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The salmon aquaculture industry is an important economic activity established on both the west and east coast of Canada. To control sea lice infestations, in-feed products like emamectin benzoate (EMB) are widely used. Due to its low solubility and persistence EMB can accumulate in marine sediments and be potentially bioavailable to non-target organisms from months to years. The American lobster (Homarus americanus) is a key species in the Northwest Atlantic with high economic and ecological value. It may be exposed to therapeutants considering lobster habitats overlap with aquaculture locations requiring a better understanding of the potential impact of these therapeutants through varied pathways of exposure. In this study, we investigated the exposure of gravid female lobsters to EMB spiked sediment to mimic the likely presence of these females at aquaculture sites for a 10-day period. We completed testing by assessing EMB effects on adult molting and quality, embryo hatching rates, and larval offspring quality and larval molting. Our results show that a single, 10-day exposure of ovigerous females to EMB concentrations higher than environmentally relevant values did not affect females or their offspring., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Crown Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Substandard and falsified medical products for treating COVID-19 have spread worldwide. These medicines have entered Japan through personal importation of products purchased via the Internet. In this study, we investigated the circulation of 19 COVID-19-related medicines on the Internet in Japan and evaluated the pharmaceutical quality and authenticity of 2 medicines (dexamethasone tablets and ivermectin tablets) obtained online. We purchased 23 samples of 0.5-mg dexamethasone tablets and 13 samples of 3-mg ivermectin tablets from the Internet in December 2020 and July 2022. We investigated the quality and authenticity of the obtained samples through visual observation and tested their authenticity. We conducted pharmacopoeia compliance testing (quantitative assay, content uniformity tests, and dissolution tests) using the high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detector method. No prescription was ever required at the time of purchase. Visual observation revealed that most samples lacked a package insert and some samples had packaging deficiencies. In terms of authenticity, eight ivermectin samples were genuine; the authenticity of the other samples remained uncertain. Four dexamethasone samples and three ivermectin samples failed quality testing based on pharmacopeia validation standards. Our findings illustrate that dexamethasone and ivermectin tablets of poor quality are available online. It is important to increase consumer awareness and provide information about these medicines to prevent the purchase of substandard medicines via the Internet.

In 2019, a global viral pandemic, due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, broke out. Soon after, the search for a vaccine and/or antiviral medicine began. One of the candidate antiviral medicines tested was ivermectin. Although several health authorities warned the public against the use of this medicine outside clinical trials, the drug was widely used at the end of 2020 and in 2021. Simultaneously, several reports started to emerge demonstrating serious adverse effects after self-medicating with ivermectin. It stands to reason that the self-administration of substandard or falsified (SF) medicines bearing harmful quality deficiencies have contributed to this phenomenon. In order to have a better view on the nature of these harmful quality deficiencies, SF ivermectin samples, intercepted in large quantities by the Belgian regulatory agencies during the period 2021-2022, were analyzed in our official medicines control laboratory. None of the samples (n = 19) were compliant to the quality criteria applicable to medicinal products. These SF products either suffered from a systematic underdosing of the active pharmaceutical ingredient or were severely contaminated with bacteria, two of which were contaminated with known pathogens that cause gastrointestinal illness upon oral intake. In addition to the direct risks of self-medicating with such a product, the improper usage and dosage of ivermectin medication might also facilitate ivermectin tolerance or resistance in parasites. This may have detrimental consequences on a global scale, certainly as the number of newly developed active pharmaceutical ingredients that can safely be used to combat parasites is rather scarce., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Herein, a magnetic cationic Schiff base polymeric material (Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -Schiff-TAPB-DA) was fabricated simply and rapidly, which was explored as a magnetic adsorbent for magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) for enriching seven avermectins insecticides in surface water and milk matrices combined with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Under the optimized pretreatment and instrumental parameters, the analytes showed good linearity in the range of 0.5-200.0 ng·mL -1 with a correlation coefficient (R 2 ) greater than 0.9990 and high precision. The limits of detection for the analytes were 0.004-0.047 μg·L -1 for surface water sample and 0.008-0.250 μg·kg -1 for milk samples. Satisfactory recoveries of spiked target compounds were in the range of 82.25- 100.87 % for surface water sample and 72.73- 119.62 % for milk samples. The results indicated powerfully Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -Schiff-TAPB-DA was of significant potential as an MSPE adsorbent for the detection of avermectin insecticides in surface water and milk, which provides a quick and efficient idea for enriching avermectins insecticides in complicated matrices., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper, (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this report, we firstly synthesized nitro calix [4] resorcinarene compound (referred as KA30) and characterized it though proton ( 1 H) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and Fourier Transform Infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy. KA30 was applied as functionalizing agent for the formation of silver nanoparticles (KA30-AgNPs). These NPs were confirmed as highly selective and extremely sensitive colorimetric sensor for ultra-low level detection of emamectin (EMA) as a novel report. Significant aspect of the sensor is its unique detection range between 0.0005 and 29.5 μM via color change from yellow to colorless with hypochromic-bathochromic shift exhibiting limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) as 