In vitro screening of the endocrine disrupting potency of brominated flame retardants and their metabolites

DEVELOPMENTAL AND REPRODUCTIVE TOXICITY vitro screening the endocrine disrupting potency brominated flame retardants and their metabolites Timo Hamers Jorke Kamstra Edwin Sonneveld Albertinka Murk Bart Zegers Jan Boon Abraham Brouwer Institute for Environmental Studies IVM Amsterdam BioDetection Systems BDS Amsterdam Wageningen University Toxicology Group Wageningen Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research NIOZ Den Burg Ume University Ume Introduction Substantial evidence recently becoming available that brominated flame retardants BFRs are potential endocrine disruptorsi The toxicological profile BFRs however too incomplete and insufficient perform human and ecological risk assessment fill these gaps the funded research program FIREii was started December This program aims the identification and toxicological characterization the most potent and environmentally relevant BFRs and their possible risk for human and wildlife health part hazard identification approach twentyseven BFRs have been selected within the framework FIRE for pre screening their endocrinedisrupting potencies Selection test compounds was based maximal variation physicochemical characteristics BFRs within the test set allowing the establishment quantitative structure activity relationships QSARs iii addition environmental relevance high production volumes and persistence and availability for testing were used selection criteria BFRs were tested seven different vitro bioassays for their potency interfer

Levels of hexabromocyclododecane in harbor porpoises and common dolphins from Western European seas, with evidence for stereoisomer-specific biotransformation by cytochrome P450

Commercial hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) is a high-production-volume flame-retardant applied in polystyrene foams. It contains three stereoisomers, of which γ-HBCD always dominates. Here we report on the levels of HBCD in blubber of harbor porpoise and common dolphin from different European seas. The highest total (Σ)-HBCD levels were measured in harbor porpoises stranded on the Irish and Scottish coasts of the Irish Sea (median concentration 2.9 μg (g of lipid

Electron-capture detection in reversed-phase liquid chromatography using packed-capillary columns.

A new type of interface has been developed for the direct coupling of packed-capillary reversed-phase liquid chromatography with electron-capture detection. This interface allows the detection of relatively non-volatile and/or polar compounds, and simply consists of a fused-silica capillary (50 μm I.D.) inside of a stainless-steel capillary (0.32 mm I.D.) connecting the analytical column with the detector through the oven wall. The make-up gas is used for cooling of the fused-silica capillary. With flow-injection analysis the influence of several parameters (e.g. flow-rate of the make-up gas and mobile phase, oven temperature) on the performance of the total system (i.e. band broadening, sensitivity) has been studied. Using optimal conditions (flow-rate 2 μl mi

Photoionisation detection in packed-capillary liquid and supercritical-fluid chromatography.

A photoionisation detector (PID) was coupled to packed-capillary liquid and supercritical-fluid chromatography to study its performance. Several mobile phases were tested to evaluate the potential of liquid chromatography with photoionisation detection, LC-PID. The behaviour of the PID was not as good as in gas chromatography (GC), due to the absorption of photons by the mobile phase vapour. Therefore, the minimum detection limits (MDLs) were high compared to those in GC-PID, being at the low nanogram level for, e.g., ketones, aldehydes and amides. Coupling of the PID with supercritical-fluid chromatography (SFC) using modified carbon dioxide gave more satisfactory results. For aromatic compounds like phenanthrene and pyrene MDLs were found to be 12 and 20 pg, respectively. These values were almost the same as found in GC-PID. Separation and detection of aliphatic C4-Q3 carboxylic acids and some organosulphur/phosphorus pesticides (disulfoton, ethion and sulfotepp) showed the possibility to detect several classes of compounds at the low nanogram level using methanol-modified carbon dioxide. © 1995, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved

Levels of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether Flame Retardants in Sediment Cores from Western Europe

The levels of 14 brominated diphenyl ether (BDE)-congeners in sediment cores from three locations in Western Europe have been determined by GC/MS (negative chemical ionization mode). Sediments from the Drammenfjord (Norway), the western Wadden Sea (The Netherlands), and the freshwater Lake Woserin (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany) showed a time-dependent pattern in the distribution of BDEs since the beginning of the industrial production of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) formulations. Two out of three commercially available PBDE formulations could be distinguished. Starting from the beginning of the 1970s, the penta-mix formulation is clearly present, but the deca-mix formulation is only present since the late 1970s. The octa-mix formulation appeared to be still absent in these sediments, as its marker-congener, BDE183, was never detected. In the cores from the western Wadden Sea and Lake Woserin, all TOC-normalized concentrations of the penta-BDE-derived congeners were leveling off in the most recent sediment layers representing 1995 and 1997, whereas those in the Drammenfjord were still increasing in 1999. The levels of BDE209, however, decreased in the most recent layer of all three cores. In Lake Woserin, the concentrations of BDE209 were much less elevated above those of the tri- to hexa-BDEs than in the other the two areas. This might be due to the absence of a significant PBDE input from sources other than the atmosphere to this rural lake. The absence of all PBDE congeners in the older layers of the three sediment cores, as well as in several 100-150-My-old layers from an extremely organic-rich marine sediment from the Kimmeridge clay formation in Dorset (UK), indicated the absence of natural production of the BDE congeners analyze