Brominated flame retardants and other organochlorine pollutants in human adipose tissue samples from the Czech Republic.

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) represented by polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) together with major persistent organochlorine pollutants, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and selected organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), were determined in adipose tissue samples (n=98) obtained by liposuction of Czech subjects. Compared to other organochlorine pollutants (mostly PCBs and DDTs), levels of PBDE were lower by 2 orders of magnitude ranging from 0.2 to 54.3 ng/g lipid weight. PBDE congeners No. 47, 99, 153 and 183 were the most abundant constituting up to 90% of these pollutants in adipose tissue. The PBDEs content measured in this study was comparable with data reported in similar samples collected in Spain, Sweden, Belgium and Japan, whilst slightly lower than in the United States. Regarding PCBs, the dominating congeners were No. 138, 153 and 180 representing up to 90% of indicator congeners. The levels of PCBs were similar to those found in other European countries. While no age dependency was found for PBDEs, an increase of PCB and OCP levels with age was observed. Different exposure routes of donors were documented by the absence of the relationship between PCBs and OCPs.

Novel approaches to the analysis of steroid estrogens in river sediments.

A wide range of estrogenic contaminants has been detected in the aquatic environment. Among these, natural and synthetic steroid estrogens, typically present in municipal sewage-treatment plant (STP) effluents, are the most potent. In this study a new GC-MS method has been developed for direct analysis of five major steroid estrogens (estrone, 17beta-estradiol, 17alpha-ethinylestradiol, dienestrol, and diethylstilbestrol) in river sediments. Four GC-MS systems used for analysis of underivatized analytes in purified extracts were compared. Relatively low detection limits (1.5-5 ng g(-1) dried sediment) and good repeatability of GC splitless injection (RSD 1-2%) were achieved by use of a system combining low-pressure gas chromatography with a single-quadrupole mass analyzer (LP-GC-MS). Use of orthogonal gas chromatography (GCxGC) hyphenated with high-speed time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HSTOF-MS) enabled not only significantly better resolution of target analytes, and their unequivocal identification, but also further improvement (decrease) of their detection limits. In addition to these outcomes, use of this unique GCxGC-TOF-MS system enabled identification of several other non-target chemicals, including pharmaceutical steroids, present in purified sediment extracts.