Arsenic trioxide absorption and excretion in industry

1. A study of 24 smelter workers routinely exposed to arsenic trioxide was conducted to evaluate some characteristics of its absorption and excretion. A statistically significant correlation was found between airborne arsenic trioxide concentrations below 300 mug/m3 and urinary arsenic values below 500 mug/liter. These men wore personal monitors for five consecutive work days and were determined to have been exposed to average airborne arsenic concentrations of 53 mug/m3 (70 mug/m3 of arsenic trioxide) which increased their urinary arsenic values from 152 mug/liter to 200 mug/liter (an average gain on 32%). 2. The background average urinary arsenic value for adult males not exposed to arsenic trioxide in industry was determined to be 52.6 mug/liter for 204 men during preemployment examinations. 3. After removal from industrial arsenic trioxide exposure, the rate of fall in urinary arsenic values varies with the magnitude of the urinary arsenic level. An initial decrease of 9.5% per day was measured for workers having urinary arsenic values below 200 mug/liter. The initial decrease is about 21% per day for workers with urinary arsenic values over 600 mug/liter. 4. It was determined that arsenic in seafood can alter, in a dramatic fashion, the urinary arsenic values determined for smelter workers within 24 hours following consumption. It is recommended, therefore, that the absorption of arsenic trioxide due to industrial exposure is best evaluated from urine samples collected at least two days after seafood has been eaten.     

Study of the antagonistic action of actinomycetes on anthrax bacilli

Capacity for the growth inhibition of the highly virulent causative agent of Siberia plague was studied with respect to actinomycetous strains from soil samples of the Ukraine. It was found that on nutrient media 88.4, 88.9, 88.1 and 93.4% of the isolates inhibited the growth of Bac. anthracis, Bac. cereus, Bac. mycoides and Tsenkovsky vaccine strain respectively. Representatives of very different taxonomic groups were found among the antagonistic actinomycetes. Clearance of the soil from Siberia plague bacilli stable to the outer effect with the help of the active strain L-721 of Act. chromofuscus was observed. The effect was chown in sterilized soil, not sterile soil and soil monolith.     

Synthesis and preliminary antimicrobial screening of two thiosulfonates

Tetramethylene bis(methanethiosulfonate), the S-ester analog of busulfan, was prepared by reacting 1,4-dibromobutane with potassium methanethiosulfonate. 2,4-Dichlorophenyl methanethiosulfonate was prepared by reacting sodium methanesulfinate with 2,4-dichlorobenzenesulfenyl chloride. Neither compound showed antifungal activity against Microsporum audouini or Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Although tetramethylene bis(methanethiosulfonate) was more active against Staphylococcus aureus than was 2,4-dichlorophenyl methanethiosulfonate, neither compound was as active as the streptomycin control.