No abstract

Gas chromatography (GC) has been interfaced very simply and inexpensively with a flame photometric detector (FPD) and a direct current plasma (DCP) atomic emission spectrometer in order to perform highly specific and selective determinations of organotins in fish and shellfish samples. GC-FPD studies employed a fused-silica, megabore column with a thin, immobilized stationary phase of DB-17 (1 pm thickness), with a commercially available GC-FPD instrument. No prior alkylation or hydridization reactions were performed on the organotins; rather they were separated as the original, native species. Separate GC -FPD and GC-DCP injections and quantitative determinations have been performed, though simultaneous FPD/DCP detection on a single injection is suggested. This permitted routine qualitative and quantitative determinations of organotin species in complex food matrices (fish/shellfish) via both element selective detectors. Isothermal GC -FPD/DCP conditions permitted baseline resolution of all four tin species of interest today: monobutyl-, dibutyl-, tributyl-(TBT), and tetrabutyl-tin. Optimization of the GC-DCP interface was accomplished, followed by a determination of detection limits and linearity of the calibration plots, and a comparison of the results with those obtained by the newer GC-FPD approach (which was also developed here). In three sample instances, qualitative and quantitative