Simultaneous determination of bisphenol A and its halogenated analogues in soil by fluorescence polarization assay

Purpose

Extensive use of bisphenol A (BPA) and its analogues has caused increasing concern over the potential adverse health impacts of these chemicals. The aim of this study was to develop a fluorescence polarization (FP) assay to detect bisphenol A, bisphenol AF (BPAF), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), and tetrachlorobisphenol A (TCBPA) simultaneously.

Materials and methods

A recombinant peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α ligand binding domain (mPPARα-LBD*) was chosen as recognition element in developed FP procedure. The environmental soil samples were assayed for (1) analytical parameters, (2) matrix effect, (3) recovery experiment, and (4) HPLC validation. For statistical analysis, GraphPad Prism 5 software was used.

Results and discussion

Under the optimized conditions, this assay had an IC₅₀ of 2.80, 6.84, 4.67, and 4.66 μg g^?1 for BPA, BPAF, TBBPA, and TCBPA, respectively. The developed assay demonstrated the limits of detection (LODs) of 0.35, 0.21, 0.27, and 1.03 μg g^?1 for these four compounds, which could meet the requirement of environmental monitoring. For spiked soil samples, mean recoveries of the analytes ranged from 85.3 to 101.1%, yielding coefficient of variations (CVs) ranged from 9.8 to 17.5%.

Conclusions

In this study, a broad-specificity receptor protein for BPA, BPAF, TBBPA, and TCBPA was produced and was used to develop an FP assay in soil samples. The efficiency and simplicity of the proposed assay define its possible application as a screening tool for environmental monitoring.