An Analysis of Pesticides and Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Biological Samples and Foods

Abstract

Pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are found in various parts of the environment in quite small concentrations, but they accumulate and thus become a threat to the health and life of humans and animals. Humans, who are at the very top of the food chain, are the most vulnerable to the harmful effects of these compounds. An awareness of the dangers carried by ongoing pollution of the environment with these compounds, together with modern precautionary means should reduce the risk of poisoning among people—and the risk of irreversible damage being done to the natural environment—to an absolute minimum. The necessity to assay these compounds in various parts of the environment, and above all in food, is unquestionable as long as the awareness of these substances among people remains small. The variety of matrices in which pesticides and PCBs occur, and of their physical and chemical properties, requires the use of many methods for preparing samples for analyses and assaying. Selection of appropriate conditions of analysis determines the credibility of the end results.

Keywords:

• biological samples
• extraction
• food
• methods of final assays
• pesticides
• polychlorinated biphenyls
• purification