Regulatory increased expectations

Advancements in analytical detection tools and techniques that can assess the presence of impurities to levels at or near 1 ppm or below have undoubtedly influenced increased expectations and scrutiny by regulatory health authorities. 

At the present time, LC/MS/MS with triple-quadrupole instruments is the analytical method of choice for the determination of residues of sulfonylurea herbicides. We can expect to see improved triple-quadrupole instrumentation become more available and affordable as time passes, so that more analytical laboratories will have this capability. Time-of-flight (TOP) instrumentation may also play an increasingly important role in sulfonylurea analysis. Even though the metabolites are innocuous, stricter regulatory requirements may mandate that they be monitored, and LC/MS/MS is the method of choice for these compounds also. 

The current counterfeit drugs market is estimated to be about US 40 billion and is expected to increase to almost US 80 billion by 2010. Most of the counterfeit drugs are found in developing countries, where the enforcement of the regulatory authorities is weak or ineffective. In general, the distribution of counterfeit drugs as a proportion of the total market is as follows ... 

The USEPA surveys identified 17 pesticide plants using deep well injection for the disposal of wastewater [7]. One plant used incinerators to remove pesticides as well as benzene and toluene from the wastewater before disposal by deep well injection. Using deep well injection to dispose of hazardous wastes is expected to decrease in the future because of more stringent regulatory requirements and increased concerns about the long-term fate of these wastes in the injection zone. 

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