A Carcinogen/Mutagen Detector for Hplc

Bakale, Michael

Abstract

The short-term aim is to complete the assembly of the carcinogen/mutagen (C/M) detector that is currently in progress. With this achieved, the sensitivity and specificity of the C/M detector will be combined with the versatilty of HPLC as an analytical tool to yield a monitor that is responsive to a variety of occupational biohazards. The basis for the proposed C/M-HPLC monitor is a correlation between the quasifree-electron attachment rate constant, ke, of a chemical and that chemical's carcinogenic properties; a correlation that has been found to have an accuracy of approximately 85% for 170 chemicals tested. Differential pulse conductivity provides the means by which the C/M-HPLC monitor can be applied to detecting electrophiles in samples as diverse as fly ash and human urine. When response of the C/M detector to known carcinogens and mutagens has been optimized, synthetic mixtures of biohazards common to the workplace will be used to test the detector. The response of the Ames Salmonella bioassay to these mixtures will be compared with the response of the C/M detector and when a consistent correlation is found between the two, the C/M-HPLC will then be applied to monitoring several potential biohazards that are frequently found in hospitals and research laboratories. Successful use of the C/M monitor in this application should demonstrate its applicability to monitoring a variety of potential biohazards in the workplace. Inter-disciplinary studies to determine the basis for the ke-carcinogenicity correlation will be continued. By combining information from three sources that include (1) physico-chemical studies of electron transport and attachment in model liquids and in biomimetic systems (2) enzymatic conversion of procarcinogens to ultimate carcinogens in reversed micelles, and (3) use of the Ames Salmonella bioassay to study electrophile-DNA interaction in vivo, a better understanding for the basis of the C/M monitor should be attained.