A rugged and high throughput capillary column (cLC) LC-MS switching platform using large volume injection and on-line automatic filtration and filter back-flush (AFFL) solid phase extraction (SPE) for analysis of environmental water samples with minimal sample preparation is presented. Although narrow columns and on-line sample preparation are used in the platform, high ruggedness is achieved e...

A simple, precise, and accurate hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic (HILIC) method has been developed for the determination of five aromatic amines in environmental water samples. Chromatography was carried out on a bare silica column, using a mixture of acetonitrile and a buffer of NaH(2)PO(4)-H(3)PO(4) (pH 1.5, containing 10mM NaH(2)PO(4)) (85:15, v/v) as a mobile phase at a flow r...

Contamination of the environment with mercury has been an important concern throughout the world for decades. Exposure to high Hg levels can be harmful to the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune system of humans of all ages. Driven by the need to detect trace amounts of mercury in environmental samples, here we present a miniaturized, inexpensive, and battery-operated ultrasensitive gold n...

Disseminated infection with organisms of the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is a common complication of AIDS in the United States and other developing countries, but it is rare or absent in sub-Saharan Africa. To assess the comparative likelihood of exposure to MAC in these geographic areas, we used a standard protocol to culture 91 water samples from environmental sites and piped water supp...

The prevention and control of legionellosis in water supply systems involves environmental comprehensive sampling. Our aim was to investigate occurrence of Legionella spp. in water supply systems in different administrative districts of Riga, and to find out if there exists a correlation between Legionella spp. positive cases and water source, type of sample, sampling point and temperature of h...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate genus- and species-specific polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) for the detection of the genus Legionella and the species Legionella pneumophila in clinical specimens and hospital water supplies, and to establish a simple and reproducible random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR technique for genotyping of Legionella. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 70 respirato...

The present study investigates the genotoxic, mutagenic, and cytotoxic potential of surface waters in urban streams using Allium cepa and analyzes the applicability of this assay for environmental monitoring. Water samples were collected from three streams located in the urban area of a municipality in the south of Brazil. For each stream, two samples were collected, one upstream and one downst...

This final report summarises the work undertaken within the project entitled, ‘The formation and occurrence of haloacetic acids in drinking water’, funded by the EPSRC (EP/D502411/1), the Drinking Water Inspectorate and Anglian Water, during the period of October 2005 to March 2009. The project was also supported by Severn Trent Water, United Utilities and Scottish Water, who provided advice an...

Water is a vehicle for disseminating human and veterinary toxoplasmosis due to oocyst contamination. Several outbreaks of toxoplasmosis throughout the world have been related to contaminated drinking water. We have developed a method for the detection of Toxoplasma gondii oocysts in water and we propose a strategy for the detection of multiple waterborne parasites, including Cryptosporidium spp...