Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

5-2013

School/College

College of Science, Engineering, and Technology (COSET)

Degree Name

MS in Environmental Toxicology

First Advisor

Professor Yakubu Momoh,

Abstract

This research was conducted for the purpose of identifying some persistent environmental compounds which could be found in humans with a target audience at the young adults within the Houston area. To achieve this, urine samples were collected from twenty one young adults. The samples were analyzed for concentration and quantification if any, of these compounds. Persistent organic compounds have been observed to be toxic in the environment and are sometimes resistant to environmental degradation. These compounds are ubiquitous due to their production in a wide range of products such as pesticides, solvents and pharmaceuticals. Persistent organic compounds are known to cause chronic toxic effects in humans such as reproductive toxicity, endocrine disruptors, neurotoxicity, and carcinogenesis. Some of the analyzed compounds include pesticides. These pesticides can be found in the air we breathe, food we eat, and water we drink. In this study, the pesticides analyzed include: aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, endosulfan, and DDT. This process was analyzed using the High Performance Liquid Chrornatogphy (HPLC). Another analysis was performed for the determination of 1 2 the presence of Bisphenol A (BPA) which is a potent endocrine receptor and this was carried out using the HPLC. Heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, AI, Ni, Pb) were analyzed using the Inductive Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS). The results in this study shows the presence of some of these compounds as noticed in some observable peaks in the instrumental analysis. For pesticide analysis, aldrin ranged in concentration value from O.85ppm to 296ppm, endoulfan 1 ranged from O.37ppm to 120ppm, endrin ranged from 0 to 67.1 ppm, dieldrin ranged from 0 to 630ppm and DDT ranged from 0 to 4.9ppm. For BPA analysis, BPA ranged in concentration value from Oppb to 102Appb in all samples. For metal analysis, Cr ranged in concentration value from Ong/L to 1A15ug/L, Ni ranged from 257 to 422ng/L, As ranged from 0 to 624ng/L, Cd ranged frorriLvng/L to 1.995ug/L, Al ranged from 107ng/L to 243.5ng/L, and pb ranged from 257ng/L to 384.1 ng/L. In conclusion, some of these toxic compounds in the young adults were within the range of acceptable limits while others were not.

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