This report is based on the assessment of four heavy metals: lead, chromium, nickel, and copper, in thirty-two roadside soil samples, one of which was a virgin soil, in Zawia City, Libya. During spring 2019, soil samples were collected from five sites along Jamal Street starting from the old university building to Al-Shuhadaa Square. The atomic absorption spectrometer Perkin Elmer AAnalyst 400 was used in this study using absorption mode, except for the use of Cu emission mode due to the unavailability of the Cu lamp. Results showed that the highest concentrations of the investigated elements were: 36 mg/kg for Pb, 15.6 mg/kg for Cr, 8.3 mg/kg for Ni, and 50 mg/kg for Cu. These values are in agreement with the allowable values of heavy metal concentration of soils in some European countries (i.e. Austria, Germany, and France). However, the concentration values for Pb, Cr, Ni, and Cu were 5.2, 2.9, 2.3, and 7.8 fold higher, respectively, than that of the virgin soil sample collected about 10 km away from the city centre. The sample preparation method used in this work was demonstrated to be suitable, showing acceptable recovery values (R%) of 94.6%, 81.9%, 87.6%, and 90.7% for Pb, Cr, Ni, and Cu, respectively.
Ragiab A M Issa(4-2020)

Twenty-five authentic samples of Prunus amygdalus gum samples were collected from five different locations in northwest of Libya. Different physicochemical methods were used to characterize this type of gum samples. The mean values of the moisture ranged from 12.55 to 14.93%, ash mean values 4.03 to 4.62%, pH 3.89 to 4.40, W.H.C 52.85 to 60.0%, and O.H.C 136.2 to 156.3%. Solubility of Prunus amygdalus gum showed that it had low solubility in distilled water with the mean values ranged from 20.01 to 35.40%, but it dissolved perfectly in alkali media where solubility increased to 96.3% in 0.05 M Na2CO3. The study exhibited that the mean values of cationic concentration in %(w/w) such as calcium was ranged from 0.552 to 0.585, potassium 0.402 to 0.505, iron 0.0975 to 0.1125, and sodium 0.064 to 0.079, which indicates that Ca has the highest concentration of metallic ions present. Atomic absorption method indicate that all samples contain traces of elements, Li, Cr, Mn, Ni, Zn, Pb, Hg, and Cd. The main functional groups recorded from FTIR spectrum included bands at 3293 cm-1 (O-H in carboxylic group), 1601.77 cm-1 (C=O, amide N-H bend, and C=C), 1357.53 cm-1 (CH3-, and C-O-H in- plane bending vibration), and 1025.74 cm-1 (C-O stretching). arabic 16 English 99
Aborawi M. Elgornazi, M.H. Awad, Nouri M.A. Soleiman(2-2021)

A total of 25 randomly purchased bread samples were analyzed in this study from 25 different bakeries in Tajoura city. Bread in Libya is highly consumed among all socioeconomic groups; it is mainly consumed in breakfast, dinner and school meals. Potassium bromate is the most popular additive used in bakery industry worldwide. Bakeries in the US used Potassium bromate as bread improver since 1914 to increase bread volume and texture and improve bread production. The main aim of this study is to assess the safety of bread by the measurement of residual potassium bromate using a rapid and reliable method and to investigate the level of compliance to the ban fourteen years later. This method is based on the reaction between bromate and iodide in acidic medium to produce iodine (I2). The absorbance of I2 was measured spectrophotometrically at 488nm. The calibration curve was linear (R2=0.9996) over the range 1.0 – 5.0mg/L of potassium bromate. Despite the ban of potassium bromate in Libya since 2005 due to its classification as a potential carcinogen it is still detected in local bread loaves. All samples showed high levels of potassium bromate to be 300 to 1333 more than the permissible level set by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which is highly toxic for consumers and could threaten their health over prolonged regular consumption. A continuous pursuance and implementation of the ban on use of potassium bromate in baking industry in Libya is recommended. arabic 11 English 67
RAGIAB ALI MOKHTAR ISSA(1-2020)