Analytical chemical procedures are described for determining traces of possible metabolites of two azo compounds. Direct Black 38 and Pigment Yellow 12, in hamster urine and to monitor the urine from workers who may be occupationally exposed during the manufacture or use of the dye and pigment. These methods were required for metabolism studies designed to assess the hazards that may occur if the two compounds are converted by in vivo mechanisms to potential carcinogens. Salient elements of the procedure are: extraction of the free aromatic amines and neutral compounds; alkaline hydrolysis of the aqueous phase and extraction of any hydrolyzed conjugates as free amines, and the analysis of the free amines and acetylated metabolites directly by high pressure liquid chromatography or by electron capture gas chromatography after conversion of the amines to heptafluorobutyryl derivatives. Residues of metabolites in hamster and human urine were determined at levels as low as 1 ppb. Ancillary data concerning hydrolysis of diacetylated metabolites and partition values for possible metabolites in various solvent systems are also presented.
Impurities of aromatic amines in the azo dye and pigment, Direct Black 38 and Pigment Yellow 12, and in vitro stability of the dye were determined. These factors can affect the results of studies designed to ascertain whether the two compounds are metabolized to potential carcinogens in hamsters. Procedures for removing impurities from the two compounds are also presented. Electron-capture gas chromatography of the heptafluorobutyryl derivatives of the impurities and degradation products was used to satisfy all the analytical requirements of the experiments. Major impurities found in Direct Black 28 were benzidine, 4-aminobiphenyl and 2,4-diaminoazobenzene; whereas, only 3,3'-dichlorobenzidine was found in Pigment Yellow 12. Stability studies of the purified dye conducted in water and in urine from hamsters and humans indicated that the dye would not degrade under the conditions used for collecting and assaying samples from a metabolism experiment. However, within 48 hours at 25 and 37.5 degrees C, the dye did degrade to known carcinogens in both hamster and human urine. Such degradation not only points out the need for proper storage of samples from metabolism studies but suggests that industrial effluents containing the dye should be properly treated before release into the environment.
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