Determination of trace indium in urine after preconcentration with a chelating-resin-packed minicolumn

Pulmonary effects of exposure to indium and its compounds: cross-sectional survey of exposed workers and experimental findings in rodents

BACKGROUND

Many studies have shown that occupational exposure to indium and its compounds could induce lung disease. Although animal toxicological studies and human epidemiological studies suggest indium exposure may cause lung injury, inflammation, pulmonary fibrosis, emphysema, pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, and even lung cancer, related data collected from humans is currently limited and confined to single workplaces, and the early effects of exposure on the lungs are not well understood.

OBJECTIVES

This study combined population studies and animal experiments to examine the links of indium with pulmonary injury, as well as its mechanism of action. A cross-sectional epidemiological study of indium-exposed workers from China was conducted to evaluate associations between occupational indium exposure and serum biomarkers of early effect. This study also compares and analyzes the causal perspectives of changes in human serum biomarkers induced by indium compound exposure and indium exposure-related rat lung pathobiology, and discusses possible avenues for their recognition and prevention.

METHODS

This is a study of 57 exposed (at least 6 h per day for one year) workers from an indium ingot production plant, and 63 controls. Indium concentration in serum, urine, and airborne as exposure indices were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Sixteen serum biomarkers of pulmonary injury, inflammation, and oxidative stress were measured using ELISA. The associations between serum indium and 16 serum biomarkers were analyzed to explore the mechanism of action of indium on pulmonary injury in indium-exposed workers. Animal experiments were conducted to measure inflammatory factors levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissue protein expressions in rats. Four different forms of indium compound-exposed rat models were established (intratracheal instillation twice per week, 8 week exposure, 8 week recovery). Model I: 0, 1.2, 3, and 6 mg/kg bw indium tin oxide group; Model II: 0, 1.2, 3, and 6 mg/kg bw indium oxide (In₂O₃) group; Model III: 0, 0.523, 1.046, and 2.614 mg/kg bw indium sulfate (In₂(SO₄)₃) group; Model IV: 0, 0.065, 0.65, and 1.3 mg/kg bw indium trichloride (InCl₃) group. Lung pathological changes were assessed by hematoxylin & eosin, periodic acid Schiff, and Masson's staining, transmission electron microscopy, and the protein changes were determined by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

In the production workshop, the airborne indium concentration was 78.4 μg/m³. The levels of serum indium and urine indium in indium-exposed workers were 39.3 μg/L and 11.0 ng/g creatinine. Increased lung damage markers, oxidative stress markers, and inflammation markers were found in indium-exposed workers. Serum indium levels were statistically and positively associated with the serum levels of SP-A, IL-1β, IL-6 in indium-exposed workers. Among them, SP-A showed a duration-response pattern. The results of animal experiments showed that, with an increase in dosage, indium exposure significantly increased the levels of serum indium and lung indium, as well as the BALF levels of IL‑1β, IL‑6, IL‑10, and TNF‑α and up-regulated the protein expression of SP-A, SP-D, KL-6, GM-CSF, NF-κB p65, and HO-1 in all rat models groups. TEM revealed that In₂(SO₄)₃ and InCl₃ are soluble and that no particles were found in lung tissue, in contrast to the non-soluble compounds (ITO and In₂O₃). No PAS-staining positive substance was found in the lung tissue of In₂(SO₄)₃ and InCl₃ exposure groups, whereas ITO and In₂O₃ rat models supported findings of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis and interstitial fibrosis seen in human indium lung disease. ITO and InCl₃ can accelerate interstitial fibrosis. Findings from our in vivo studies demonstrated that intra-alveolar accumulation of surfactant (immunohistochemistry) and characteristic cholesterol clefts granulomas of indium lung disease (PAS staining) were triggered by a specific form of indium (ITO and In₂O₃).

CONCLUSIONS

In indium-exposed workers, biomarker findings indicated lung damage, oxidative stress and an inflammatory response. In rat models of the four forms of indium encountered in a workplace, the biomarkers response to all compounds overall corresponded to that in humans. In addition, pulmonary alveolar proteinosis was found following exposure to indium tin oxide and indium oxide in the rat models, and interstitial fibrosis was found following exposure to indium tin oxide and indium trichloride, supporting previous report of human disease. Serum SP-A levels were positively associated with indium exposure and may be considered a potential biomarker of exposure and effect in exposed workers.

Rapid magnetic solid-phase extraction of Congo Red and Basic Red 2 from aqueous solution by ZIF-8@CoFe2 O4 hybrid composites

Core-shell metal-organic framework materials have attracted considerable attention mainly due to their enhanced or new physicochemical properties compared with their single-component counterparts. In this work, a core-shell heterostructure of CoFe2 O4 -Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 (ZIF-8@CoFe2 O4 ) is successfully fabricated and used as an solid-phase extraction adsorbent to efficiently extract Congo Red and Basic Red 2 dyes from contaminated aqueous solution. Vibrating sample magnetometry indicates that the saturated magnetization of ZIF-8@CoFe2 O4 is 3.3 emu/g, which is large enough for magnetic separation. The obtained hybrid magnetic metal-organic framework based material ZIF-8@CoFe2 O4 can remove the investigated dyes very fast within 1 min of the contact time. The adsorbent ZIF-8@CoFe2 O4 also shows a good reusability. After regeneration, the adsorbent can still exhibit high removal efficiency (∼97%) toward Congo Red for five cycles of desorption-adsorption. This work reveals the great potential of core-shell ZIF-8@CoFe2 O4 sorbents for the fast separation and preconcentration of organic pollutants in aqueous solution before high-performance liquid chromatography analysis.

Chelating materials immobilizing carboxymethylated pentaethylenehexamine and polyethyleneimine as ligands

This article presents an overview of our recent progress on the development of chelating materials. Carboxymethylated pentaethylenehexamine (CM-PEHA) and polyethyleneimine (CM-PEI) as chelating ligands show excellent performance for the solid-phase extraction of trace elements. Chelating resins immobilizing these ligands can be readily prepared by immobilizing PEHA and PEI on methacrylate resins and then carboxymethylating them. Chelating fiber can also be prepared with a wet spinning technique using a mixture of a viscose solution and a solution containing fine particulate CM-PEHA resin or CM-PEI. The potentials of these chelating materials for the separation and preconcentration of trace elements are outlined.