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Atomic Absorption Analysis of Toxic Heavy Metal Impurities in Various Commercial Aspirin Formulations

Received: 18 January 2015    Accepted: 29 January 2015    Published: 6 February 2015
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Abstract

Aspirin is the most extensively used mild analgesic and antipyretic drug. In Libya as well as worldwide, aspirin is purchased without prescription in many forms and is imported into the country without any control. However, conditions for packing, storing and preventing the drug from damage are not properly followed. There are no supervision or quality control procedures on the validity and chemical composition of the drug. In this study, thirteen available aspirin forms imported from different countries and one sample from local factory were collected and analyzed for comparison. The quality of the samples was examined in terms of active ingredient (acetyl salicylic acid- ASA), toxic heavy metal and salicylic acid impurities. ASA contents were analyzed using volumetric titration and HPLC method. The toxic heavy metal impurities were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and salicylic acid impurity was determined by fluorimetric method. The active ASA contents were found in the range from 87 to 104%. Comparison of the determined ASA contents with the actual contents per tablet indicated that only 14% of the samples were in identical values, whereas; 57.1% were exceeded and 28.6% were less than the actual content per tablet. The salicylic acid impurities were under permissible limit. Although, the results for the toxic heavy metals impurities showed significant variations among the samples, but all were under the limit permitted by the world health organization.

Published in Advances in Biochemistry (Volume 3, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ab.20150301.13
Page(s) 9-14
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Aspirin, Salicylic Acid, Acetylsalicylic Acid, Toxic Heavy Metal, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, HPLC

References
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[2] Aukerman, G., Knutson, D., Miser, W.F., 2000. Management of the acute migraine headache. American Family and Physician, 66 (11), 2123–30.
[3] Borzak, S., Cannon, C.P., Kraft, P.L., Douthat, L., Becker, R.C., Palmeri, S.T., Henry, T., Hochman, J.S., Fuchs, J., Antman, E.M., McCabe, C., Braunwald, E., 1998. Effects of Prior Aspirin and Anti-Ischemic Therapy on Outcome of Patients with Unstable Angina. American Journal Cardiology, 81(6), 678-681.
[4] Brambilla, M., Parolari, A., Camera, M., Colli, S., Eligini, S., Centenaro, C., Anselmo, A., Alamanni, F., Tremoli, E., 2010. Effect of two doses of aspirin on thromboxane biosynthesis and platelet function in patients undergoing coronary surgery. Thrombosis Haemostasis, 2010, 103(3), 516-24.
[5] Cham, E. B., Lesley, R.L., Felix, B., Imhoff, D. M., 1980. Measurement and Pharmacokinetics of Acetylsalicylic Acid by a Novel High Performance Liquid Chromatographic Assay. Therapeutic drug monitoring, 2, 365-372.
[6] Cheng, T.O., 2007. The History of Aspirin. Texas Heart Institute Journal, 34(3), 392–393.
[7] Endo, H, Sakai, E, Kato, T, Umezawa, S, Higurashi, T, Ohkubo, H, Nakajima, A., 2014. Small bowel injury in low-dose aspirin users. Journal Gastroenterology, Dec 14. [Epub ahead of print]
[8] Franeta, J.T., Agbaba, D., Eric, S., Pavkov, S. Aleksic, M., and Vladimiro, S., 2002. HPLC assay of acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol, caffeine, and Phenobarbital in tablets. II Farmaco, 57(9), 709-713.
[9] Iskander, F.Y., Klein, D. E., Bauer, T. L., 1986. Determination of trace element impurities in aspirin tablets by neutron activation analysis, Journal of Radio Analytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 97 (2), 353-357
[10] Jeffreys, D., 2005. Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug. Bloomsbury USA. pp.73-269.
[11] Juhl, W. E., and Kirchhoefer, R. D., 1980. Aspirin - a national survey I: Semiautomated determination of aspirin in bulk and tablet formulations and salicylic acid in tablet formulations. Journal Pharmaceutical Sciences, 69(5), 544-548.
[12] Kirchhoefer, R. D., and Juhl, W. E. 1980. Aspirin- a national survey II: determination of salicylic acid in bulk aspirin and aspirin formulation by high-pressure liquid chromatography using a fluorescence detector. Journal Pharmaceutical Sciences, 69(5), 544-548.
[13] Krumholz, H. M., Radford, M. J., Ellerbeck, E.F., Hennen, J., Meehan, T.P., Petrillo, M., Wang, Y., Kresowik, T.F., Jencks, S. F., 1995. Aspirin in the Treatment of Acute Myocardial Infarction in Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries: Patterns of Use and Outcomes. Circulation, 92 (10), 2841–2847
[14] Marcus, A.J., Broekman, M.J., 1998. Aspirin analogs as antithrombotic agents. Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine, 132 (6), 446-447
[15] Miyoshi, E., Saiki, K., 2009. Trace element impurity determination in aspirin tablets by INAA Journal of Radio Analytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 280 (2) 299-301.
[16] Moysich, K.B., Menezes, R.J., Ronsani, A., 2002) Regular aspirin use and lung cancer risk. BMC Cancer, 2, pp. 31.
[17] Reynolds, E. F., (ed) (1982). Aspirin and similar analgesic and anti-inflammatory agents. Martindale, The Extra Pharmacopoeia 28 Ed, pp.234-82.
[18] Rodrigues, A. Jr., Vila Marta, M.D.C., and Tubino, M., 2004. Acetylsalicylic Acid Determination in Remedies Using a Gas-Diffusion Flow Injection Analysis (2). Journal of Flow Injection Analysis, 21(1), 25-27.
[19] Salako, Q., Fadiran, E.O., Thomas, W.O., 1989. Detection and determination of salicylic acid impurity in aspirin tablet formulation by HPLC. African Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences 18(3), 215-218.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Somaya Al-Sadeq Al-Taeb, Khairi Al-Sadeq Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Abdussalam Salem Al-Aseer, Mohammad Mushahid Khan. (2015). Atomic Absorption Analysis of Toxic Heavy Metal Impurities in Various Commercial Aspirin Formulations. Advances in Biochemistry, 3(1), 9-14. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ab.20150301.13

