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Analysis of the phthalate esters di-(2-ethylhexyl) and di-n-butyl phthalate--DEHP and DBP. respectively-has been carried out by means of (a) high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in the system silica gel/hexane-dichloromethane (1 : 2, v/v) containing 0.1-0.2 yo of ethanol, and (b) gas chromatography (GC) on 4 % OV-101 on Chromosorb W (HP) at a temperature of 240°C. Detection was done by U.V. absorption spectrometry at 233nm and flame ionization, respectively.The procedure has been used to analyse series of water samples of the Dutch rivers Rhine, IJssel and Meuse. Since the phthalate levels of the samples rapidly decrease with time, extraction invariably was performed without delay at the sampling station. The DEHP values on an average are approx. 1 ppb for all three rivers; for DBP, values of 0.3-0.5 ppb are found for the rivers Rhine and Meuse, while a somewhat high value of 2ppb is reported for the river IJssel. The results obtained by HPLC and GC show good agreement; the former technique is less time-consuming.

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Cadmium was determined in human placental tissue by flameless atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). Several sampling, homogenizing and decomposition procedures were tested with regard to their suitability for flameless AAS. Main criteria involved recovery, representativity contamination, accuracy and precision. Analysis of biological reference materials yielded results in agreement with reported certified values or grand means. A sampling strategy was developed based on expected placental distribution patterns of the metal. The sampling method used appeared to be satisfactorily representative of the organ as a whole. During 1978 and 1979 placentae were collected from mothers living in the Amsterdam area in the Netherlands. Mean placental cadmium levels of smokers (66 +/- 33 ng/g dry weight) appeared to be slightly elevated compared to those of non-smokers (51 +/- 20 ng/g).

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