The determination of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the colostrums of women in preterm labor

Abstract

Background Human milk not only contains nutrients and antibodies, but also can be used as an indicator for levels of organic pollutants in human bodies. We developed a method for determining persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the colostrum of women in preterm labor, the POPs of 36 colostrum samples have been examined. Methods Thirty-six samples of colostrum from preterm women were extracted by acetone–acetonitrile, enriched and purified by solid-phase Florisil columns. The purified POPs were further separated by the capillary columns, and detected by the gas chromatography–electron capture detection (GC–ECD). Results The average recovery rates of 6 types of organochlorine-based pesticides were 80.2%–112.1%, which represent the first 3 categories of the 12 species of POPs. The precise quantities detected were 3.85%–9.32% (the limits of detection were 0.03 μg/l to 0.08 μg/l), and the linear correlation coefficients were ≥ 0.9969. Of the 36 women tested, 10 (27.8%) were found to have colostrums containing traces of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), and 2 (5.56%) were tested positive for dieldrin. Conclusions The combination of using GC–ECD proved to be both accurate and reliable, and this process proved to be both simple and time-effective. This method is applicable for determining the levels of POPs in organisms.