Traces of toxaphene components in Swedish breast milk analysed by capillary GC using ECD, electron impact and negative ion chemical ionization MS

Organochlorine compounds related to the insecticide Toxaphene were detected in two large, pooled samples of Swedish human milk collected from mothers living in Uppsala and Stockholm respectively. An analytical procedure was developed to isolate the traces of the polychlorinated terpenes of interest from the large quantity of interfering milk fat. The concentrations of this complex were difficult to estimate using ECD, but possible by negative ion chemical ionization MS. A polychlorinated terpene level of 0.1 mg/kg, on a milk fat basis, was found in the sample of breast milk collected from mothers living in Uppsala.