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    ACS Style

    Somaya Al-Sadeq Al-Taeb; Khairi Al-Sadeq Ahmed Al-Tayeb; Abdussalam Salem Al-Aseer; Mohammad Mushahid Khan. Atomic Absorption Analysis of Toxic Heavy Metal Impurities in Various Commercial Aspirin Formulations. Adv. Biochem. 2015, 3(1), 9-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ab.20150301.13

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    AMA Style

    Somaya Al-Sadeq Al-Taeb, Khairi Al-Sadeq Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Abdussalam Salem Al-Aseer, Mohammad Mushahid Khan. Atomic Absorption Analysis of Toxic Heavy Metal Impurities in Various Commercial Aspirin Formulations. Adv Biochem. 2015;3(1):9-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ab.20150301.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ab.20150301.13,
      author = {Somaya Al-Sadeq Al-Taeb and Khairi Al-Sadeq Ahmed Al-Tayeb and Abdussalam Salem Al-Aseer and Mohammad Mushahid Khan},
      title = {Atomic Absorption Analysis of Toxic Heavy Metal Impurities in Various Commercial Aspirin Formulations},
      journal = {Advances in Biochemistry},
      volume = {3},
      number = {1},
      pages = {9-14},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ab.20150301.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ab.20150301.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ab.20150301.13},
      abstract = {Aspirin is the most extensively used mild analgesic and antipyretic drug. In Libya as well as worldwide, aspirin is purchased without prescription in many forms and is imported into the country without any control. However, conditions for packing, storing and preventing the drug from damage are not properly followed. There are no supervision or quality control procedures on the validity and chemical composition of the drug. In this study, thirteen available aspirin forms imported from different countries and one sample from local factory were collected and analyzed for comparison. The quality of the samples was examined in terms of active ingredient (acetyl salicylic acid- ASA), toxic heavy metal and salicylic acid impurities. ASA contents were analyzed using volumetric titration and HPLC method. The toxic heavy metal impurities were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and salicylic acid impurity was determined by fluorimetric method. The active ASA contents were found in the range from 87 to 104%. Comparison of the determined ASA contents with the actual contents per tablet indicated that only 14% of the samples were in identical values, whereas; 57.1% were exceeded and 28.6% were less than the actual content per tablet. The salicylic acid impurities were under permissible limit. Although, the results for the toxic heavy metals impurities showed significant variations among the samples, but all were under the limit permitted by the world health organization.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Atomic Absorption Analysis of Toxic Heavy Metal Impurities in Various Commercial Aspirin Formulations
    AU  - Somaya Al-Sadeq Al-Taeb
    AU  - Khairi Al-Sadeq Ahmed Al-Tayeb
    AU  - Abdussalam Salem Al-Aseer
    AU  - Mohammad Mushahid Khan
    Y1  - 2015/02/06
    PY  - 2015
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ab.20150301.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ab.20150301.13
    T2  - Advances in Biochemistry
    JF  - Advances in Biochemistry
    JO  - Advances in Biochemistry
    SP  - 9
    EP  - 14
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2329-0862
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ab.20150301.13
    AB  - Aspirin is the most extensively used mild analgesic and antipyretic drug. In Libya as well as worldwide, aspirin is purchased without prescription in many forms and is imported into the country without any control. However, conditions for packing, storing and preventing the drug from damage are not properly followed. There are no supervision or quality control procedures on the validity and chemical composition of the drug. In this study, thirteen available aspirin forms imported from different countries and one sample from local factory were collected and analyzed for comparison. The quality of the samples was examined in terms of active ingredient (acetyl salicylic acid- ASA), toxic heavy metal and salicylic acid impurities. ASA contents were analyzed using volumetric titration and HPLC method. The toxic heavy metal impurities were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and salicylic acid impurity was determined by fluorimetric method. The active ASA contents were found in the range from 87 to 104%. Comparison of the determined ASA contents with the actual contents per tablet indicated that only 14% of the samples were in identical values, whereas; 57.1% were exceeded and 28.6% were less than the actual content per tablet. The salicylic acid impurities were under permissible limit. Although, the results for the toxic heavy metals impurities showed significant variations among the samples, but all were under the limit permitted by the world health organization.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Chemistry, Academy of Higher Education, and University of Zawia, AZ-Zawia, Libya

  • Department of ENT, School of Medicine, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

  • Department of Chemistry, Academy of Higher Education, and University of Zawia, AZ-Zawia, Libya

  • Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zawia, AZ-Zawia, Libya

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