Dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls are lipophilic persistent organic pollutants whichaccumulate in the fat tissue of animals. Moreover, in mammals, these contaminants aresecreted into milk during lactation periods. The contamination level of milk is closely relatedto the animal dl-PCBs exposure through diet, inhalation and dermal contact. The study ofthe relationship between the environment in which the animals live and the milk contaminationlevel is a key component in assessing the presence of pollutants in dairy products.In this paper, soil was selected as a reliable matrix of environmental pollution with dl-PCBs as it reflects as well the possible contamination of vegetation and air in the areaswhere sheep graze and live. However, dl-PCBs analysis could be problematic due to thehigh cost. To overcome this problem, the approach of this study was focused on using GISand geostatistics to integrate data from different research institutions, aiming to assess therelationship between milk and soil contaminated with dl-PCBs. Therefore, samples of soiland sheep milk collected in Campania (Italy) during 2008 monitoring plans were introducedin a GIS. The relationship between the two variables showed heteroscedasticity, andthe global regression technique OLS indicated a R2 of 0.24. To improve the OLS results, thealtitude was integrated in the GIS considering that this variable can influence PCBs contamination.The results showed that altitude is strongly related with soil contaminationbut was not strongly related with milk contamination. Thus, analyzing the relationshipbetween milk and soil contamination dividing data in three different groups of altituderanges, the R2 values were higher. Furthermore, this correlation changes with the altitude,becoming weaker with higher altitude. These results show the possibility to use sheep milkas indicator of PCBs contamination at least from sheep bred under 300m of altitude.[...]
Sheep milk as a potential indicator of environmental exposure to dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs)
PERUGINI, MONIA;AMORENA, Michele
2012-01-01
Abstract
Dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls are lipophilic persistent organic pollutants whichaccumulate in the fat tissue of animals. Moreover, in mammals, these contaminants aresecreted into milk during lactation periods. The contamination level of milk is closely relatedto the animal dl-PCBs exposure through diet, inhalation and dermal contact. The study ofthe relationship between the environment in which the animals live and the milk contaminationlevel is a key component in assessing the presence of pollutants in dairy products.In this paper, soil was selected as a reliable matrix of environmental pollution with dl-PCBs as it reflects as well the possible contamination of vegetation and air in the areaswhere sheep graze and live. However, dl-PCBs analysis could be problematic due to thehigh cost. To overcome this problem, the approach of this study was focused on using GISand geostatistics to integrate data from different research institutions, aiming to assess therelationship between milk and soil contaminated with dl-PCBs. Therefore, samples of soiland sheep milk collected in Campania (Italy) during 2008 monitoring plans were introducedin a GIS. The relationship between the two variables showed heteroscedasticity, andthe global regression technique OLS indicated a R2 of 0.24. To improve the OLS results, thealtitude was integrated in the GIS considering that this variable can influence PCBs contamination.The results showed that altitude is strongly related with soil contaminationbut was not strongly related with milk contamination. Thus, analyzing the relationshipbetween milk and soil contamination dividing data in three different groups of altituderanges, the R2 values were higher. Furthermore, this correlation changes with the altitude,becoming weaker with higher altitude. These results show the possibility to use sheep milkas indicator of PCBs contamination at least from sheep bred under 300m of altitude.[...]I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
