A novel indicator for lead poisoning beyond blood lead level: Facile diagnosis of lead poisoning using random urine with point-of-care testing

Lead (Pb) poisoning is estimated to account for 1 % of the global disease burden. The gold standard for diagnosing lead poisoning in human body relies on blood lead level (BLL), which is always performed in hospitals using expensive instruments. However, there are still many countries and regions with a lack of medical resources (without enough professional medical staff and analytical instruments). To achieve a facile diagnosis of lead poisoning by ordinary residents (without any expertise), this study conducted a research study on 810 participants to discover and validate a new lead poisoning indicator (creatinine-corrected urinary lead level, cULL) beyond BLL in non-invasive samples. A point-of-care testing (POCT) device to measure cULL was developed, equipped with liquid-phase microextraction and electromembrane extraction on a paper-based analytical device for on-site separation of lead and creatinine in the urine, using a smartphone for the quantification of analytes. The cULL as a novel indicator and the POCT device developed could be effective in reducing the risk of damage from lead contamination.

Solid supports and supported liquid membranes for different liquid phase microextraction and electromembrane extraction configurations. A review

Liquid phase microextraction (LPME) and electromembrane microextraction (EME) can be considered as two of the most popular techniques in sample treatment today. Both techniques can be configurated as membrane-assisted techniques to carry out the extraction. These supports provide the required geometry and stability on the contact surface between two phases (donor and acceptor) and improve the reproducibility of sample treatment techniques. These solid support pore space, once is filled with organic solvents, act as a selective barrier acting as a supported liquid membrane (SLM). The SLM nature is a fundamental parameter, and its selection is critical to carry out successful extractions. There are numerous SLMs that have been successfully employed in a wide variety of application fields. The latter is due to the specificity of the selected organic solvents, which allows the extraction of compounds of a very different nature. In the last decade, solid supports and SLM have evolved towards "green" and environmentally friendly materials and solvents. In this review, solid supports implemented in LPME and EME will be discussed and summarized, as well as their applications. Moreover, the advances and modifications of the solid supports and the SLMs to improve the extraction efficiencies, recoveries and enrichment factors are discussed. Hollow fiber and flat membranes, including microfluidic systems, will be considered depending on the technique, configuration, or device used.