Analysis of persistent organic pollutants in fish and seafood

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Date
2006
Authors
Muhammad, Syahidah Akmal
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Abstract
The profiles of six aroclors were mapped out using gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer and the assignments of chlorinated biphenyl congeners peaks to their respective retention times were carried out with very good degree of certainty. Gas chromatograph with electron capture detector was employed for the quantification of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Spike recovery experiments were employed to optimise the procedure of separating the targeted analytes from lipid and subsequently to validate the analytical methods used in this study. The time for activation of florisil was set at 3 hours and hot florisil was found to be the most suitable mode of packing for this clean-up procedure. Separation of PCBs, OCPs and lipid was achieved using 25 g of florisil and hexane and dichloromethane as eluting solvents. Determination of OCP and PCB compounds in fish tissue, shrimp and cockle reported as per lipid weight and wet weight gave comparable results with several reported studies. Endosulfan and its metabolites were found to be the highest concentration of OCPs detected in most samples followed by DDT and its metabolites. In the case of PCBs, based on toxicity equivalent factors (TEFs), calculated results in lipid and wet weight were comparable with literature reports. PCB 126 and PCB 169, which are higher in toxicity than the other dioxin-like PCBs, were found to contribute the most in term of toxicity equivalent of the samples studied. Using the residual levels of these pollutants in the seafood and fresh water fish, risk assessment on human health through consumption was estimated based on the acceptable daily intake (ADI) approach. The estimated daily dietary intake exposure data calculated in this study were generally lower than the ADI imposed by World Health Organization (WHO) and other health governing organizations. In comparison with the intake estimates published in related literature sources, the results in this study were still consistent despite lower results for both OCPs and PCBs. In summary, based on this study, the presence of OCPs and PCBs in fish, shrimp and cockle did not pose a threat to the Malaysians through daily dietary intake.
Description
Master
Keywords
Chemical science , Organic pollutants , Dietary intake
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