Assessing how persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including brominated flame retardants (BFRs), affect the environment requires a sensitive, selective and specific technique, such as liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are a class of industrial chemicals used to reduce flammability in building materials, household goods and textiles. These chemicals are persistent at low concentrations in a variety of environmental matrices, including air, rain, river water, fishes, animals and humans.1-4 Several studies have found that BFRs may have important negative health ramifications.5,6 Epidemiological studies have found that polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) have caused disturbances in thyroid hormone homeostasis and chronic neurotoxicity.6,7
Due to their ubiquity, especially indoors, dust and biological material have become a repository for PBDEs and HBCDs. This evidence has led to Annex XIV of the European Union’s REACH legislation and to the ban on penta- and octa-brominated diphenyl ether formulations in the state of California.
In the past, gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to analyze BFRs, including PBDEs and HBCDs, in environmental samples. However, this technique is only partially successful as higher temperatures cause thermal degradation of the more heavily brominated PBDE congeners and interconversion of HBCDs.
The LC-MS/MS difference
LC-MS/MS is increasingly used for the determination of PBDEs and HBCDs because of its ability to monitor many industrial chemical pollutants in the environment. LC-MS/MS is ideal for BFR analysis because it has:
- The flexibility to analyze for many different chemical classes of interest
- The robustness to handle samples ranging from water to soil, plants, textiles and more
- The sensitivity to quantify very low levels of these priority industrial chemical pollutants
- Öberg, K.; Warman, K.; Öberg, T. Distribution and levels of brominated flame retardants in sewage sludge. Chemosphere 2002, 48(8), 805–809. doi: 10.1016/s0045-6535(02)00113-3
- Watanabe, I.; Kashimoto, T.; Tatsukawa, R. Polybrominated biphenyl ethers in marine fish, shellfish and river and marine sediments in Japan. Chemosphere 1987, 16(10-12), 2389–2396. doi: 10.1016/0045-6535(87)90297-9
- Meironyte, D.; Noren, K.; Bergman, A. Analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in Swedish human milk. A time-related trend study, 1972-1997. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A 1999, 58(6), 329–341. doi: 10.1080/009841099157197
- Wit, C. A. An overview of brominated flame retardants in the environment. Chemosphere 2002, 46(5), 583–624. doi: 10.1016/s0045-6535(01)00225-9
- Lyche, J. L.; Rosseland, C.; Berge, G.; Polder, A. Human health risk associated with brominated flame-retardants (BFRs). Environment international 2015, 74, 170–180. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2014.09.006
- Kim, Y. R.; Harden, F. A.; Toms, L. L.; Norman, R. E. Health consequences of exposure to brominated flame retardants: A systematic review. Chemosphere 2014, 106, 1–19. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.12.064
- Alaee, M.; Wenning, R. J. The significance of brominated flame retardants in the environment: Current understanding, issues and challenges. Chemosphere 2002, 46(5), 579–582. doi: 10.1016/s0045-6535(01)00224-7
Sensitivity gain for PBDE congeners when using nitrogen as GS1 and GS2 in comparison to air.
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