Katarzyna Owczarek

Selected issues related to the toxicity of ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents—a review

Green Chemistry plays a more and more important role in implementing rules of sustainable development to prevent environmental pollution caused by technological processes, while simultaneously increasing the production yield. Ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) constitute a very broad group of substances. Apart from many imperfections, ILs and DESs have been the most promising discoveries in the world of Green Chemistry in recent years. The main advantage of ILs is their unique physicochemical properties—they are very desirable from the technological point of view, but apart from these benefits, ILs appear to be highly toxic towards organisms from different trophic levels. DES areas of usage are very spread, because they cover organic synthesis, extraction processes, electrochemistry, enzymatic reactions and many others. Moreover, DESs seem to be a less toxic alternative to ionic liquids. New possibilities of applications and future development trends are sought and presented, including such important solutions of life branches as pharmaceuticals’ production and medicine.

Revision of Biological Methods for Determination of EDC Presence and Their Endocrine Potential

Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDC) are chemicals responsible for disturbances in the hormonal balance of organisms. This group of chemicals includes both egzogenic and endogenic substances or their mixtures that impact functioning of natural hormones in organisms. In the available literature one can find information on the application of chromatographic and related techniques in the analysis of environmental samples for detection, identification, and quantitation of a wide spectrum of chemicals posing endocrine properties. On the other hand, more and more biotests are being developed to determine endocrine potency of environmental samples due to development of genetic engineering methods and specific detection methods of cells’ response to the action of particular chemicals of interest. This article presents revisions of the most novel methods for this potency determination with application to biological elements.

Endocrine Disrupting Compounds – Problems and Challenges

In this chapter, information about some of the estrogenic compounds and their environmental fate and biological influence can be found. Special attention is paid to the review of the analytical approaches used at the stages of detection and determi‐ nation of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs) in the environmental samples. Also, a brief characterization of both cellular and non-cellular bioassays is presented. The discovery of micropollutants occurring in the environment resulted in new methodologies being put into the analytical practice. These methodologies are developed in two different directions. The first is based on methodological solutions designed to detect, identify, and determine xenobiotics that occur in various environ‐ mental samples. For this purpose, instrumental methods such as gas and liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry detection are usually used. The second approach is to put into the analytical practice the new bioanalytical methodologies. These methodologies allow the estimation of the sample endocrine potential, but they do not provide the information about which of the sample ingredient is responsible for causing the toxic effect. These results can be the basis for estimating the endocrine potential of the environment exhibited by certain species. Moreover, bioanalytical techniques may be supplementary to the techniques of quantitative and qualitative determination of EDCs.

Determination of trace levels of eleven bisphenol A analogues in human blood serum by high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Chemicals showing structural or functional similarity to bisphenol A (BPA), commonly called BPA analogues, have recently drawn scientific attention due to their common industrial and commercial application as a substitute for BPA. In the European Union, the use of BPA has been severely restricted by law due to its endocrine disrupting properties. Unfortunately, it seems that all BPA analogues show comparable biological activity, including hormonal disruption, toxicity and genotoxicity. Until now, the knowledge about human exposure to BPA analogues is scarce, mainly due to the lack of the data concerning their occurrence in human derived biological samples. This study presents the development of an analytical method for determination of trace levels of eleven BPA analogues in human blood serum samples. The method involves fast and simple liquid-liquid extraction, using low sample and solvent volumes. Chromatographic separation of analytes was optimized using one-factor-at-a-time approach (mobile phase composition, gradient shape, chromatographic column selection, separation temperature, etc.). The method allows for effective separation of the analytes, even in the case of configurational isomers (bisphenol M and bisphenol P). The calibration curves for all analytes were linear in the range tested. The limits of detection and quantitation were in the range of 0.0079÷0.039ng/mL and 0.024÷0.12ng/mL respectively. Compound-dependent recovery values were in the rage of 88÷138%. Matrix effects were mitigated with the help of matrix-matched calibration curves prepared for every batch of samples. Results obtained after the analysis of 245 real human blood serum samples indicate that human beings are exposed to different BPA analogues, that are present in the environment and in common, daily use products.

Serum bisphenol A concentrations correlate with serum testosterone levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

The aim of this study was to determine serum bisphenol A (BPA) concentrations using high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) (n = 106, age range 18-40 yrs) and to evaluate its potential impact on their hormonal and metabolic profile. The control group consisted of age- and BMI-matched 80 eumenorrheic women with no clinical or biochemical hyperandrogenism. Our results showed that women with PCOS had significantly higher serum BPA concentrations than healthy controls (geometric mean and [95% CI]: 0.202 ng/mL [0.150; 0.255] vs. 0.154 ng/mL [0.106; 0.201], P = 0.035), which correlated positively with serum total testosterone (TST) (R=0.285, P = 0.004) and the free androgen index (FAI) (R = 0.196, P = 0.049). There were no significant correlations between serum BPA and BMI, waist circumference, serum glucose, insulin and lipids. These results point to the potential role of BPA in the pathogenesis of the ovarian hyperandrogenism in women with PCOS.