Abstract
Urine samples from 197 Arkansas children were analyzed for eight chlorinated phenols and four chlorinated phenoxy herbicides by using a new procedure that combined gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. With the detection limit of 1 part per billion (ppb), six of these pesticides were detected in more than 10% of the samples. 2,5-Dichlorophenol (a metabolite ofp-dichlorobenzene), and pentachlorophenol were detected in 96% and 100%, respectively, of the children's urine at median concentrations of 9 ppb and 14 ppb, respectively. 2,4,5-Trichlorophenol was detected in 54% of the children's urine at a median concentration of 1 ppb. One trichlorophenol and three other dichlorophenols were found in 3% to 27% of the samples. The herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid was observed in 20% of all samples. The concentrations of all analytes are reported as background or reference levels for use in future studies. The finding of 2,5-dichlorophenol as a ubiquitous contaminant merits further study.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baselt RC (1980) Biological Monitoring Methods for Industrial Chemicals. Biomedical Publications, Davis, California
Bevenue A, Wilson J, Casarett LJ, Klemmer HW (1967) A survey of pentachlorophenol content in human urine. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 2:319–332
Binder S, Sokal D, Maughan D (1986) Estimating soil ingestion: The use of tracer elements in estimating the amount of soil ingested by young children. Arch Environ Health 41:341–345
Chadwick RW, Freal JJ (1972) Comparative acceleration of lindane metabolism to chlorophenols by pretreatment of rats with lindane or with DDT and lindane. Food Cosmet Toxicol 10:789–795
Dowty B, Carlisle D, Laesleter J, Storer J (1975) Halogenated hydrocarbons in New Orleans drinking water and blood plasma. Science 187:75–77
Dupont Company (1984) Test methodology for the ACA discrete clinical analyzers-creatinine. In: ACA III discrete clinical analyzer chemistry manual. Dupont Company, Wilmington, Delaware
Edgerton TR, Moseman RF, Lores EM, Wright LH (1980) Determination of trace amounts of chlorinated phenols in human urine by gas chromatography. Anal Chem 52:1774–1777
Freal JJ, Chadwick RW (1973) Metabolism of hexachlorocyclohexane to chlorophenols and effect of isomer pretreatment on lindane metabolism in rat. J Agric Food Chem 21:424–427
Gehring PJ, Kramer CG, Schwetz BA, Rose JQ, Rowe VK (1973) The fate of 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) following oral administration to man. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 26:352–361
Hallowell M (1959) Acute hemolytic anaemia following the ingestion of paradichlorobenzene. Arch Dis Child 34:74–75
International Agency for Research on Cancer (1982) Ortho- and para-dichiorobenzenes. In: IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risk of Chemicals to Man, Vol. 29, pp 213–238
Karapally JC, Sana JG, Lee YM (1971) Metabolism of lindane14C in the rabbit:ether-soluble urinary metabolites. J Agric Food Chem 21:811–818
Klemmer HW, Wong L, Sato MM, Reichert EL, Korsak RJ, Rashad MN (1980) Clinical findings in workers exposed to pentachlorophenol. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 9:715–725
Kohli I, Jones D, Safe S (1976) The metabolism of higher chlorinated benzene isomers. Can J Biochem 54:203–208
Kohli JD, Khanna RN, Gupta BN, Dhar MM, Tandon JS, Sircar KP (1974) Absorption and excretion of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid in man. Xenobiotica 4:97–100
Kutz FW, Murphy RS, Strassman SC (1978) Survey of pesticide residues and their metabolites in urine from the general population. In: Ranga Rao K (ed) Pentachlorophenol. Plenum Publishing Corp, New York, p 363
Lauwerys RR (1983) Industrial Chemical Exposure: Guidelines for biological monitoring. Biomedical Publications, Davis, California
Lores EM, Edgerton TR, Moseman RF (1981) Method for the confirmation of chlorophenols in human urine by LC with an electrochemical detector. J Chromatogr Sci 19:466–469
Morita M, Mimura S, Ohi G, Yagyu H (1975) A systematic determination of chlorinated benzenes in human adipose tissue. Environ Pollut 9:175–179
Morita M, Ohi G (1975) Para-dichlorobenzene in human tissue and atmosphere in Tokyo metropolitan area. Environ Pollut 8:269–274
Murphy RS, Kutz FW, Strassman SC (1983) Selected pesticide residues or metabolites in blood and urine specimens from a general population survey. Environ Health Perspect 48:81–86
Needham LL, Cline RE, Head SL, Liddle JA (1981) Determining pentachlorophenol in body fluids by gas chromatography after acetylation. J Analyt Toxicol 5:283–286
Pagnatto LD, Walkley JE (1965) Urinary dichlorophenol as an index of paradichlorobenzene exposure. Amer Ind Hyg Assoc J 26:137–142
Rall DP (1987) Carcinogenicity ofp-dichlorobenzene. Science 236:897–898
Wright LH, Edgerton TR, Arbes SJ, Lores EM (1981) The determination of underivatized chlorophenols in human urine by combined high performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and selected ion monitoring. Biomed Mass Spectrom 8:475–479
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Use of trade names is for identification only and does not constitute endorsement by the Public Health Service or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hill, R.H., To, T., Holler, J.S. et al. Residues of chlorinated phenols and phenoxy acid herbicides in the urine of Arkansas children. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 18, 469–474 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01055011
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01055011