Determination of Halogenated Flame Retardants Using Gas Chromatography with Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization (APCI) and a High-Resolution Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (HRqTOFMS)

Abstract

A method to determine halogenated flame retardants was developed that utilizes gas chromatography with atmospheric chemical ionization (APCI) high-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HRqTOFMS). The new GC-APCI-HRqTOFMS method was used to determine the presence of 65 halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) in the United Sates National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) organic contaminants in house dust standard reference material (SRM). The accuracy of the measurements was compared to the certified NIST value for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and had an average accuracy for the 14 certified PBDEs of 109% with subpicogram detection limits (on column) from a single 1 μL injection with a run time of 18 min. SRM2585 extracts were also analyzed by GC electron ionization (EI) high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), and there was an excellent correlation between the two data sets (R value of 0.996). The presence of 25 additional HFRs were also screened in the dust standard, and 10 were detected in concentrations above the limits of detection; these were p-TBX, PBBZ, PBT, PBEB, TDCPP, HBBZ, EHTBB, TBBPA, BEHTBP, and BTBPE. The results presented show that the proposed APCI-HRqTOFMS method was comparable and in many cases an improvement on the existing EI-HRMS method.

Direct and indirect effects of different types of microplastics on freshwater prey (Corbicula fluminea) and their predator (Acipenser transmontanus)

“…The interface and ion source were held at 300°C and 150°C, respectively. A background ion present in the source region ( m/z 212.0750) was used as an internal mass calibrant [ 44 ]. Mass accuracy was <2 ppm at m/z 359.8145 (PCB 155).…”

Background levels of dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dlPCBs), polychlorinated, polybrominated and mixed halogenated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs, PBDD/Fs & PXDD/Fs) in sera of pregnant women in Accra, Ghana

“…The gold standard for measuring trace levels (femtogram) of POPs including PCDD/Fs has traditionally been with a gas chromatograph coupled to a double focusing magnetic deflection (sector)-high resolution mass spectrometer (GC-HRMS). However, gas chromatography with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization and tandem mass spectrometry (GC-APCI-MS/MS) has recently been used successfully to match the performance of the sector instrument for the analysis of PCBs, and PCDD/Fs (García-Bermejo et al, 2015;Geng et al, 2016;Megson et al, 2016;Organtini et al, 2015a;Organtini et al, 2015b;Stubleski et al, 2018;van Bavel et al, 2015). Sample analyses was performed using GC-APCI-MS/MS.…”

Recent applications of gas chromatography with high‐resolution mass spectrometry

“…However, this is the first reported use of a middle‐resolution TOF for dioxin analysis . Very low LODs for PBDEs ranging from 0.062 to 1.4 pg/μL using GC–EI‐QTOF and GC–HRTOF equipped with APCI were reported .…”