Abstract
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) affect the internal endocrine functions in human and thus effective analytical methods have been developed in recent years. In particular, quantification of EDCs in human biological fluids is essential to obtain direct information about the health risk associated with exposure to these compounds. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has often been applied to the measurement of relatively polar EDCs for instance bisphenol A, phytoestrogen and phthalte metabolites in human biological samples. For detection of EDCs by HPLC, several detection methods such as ultraviolet, fluorescence, electrochemical detection and mass spectrometry are used. These detection methods are selected appropriately in consideration to their sensitivity and selectivity, and characteristics of analytes. Recently, the use of tandem mass spectrometry has increased owing to its excellent specificity. These HPLC methods are used in combination with a suitable sample preparation technique to remove large amounts of complex matrices that interfere with the detection of trace amounts of EDCs in biological fluids and to obtain sufficiently clean chromatogram. We summarized the detection and preparation method for the HPLC determination of EDCs and their metabolites in various human biological fluids such as blood, urine and breast milk.
Keywords: Endocrine disrupting chemicals, High performance liquid chromatography, Pretreatment, Detection method
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