Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) include many different and diverse classes of chemicals including dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diethyl ethers (PBDEs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), endrin, DDT and others. Research shows that POPs are extremely toxic to humans and wildlife even at very low concentrations. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) & hormones enter our water supplies through human excretion, domestic and industrial disposal into wastewater treatment plants, agricultural runoff and animal feed lot operations. One of the negatives effects that active hormones found on excrement can have on both humans and wildlife is endocrine disruption, which may occur at extremely low ng/L levels. PPCPs are quite resilient and are difficult to remove through conventional water treatment processes, resulting in persistence in the environment and potential accumulation over time. Agilent offers complete solutions including online and offline solid phase extraction techniques, and LC-MS and GC-MS systems to analyze PPCPs, hormones and POPs at required sensitivity and accuracy levels in the environment.