0.12 nM and 0.4 nM respectively. The sensor was applied to colorimetrically and optically detect EMA in real samples of serum, urine and food. The sensor was further allied with smartphone for real-time, and on-site detection of EMA and results were validated through UPLC., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors of this manuscript declare no competing interest that can affect the work the reported work., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Polysorbate 80 (PS 80) is a nonionic surfactant, used in myriad of pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic formulations. PS 80 components have strong UV absorbance and retain under reversed-phase chromatographic conditions, significantly masking sections of the chromatogram. PS 80-related peaks interferences in a sample are common and can be difficult to separate from the analyte peaks. A liquid oral finished product (LOFP) containing PS 80 and Ivermectin as the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) was selected for this study. Herein, we report two sample pretreatment strategies focusing on the selective removal of PS 80 from the LOFP. Both methods significantly reduce and/or practically eliminate excipients and PS 80-related peaks interferences from the LOFP without a negative impact on the API and its key-related substances recovery. The solid-phase extraction (SPE) strategy uses a C18 SPE followed by a silica gel SPE, whereas the liquid-liquid extraction strategy uses in situ-generated sodium caprylate for the removal of formulation excipients and PS 80. These methods can significantly increase the reliability of high-performance liquid chromatography methods and decrease false positive out-of-specifications events because of coelution of PS 80-related peaks with peaks of interest., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The ivermectin (IVM), as a broad-spectrum antiparasitic drug, was widely prescribed to treat COVID-19 during the pandemic, despite lacking proven efficacy in combating this disease. Therefore, it is important to establish affordable devices in laboratories with minimal infrastructure. The laser engraving technology has been revolutionary in sensor manufacturing, primarily attributed to the diversity of substrates that can be employed and the freedom it provides in creating sensor models. In this work, electrochemical sensors based on graphene were developed using the laser engraving technology for IVM sensing. Through, the studies that used the techniques of cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry, following parameter optimization, for the laser-induced graphene electrode demonstrated a mass transport governed by adsorption of the species and exhibited a linear working range of 10-100 (μmol L -1 ), a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.6 × 10 -6 (mol L -1 ), a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 4.8 × 10 -6 (mol L -1 ), and a sensitivity of 0.139 (μA μmol L -1 ). The developed method was successfully applied to direct analysis of pharmaceutical tablets, tap water (recovery of 94%) and synthetic urine samples (recovery between 97% and 113%). These results demonstrate the feasibility of the method for routine analyses involving environmental samples.

Abamectin, the mixture of avermectin B1a and B1b, is widely used as a bioinsecticide and is an alternative to chemical pest control from insects. To our knowledge, its behaviour is not fully recognized, especially in herbs. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the environmental fate of abamectin in herbal plants belonging to the Lamiaceae family, its dissipation in open field studies laboratory processing treatments and dietary risk assessment. Three medicinally and culinary important species of herbs: Melissa officinalis L., Mentha × piperita L. and Salvia L. were treated with single and double dose than recommended on the label during their cultivation (BBCH 11-29). Residues were monitored using the QuEChERS method followed by the LC-MS/MS. The dissipation pattern of the sum of avermectin B1a and B1b and their persistence were observed 14 d after spraying. Abamectin decline was very rapid in plants and followed the first-order kinetics model. The half-life (t 1/2 ) was in the range of 0.96-1.08 d (single dose) and 0.93-1.02 d (double dose). The pre-harvest intervals (decrease to the level of 0.01 mg kg -1 ) were 7.29-7.92 d at single and 7.99-8.64 d at double dose application. Herbal infusion preparation in previously washed and dried mint, lemon balm and sage leaves was the key processing step in the removal of abamectin residues. The reduction of initial deposits after single dose treatment was noted up to 65% (PF = 0.35-0.67) and up to 79% after double dose application (PF = 0.21-0.72) in herbal tea. Acute risk assessment of children and adults for the highest residues in EFSA PRIMo model at single and double dose expressed as hazard quotients (HQ) were <1, indicating no risk to humans via consumption of the herbal products. The data provide a better understanding of abamectin behaviour in herbal plants and can help assure herbs' safety for consumers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this study was to rapidly determine the presence of anthelmintic drugs in sheep meat using the optimized high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) method with modified QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, safe) technology. Fifty fresh sheep meat samples from different slaughterhouses were collected. A double extraction procedure (QuEChERS/HPLC-UV technology) was used to extract the target analytes. A multilevel calibration curve from 1 to 1000 g/kg was used to establish instrument linearity for rafoxanide, albendazole, and closantel, whereas 0.1-100 μg/kg was used for ivermectin, levamisole, and oxyclozanide to find the lowest concentration, maximum residue limit (MRL), and occupied range for targeted analytes. The concentration levels were used to investigate the linearity, whereas several certified reference materials were applied to determine accuracy. The process was linear for all combinations, from the limit of quantification (LOQ) to the maximum concentration. The LOQ was established at 0.5 μg/kg for ivermectin, levamisole, and oxyclozanide and 10 μg/kg for rafoxanide, albendazole, and closantel. Recovery values were 70%-120%, and repeatability/reproducibility stated in relative standard deviation was obtained at less than 20%. QuEChERS method revealed that most meat samples contained anthelmintic drug residues, of which the majority exceeded the MRLs. Thus, the drugs should be used correctly in animals to avoid residues in food for human consumption., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)