The levels of trace elements are an important component of safety and quality of milk. While certain elements such as chromium are essential at low levels, an excess can result in deleterious effects on human health. International quality control standards for milk are published by the Codex Alimentarious Commission and levels of heavy metals in milk intended for human consumption are routinely monitored. This paper describes a new method for demonstrating the levels of V, Cr, Mn, Sr, Cd and Pb in raw cow's milk, using an ICP-MS. Samples (n = 24) of raw cow's milk were collected from dairy farms close to mines in Gauteng and North West Provinces of South Africa. In order to destroy organic matrix, each freeze dried milk sample was mineralised by using a microwave assisted digestion procedure. Concentrations of trace elements in digested milk samples were measured by ICP-MS. A whole milk powder reference material (NIST SRM 8435) was used to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed method. It was found that the levels of V, Cr, Mn, Sr, Cd and Pb obtained using the new method showed concordance with certified values.

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The study attempts to elucidate the metabolite profiles of seed-coats from cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L) accessions of varying phenotypes. The chemical profiles were assessed using a non-targeted approach based on reversed-phase UPLC-QTOF-MS coupled to chemometrics. A total of 34 secondary metabolites were characterized, which comprised phenolic acids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, sphingolipids and fatty acids. Selected phenolic compounds were then quantified. The chemical profiles of the test accessions were distinguished by multivariate analysis, and the results showed that seed-coat pigmentation accounted for the observed differences in metabolite profiles. Delphinidin (traces to 2257.6 µg/ g), catechin glucoside (traces to 2840.6 µg/ g), catechin (traces to 2089.2 µg/ g) and epicatechin (26.3 to 3222.7 µg/ g) contributed to the segregation amongst the studied samples. The discriminant metabolites were accumulated in larger amounts in the dark seeded cowpeas compared to the light seeded ones. The findings suggest that cowpea hulls are a natural source of bioactive compounds which could be utilized in the development of food and pharmaceutical products due to their associated health benefits.

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The bark of Moringa oleifera, a cheap and readily available natural biopolymeric resource material, found to significantly reduce coliform load and turbidity in contaminated water is investigated in this paper. Its surface and adsorptive properties are investigated to explore its adsorptive potential in removing V(V) from aqueous solutions. Surface properties were investigated using FTIR, HRSEM/EDS, IC, and BET-N adsorption techniques. Adsorptive properties were investigated by optimizing adsorption parameters such as pH, temperature, initial metal concentration, and adsorbent dosage, using V(V) as an adsorbate. The adsorption-desorption isotherms are typical of type II with a H3 hysteresis loop and is characteristic of a largely macroporous material. Bottle ink pores are observed, which can provide good accessibility of the active sites, even though the internal BET surface area is typically low (1.79 g/m). Solution pH significantly influences the adsorptive potential of the material. The low surface area negatively impacts on the adsorption capacity, but is compensated for by the exchangeable anions (Cl, F, PO, NO, and SO) and cations (Ca, K, Mg, and Al) at the surface and the accessibility of the active sites. Adsorption isotherm modeling show that the surface is largely heterogeneous with complex multiple sites and adsorption is not limited to monolayer.

Pharmaceutical industries generate very large quantities of toxic organic compounds which include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and/or organic volatile impurities (OVIs). These toxic compounds, amongst which are emerging residual solvents, largely come from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and are being continuously dumped into the environment at an alarming rate. Efficient treatment of pharmaceutical wastewaters (effluents) is currently a major challenge because of not only the enormous quantity to be disposed of but also its complexity, as well as its hazardous nature. Dumping these kinds of polluted wastes into the environment at uncontrolled rates are putting increasing pressure on freshwater ecosystems. This review paper focuses on combined electrochemical degradation and biopolymer adsorption treatment processes and techniques for toxic compounds in pharmaceutical wastewater treatment. These emerging processes such as the combination of electrochemical techniques as a primary treatment method, followed by an adsorption process, is now a topic of intense research as it is proving to very feasible, ecofriendly, and cost-effective in the complete recovery of toxic residual solvents from binary aquatic systems. This paper presents major toxic pollutants in pharmaceutical wastewaters and their fate in the aquatic environment, their sources, and origin in pharmaceutical industries. The evaluation of the traditional methods used for the removal of these emerging organic pollutants from aquatic matrices and pharmaceutical effluents is accomplished. New developments in electrochemical treatments for the remediation of toxic compounds in pharmaceutical wastewaters are also discussed.

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