Pretreatment of whole blood using hydrogen peroxide and UV irradiation. Design of the advanced oxidation process

Effects of chemical & biological warfare agent decontaminants on trace survival: Impact on DNA profiling from blood and saliva

Forensic investigations following incidents involving chemical or biological agents present considerable challenges. Understanding the possibilities and limitations can aid in determining the most suitable procedures and enhancing the recovery of useful traces in these complex situations. This work complements previously published results on the effects of decontaminants on fingermarks deposited on glass. Identifying the perpetrators can be crucial, and DNA analysis remains a cornerstone in this regard. In this study, we investigated the ability to obtain usable DNA profiles from blood and saliva (pure and diluted) exposed to 16 different decontamination methods. Both DNA quantitation and DNA profiling were considered to assess the outcomes. The results revealed considerable variability but indicated that biological agents' decontaminants hindered DNA profiling post-decontamination to a greater extent than decontaminants aimed for chemical agents. Chlorine-based decontaminants also globally had a deleterious impact on DNA profiling. Powder decontaminants such as Fast-Act, CHpowder, and the liquid decontaminants GDS2000 did not affect DNA profiling.

A review on bismuth-based materials for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants

Modernized lifestyle and increased industrialization threaten living organisms because of the pollutants released from industries and household wastes. The presence of even small amounts of pollutants (organic pollutants (OPs) and inorganic pollutants-heavy metals (HMs)) shows significant effects. Thus wastewater treatment is urgently needed before being subjected to use. Many methods and materials have been developed and reported for the removal of pollutants from wastewater. This review focused on the removal of both OPs and HMs using bismuth-based (Bi-based) materials because of their low toxicity and excellent properties compared to other metals. Bi-based materials as a photocatalyst for photodegradation of OPs are discussed in detail with synthesis methods. Further, since few reviews are available on the Bi-based material for the removal and sensing of HMs, this topic was intentionally summarized. About 200 published articles and reviews have been reviewed here. Additionally, the key point that needs to be focused on the development of Bi-based photocatalysts for the removal of OPs and for upgrading the Bi-based materials as adsorbents for HMs are conferred in the outlook. This will help many researchers in their upcoming work.

A review on the use of chelating agents as an alternative to promote photo-Fenton at neutral pH: Current trends, knowledge gap and future studies

In this review, we have critically examined the alternatives to conventional photo-Fenton process such as the strategies to perform it in circumneutral pH in the so-called photo-Fenton like process. They include iron chelation, iron replacement with another metal and use of iron immobilized on surfaces of solid materials, use of iron oxides, among others. The use of such strategies can be employed to overcome the challenges identified in conventional photo-Fenton, moreover, advantages and drawback of each technique must be clarified and the recent achievements should be shared with the scientific community. The use of a chelating agent to make iron soluble at circumneutral pH presents many advantages when compared to other current techniques. However, the correct understanding of the chelating process, complex activity and the complex resistance along with the mechanism of radical production should be taken into account to prepare an effective photo-Fenton with complexed iron. The review also identifies the current trends in chelate assisted photo-Fenton process and the unexplored areas in this field of study. A discussion about the environmental and safety issues in the application of these methods, with emphasis to the Fe chelation strategy, was also considered with detailed review over the past ten years.

Novel Pretreatments of Whole Blood Using Fenton-like Processes for Trace Metal Analysis

Whole blood is a complex mixture of biological and chemical species. Its pretreatment, which is often conducted by dry ashing, is needed before the analyses of trace metals in whole blood. Recently photo-Fenton Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) process has been used in the pretreatment of whole blood. Two new AOP processes using simple heating and microwave irradiation have been developed in the current work to pretreat blood samples. The treatments are based on a Fenton-like AOP with acid deactivation of the enzyme catalase. The first treatment is performed with a lab oven over 5 h, while the second uses microwave irradiation for 6 min. These methods allow for either cost-effective pretreatment through the use of the lab oven, or time savings through the use of the microwave oven. The degradations of blood and pure hemoglobin samples are compared through UV/visible spectroscopy, and the copper concentration in the treated samples were analyzed via anodic stripping voltammetry as a demonstration of analyzing trace metals in the pretreated whole blood.