Determination of organotins in aquatic plants by headspace SPME followed by GC-PFPD determination

Optimal conditions of headspace solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography coupled to pulsed flame photometric detection (SPME–GC–PFPD) have been investigated to validate the analysis of 11 organotin compounds in plant matrices including methyl-, butyl-, and phenyltin compounds. The extraction of organotin compounds from vegetal matrices has been carried out using optimized conditions of HCl-based extraction. The use of headspace SPME to preconcentrate the analytes allowed most of the detection limits to be obtained sub-0.5?ng(Sn)?g^?1. The precision evaluated using RSD with six replicates ranges between 5 and 10% (except for triphenyltin: 17%). The accuracy of the method was validated on spiked or polluted vegetal samples taken from Bizerte Lagoon (Tunisia) and by comparison with classical liquid–liquid extraction (LLE). These results highlight the suitability of the selected method for organotin control in complex environmental matrices such as aquatic plants.