No 1 (2024)

Introduction. Pollution of the environment by plastic waste is one of the modern global problems.

Material and methods. The article analyzes international agreements related to the regulation of the production and circulation of pollutants, including plastic waste, with a summary of information materials.

Results. The solution to the problems of environmental pollution by plastic waste, identified on the basis of an analysis of international agreements, Russian laws is seen primarily through amendments to the current legislation. At the end of the article, a list of normative documents that were used in the work when writing the article is given, as well as a list of websites of international multilateral agreements and international non-governmental organizations.

Conclusion. The article analyzes and summarizes information materials on what and how is being done in the Russian Federation in connection with this global problem.

Compliance with ethical standards. This study does not require the conclusion of a biomedical ethics committee or other documents.

Contribution of the authors:
Gudkova E.A. — the concept of research, writing the text, editing;
Shirokov P.N. — collection and processing of material, writing a text.
All co-authors — approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the article.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: December 12, 2023 / Accepted: December 28, 2023 / Published: February  29, 2024

Introduction. The development of integrated approaches to testing, assessment of the hazard and exposure risk of chemicals on human health and the environment is one of the priorities of preventive toxicology. An integrated approach involves various combinations of methods in silico, in chemico, in vitro, ex vivo, in vivo for hazard assessment. In the Russian Federation, in silico methods are often perceived with skepticism, mainly due to the lack of their legal status, weak methodological base and insufficient training of specialists. In order to expand the methodological base, the possibility of predicting the stability of chemicals in biotic conditions using the OECD QSAR Toolbox software was studied.

Material and methods. The OECD QSAR Toolbox software version 4.4.1., OECD guidelines on the assessment of biodegradation of chemicals.

Results. The world community and the OECD have developed and implemented a three-level system for chemicals biodegradation testing, which includes tests for readily biodegradation (OECD Guidelines 301 A, 301 B, 301 C, 301 D, 301 E, 301 F, 306, 310), tests to determine the potential biodegradability (OECD Guidelines 302 A, 302 B, 302 C, 304 A) and model systems tests (OECD Guidelines 303 A, 303 B).

To test the capabilities of the program, 24 endpoints were selected. They are the determination of biodegradability (%) by BOD, DOC, CO₂, CH₄ releases in OECD tests 301 A, 301 B, 301 C, 301 D,
302 C, 302 B, biodegradability (%) in sediments and soil, bioconcentration factors for more than 100 organic chemicals of various structures.

The parameters were calculated using the analog method, followed by mandatory interpretation of the data obtained by an expert. When predicting the biodegradability of chemicals, it is necessary to perform a series of calculations using different tests (OECD tests 301 A, 301 B, 301 C, 301 D, 301 E, 302 B are preferred) and grouping methods followed by a comprehensive assessment of the results obtained, taking into account not only the structural similarity of substances and analogues, but also the quality of the experimental data used. When predicting biodegradability by BOD values, it is advisable to use the OECD 301 C test. The proportion of tested substances whose biodegradability could be estimated by BOD values is about 50% in the OECD 301 C test, which is primarily due to the presence of a significant amount of experimental data. The calculation of bioconcentration factors seems to be promising. For about 45% of the tested substances, it was possible to calculate bioconcentration coefficients with good correlation with experimental data. Biodegradation in soil (% and half-life) can be predicted only for a very limited range of compounds (10% of the tested substances), which is due to the difficulty of selecting structurally similar analogues with experimental data. The method is not applicable for predicting the biodegradation of salts, organometallic compounds, polymer molecules and mixed products.

Conclusion. The Russian Register of Potentially Hazardous Chemical and Biological Substances has developed a methodological guide for predicting the stability of chemicals in biotic conditions using the OECD QSAR Toolbox software. The document presents algorithms for calculating biodegradability (%) according to OECD tests 301, 302, 303; BOD, bioconcentration factors and biodegradability (%) in soil.

Compliance with ethical standards. This study does not require the conclusion of a biomedical ethics committee or other documents.

Author contribution:
Khamidulina Kh.Kh. — the concept and design of the study, editing, approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the article;
Tarasova E.V. — writing and editing the text;
Lastovetskiy M.L. — collection and processing of materials, editing.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Funding. The state program «Ensuring the chemical and biological safety of the Russian Federation» funded the study.

Received: January 9, 2024 / Accepted: January 9, 2024 / Published: February 29, 2024

Introduction. Metoprolol is a cardioselective blocker of β-adrenergic receptors. Drugs containing metoprolol have hypotensive, antianginal, antiarrhythmic effects. Moderately dangerous when taken orally, has a general toxic effect. Metoprolol is produced in two forms: in the form of salts of tartaric and succinic acids, the approximate safe level of exposure to which is 0.3 mg/m³. To ensure the safety of workers, it is necessary to carry out sanitary and hygienic air control. Methods for the quantitative analysis of metoprolol in the air of the working area, presented in the current scientific literature, allow monitoring only for metoprolol salts in the form of tartrate.

