Determination of Persistent Organochlorine Pollutants in Rat Hair by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

A gas chromatography/mass spectrometric assay method was developed for the determination of persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) in hair. For the exact extraction study was used hair of rat exposed with POPs. Sonication of the hair matrix with 3 M HCl solution in methylene chloride of the extraction methods studied was the most efficient and rapid sample preparation method. After sonication of rat hair was achieved clean up with a solid phase extraction procedure using silica gel-florisil. Elution was performed with 8 mL of methylene chloride. The eluate was concentrated to approximately 100 µL and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Detection limits of POPs were in the concentration range of 0.6-1.2 ng/g in rat hair. Aldrin, dieldrin, p,p-DDT and mirex were dosed rat for 4 weeks at concentration of 0.01 mg/L in drinking water and detected in rat hair at concentration of 2.8, 11.3, 7.9 and 15.6 ng/g, respectively. Aldrin and p,p-DDT were metabolized to dieldrin and p,p-DDE, which were detected in concentration of 9.7 and 2.9 ng/g in rat hair, respectively. The developed method may be valuable to be used to analyze POPs in human hair.