Detection And Analysis Of Environmental Estrogens Residues In Animal Source Food

Objective: With the development of industry and agriculture, the environmental estrogens(EES) widely widespread in our living environment. The study found that they can affectthe endocrine systems of human and animal, causing developmental, behavioral andreproductive disorder, which lead to serious impact on people’s health. Food is the materialfoundation of humanity for existence and development. The primary of route of humanexpose to EESis via food. Therefore, monitoring the EESin foodstuffs is essential in orderto discover and eliminate potential harmful effects on human health.Method: In the study, we analyzed estrogenic activity in142samples from16types ofcommonly consumed animal foodstuffs in four cities of China by the recombinant yeastestrogen screen (YES). Meanwhile, eight target EEs in samples were simultaneouslydetermined by high performance liquid chromatography-Tandem mass spectrometry(LC-MS/MS) system.Result: The main results are summarized as follows:1. The determination of the total estrogenic activity in animal foodstuffIn this part, we analyzed estrogenic activity in samples by this method. The YES resultsindicated that a degree of estrogenic activity was detected in all sample, with the biologicalestradiol equivalent (EEQbio) ranging from8.29to118.32ng/g. Among the four majorcategories of animal source foods, the samples from the livestock were found with thehighest estrogenic activities (EEQbio,34.28-118.32), showing a4-5-fold higher activity thanegg which had the lowest estrogenic activities (EEQbio,8.29-20.91ng/g). Poultry andaquatic products measured EEQbiorange between12.82to110.94ng/g.2. Determination of eight target EEs in animal foodstuff In this part, quantifications of the eight types of estrogenic compounds in the samples,including estrone (E1),17β-estradiol (E2), estriol (E3),17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2),diethylstilbestrol (DES), bisphenol A (BPA),4-nonylphenols (4-NP), and4-t-octylphenol(4-t-OP), were performed on LC/MS/MS. The results showed that the natural estrogen E1and E3were not detected in any samples, but E2was found in all samples in this survey.The concentration of E2in the samples ranged between0.44-15.04ng/g and the medianconcentration was7.93ng/g. Synthetic estrogens EE2had low detection rate (33.1%) in allsamples, and the maximum concentration of EE2in the samples was only2.80ng/g. DESwas not detected in any of the samples. The phenolic xenoestrogens (NP and BPA) hadobviously high detection rate about83%in samples, but the concentration of OP was foundbelow the LOD. The concentrations of BPA and4-NP in samples ranged from <LOD to35.76ng/g.Conclusion: The YES is an efficient and rapid method for screening and determining theactivity of estrogens in samples. The recombinant gene yeast had high sensitivity to theestrogen compounds. For all samples, EEQbio(8.29-118.32ng/g) measured by the YESbioassay were significantly higher than chemical estradiol equivalent (EEQchem.,0.44-15.91ng/g). A positive correlation (r=0.84; N=142) was found between the EEQchem.andEEQbio.