Megson David, Reiner Eric J, Jobst Karl J, Dorman Frank L, Robson Mathew, Focant Jean-François
University of Toronto, Department of Chemistry, Toronto, ON, Canada; School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK.
University of Toronto, Department of Chemistry, Toronto, ON, Canada; Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, Laboratory Services Branch, Toronto, ON, M9P3V6, Canada.
Anal Chim Acta. 2016 Oct 19;941:10-25. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2016.08.027. Epub 2016 Aug 21.
The field of environmental forensics emerged in the 1980s as a consequence of legislative frameworks enacted to enable parties, either states or individuals, to seek compensation with regard to contamination or injury due to damage to the environment. This legal environment requires stringent record keeping and defendable data therefore analysis can sometimes be confined to data to be obtained from certified laboratories using a standard accredited analytical method. Many of these methods were developed to target specific compounds for risk assessment purposes and not for environmental forensics applications such as source identification or age dating which often require larger data sets. The determination of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) for environmental forensic applications requires methods that are selective but also cover a wide range of target analytes which can be identified and quantified without bias. POPs are used in a wide variety of applications such as flame retardants, fire suppressants, heat transfer agents, surfactants and pesticides mainly because of their chemical inertness and stability. They also include compounds such as dioxins that can be unintentionally produced from industrial activities. POPs are persistent in the environment, bioaccumulative and/or toxic and therefore require analytical methods that are sensitive enough to meet the low detection limits needed for the protection of the environment and human health. A variety of techniques, procedures and instruments can be used which are well suited for different scenarios. Optimised methods are important to ensure that analytes are quantitatively extracted, matrix coextractables and interferences are removed and instruments are used most effectively and efficiently. This can require deviation from standard methods which can open the data up to further scrutiny in the courtroom. However, when argued effectively and strict QA/QC procedures are followed the development and optimization of methods based on investigation specific scenarios has the potential to generate better quality and more useful data.
环境法医鉴定领域兴起于20世纪80年代，这是由于立法框架的颁布，使得国家或个人等各方能够就因环境损害造成的污染或伤害寻求赔偿。这种法律环境要求严格的记录保存和可辩护的数据，因此分析有时可能仅限于使用标准认可的分析方法从认证实验室获取的数据。许多这些方法是为风险评估目的而针对特定化合物开发的，并非用于环境法医鉴定应用，如源识别或年代测定，而这些应用通常需要更大的数据集。用于环境法医鉴定应用的持久性有机污染物（POPs）的测定需要具有选择性但又能涵盖广泛目标分析物的方法，这些分析物能够无偏差地被识别和定量。POPs因其化学惰性和稳定性而被广泛应用于各种领域，如阻燃剂、灭火剂、传热剂、表面活性剂和杀虫剂。它们还包括二恶英等可由工业活动无意产生的化合物。POPs在环境中具有持久性、生物累积性和/或毒性，因此需要足够灵敏的分析方法来满足保护环境和人类健康所需的低检测限。可以使用多种技术、程序和仪器，它们适用于不同的场景。优化方法对于确保分析物被定量提取、去除基质共提取物和干扰物以及最有效和高效地使用仪器非常重要。这可能需要偏离标准方法，而这可能会使数据在法庭上受到进一步审查。然而，如果论证有效且遵循严格的质量保证/质量控制程序，基于调查特定场景开发和优化方法有可能产生质量更高、更有用的数据。
