Endosulfan, quantitation limits

Information regarding inhalation exposure to endosulfan by humans was inadequate for derivation of inhalation MRLs (Aleksandrowicz 1979 Ely et al. 1967). Limitations associated with these reports include lack of quantitative exposure data, lack of data on the duration of exposure, the possibility of... 

Positive identification of low-ppb (pg/L) levels of endosulfan in human blood has been achieved by GC equipped with a microcoulometric detector (GC/MC) (Griffith and Blanke 1974). Although GC/MC is specific and nearly as sensitive as GC/ECD for detecting endosulfan in blood, GC/MC is more difficult to operate. Both isomers of endosulfan can be measured in blood using a method described by Guardino et al. (1996). According to the authors, endosulfan can be recovered and measured with an approximate limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 0.2 pg/L (sub-ppb). 

GC/MS has been employed by Demeter et al. (1978) to quantitatively detect low-ppb levels of a- and P-endosulfan in human serum, urine, and liver. This technique could not separate a- and P-isomers, and limited sensitivity confined its use to toxicological analysis following exposures to high levels of endosulfan. More recently, Le Bel and Williams (1986) and Williams et al. (1988) employed GC/MS to confirm qualitatively the presence of a-endosulfan in adipose tissue previously analyzed quantitatively by GC/ECD. These studies indicate that GC/MS is not as sensitive as GC/ECD. Mariani et al. (1995) have used GC in conjunction with negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry to determine alpha- and beta-endosulfan in plasma and brain samples with limits of detection reported to be 5 ppb in each matrix. Details of commonly used analytical methods for several types of biological media are presented in Table 6-1. 

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