Development of a low-density-solvent dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry method for the quantitation of tetrabromobisphenol-A from dust.
The development of an alternative dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction protocol utilizing a low-density extraction solvent, toluene, is described here for the extraction of the brominated flame retardant, tetrabromobisphenol-A, from dust prior to selected ion monitoring analysis by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. Method parameters of dispersive solvent type and extraction solvent type were optimized. Excellent recovery (88.9%; n = 5 spike replicates) with good precision was achieved in a spike and recovery study. This developed method was utilized to survey tetrabromobisphenol-A concentrations in dust sampled from a local electronics recycling facility from the ambient environment and 20 computer towers undergoing recycling. Concentrations of tetrabromobisphenol-A from dust in computer towers ranged from not detected (n = 2) up to 64 μg/g with a mean value of 11 μg/g and median of 4.1 μg/g tetrabromobisphenol-A. A composite sample of dust collected from the ambient indoor environment was analyzed with a resulting concentration of 36 μg/g. This is the first application of this novel green method for pre-concentrating flame retardants from dust and the first report of tetrabromobisphenol-A concentrations at a U.S.-based electronics recycling facility.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA.
Christopher A
CA
Barrett
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA.
David A
DA
Orban
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA.
Shannon E
SE
Seebeck
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA.
Luis E
LE
Lowe
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA.
Janel E
JE
Owens
Brominated flame retardants; Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction; Dust; Green chemistry; Tetrabromobisphenol-A