Presentation Type
Poster
Department
Chemistry
Description
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a chemical found in hard plastics. BPA is an endocrine disruptor as it binds to estrogen receptors. This is linked to negative health effects such as cardiovascular disease and developmental issues. Infants and young children are more at risk of these effects because their endocrine systems are not fully developed. For this project, toothbrushes were investigated to determine if they contained BPA. BPA is a fluorescent compound with an excitation wavelength of 278 nm and an emission wavelength of 304 nm, so an FS-5 spectrofluorometer from Edinburgh Instruments was used to determine the presence of BPA in each sample.
Each toothbrush was placed in 100 mL of a 1:1 methanol:water solution at room temperature. A 5-mL aliquot of the solution was taken at time intervals ranging from 5 minutes to 1 week after the toothbrush was placed in the solution. Each sample was run in the spectrofluorometer in duplicate, where the emission and excitation intensities were reviewed and recorded. These values were compared to a BPA calibration curve in order to determine the concentration of BPA leached into the solution from the toothbrushes.
After determining which toothbrushes had traces of BPA, a similar method was utilized to investigate where the bulk of the BPA was located within the toothbrush. The bristles were removed from the BPA-containing toothbrushes. The bristles and the head of each toothbrush were then placed separately into 100-mL solutions of 1:1 methanol:water and analyzed following the protocol described above.
Included in
Investigating the Presence of BPA in Infant Oral Hygiene Products Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a chemical found in hard plastics. BPA is an endocrine disruptor as it binds to estrogen receptors. This is linked to negative health effects such as cardiovascular disease and developmental issues. Infants and young children are more at risk of these effects because their endocrine systems are not fully developed. For this project, toothbrushes were investigated to determine if they contained BPA. BPA is a fluorescent compound with an excitation wavelength of 278 nm and an emission wavelength of 304 nm, so an FS-5 spectrofluorometer from Edinburgh Instruments was used to determine the presence of BPA in each sample.
Each toothbrush was placed in 100 mL of a 1:1 methanol:water solution at room temperature. A 5-mL aliquot of the solution was taken at time intervals ranging from 5 minutes to 1 week after the toothbrush was placed in the solution. Each sample was run in the spectrofluorometer in duplicate, where the emission and excitation intensities were reviewed and recorded. These values were compared to a BPA calibration curve in order to determine the concentration of BPA leached into the solution from the toothbrushes.
After determining which toothbrushes had traces of BPA, a similar method was utilized to investigate where the bulk of the BPA was located within the toothbrush. The bristles were removed from the BPA-containing toothbrushes. The bristles and the head of each toothbrush were then placed separately into 100-mL solutions of 1:1 methanol:water and analyzed following the protocol described above.