| 1. |
- Covaci, Adrian, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of total lipids using enzymatic methods for the normalization of persistent organic pollutant levels in serum
- 2006
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 366:1, s. 361-366
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The human exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is conveniently assessed through analysis of blood serum or plasma and the POPs concentrations are traditionally expressed on a lipid weight basis. Enzymatic determinations of total lipid (TL) content in serum, which imply the measurement of individual lipid classes, such as triglycerides (TG), cholesterol (CHOL) and phospholipid (PL), use small amounts of serum/plasma (<100 microl). These have also become a more precise and less laborious alternative for the gravimetric lipid determinations which were preferred in the past. However, PL are not routinely measured in most clinical laboratories and therefore, TL values are often predicted from formulas based on measurements of only TG and CHOL. In the present study, a large data set (n=483) from Belgian, Swedish and Norwegian populations was used to compute a new formula for TL [TL=1.33*TG+1.12*CHOL+1.48 (g/l)] by means of multiple linear regression. A very good correlation (r=0.949, p<0.001) was found between TL values calculated with the proposed formula and TL values obtained by summation of TG, CHOL and PL. Statistically different values of TL were computed when different previously published formulas were compared, which can have a strong influence on the calculation of lipid-normalized concentrations of POPs. Nevertheless, TL values derived using a mathematical formula which includes only TG and CHOL will be less accurate than TL values obtained by summation of TG, CHOL and PL, which should be the calculation method of choice if PL measurements are available.
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| 2. |
- Jaspers, Veerle L. B., et al.
(författare)
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Concentrations in bird feathers reflect regional contamination with organic pollutants
- 2009
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 407:4, s. 1447-1451
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Feathers have recently been shown to be potentially useful non-destructive biomonitoring tools for organic pollutants. However, the suitability of feathers to monitor regional variations in contamination has not been investigated until now. Here concentrations of organic pollutants were compared in feathers of common magpies (/Pica pica/) between urban and rural areas in Flanders, Belgium. The results showed that concentrations of /p,p/'/-/dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) were significantly higher in the rural areas (rural: 12-140 ng/g feather, urban: 1.1-7.2 ng/g feather), while polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were significantly more available in an urban environment (sum PCBs - rural: 2.9-22 ng/g feather, urban: 41-240 ng/g feather). This pattern agrees with previous studies using other tissues than feathers as a biomonitoring tool. In addition, differences in PCBs and PBDEs profiles were found with lower halogenated congeners being more prominent in the urban areas in comparison to the rural areas. In summary, feathers seem to reflect regional variations in contamination, which strengthens their usefulness as a non-destructive biomonitor for organic pollutants.
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| 3. |
- Jaspers, Veerle L B, et al.
(författare)
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Preen oil as the main source of external contamination with organic pollutants onto feathers of the common magpie (Pica pica).
- 2008
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Ingår i: Environment International. - : Elsevier BV. - 0160-4120 .- 1873-6750. ; 34:6, s. 741-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigated the possible sources of contamination with organic pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), /p/,/p/'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and metabolites, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), in and onto tail feathers of a large songbird, the common magpie (Pica pica). Although feathers are potentially useful as a non-destructive biomonitor for organic pollutants, concentrations may be influenced by external contamination onto the feather surface. In a first approach, a group of magpies was captured after the completion of moult. The third tail feather was pulled out and a blood sample was taken. Most PCBs, DDTs and some PBDEs could be quantified in one single tail feather, indicating that the applicability of feathers goes beyond monitoring with predatory birds, as shown previously. Nevertheless, correlations between levels in serum and feathers were found significant in three cases only (i.e. CB 170, CB 180 and CB 187). This finding may be attributed to different factors, such as varying diet, condition, sample size or external contamination. In a second approach, cadavers of magpies were collected throughout Flanders. The preen gland was removed and the first, third and fifth tail feathers were pulled out at both sides. No significant differences were found among tail feathers within an individual. We compared three washing procedures to remove external contamination with organic pollutants from these feathers: deionised water, acetone and a surfactant/acetone solution. Right feathers were washed and left feathers were kept as control. Concentrations in the resulting washes were found highest in the acetone solutions. Furthermore, feathers washed with acetone or with a surfactant/acetone solution had significantly lower mean concentrations than the control feathers. Highest correlations with levels in preen gland were obtained for the control feathers. Consequently, the source of external contamination with organic pollutants onto feathers seems to be endogenous, originating from the preen gland. This is in great contrast to the extensive airborne pollution that has been reported for most heavy metals. In summary, the results of the current study highlight the usefulness of feathers for non-destructive biomonitoring of organic pollutants.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Van den Steen, Evi, et al.
(författare)
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Brominated flame retardants and organochlorines in the European environment using great tit eggs as a biomonitoring tool
- 2009
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Ingår i: Environment International. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-6750 .- 0160-4120. ; 35:2, s. 310-317
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large-scale studies are essential to assess the emission patterns and spatial distribution of organohalogenated pollutants (OHPs) in the environment. Bird eggs have several advantages compared to other environmental media which have previously been used to map the distribution of OHPs. In this study, large-scale geographical variation in the occurrence of OHPs, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), was investigated throughout Europe using eggs of a terrestrial residential passerine species, the great tit (Parus major). Great tit eggs from 22 sampling sites, involving urban, rural and remote areas, in 14 European countries were collected and analysed (5-8 eggs per sampling site). The environmentally most important congeners/compounds of the analysed pollutants were detectable in all sampling locations. For PCBs, PBDEs and OCPs, no clear geographical contamination pattern was found. Sum PCB levels ranged from 143 ng/g lipid weight (lw) to 3660 ng/g lw. As expected, PCB concentrations were significantly higher in the sampled urban compared to the remote locations. However, the urban locations did not show significantly higher concentrations compared to the rural locations. Sum PBDEs ranged from 4.0 ng/g lw to 136 ng/g lw. PBDEs were significantly higher in the urbanized sampling locations compared to the other locations. The significant, positive correlation between PCB and PBDE concentrations suggests similar spatial exposure and/or mechanisms of accumulation. Significantly higher levels of OCPs (sum OCPs ranging from 191 ng/g lw to 7830 ng/g lw) were detected in rural sampling locations. Contamination profiles of PCBs, PBDEs and OCPs differed also among the sampling locations, which may be due to local usage and contamination sources. The higher variance among sampling locations for the PCBs and OCPs, suggests that local contamination sources are more important for the PCBs and OCPs compared to the PBDEs. To our knowledge, this is the first study in which bird eggs were used as a monitoring tool for CHPs on such a large geographical scale. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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