Determination of selected neurotoxic insecticides in small amounts of animal tissue utilizing a newly constructed mini-extractor.

We developed a simple analytical method for the simultaneous determination of representatives of various groups of neurotoxic insecticides (carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin, and α-endosulfan and β-endosulfan and their metabolite endosulfan sulfate) in limited amounts of animal tissues containing different amounts of lipids. Selected tissues (rodent fat, liver, and brain) were extracted in a special in-house-designed mini-extractor constructed on the basis of the Soxhlet and Twisselmann extractors. A dried tissue sample placed in a small cartridge was extracted, while the nascent extract was simultaneously filtered through a layer of sodium sulfate.

Developmental neurotoxicants in human milk: Comparison of levels and intakes in three European countries.

Developmental neurotoxicants (DNTs), such as methylmercury (MeHg), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and selected organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), have gained increasing interest recently due to their possible relation to developmental disorders in children, which are increasing worldwide. We analyzed levels of 14 developmental neurotoxicants in human milk samples from Slovakia (n=37), the Netherlands (n=120) and Norway (n=388). Positive identification for most target analytes was >95% in all samples.

An effective clean-up technique for GC/EI-HRMS determination of developmental neurotoxicants in human breast milk.

The increasing number of children suffering from developmental disorders has raised questions regarding their association with the presence of environmental contaminants in mothers and children. We therefore developed a new method for the determination of 78 proven and potential developmental neurotoxicants, including polychlorinated biphenyls, legacy pesticides, pyrethroids, and old and new halogenated flame retardants in breast milk. The essential part of sample preparation was dialysis as a non-destructive clean-up step which was newly used at 10 °C and showed more efficient lipid removal (up to 96%) than the conventional methods such as gel permeation chromatography or freezing-lipid filtration and thus ensured low limits of detection (LOD) by reducing the sample volume prior to injection.

Determination of alkylphenols in water samples using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry after pre-column derivatization with dansyl chloride.

The present study describes an effect of reaction condition of pre-column derivatization of alkylphenols (APs): bisphenol A (BPA), 4-tert-octylphenol (4-t-OP), 4-octylphenol (4-OP), 4-n-nonylphenol (4-n-NP), and isomers of 4-nonylphenol (iso-NP) with 5-(dimethylamino) naphthalene-1-sulfonyl chloride (dansyl chloride, DNSC) on their LC-ESI-MS/MS determination in water samples. Chemical derivatization improves the sensitivity and selectivity of LC-MS/MS analysis. In principle, alkylphenols can be analyzed by LC-MS/MS without derivatization.