Validation of a novel and rapid method for the simultaneous determination of some phenolic organohalogens in human serum by GC-MS.

Abstract

Over the last decades, more and more studies focused on the impact of endocrine disruptors on the environment and human health. Among them, phenolic organohalogens (POHs) are a particular concern because of their structural resemblance with natural hormones. There are different methods that are known to quantify these compounds in human serum, however, the current extraction techniques are long, fastidious and using harmfull chemicals such as diazomethane and sulfuric acid. Consequently, we developed an alternative, sensitive and faster method to simultaneously quantify pentachlorophenol (PCP), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), 4 bromophenols, 7 hydroxypolychlorinated biphenyls (OH-PCBs) and 3 hydroxy-polybrominated diphenyl ether (OH-PBDEs) in human serum sample. The clean-up and the enrichment of the sample were performed in a single extraction step using strong anion-exchange solid phase cartridge. After a rapid liquid-liquid extraction step to remove acidic traces, the extract was derivatized using trimethylsilyldiazomethane (TMSD) and finally analyzed by a gas-chromatograph coupled with an electron negative capture chemical ionization source combined with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (GC-ENCI-MS) operating in single ion monitoring. The whole procedure was validated according to the total error approach. The inter and intra assay precision were demonstrated to be lower than 20% and the relative bias to be lower than 15% in the dosing range of concentrations. The limit of quantification (LOQ) ranged from 2pgmL-1 and 5pgmL-1, except for the PCP (44.6pgmL-1) and for the 2,4,6-tribromophenol (49.6pgmL-1). Finally, the method was successfully applied to measure the POH background contamination in serum samples collected from 20 Belgian blood donors recruited in CHU Mont-Godinne (Namur, Belgium) aged between 21 and 69 years old.