RESUMEN
Dietary intake is one of the important routes of human exposure to brominated flame retardants (BFRs) such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The use of PBDEs may also result in exposure to polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDDs/DFs), as these compounds are impurities in technical mixtures of BFRs and can also be formed unintentionally by the same processes that generate chlorinated dioxins. This study determined the concentrations of polybrominated compounds in common seafood in Guangzhou and Zhoushan, and assessed the health risks of these chemicals via consumption of contaminated seafood. Seafood samples (fish, bivalves, shrimp, crab, and cephalopods) purchased from local markets in 2003 and 2004 were analyzed for PBDEs and PBDDs/DFs. The highest concentration of total PBDEs (46.3 ng g(-1) lipid wt.) was detected in fish from Guangzhou, in which BDEs 47 and 209 were the two predominant congeners. The total daily intakes of PBDEs, PBDDs, and PBDFs were, 946, 6.39, and 6.54 pg kg(-1) body weight (bw) in Guangzhou, and 489, 4.99, and 7.65 pg kg(-1) bw in Zhoushan, respectively. The hazard ratios for PBDDs and PBDFs were both greater than unity, indicating that these compounds may pose some health risks to the local population.
Asunto(s)
Contaminación de Alimentos , Indicadores de Salud , Hidrocarburos Bromados/metabolismo , Éteres Fenílicos/metabolismo , Bifenilos Polibrominados/metabolismo , Alimentos Marinos/análisis , Contaminantes Químicos del Agua/metabolismo , Animales , China , Dioxinas/metabolismo , Ingestión de Alimentos , Contaminación de Alimentos/prevención & control , Furanos/metabolismo , Éteres Difenilos Halogenados , Humanos , Medición de RiesgoRESUMEN
This study determined the concentrations of organochlorine contaminants in common seafood in two Chinese coastal cities (Guangzhou and Zhoushan), and assessed the health risk due to the daily consumption of contaminated seafood. Twenty-six pooled samples, belonging to five food categories (fish, bivalves, shrimp, crab, and cephalopods), were purchased from local markets in Guangzhou and Zhoushan in 2003 and 2004. These samples were analyzed for total polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), non- and mono-ortho-PCBs (coplanar PCBs), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDDs/DFs). The concentrations of total PCBs and coplanar PCBs in fish samples were higher in Guangzhou than in Zhoushan, while the levels of PCNs and PCDDs/DFs were comparable between the two cities. The total daily intake values of dioxin-like compounds were 1.05 and 0.86pg WHO-TEQ/kg body weight in Guangzhou and Zhoushan, respectively. Hazard ratios of non-cancer risk in the two cities were all less than unity.
Asunto(s)
Contaminantes Ambientales/análisis , Contaminación de Alimentos/análisis , Hidrocarburos Aromáticos/toxicidad , Hidrocarburos Policíclicos Aromáticos/análisis , Alimentos Marinos , Benzofuranos/análisis , Benzofuranos/toxicidad , China , Contaminantes Ambientales/toxicidad , Humanos , Hidrocarburos Aromáticos/análisis , Naftalenos/análisis , Naftalenos/toxicidad , Bifenilos Policlorados/análisis , Bifenilos Policlorados/toxicidad , Dibenzodioxinas Policloradas/análogos & derivados , Dibenzodioxinas Policloradas/análisis , Dibenzodioxinas Policloradas/toxicidad , Hidrocarburos Policíclicos Aromáticos/toxicidad , Medición de RiesgoRESUMEN
The objective of this study was to determine the concentrations and compositions of polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PBDDs), and polybrominated dibenzofurans (PBDFs) as contaminants in the commercial polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) mixtures DE-71, DE-79, and DE-83 and to ascertain the lot-to-lot variations in the proportions of these contaminants. Commercial PBDE mixtures tested in the present study contained both PBBs and PBDFs, as impurities, at concentrations in the range of several tens to several thousands of nanograms per gram. Concentrations of total PBDFs were greater than those of total PBBs in DE-79 and DE-83 mixtures. PBDDs were not detected at levels above the limit of detection. Profiles of PBB and PBDF congeners varied with the degree of bromination of the commercial PBDE mixtures (i.e., more highly brominated mixtures of PBDEs contained heavily brominated homologues of PBBs and PBDFs). On the basis of the production/ usage of commercial PBDE mixtures in 2001, potential global annual emissions of PBBs and PBDFs were calculated to be 40 and 2300 kg, respectively. Results of our study suggestthat PBDFs can also be formed during the production of commercial PBDE mixtures, in addition to their formation during pyrolysis of brominated flame retardants.
