Analysis of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins and Dibenzo-furans in Sanitary Products of Women

To dissolve and develop the analytical methods for native polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) in sanitary products, we collected sanitary napkins from Korea (K1, K2, K3), Japan (J1, J2, J3), USA (U1, U2, U3), Germany (G1, G2) and China (C1, C2), and tampons from Korea (TK), Japan (TJ1, TJ2) and USA (TU1, TU2, TU3). PCDDs and PCDFs in sanitary products were determined by HRGC/HRMS. Experimental methods consisted of comparison of extracting solvents toluene and a mixture of hexane/dichloromethane (1/1), and analysis of PCDD/Fs in sanitary products. In extracting solvent experiments with K1 and K2, octachlorinated dioxin (OCDD), hexachlorodibenzofuran (HxCDF) and octa-chlorodibenzofuran (OCDF) were detected. The recoveries of sampling standard and clean-up standard in extract of hexane/dichloromethane (1/1) were higher than extract of toluene. From the results of analysis of PCDD/Fs in sanitary napkins, no noxious materials were detected in one from Korea (K3) and three from USA (U1, U2, U3) among the tested samples with our test method. OCDD, 1,2,3,4,7,8-HxCDF and 1,2,3,6,7,8-HxCDF were detected in all the kinds of tampon tested. The concentrations of PCDD/Fs in tampon samples were similar to that in sanitary napkins.