Analysis of estrogens in environmental matrices

Since the increase in interest in the presence of estrogens in the environment, several publications have been published. This article aims first to review the state-of-the-art analytical methods used to measure these compounds in environmental matrices, and second to scrutinize how these methods and their performances were validated. Our review will cover the methodologies used for quantification of total estrogens (i.e. free and conjugated estrogens) and verification of sample stability. The fundamental point for a good method validation is the use of a real matrix to estimate linearity, precision (including repeatability and reproducibility), specificity and, especially, sensitivity and recovery.