title: A simple and fast method for the simultaneous determination of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in small volumes of human serum.
abstract: A fast extraction and clean-up method for the simultaneous determination of PCBs and PBDEs has been developed. The procedure consisted of a solid-phase extraction (SPE) of the analytes on an Oasis HLB cartridge and the subsequent on-line fat elimination by directly dropping the eluate from the SPE cartridge onto a second cartridge containing layers of activated neutral silica gel and sulphuric acid modified silica gel. Detection limits using a gas chromatography coupled with an ion trap detector in the tandem mass spectrometry mode were from 0.03 to 0.3 pg/microL for PCBs and from 0.07 to 1.3 pg/microL for PBDEs. Repeatability (lower than 11%) and reproducibility (lower than 17%), expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD, n=4), were satisfactory. The feasibility of the method developed for the determination of the target compounds was evaluated by participation in several rounds of interlaboratory exercises involving human serum with a wide range of PBDE and PCB concentrations. The method has been applied to the evaluation of PBDEs and PCBs in human serum samples of up to 1 mL.
authors.affiliation: Instrumental Analysis and Environmental Chemistry Department, Organic Chemistry Institute, CSIC, Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gómara
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: González
mesh_terms: D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000379:methods; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D010647:Phenyl Ethers / Q000097:blood*; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls / Q000097:blood*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000097:blood*; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction / Q000379:methods; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D010647:Phenyl Ethers; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls