Toxicological evaluation of harmful substances by in situ enzymatic and biological detection in high-performance thin-layer chromatography.

The efficiency of a chromatographic analysis method is determined by the selectivity of the chromatographic separation and the specificity of the detection method. In the case of high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) the separated components can be detected and quantified directly on the chromatogram by physical and chemical methods. By coupling high-performance thin-layer chromatography with biological or biochemical inhibition tests it was possible to detect toxcologically active substances in situ. A linear relationship was shown between the signal of the inhibition of cholinesterase and the concentration of the inhibitor using a constant enzyme concentration and a constant incubation time. The graph of the inhibition of the luminescence of Photobacterium vibrio fisheri in relation to the concentration of pentachlorophenol (range 20-80 ng) is nearly linear. Measurements were done by using a densitometer or a videodensitometric scanner.