An Evaluation of Available Methods for Measuring Condensed Tannins in Airborne Samples of Vertical Elutriated Cotton Dust

Robert R. Jacobs and Kelly Atchley


 
ABSTRACT

Condensed tannins are a heterogenous group of plant natural products suspected to play a role in the etiology of byssinosis. It is not known, however, if the level of condensed tannin is present in aerosolized dust in sufficient quantity to induce a response among workers in this industry. We sought to determine if an existing method used for measuring tannin in plant tissue, a spectrophotometric method based on the absorbance of a 1% solution of tannin (E(1%)), was sufficiently sensitive to analyze dust deposited on vertical elutriator (VE) filters. This technique was compared to tannin levels measured by standardizing with a purified tannin. There was a significant correlation between the two methods. The tannin levels based on standardization with a pure tannin were 40% higher than the E(1%) method. The limit of detection (LOD) for the standardized technique was 1.4 µg tannin/mg dust. The LOD for the E(1%) method was estimated to be 2.3 µg tannin/mg dust. Based on these analyses it appears that both techniques are near the limit of detection for tannin in dust contained on VE filters; however with appropriate sampling and analytical modification it should be possible to measure the levels of tannin in dust collected on vertical elutriator filters.



Reprinted from 1993 Proceedings Beltwide Cotton Conferences pp. 329 - 331
©National Cotton Council, Memphis TN

[Main TOC] | [TOC] | [TOC by Section] | [Search] | [Help]
Previous Page [Previous] [Next] Next Page
 
Document last modified Sunday, Dec 6 1998