The aim of the study is to develop and validate an analytical method for the quantitative determination
of metoprolol succinate in the air of the working area by HPLC-MS.

Materials and methods. For the analysis, standard samples of metoprolol succinate and air samples taken at all stages of the life cycle of the production of the drug metoproolol were used. Chromatographic separation and detection were performed on an Agilent 1260 Infinity G6125B high performance liquid chromatograph (Agilent Technologies, USA) equipped with a column and sample thermostat, a degasser, a pump, an autosampler, and a G6125B mass selective detector. A Waters Xbridge^® C18 3.5 µm column was used; 2.1×30 mm (Waters, Ireland). Primary data were processed using Open Lab CDS ChemStation Edition (Rev. C.01.07 SR3) software (Agilent Technologies, USA).

Results. A method for the quantitative determination of metoprolol succinate in air samples by HPLC-MS has been developed and validated. During the validation of the developed methodology, it was found that the validation characteristics (specificity, linearity, accuracy and precision, correctness, reproducibility) are within the acceptance criteria. The analytical range of the technique was 0.1–10.0 µg/ml and allows the developed technique to be used to control the average shift MPCs in the air of the working area.

Limitations. The results of the study of the air in the working area are applicable only to the production of the drug metoprolol in the form of tablets; the study of air during the synthesis and packaging of the active pharmaceutical substance was not carried out.

Conclusion. An analysis of air samples from the production of the drug metoprolol was carried out and the safety of working conditions was proved.

Compliance with ethical standards. This study does not require the conclusion of a biomedical ethics committee or other documents.

Contribution of authors:
Savchenko A.Yu. — concept and design of the study;
Kartamyshev I.I. — the concept and design of the study, writing the text, editing, collection and processing material, statistical analysis;
Zhiltcov P.A., Dubovik N.S. — writing the text, collecting literature data.
All co-authors — approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the article.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments. The study was funded by AstraZeneca Industries LLC.

Received: December 12, 2023 / Accepted: December 28, 2023 / Published: February  29, 2024

Introduction. Using the example of practical observation, the article describes the features of mass hydrogen sulfide poisoning, as well as the role of the therapeutic and diagnostic process and forensic medical examination in proving it.

The aim of the study was to develop effective principles of a comprehensive forensic expert assessment of a case of mass hydrogen sulfide poisoning, as well as to highlight the leading aspects of the role of the therapeutic and diagnostic process in proving the harm to health caused by an environmental crime.

Material and methods. The material of the study was a case of mass hydrogen sulfide poisoning of residents of the village of Samorodovo of the Orenburg region, which served as the basis for the introduction of an intermunicipal emergency regime on the territory of Orenburg and the Orenburg region. 35 conclusions of the forensic medical examination, 35 medical histories, 1 conclusion of the forensic environmental examination, 1 indictment and 1 sentence were subjected to retrospective analysis.

Results. Based on the analysis of the considered case of mass poisoning, it can be concluded that to prove a number of environmental crimes, conducting a forensic environmental examination alone is not enough, since objective medical data on the state of health of the victims are also required to establish circumstances significant for the investigation. In other words, the information necessary for the investigation can be obtained only through the most complete clinical and laboratory-instrumental examination of all victims, followed by a forensic medical assessment of the data obtained.

Limitations. The conducted research was carried out as part of an initiative research work on the analysis of environmental crimes committed on the territory of the Russian Federation in the period from 2016 to 2021. The analyzed documents were provided by the relevant regional divisions of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation by prior agreement and included only materials of criminal cases completed by the investigation.

Conclusion. The results obtained in the framework of this study clearly demonstrate that in situations like the one described, the presence of even minor diagnostic manifestations of poisoning, and most importantly their objective fixation in medical documentation, allow us to obtain the information necessary to establish the objective truth in the case.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study did not require the approval of the Ethics committee.

Author contribution:
Kuznetsov S.V. — concept and design of the study, collection and processing of material, statistical processing, writing the text, editing;
Reinuk V.L., Lodyagin A.N. — concept and design of the study, writing the text, editing;
Batotsyrenov B.V., Molin Yu.A. — concept and design of the study, editing;
Litvincev B.S. — concept and design of the study;
Sinenchenko A.G. — concept and design of the study, writing the text;
Kuznetsova A.A. — collection and processing of material, writing the text;
Kirsanova N.A. — statistical processing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors acknowledge that there are no known conflicts of interest related to this publication.

Funding. The study was not sponsored.

Received: June 2, 2023 / Accepted: December 28, 2023 / Published: February  29, 2024

Научно-практический журнал «Токсикологический вестник» продолжает публикацию научно обоснованного списка эндокринных разрушителей, который лёг в основу методических рекомендаций МР 1.2.0313–22 «Оценка и классификация опасности эндокринных разрушителей», утверждённых Руководителем Федеральной службы по надзору в сфере защиты прав потребителей и благополучия человека А.Ю. Поповой 30 декабря 
2022 г.