Development of analytical methodology for determination of emerging contaminants in enviroment and food

Abstract

In recent years, fate, occurrence and potential adverse effect of emerging contaminants (ECs) in the environment have received an increased attention by scientific community. The ECs are a broad category of chemicals, mainly organic compounds, that are not currently covered by existing regulations but they may be candidates for future regulation, as they may be potential threats to human health and environmental safety. The ECs are mainly substances of anthropogenic origin, introduced continuously into the environment in large quantities and distributed ubiquitously in the ecosystem, due to their wide consumption. Recent studies have indicated that most of them are environmentally persistent, bioactive, and certain have a high potential for bioaccumulation. In literature data are still too few regarding their toxicity, distribution and fate and consequently, it is not still possible to assess their real impact on the environment and on human health. For these reasons it is important to design analytical procedures for monitoring specific environmental compartments and to provide the basis for drawing conclusions about the occurrence, the persistence and hazard of ECs in the environment. Currently, the main objectives of the research and monitoring of ECs are the development of accurate and sensitive analytical methods able to simultaneously analyze multiple chemical classes of ECs in different environmental compartments with different complexity. In line with these requirements, in this PhD project, three multi-residue methods were developed for the determination of three different classes of ECs in different and complex environmental matrices... [edited by Author]