Xenoestrogens - compounds that mimic environmental estrogens - can be determined using a combination of HPLC with coulometric array detection according to this application note
A new application note from ESA describes and illustrates how HPLC with coulometric array detection can be used for the measurement of xenoestrogens - a diverse group of compounds found in the environment that mimic the effects of endogenous estrogens.
Xenoestrogens include monomers of plastics (bisphenols, phthalates), detergents (alkylphenols), industrial byproducts (dioxins and PCBs) and fungal metabolites (mycotoxins).
Xenoestrogens bio-accumulate in fish and meat and when consumed collect in fatty tissues such as breast tissue. Evidence continues to build that even exceedingly low levels of environmental estrogens might increase the incidence of hormone-dependent cancers and cause reproductive issues in male species (fish, alligators, frogs) that inhabit contaminated waterways.
The method presented uses HPLC with coulometric array detection to determine both bisphenols - the isoflavonic phytoestrogens (daidzein, genistein and equol) and mammalian lignans (enterolactone and enterdiol) - and the synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES).
The ESA Coularray system offers significant advantages over other analytical instruments in selectivity, sensitivity and the production of qualitative data which are needed to monitor xenoestrogens in food, soil and water samples.
The data provided within the application note illustrate well a powerful new technique that provides a reliable and rapid method for the quantitative detection of xenoestrogens such as bisphenols to a level of <50pg.
This unprecedented level of performance allows the routine study of the effect of xenoestrogens even at their typical extremely low levels.
ESA says Coularray, with its unique multi-channel coulometric array, is the only detector with the dynamic range and low detection capabilities to permit simultaneous determinations in complex biological matrices.
Coulometric oxidation/reduction is imperative as the oxidation channel alone exhibits many interfering peaks and baseline noise.
The Coularray detector is said to be particularly well suited to this type of assay as its auto-ranging capabilities mean that large peaks associated with high concentrations of interfering species do not saturate the detector, thus eliminating the need for further sample re-extraction.
