In 2011, the European Union prohibited the production of polycarbonate (PC) baby bottles due to the toxic effects of the PC monomer bisphenol-A. Therefore, baby bottles made of alternative materials, e.g. polypropylene (PP) or polyethersulphone (PES), are currently marketed. The principal aim of the study was the identification of major compounds migrating from baby bottles using a liquid-liquid extraction followed by GC/MS analysis. A 50% EtOH in water solution was selected as a simulant for milk. After sterilisation of the bottle, three migration experiments were performed during 2 h at 70°C. A non-targeted liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate-n-hexane (1:1) was performed on the simulant samples. Identification of migrants from 24 baby bottles was done using commercially available WILEY and NIST mass spectra libraries. Differences in the migrating compounds and their intensities were observed between the different types of plastics, but also between the same polymer from a different producer. Differences in the migration patterns were perceived as well between the sterilisation and the migrations and within the different migrations. Silicone, Tritan™ and PP exhibited a wide variety of migrating compounds, whereas PES and polyamide (PA) showed a lower amount of migrants, though sometimes in relatively large concentrations (azacyclotridecan-2-one up to 250 µg kg⁻¹). Alkanes (especially in PP bottles), phthalates (dibutylphthalate in one PP bottle (±40 µg kg⁻¹) and one silicone bottle (±25 µg kg⁻¹); diisobutylphthalate in one PP (±10 µg kg⁻¹), silicone (up to ±80 µg kg⁻¹); and Tritan™ bottle (±30 µg kg⁻¹)), antioxidants (Irgafos 168, degradation products of Irganox 1010 and Irganox 1076), etc. were detected for PP, silicone and Tritan™ bottles. Although the concentrations were relatively low, some compounds not authorised by European Union Regulation No. 10/2011, such as 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol (10-100 µg kg⁻¹) or 2-butoxyethyl acetate (about 300 µg kg⁻¹) were detected. Migrating chemicals were identified as confirmed (using a standard) or as tentative (further confirmation required).

This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. a b s t r a c tThe increasing availability and use of sports supplements is of concern as highlighted by a number of studies reporting endocrine disruptor contamination in such products. The health food supplement market, including sport supplements, is growing across the Developed World. Therefore, the need to ensure the quality and safety of sport supplements for the consumer is essential. The development and validation of two reporter gene assays coupled with solid phase sample preparation enabling the detection of estrogenic and androgenic constituents in sport supplements is reported. Both assays were shown to be of high sensitivity with the estrogen and androgen reporter gene assays having an EC 50 of 0.01 ng mL −1 and 0.16 ng mL −1 respectively.The developed assays were applied in a survey of 63 sport supplements samples obtained across the Island of Ireland with an additional seven reference samples previously investigated using LC-MS/MS. Androgen and estrogen bio-activity was found in 71% of the investigated samples. Bio-activity profiling was further broken down into agonists, partial agonists and antagonists. Supplements (13) with the strongest estrogenic bio-activity were chosen for further investigation. LC-MS/MS analysis of these samples determined the presence of phytoestrogens in seven of them. Supplements (38) with androgen bio-activity were also selected for further investigation. Androgen agonist bio-activity was detected in 12 supplements, antagonistic bio-activity was detected in 16 and partial antagonistic bio-activity was detected in 10. A further group of supplements (7) did not present androgenic bio-activity when tested alone but enhanced the androgenic agonist bio-activity of dihydrotestosterone when combined.The developed assays offer advantages in detection of known, unknown and low-level mixtures of endocrine disruptors over existing analytical screening techniques. For the detection and identification of constituent hormonally active compounds the combination of biological and physio-chemical techniques is optimal.

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In order to determine the distribution and enable the elimination of quinalphos, a popular active pesticide compound used in the Mekong Delta, an experiment was set up in a rice-fish integration system in Can Tho City, Vietnam. Fish was stocked into the field when the rice was two-months old. Quinalphos was applied twice in doses of 42.5 g per 1000 m. Water, fish and sediment samples were collected at time intervals and analyzed by a Gas Chromatography Electron Capture Detector system. The results show that quinalphos residues in fish muscles were much higher than those of the water and the bioconcentration factor (logBCF) was above 2 for the fish. The half-life of first and second quinalphos applications were 12.2 and 11.1 days for sediment, 2.5 and 1.1 days for silver barb, 1.9 and 1.3 days for common carp, and 1.1 and 1.0 days for water, respectively.

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In Northern Benin, insecticides are used for cotton production. These insecticides can be easily transferred to water ponds close to cotton elds. To monitor insecticides levels in water, sediments and sh samples from water ponds, a GC-MS analytical method was developed to detect residues of endosulfan, DDT and its parent compounds, isomers of HCH, pyrethroids and chlorpyrifos. In addition, the in uence of storage conditions of water sample on pesticides determination performance has been studied. The limits of quanti cation were between 0.16 and 0.32 µg/L in water, 0.5 and 1 μg/kg in sediment and 1 and 2 μg/kg in sh. Twenty samples of water, twenty of sediments and forty of sh were taken in four different water reservoirs at ve different times. Alpha-endosulfan, lambda-cyhalothrin and permethrin were the identi ed in sediment while p,p'-DDE, α-and β-HCH, chlorpyrifos, lambda-cyhalothrin and permethrin were detected in sh. Only organochlorines were determined in water because of the lack of recovery of pyrethroids from water stored in glass. Concentrations of insecticide residues in sediment for all water ponds ranged from non-detected to 101 µg/kg and from non-detected to 36 µg/kg in sh. Preliminary risk assessment for consumers of the North of Benin showed that the Estimated Daily Intakes were lower than the Acceptable Daily Intake sand Acute Reference Doses for all consumers. However, as one sh can be contaminated by 5 pesticide residues at the same time, it is not possible to exclude a risk for the consumer due to his exposure to mixtures of pesticides.