Development of dioxin toxicity evaluation method in human milk by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay: assay validation for human milk

Abstract In this study, the development of a toxicity evaluation method for dioxins in human milk by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was reported. A total of 17 human milk samples were tested by ELISA and by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to assess whether the ELISA performed on samples obtained from primiparas could be considered as reliable enough for identifying a dioxins contamination in human milk. The concept of toxicity equivalent quantity (TEQ) screening was validated by comparing TEQ values for a set of human milk samples to the ELISA responses predicted for those samples. A fairly good correlation ( r =0.920) between immunoassay and GC/MS was achieved for human milk. This ELISA should be useful for biological samples monitoring.