SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF PENTACHLOROPHENOL AND NEUTRAL ORGANOCHLORINE COMPOUNDS IN HUMAN-MILK

A method was developed for determining pentachlorophenol (PCP) in human milk; this method allows for analysing PCP simultaneously with neutral organochlorine compounds. The organochlorine residues determined in milk samples of 5 women were: neutral compounds such as α-, β-, γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), p,p'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) and the acidic pentachlorophenol (PCP). The procedure is a modification of Steinwandter's method and consists of a simultaneous extraction and clean-up using silica gel leading to two different fractions, the first containing the neutral organochlorine compounds, the second PCP. Compounds in both fractions were quantified by gas chromatography (ECD); compounds in the neutral fraction directly, PCP after pyrolytic ethylation by triethylsulfonium hydroxide to pentachlorophenylethyl ether. Levels of PCP in human milk of 5 different women ranged from 0.21 to 8.5 μg/l (median: 1.47 μg/l, n=33). © 1990 Springer-Verlag.