Novel separation, extraction and detection methods were developed to accurately measure concentrations of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in environmental/food matrices. Sampling strategies and the significance of UK environmental PFC exposure were assessed by quantitative analysis of wildlife liver samples in aquatic and terrestrial food chains. As diet is the main exposure route for related contaminants, UK human PFC exposure was estimated through dietary studies. When analysing for PFCs in food, weak anion exchange solid phase extraction (WAX- SPE) is used for extract cleanup and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC- MSIMS) for the quantification. This method was used to analyse the majority of foods in this PhD dietary study. Analysing fatty foods (cheese, meat, liver or eggs) is problematic, therefore fluorous biphasic systems (FBS) were investigated to partition PFCs from organic into fluorous solvents. When this developed FBS was prefixed to the conventional SPE method, PFC concentrations could be determined for the diet study by LC-MSIMS without enhancement/suppression from the fatty matrix. Aquatic and terrestrial wildlife livers were analysed by both conventional PFC methods and new techniques. PFCs were extracted using methanol, cleaned up by WAX-SPE and analysed by time-of-flight mass-spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS) or LC-MS/MS. The results showed two outcomes. Firstly, PFOS is readily detected in UK environmental samples, even from isolated ecosystems (Outer Hebrides) with very low anthropogenic contribution. Secondly, concentrations are of concern, as they are higher than those in foods of the UK diet. The mink would appear to be consuming food containing PFOS, thus indicating a contaminated environment. A database of PFCs «260) was developed, providing a valuable reference source. It contains molecular structures, compound names, abbreviations, formulae, fluorous percentages, neutral exact masses and the anion monoisotopic masses [M-Hr. The database is exportable and directly searchable by the LC-TOF-MS peak identification software and was used to screen environmental and food samples.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:556248 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Bailey-Horne, Victoria Adele |
| Publisher | University of York |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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