New perspective on the determination of flame retardants in sewage sludge by using ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry with different ion sources

Analysis of 11 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), tetrabromobisphenol A bis 2,3-dibromopropylether (TBBPA-bis), tetrachlorobisphenol A (TCBPA), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) was optimized by ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS) operating in negative ion (NI) mode. Electrospray ionization (ESI), atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) sources were tested and for PBDEs APCI gave higher sensitivity than APPI while for TBBPA-bis APCI and APPI showed similar performance. ESI was the best option for TCBPA, TBBPA and HBCDs. Detection limits were between 20 and 59 fg for the compounds analyzed by ESI, 0.10 and 0.72 pg for PBDEs and 6 pg for TBBPA-bis. The matrix effect of sewage sludge extract was also tested showing negligible ion suppression for APCI and an increase of the background level of all investigated pollutants leading to a worsening of the limits of quantification by a factor between 1.2 and 3.3. The UPLC-APCI/MS/MS method for PBDEs, after pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), was validated by comparison with the concentration values from the NIST 1944 standard reference material. The advantages of the methods include low detection limits, PBDE congeners specificity using selected multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) transitions, and the absence of thermal degradation of higher PBDE congeners, especially BDE-209. The methods were applied for the determination of the above reported flame retardants in sewage sludge in order to get more information about the degradation on PBDEs (in particular BDE-209) during municipal wastewater treatments.     

Simultaneous determination of hexabromocyclododecanes and tris (2,3-dibromopropyl) isocyanurate using LC-APCI-MS/MS

Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) and tris (2,3-dibromopropyl) isocyanurate (TBC) are both brominated flame retardants, and have been used throughout the world with subsequent concern for potential environment pollution. Here we describe the development of a method for the simultaneous determination of TBC and HBCD diastereoisomers in environmental matrices by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The method recovery ranged from 81% to 93% and limits of detections (LODs) on column were 4.3 pg, 0.5 pg, 0.4 pg, 0.3 pg for TBC, α-HBCD, β-HBCD, and γ-HBCD, respectively, which showed high sensitivity compared to previous published methods. Compared to electrospray ionization (ESI), atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) was found to be a more sensitive, effective ionization mode for determination of HBCDs. This novel method was further validated by analyzing TBC and HBCDs in biotic and abiotic samples. The concentration ranges of TBC, α, β, γ-HBCD in sediment samples were 136.1-5884.6 ng/g, 9.0-1079.6 ng/g, 1.0-1161.7 ng/g, and 65.4-3964.2 ng/g, respectively. The concentration range for TBC, α-HBCD, β-HBCD, and γ-HBCD in common carp samples were 51.1-1899 ng/g, 21.6-1338 ng/g, <LOD-10.9 ng/g, and 1.4-101 ng/g, respectively.     

六溴环十二烷异构体在鮰鱼体内的浓度分布与生物累积特征

研究了鮰鱼体内六溴环十二烷(HBCDs)异构体的浓度分布与生物累积特征。首先采用基质固相分散(MSPD)法,同位素稀释定量,高效液相色谱-电喷雾串联质谱(HPLC-ESI-MS/MS)检测技术,建立了渔业饲料和鱼体中α-HBCD、β-HBCD和γ-HBCD的分析方法。该法对α-HBCD、β-HBCD、γ-HBCD的回收率分别为80.7%~110.5%、80.1%~109.0%、86.9%~104.5%,其检出限分别为0.002、0.002、0.001 ng/g。采用所建立的方法对25个渔业饲料样品和30个鱼样品进行分析,三种异构体在渔业饲料中的检出率均为16%,在鱼产品中的检出率分别为10%、6.67%和10%。鱼中HBCDs含量与渔业饲料中HBCDs含量的比值(生物累积因子)的结果为:α-HBCD,0.78;β-HBCD,0.45;γ-HBCD,1.08。对HBCDs在配对的渔业饲料与鱼中的相关关系进行了研究。     

母乳中多种含卤持久性有机污染物的联合检测方法

建立了母乳中多种含卤持久性有机污染物(POPs)的联合检测方法,目标化合物主要包括六溴环十二烷(HBCDs)、多溴联苯醚(PBDEs)、多氯联苯(PCBs)和有机氯农药(OCPs)等.样品的前处理采用液液萃取、凝胶渗透色谱(GPC)净化和固相萃取(SPE)等技术,目标化合物经气相色谱-质谱联用仪(GC-MS)、液相色谱-三重四极杆串联质谱联用仪(LC-MS/MS)和气相色谱-三重四极杆串联质谱联用仪(GC-MS/MS)等进行检测.样品通过GPC除去脂肪,然后经SPE柱进一步净化并进行多组分分离,极大程度地减小了生物样品中复杂基质的干扰,适合样品量相对较小的人体样本中多种超痕量POPs的分析.应用灵敏度高、选择性更好的GC-MS/MS对样品中的PCBs和OCPs等进行分析,进一步降低基质的干扰.方法经过小牛血清加标实验验证,稳定可靠.POPs的加标回收率分别为88.7％～98.8％(PBDEs), 88.5％～92.5％(HBCDs), 67.9％～82.3％(PCBs)和81.7％～116.1％(OCPs),方法检出限分别为0.13～1.8 pg/mL(PBDEs), 0.31～1.2 pg/mL(HBCDs), 0.22～1.4 pg/mL(PCBs)和0.20～1.5 pg/mL(OCPs).采用本方法对潍坊地区20例母乳样品进行分析,结果显示,潍坊市母乳中HBCDs, PBDEs, PCBs、HCHs和DDTs的中值浓度分别为2.86, 7.76, 8.84、140和503 ng/g 脂重,此浓度水平与国内其它地区人群相当.     

Determination of hexabromocyclododecane diastereoisomers in Sargassum fusiforme and comparison of the extraction efficiency of ultrasonication, microwave-assisted extraction, Soxhlet extraction and pressurised liquid extraction

The concentrations of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCD) in Sargassum fusiforme, the common Chinese edible seaweed, were investigated by LC‐MS/MS. For the recovery of HBCD, the efficiency levels of ultrasonic‐assisted extraction, microwave‐assisted extraction, Soxhlet extraction and pressurised liquid extraction were compared under different conditions. Pressurised liquid extraction and ultrasonic‐assisted extraction resulted in complete extraction of HBCD (92.7–102.5% recovery). Microwave‐assisted extraction and Soxhlet extraction, on the other hand, offered relatively low extraction recoveries (82.1–90.6%). The instrumental LODs on columns in this study were 1.0, 0.3 and 0.7 ng/g for α‐HBCD, β‐HBCD and γ‐HBCD, respectively. Because of its accuracy, this straightforward method is particularly suitable for routine HBCD analysis.