Supervisors info:
Παντερή Ειρήνη, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Φαρμακευτικής, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
In recent years, ongoing research on parabens and their impact on human health has drawn the attention of the global scientific community to develop new techniques for sample preparation and analytical methods, to determine these compounds in biological samples. In this dissertation, seven parabens, methyl paraben, ethyl paraben, iso-propyl paraben, propyl paraben, iso-butyl paraben, butyl paraben and benzyl paraben, were studied. The aim of this study was the development of a simple and an effective analytical method for the simultaneous determination of the seven parabens with the technique of High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with a visible-ultraviolet (UV) detector. As a pre-treatment technique for human breast milk samples, Fabric Phase Sorptive Extraction (FPSE) was selected which contributed to the simultaneous extraction of all seven analytes. The analysis is based on the use of 50 μL of human breast milk sample which was processed according to the developed FPSE protocol. Next step is the condensation of the extract in nitrogen, reconstitution with 150 μL ACN / AMF solution 2.5 mM 40/60 v / v, intense shaking, filter filtration and finally injection into the analytical system. The analytes are chromatographically separated by reverse phase liquid chromatography in a Spherisorb®ODS-1 C18 analytical column with dimensions of 2.1x150 mm and particle size of 3 μm, with isocratic elution. The mobile phase consists of 34% acetonitrile and 66% aqueous solution of ammonium formate (AMF) with a concentration of 49 mM. containing 0.1% formic acid and pumped at a flow rate 0.25 mL min-1. A linear calibration curve was constructed from the analysis of mixed working standard solutions of the seven parabens and over the concentration range 20 to 500 ng mL-1.
