Exposure assessment of prepubertal children to steroid endocrine disruptors. 2. Determination of steroid hormones in milk, egg, and meat samples

J Agric Food Chem. 2008 May 14;56(9):3176-84. doi: 10.1021/jf800096f. Epub 2008 Apr 16.

Abstract

In the present study, the occurrence of the main sex steroid hormones in milk, egg, and meat was evaluated on the basis of a highly specific gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry measurement method. Globally, the results indicated that targeted estrogens and androgens occurred at similar levels (concentration levels in the 10-100 ng kg (-1) range) in the analyzed muscle and milk samples. The same compounds occurred at about 10-fold higher concentrations (i.e., in the 100-1000 ng kg (-1) range) in eggs and kidney samples. More precisely, egg and milk appeared as a non-negligible sources of estradiol (i.e., 2.2 +/- 0.8 and 3.1 +/- 2.0 ng day (-1), respectively), whereas testosterone exposure is caused by ingestion of meat and/or egg (i.e., 12.2 +/- 48.2 and 5.2 +/- 2.3 ng day (-1), respectively). The provided exposure data will be further exploited in the scope of a risk assessment study regarding endocrine disruption associated with these molecules.

MeSH terms

  • Androgens / analysis
  • Animals
  • Child, Preschool
  • Eggs / analysis*
  • Endocrine Disruptors / administration & dosage
  • Endocrine Disruptors / adverse effects
  • Endocrine Disruptors / analysis*
  • Environmental Exposure*
  • Estrogens / analysis
  • Humans
  • Meat / analysis*
  • Milk / chemistry*
  • Puberty*

Substances

  • Androgens
  • Endocrine Disruptors
  • Estrogens