Brominated flame retardants and toxic elements in the meat and liver of red deer (Cervus elaphus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and moose (Alces alces) from Latvian wildlife

In order to evaluate the contamination status of terrestrial biota in Latvia, muscle and liver tissues of red deer (Cervus elaphus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and moose (Alces alces) were analyzed for the content of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), as well as cadmium and lead. The highest mean concentrations of PBDEs (46.6pgg^-1 wet weight (w.w.)), cadmium (0.95mgkg^-1 w.w.), and lead (0.22mgkg^-1 w.w.) were observed in the tissues of moose, while the wild boar samples contained the highest levels of HBCD, with the mean concentration equal to 264pgg^-1 w.w. in muscle tissues. Generally low mean concentrations of TBBPA from 0.52 to 4.54pgg^-1 w.w. were observed. The liver tissue of all analyzed specimens was found to contain higher concentrations of contaminants, compared to muscle tissue. The congener profile of PBDEs in the analyzed tissues indicated that the recently used "penta-BDE" formulation was a probable source, while components of HBCD, "octa-BDE", and "deca-BDE" technical mixtures are likely to undergo congener-specific or diastereomer-specific bioaccumulation or metabolic degradation. Considering the reports from other regions, it can be concluded that the terrestrial biota in Latvia is less affected by the studied contaminants.

Method development for the simultaneous determination of polybrominated, polychlorinated, mixed polybrominated/chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in fish

An analytical methodology was developed for simultaneous determination of five groups of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including polybrominated, polychlorinated and mixed brominated-chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDD/DFs, PCDD/DFs and PXDD/DFs, respectively), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in fish samples. The presented analytical approach was based on well established and robust method for determination of PCDD/DFs and PCBs, which was augmented with gas chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS) to include PBDEs, as well as poorly investigated PBDD/DFs and PXDD/DFs at toxicologically significant levels. Intensive clean-up and fractionation procedures in combination with optimized instrumental parameters provided reliable detection and quantification of these compounds. The application of (13)C12-labeled surrogates of analyzed compounds allowed the internal standardization and accurate measurement of selected contaminants. The developed procedure was validated while taking into account the Commission Regulation (EU) 252/2012 requirements for PCDD/DFs and PCBs, and was used to measure the occurrence of priority POPs in Baltic wild salmon.