Persistent Organic Pollutants Determination in Endemic Plants of Amazonia by GC-MS/MS Technique

In the study here presented we report on the results of an analytical investigation about the level of contamination on three officinal plants of Amazonian rain forest due to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) like organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The analyzed plants - "balsamina" (Impatiens Balsamina), "mullaca" (Physalis Angulata) and "graviola" (Annona Muricata) - come from the Amazonian forest of the Peru where they grow spontaneously. The total determined POPs quantities are in the concentration range of ppb, varying from 0.349 and 0.614 micrograms/kg respectively for "mullaca" aîd "graviola", up to 2.328 micrograms/kg in the case of "balsamina". These concentration values are an indication of a plants contamination in trace due to the organochlorinated pesticides which come from an ubiquitary pollution and not from a direct use of these substances in the place of origin of the samples. Finally, concerning the PCBs determination, the analysis GC-MS/MS excludes their presence in all the three plants investigated: the concentration values are in this case lower than the detection limits of the method (0.003=0.013 micrograms/kg).