[Estimation of chloramphenicol in the working area air by high performance liquid chromatography]

Chloramphenicol (levomycetin) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic that is active against gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms. At present, it is manufactured via organic synthesis. Working place air becomes polluted during the manufacture and use of medicines containing chloramphenicol. In the working place air, chloramphenicol is present as a disintegration aerosol and may provoke occupational diseases of varying severity in the exposed persons. A procedure has been determined to measure air chloramphenicol, by using high performance liquid chromatography. Aspiration through an AFA FPP-15 aerosol filter is a suitable device for air chloramphenicol sampling. The selected chloramphenicol is removed from the filter via triple methanol extraction in an ultrasound bath. The pooled extract is evaporated to dryness in a current of nitrogen and the dry residue is dissolved in the mobile phase containing acetonitrile : buffer (pH 4.8) = 30:70. The chloramphenicol determination procedure using reverse-phase liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection at a wavelength of 275 nm has been developed and completely validated. Chromatographic conditions are given. The retention time of chloramphenicol is 6.5 min. The detection limit is 0.1 microg/cm3. The method is noted for a linear relationship between the concentration of chloramphenicol (microg/cm3) and the peak area (mm2) in the range of 1 to 20 microg/cm3.