BIOCHEMICAL MONITORING OF PESTICIDES, SOLVENTS, AND THEIR ME

THE DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PESTICIDES, INDUSTRIAL SOLVENTS, AND THEIR METABOLITES IN BODY FLUIDS AND TISSUES ARE IMPORTANT FOR EVALUATING THE POTENTIAL LONG-TERM HEALTH EFFECTS OF THE EXPOSED POPULATION. UNFORTUNATELY, ANALYTICAL METHODS PRESENTLY AVAILABLE ARE GENERALLY TEDIOUS, TIME-CONSUMING, COMPLEX OR NONSPECIFIC AND LACK REQUIRED SENSITIVITY. THIS STUDY WILL EVALUATE CAPILLARY SUPERCRITICAL FLUID CHROMATOGRAPHIC (SFC) TECHNIQUES FOR THE ANALYSIS OF THE COMPOUNDS OF INTEREST WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO BE POLAR, THERMALLY LABILE OR OF HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT. IN PHASE I OF THIS CONTRACT SFC ANALYSES OF PESTICIDES, INDUSTRIAL SOLVENTS, AND POLAR DERIVATIVES OF THE PARENT COMPOUNDS WILL BE DEMONSTRATED; PARAMETERS WHICH MOST SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT EXTRACTION, SEPARATION, AND DETECTION WILL BE TABULATED FOR SELECTED SUPERCRITICAL FLUIDS; AND SFC DETECTORS WILL BE EVALUATED. RESULTS OF THE FIRST PHASE WILL GUIDE SECOND PHASE EFFORTS IN WHICH SPECIFIC METHODS FOR PESTICIDES, SOLVENTS, AND THEIR METABOLIC PRODUCTS OF IMPORTANCE TO THE MISSION OF NCI WILL BE DEVELOPED AND VALIDATED; SFC COLUMNS WILL BE DEVELOPED WHICH ARE OPTIMIZED FOR THESE COMPOUND CLASSES; AND IMPROVEMENTS IN PROTOTYPES OF A PLANNED COMMERCIAL SFC INSTRUMENT WILL RESULT.