With concern growing over the risk of potential adverse health effects due to exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), a need exists for a quick, easy, and cost-effective screening method to monitor environmental matrixes for EDC concentration. On July 8-9, 2010, at AOAC Headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, the AOAC Stakeholder Panel on Endocrine Disruptors (SPED), chaired by Nancy Thiex of South Dakota State University, tackled their most critical analytical issues and reached consensus on standard method performance requirements (SMPRs)--against which available methods can be evaluated—for estrone (E1) in freshwater.

In support of a contract signed on March 8, 2010 with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), AOAC brought together about 20 key stakeholders and experts from academia, government, and industry to resolve analytical issues surrounding testing for EDCs. Sources of EDCs, such as wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), landfill leachates, surface waters, and sediments, are complex matrixes. GC/MS and LC/MS techniques are available for testing for EDCs but are time and resource intensive.

However, ELISA methods may meet EPA’s need for quick analytical solutions that are reliable and accurate in environmental matrixes. A previous ELISA round-robin study performed by EPA showed promising preliminary results, prompting EPA to continue the initiative—this time with AOAC guidance—to assess available methods (in addition to ELISAs) to determine whether they meet proposed SMPRs developed by SPED.

Panel members agreed that a need exists for quantitative screening methods for E1 in freshwater. Stakeholders recommended estrone as the target analyte representing EDCs because of its probability of occurrence. Methods should be able to be performed by minimally trained personnel. No specific technology was recommended as any technique can be used as long as it meets minimum SMPRs. Although stakeholders determined that 2 days for maximum analysis time was reasonable, they agreed that this is not a major factor in deciding which method to use.

Once finalized, AOAC will post the proposed SMPRs for a 30-day public comment period (visit www.aoac.org Postings). In addition, AOAC will begin developing a validation study protocol/design based on the proposed SMPRs. A final report will be submitted to EPA by September 29, 2010.

Once the SMPRs are developed, AOAC invites method developers to submit methods—which must meet minimum SMPRs--for validation. Methods proven to be reliable will provide significant savings in time and resources compared to traditional GC/MS and LC/MS methods. It is hoped that the initiative can be extended to include additional EDCs.

For more information, contact Deborah McKenzie, senior director of methods development and approval processes, at dmckenzie@aoac.org or Scott Coates, chief scientific officer, at scoates@aoac.org. Full coverage is scheduled for the July/August issue of Inside Laboratory Management.

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