DUGi

Analysis and occurrence of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in airborne particles

http://dugi.udg.edu/item/http:@@@@hdl.handle.net@@10256@@12566

This article presents an overview of the analytical methods for the determination of target endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in airborne particles. Among EDCs, we selected four important groups of compounds (alkylphenols, bisphenol A, phthalates, and natural and synthetic sex hormones) because of their worldwide production, environmental ubiquity and toxicity. Due to their physical and chemical properties (high molecular weight, low/medium polarity and volatility), these EDCs can be present in the atmosphere mainly associated with particulate matter. EDCs linked to small particles (PM10 and PM2.5) can penetrate into the respiratory system and damage human health. We discuss aspects of analytical methodology, such as sampling, extraction, and determination. We review levels found in outdoor and indoor samples. According to the results reported, human exposure to these compounds, especially in indoor environments, should be investigated in more depth, since some compounds, such as dibutyl phthalate and diethyl phthalate, reach levels of μg/m3

This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology projects (Ref CGL2010-18145 and Consolider- Ingenio 2010 CSD2009-00065), the Xunta de Galicia project (Ref 10MDS164019PR), the “Program of Consolidation and Structuring of Units of Competitive Investigation of the University System of Galicia (Xunta de Galicia)” (Ref GRC2013-047), and the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidated Research Groups “2014 SGR 418–Water and Soil Quality Unit” and “2014 SGR 291–ICRA”)

Elsevier