Evaluation of a high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry method for the determination of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in soil and water

Detectable Dioxins in Human Saliva and Their Effects on Gingival Epithelial Cells

Dioxin, a powerful hormone-disrupting chemical, exhibits serious health effects when it reaches body fat. Here we analyzed coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated-dibenzo- p-dioxins (PCDDs) in human saliva as compared with blood specimens, and examined their effects on human gingival epithelial cells (HGEC). High levels of tri- and tetrachlorinated PCBs were found in saliva, whereas we detected predominantly hexa- and heptachlorinated PCBs in blood. Among PCDDs, the saliva and blood specimens contained mainly 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9-octachlorodibenzo- p-dioxin (OCDD). Among the toxic dioxins proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1998, 2,3′,4,4′,5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB 118) and OCDD, which were mainly found in saliva, significantly induced IL-8 production in HGEC. Furthermore, these two dioxins markedly augmented IL-8 production stimulated with fimbriae from Porphyromonas gingivalis, which is well-known as a pathogenic factor in periodontal diseases. These results suggest that dioxins in saliva may be a risk factor for periodontal diseases.

The application of hybrid mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry and high-resolution mass spectrometry to the analysis of fish samples for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans

A hybrid mass spectrometer operated in low-resolution selected decomposition monitoring (SDM) mode was used for the analysis of whole fish samples for the 2,3,7,8-substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and poly-chlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). These fish samples were previously analyzed for PCDD/Fs using a high-resolution mass spectrometer following EPA protocols. The hybrid tandem mass spectrometric method using loss of COCl gave similar quantification results to those obtained by high-resolution mass spectrometry and eliminated the interferences attributed to polychlorinated biphenyls that were encountered in the high-resolution mass spectrometric analysis. Comparison of the two methods shows that the high-resolution mass spectrometric method surpasses the tandem mass spectrometric method in other analytical figures of merit, such as detection limit, linearity and reproducibility.