Measuring environmental phenols and chlorinated organic chemicals in breast milk using automated on-line column-switching-high performance liquid chromatography-isotope dilution tandem mass spectrometry

J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2006 Feb 2;831(1-2):110-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2005.11.050. Epub 2005 Dec 27.

Abstract

Breast milk is one possible route of exposure to environmental chemicals, including phenols and chlorinated organic chemicals for breast-fed infants. We developed a highly sensitive method of analyzing breast milk for triclocarban (3,4,4'-trichlorocarbanilide) and eight phenolic compounds: bisphenol A (BPA), 4-tert-octylphenol (4-tOP), ortho-phenylphenol (OPP), 2,4-dichlorophenol, 2,5-dichlorophenol, 2,4,5-trichlorophenol, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, and 2-hydroxy-4-metoxybenzophenone (BP-3). The method includes adding a solution containing a stable isotope of each chemical, enzymatic hydrolysis of the conjugated chemicals in the milk, and on-line solid-phase extraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. It can also be used to measure the free (unconjugated) species by omitting the enzymatic deconjugation step. The method, validated using pooled breast milk samples, has inter-day coefficient of variations ranging from 4.8 to 18.9% for most analytes, and spiked recoveries generally about 100%. Detection limits for most analytes are below 1 ng/mL in 100 microL of breast milk. We tested the usefulness of the method by measuring concentrations of these nine compounds in 20 breast milk samples. BPA, OPP, and BP-3 were detected in more than 60% of the samples tested. The free species of these compounds appear to be most prevalent in milk.

MeSH terms

  • Carbanilides / analysis*
  • Chemical Fractionation / methods
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / methods*
  • Environmental Pollutants / analysis*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / analysis*
  • Mass Spectrometry / methods
  • Milk, Human / chemistry*
  • Online Systems
  • Phenols / analysis*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • Carbanilides
  • Environmental Pollutants
  • Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated
  • Phenols
  • triclocarban