analysis of Bisphosphonates in human plasma (Journal of Chromatography B ( November 2011)). This procedure employs UCT's CHQAX solid phase extraction sorbent. The QAX column (hydroxy counter ion) is part of a range of Clean Up Anion Exchange Sorbents manufactured to the highest technical quality which also includes CUNAX (a weak anion exchanger) and CUPAX (a very weak anion exchange sorbent). In the case of Dr. Ghassabian's analysis, the phosphonic acid were efficiently held by the CHQAX, while interfering compounds could be rinsed away, offering a much cleaner environment for elution, and further analysis of the medications via on column derivatization.