Quantitative Method for Determination of DDT and DDT Metabolites in Blood Serum

Abstract

Abstract A new method for the extraction and determination of DDT and related materials in blood has been developed. Rats were given a single oral dose of 14C-labeled DDT, and it was demonstrated by parallel gas chromatographic and radiometric measurements that in vivointroduced DDT and related materials could not be removed quantitatively from serum by simple hexane extraction. Pre-treatment of the serum with equal volumes of formic acid released the binding of DDT and DDT metabolites and permitted the extraction of these materials with n-hexane, yielding 95% recovery. When applied to sera of men from the general population and of men who had been exposed to DDT for more than 10 years in a manufacturing plant, this method gave consistently higher results than did the simple hexane extraction method.