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Handbook of international food regulatory toxicology, vol. 2
XI
trends jr~analytical chemistry, vol. I, no. 15, 1982
are possible with laser sources. In section 2, the optogalvanic effect and its analytical uses, multiphoton ionization mass spectrometry and the thermal lensing effect and its applications, are discussed. The following section of 6 chapters deals with methods based on laser-induced fluorescence. The final section treats lasers in two analytical instruments: as detectors in liquid chromatography and in polarimetry. Each of the chapters is a well written and up to date account, and is well illustrated and documented. The authors are all recognized scientists who contributed substantially to the development of the methodology discussed. Literature is covered up to 1980, although in a few chapters some of the material that appeared in 1979 is still referenced as ‘to be published’.
As a Proceedings ofa symposium the book can be considered excellent. The editors obviously wanted this book to be more than that; they wanted a useful introduction to the field for novices. The main shortcomings concern this ambition. Obviously the topics discussed have been selected on the basis of participation in the symposium. Some very important laser applications are therefore not discussed. These include all methods based on sampling with a laser beam (laser microprobe emission or laser microprobe mass spectrometry), despite the facts that analytical applications in this domain date from 1962 and that commercially available instruments exist. A second very important methodology, namely Raman spectroscopy, is only casually mentioned. These omissions would
Toxicology of food colours
Handbook of International Food Regulatory Toxicology, Volume 2: Profiles, edited by Gaston Vettorazzi, MTP Press Ltd., 1981. Ll4.95 (v + 191 pages) ISBN 0 85200 552 0 The title of this volume is misleading since it is concerned only with food colours and not with the whole spectrum of food additives and contaminants implied by the title. and described in the preface. Volume 2 is a comprehensive compilation of those parts of the reports of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) which relate to food colours, with additional observations from the work of the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the recommendations of the Scientific Committee for Food of the Commission of The European Communities (no abbreviation is given in the book for this latter body, although one is clearly needed). Since information on the toxicology of food colours is so widely scattered over a number of these reports and in the scientific literature, an attempt to collate the data in one volume is clearly welcome. The author has been deeply involved in the work of JECFA in recent years. The book contains a general discussion of such issues as the technological justification for the use of food colours, their safety in use, specifications for
identity and purity, as well as a description of the JECFA classification and explanation of acceptable daily intake (ADI) values. Detailed toxicological profiles are given for a wide range of over 100 permitted and naturally occurring non-permitted, and synthetic compounds. Other information included in the profiles comprises briefdetails of manufacture, production, extraction use and together with approval in named countries. However, the details provided vary greatly from compound to compound. The remaining half of the book consists of a toxicological assessment ofindividual colours presented in tabular format. Table I lists the maximum daily intake for man for those colours where a reliable value has been established. Table II contains a summary of the known toxicological data for individual colours covering animal species tested, length of test, levels administered, no-effect level, safety factor employed and brief indication of toxic effect observed. References to original papers are included. Table III provides a more detailed access to references for each colour under separate toxicological headings, e.g. acute toxicity (per species), biochemical aspects, long term and specialized toxicological studies such as carcinogenicity, pharmacological effects or reproductive experiments, etc.
have been less important if the editors had included in the preface a detailed overview of the relative importance of laser applications in chemical analysis. The collected papers must, in this connection, be somewhat misleading to novices in laser spectroscopy. In spite of this shortcoming, I like this book and I profited much from reading it. It is a nice addition to other available textbooks on the subject. I be hope it will in due course supplemented with a companion volume, to complete- the coverage of the subject. F. ADAMS
F. Adams is Professor of Chmistsy at the University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein I, B-2610 Wilrjk, Belgium.
Unfortunately, the book suffers from a number of defects. Whilst AD1 values are given in units of mg/kg b.w./day, subsequent sentences often refer to dosage levels as mMol/kg bw, ppm, or even as per cent. Citations are often incomplete, e.g. WHO/FAO 1957 p. 5-6 is hardly sufficient, bearing in mind the large number of reports produced by these bodies. Whilst Chapter 2 alone contains 715 references, many of these are to different pages in the same report; some 40 reports are involved, giving a quite different picture of the coverage. Despite the need for chemical identity being stressed, the book itself makes little reference to Colour Index numbers or other classifications (FD and C or EEC numbers). The subject of hypersensitivity is barely mentioned and the problem ofdegradation during food processing is not covered at all. The index is of little additional use since the colours are treated, alphabetically throughout the text and tables. The book has been produced by photography of the author’s original typescript and a number of errors have remained undetected. In view of this the price is excessive and one would expect data beyond 1978 to have been included. N. T. CROSBY
Dr Crosby is at the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, Cornwall House, Stamford Street, London SE1 9NQ_, U.K.
trends jr~analytical chemistry, vol. I, no. 15, 1982
are possible with laser sources. In section 2, the optogalvanic effect and its analytical uses, multiphoton ionization mass spectrometry and the thermal lensing effect and its applications, are discussed. The following section of 6 chapters deals with methods based on laser-induced fluorescence. The final section treats lasers in two analytical instruments: as detectors in liquid chromatography and in polarimetry. Each of the chapters is a well written and up to date account, and is well illustrated and documented. The authors are all recognized scientists who contributed substantially to the development of the methodology discussed. Literature is covered up to 1980, although in a few chapters some of the material that appeared in 1979 is still referenced as ‘to be published’.
