Evaluation of extraction methods for the analysis of selected polybrominated diphenyl ethers and hexabromobiphenyl (BB-153) – Application to aqueous environmental samples

Abstract

The increasing evidence of the presence of organic pollutants in different aqueous matrices has led to the development of many analytical techniques. The isolation of these compounds from the aqueous matrices remains an integral component of these techniques. In this study, the performance of three different extraction methods, namely separatory funnel, magnetic stirring and solid-phase extraction methods commonly applied to organic pollutants in aqueous matrices was assessed. The extraction efficiencies of the target compounds BDE 28, 47, 100, 99, 154, 153 and 183 as well as BB 153 were evaluated using spiking experiments. More so, the performance of a modified clean-up technique was compared with the conventional glass column chromatographic technique. The results from these studies showed that the separatory funnel extraction technique gave the best recoveries. The percent recoveries of these compounds ranged from 72 to 89%, 65 to 84% and 26 to 122% for the separatory funnel, magnetic stirring and solid-phase techniques, respectively. The modified clean-up technique, which requires the use of fewer quantities of the adsorbent material and eluting solvent, gave comparable results with the conventional column technique. The combination of the best extraction method and the modified clean-up techniques was applied to different aqueous matrices, including river water, wastewater treatment effluent and landfill leachate samples.