Asunto(s)
Benzofuranos/análisis , Dioxinas/análisis , Bifenilos Polibrominados/análisis , Éteres , Estándares de Referencia , Sensibilidad y EspecificidadRESUMEN
Fluorotelomer alcohols and fluorotelomer acids have been proposed as a source of the perfluorinated carboxylic acids found in remote marine locations. To examine the sources and fate of perfluorinated acids in the environment, a method to determine a wide range of poly- and perfluorinated acids in environmental and biological matrices is needed. In this study, a method has been developed to measure a suite of neutral and acidic fluorochemicals including, fluorotelomer alcohols, fluorotelomer acids, and short- and long-chain perfluorinated acids, in water and biological samples. The method involves solid-phase extraction with weak anion exchange (WAX) cartridges, followed by sequential elution with sodium acetate buffer, methanol, and 0.1% NH4OH in methanol. For biological samples, prior to solid-phase extraction, tissues are digested in 0.5N potassium hydroxide/methanol, diluted in water, and passed through the WAX cartridge. Neutral compounds and telomer alcohols are separated from other poly- and perfluorinated acids. The method is robust (i.e., capable of measuring neutral and acidic compounds), and can be applied for the analysis of a range of poly- and perfluorinated acids, including telomer alcohols, telomer acids, perfluoroalkylcarboxylates, and perfluoroalkylsulfonates in water and biota. With the use of high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), a method detection limit in the range of several tens to hundreds of parts-per-quadrillion (pg/L) in water and at a few tens to hundreds of parts-per-trillion (pg/g) levels in biological matrices can be achieved.
Asunto(s)
Ácidos/análisis , Alcoholes/análisis , Hidrocarburos Fluorados/análisis , Ácidos/sangre , Alcoholes/sangre , Animales , Cromatografía Líquida de Alta Presión , Humanos , Hidrocarburos Fluorados/sangre , Espectrometría de Masas , RoedoresRESUMEN
Perfluorinated acids (PFAs) and their salts have emerged as an important class of global environmental contaminants. Determination of sub-parts-per-trillion or parts-per-quadrillion concentrations of perfluorinated acids in aqueous media has been impeded by relatively high background levels arising from procedural or instrumental blanks. To understand the role of the oceans in the transport and fate of perfluorinated acids, methods to determine ultratrace levels of these compounds in seawater are needed. In this study, sources of procedural and instrumental blank contamination by perfluorinated acids have been identified and eliminated, to reduce background levels in blanks and thereby improve limits of quantitation. The method developed in this study is capable of detecting perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHS), perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS), perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluorononanoate (PFNA), and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA) at low pg/L levels in oceanic waters. PFOA is the major perfluorinated compound detected in oceanic waters, followed by PFOS. Further studies are being conducted to elucidate the distribution and fate of perfluorinated acids in oceans.
Asunto(s)
Cromatografía Liquida/métodos , Monitoreo del Ambiente/métodos , Fluorocarburos/análisis , Espectrometría de Masas/métodos , Agua de Mar/análisis , Ácidos Alcanesulfónicos/análisis , Exposición a Riesgos Ambientales , Agua de Mar/químicaRESUMEN
Pine needle samples collected at ten spatially distant sites around Tokyo Bay in 1999 indicated a widespread lower troposphere pollution with ultra-trace dioxin-like compounds such as chlorodibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), -furans (PCDFs), non-ortho- and mono-ortho-chlorobiphenyls (pPCBs), and -naphthalenes (PCNs). Elevated concentration of planar PCBs and the total PCNs were found at the sites which are located innermost to the Bay, suggesting the regional importance of the evaporative nature of the source of pollution by those compounds over this vast area. The concentrations and profiles for PCDDs and PCDFs remained largely uniform. An exception was the site near the town of Tateyama in the Chiba Prefecture, which is the southernmost but also relatively separate from the inner Bay. The site near Tateyama showed somehow background contamination with all compound groups and highly different profiles of PCNs. The principal component analysis (PCA) of the data matrix has revealed that around the Tokyo Bay, apart from the evaporative emission sources for PCNs and PCBs, combustion related processes also play an important role as sources of the ambient air contamination not only with PCDDs/Fs but also with chloronaphthalenes and planar chlorobiphenyls.