PhD abstract

For some thirty years, endocrine disruption has become a central concern at the political, regulatory, societal and scientific levels. This is due to the fact that, in the field of the environment, endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), and among them, natural steroid hormones and related compounds (analogous pharmaceuticals), can exert harmful effects at concentrations below the ng.L-1 and pose a serious threat to biodiversity. In the field of human health, these compounds are widely used for the diagnosis and treatment monitoring of various diseases and disorders. The aim of this thesis was notably to ensure, in both fields, the reliable quantification of endocrine disruptors and/or biomarkers to support effective decision-making at relevant concentration levels. First, 23 steroid hormones and related compounds were selected following an extensive bibliographical work that highlighted their common interest in both fields. Then, multiresidue quantification methods by LC-MS/MS were developed in whole continental waters and human serum. Limits of quantification in the ng.L-1 and the ng.mL-1 range were respectively obtained in the field of the environment and the field of human health. Measurement uncertainty was also assessed, enhancing the degree of confidence in measurement results. Implementing the methods allowed the characterisation of many target compounds in surface waters with some of them very few documented in France and Europe. Also, traceability of measurement results to the SI was established. Present work represents a significant step towards the development of multiresidue reference methods and future certification of reference materials, which are actually limited or missing.

Key words

Health, Environment, Steroid hormone, Whole water, Human serum, Ultra-trace level, Multiresidue method, Liquid Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry, Quality of data, Metrology