A Simplified Analytical Procedure for Simultaneous Determination of Alkylphenol Ethoxylates and Brominated Flame Retardants in Fish Tissue Samples from Vaal River, South Africa

Abstract

In this study, the concentration of alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) were determined in fish samples, Labeo umbratus and Carp, collected from the Vaal River in South Africa. Ultrasonic-assisted extraction technique was used to extract the organic contaminants from fish samples, and the resulting extract was purified by sulphuric acid lipid removal followed by Strata X-cartridge SPE clean-up. The APEs and BFRs were derivatized using heptafluorobutyric anhydride before analysis with GC-MS. In both types of fish samples, lower oligomers of APEs were more abundant than the higher oligomers, while HBCD, BDE99 and PBB101 were the dominant BFRs. The concentrations of these pollutants ranged from 1.061 ng/g lipids (t-BP) in Labeo umbratus to 11.860 ng/g lipids (HBCD) in Carp.

Critical review of the analysis of brominated flame retardants and their environmental levels in Africa

“…Non-destructive lipid removal was applied to eggshells, eggshell membranes and remaining albumin using Florisil ® as fat retainer (Daso et al, 2015). Destructive methods using concentrated sulphuric acid were used for the remove of fat from fish (Chokwe et al, 2015a(Chokwe et al, , 2015bDaso et al, 2015).…”

“…Typical column diameters employed included 0.25 mm diameter with film thickness ranging from 0.1 to 0.25 µm with non-polar stationary phases. Limited information on the behaviour and degradation of congeners with higher degree of bromination and BDE209 was provided; some studies discussed the problems associated with BDE209 analysis and the reasons for not analysing the congener (Chokwe et al, 2015a(Chokwe et al, , 2015bDaso et al, 2011;Odusanya et al, 2009). BDE209 response was evaluated using two columns with different lengths (15 and 30 m) with identical stationary phase and dimensions and a threefold increase in response was reported when using the shorter column (Kefeni et al, 2011).…”

“…Matrix matched CRMs are commercially available from different suppliers and used to assess precision and trueness of measurement methods, calibration, establishing traceability, and generally to assist in method validation (ISO GUIDE 33, 2015). Due to limited availability of CRMs for some of the investigated matrices, matrix matched QC samples were used (Chokwe et al, 2012(Chokwe et al, , 2015a(Chokwe et al, , 2015bDaso et al, 2013aDaso et al, , 2016Odusanya et al, 2009;Olukunle and Okonkwo, 2015;Olukunle et al, 2012Olukunle et al, , 2014. For the analysis of dust, a dust CRM was regularly used to assess apparent recoveries Okonkwo, 2013, 2014;Olukunle et al, 2015aOlukunle et al, , 2015b.…”

Determination of Cd, Mn and Ni accumulated in fruits, vegetables and soil in the Thohoyandou town area, South Africa

“…Soils and plants serve as sinks for atmospheric deposition of heavy metals from industrial emissions (Bermudez et al, 2010;Hao et al, 2009;Hernández-Martínez and Navarro-Blasco, 2012). The accumulation of cement dust in soils and on plants may be a result of wind and seepage waters (Taghipour et al, 2013;Li et al, 2015;Xu et al, 2014). Heavy metals that may be contained in cement dust include As, Cd, Pb, Hg, Tl, Al, Be, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Zn (Schuhmacher et al, 2002;Engelbrecht et al, 2013;Ogunbileje et al, 2013).…”