As a Proceedings ofa symposium the book can be considered excellent. The editors obviously wanted this book to be more than that; they wanted a useful introduction to the field for novices. The main shortcomings concern this ambition. Obviously the topics discussed have been selected on the basis of participation in the symposium. Some very important laser applications are therefore not discussed. These include all methods based on sampling with a laser beam (laser microprobe emission or laser microprobe mass spectrometry), despite the facts that analytical applications in this domain date from 1962 and that commercially available instruments exist. A second very important methodology, namely Raman spectroscopy, is only casually mentioned. These omissions would
Toxicology of food colours
Handbook of International Food Regulatory Toxicology, Volume 2: Profiles, edited by Gaston Vettorazzi, MTP Press Ltd., 1981. Ll4.95 (v + 191 pages) ISBN 0 85200 552 0 The title of this volume is misleading since it is concerned only with food colours and not with the whole spectrum of food additives and contaminants implied by the title. and described in the preface. Volume 2 is a comprehensive compilation of those parts of the reports of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) which relate to food colours, with additional observations from the work of the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the recommendations of the Scientific Committee for Food of the Commission of The European Communities (no abbreviation is given in the book for this latter body, although one is clearly needed). Since information on the toxicology of food colours is so widely scattered over a number of these reports and in the scientific literature, an attempt to collate the data in one volume is clearly welcome. The author has been deeply involved in the work of JECFA in recent years. The book contains a general discussion of such issues as the technological justification for the use of food colours, their safety in use, specifications for
identity and purity, as well as a description of the JECFA classification and explanation of acceptable daily intake (ADI) values. Detailed toxicological profiles are given for a wide range of over 100 permitted and naturally occurring non-permitted, and synthetic compounds. Other information included in the profiles comprises briefdetails of manufacture, production, extraction use and together with approval in named countries. However, the details provided vary greatly from compound to compound. The remaining half of the book consists of a toxicological assessment ofindividual colours presented in tabular format. Table I lists the maximum daily intake for man for those colours where a reliable value has been established. Table II contains a summary of the known toxicological data for individual colours covering animal species tested, length of test, levels administered, no-effect level, safety factor employed and brief indication of toxic effect observed. References to original papers are included. Table III provides a more detailed access to references for each colour under separate toxicological headings, e.g. acute toxicity (per species), biochemical aspects, long term and specialized toxicological studies such as carcinogenicity, pharmacological effects or reproductive experiments, etc.
have been less important if the editors had included in the preface a detailed overview of the relative importance of laser applications in chemical analysis. The collected papers must, in this connection, be somewhat misleading to novices in laser spectroscopy. In spite of this shortcoming, I like this book and I profited much from reading it. It is a nice addition to other available textbooks on the subject. I be hope it will in due course supplemented with a companion volume, to complete- the coverage of the subject. F. ADAMS
F. Adams is Professor of Chmistsy at the University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein I, B-2610 Wilrjk, Belgium.
Unfortunately, the book suffers from a number of defects. Whilst AD1 values are given in units of mg/kg b.w./day, subsequent sentences often refer to dosage levels as mMol/kg bw, ppm, or even as per cent. Citations are often incomplete, e.g. WHO/FAO 1957 p. 5-6 is hardly sufficient, bearing in mind the large number of reports produced by these bodies. Whilst Chapter 2 alone contains 715 references, many of these are to different pages in the same report; some 40 reports are involved, giving a quite different picture of the coverage. Despite the need for chemical identity being stressed, the book itself makes little reference to Colour Index numbers or other classifications (FD and C or EEC numbers). The subject of hypersensitivity is barely mentioned and the problem ofdegradation during food processing is not covered at all. The index is of little additional use since the colours are treated, alphabetically throughout the text and tables. The book has been produced by photography of the author’s original typescript and a number of errors have remained undetected. In view of this the price is excessive and one would expect data beyond 1978 to have been included. N. T. CROSBY
Dr Crosby is at the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, Cornwall House, Stamford Street, London SE1 9NQ_, U.K.