Determination of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers(PBDEs) in Soil using Gas Chromatography/Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry

An analytical method of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in soil samples by isotope dilution method using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS)-selected ion monitoring (SIM) was described. PBDEs in soil were extracted with soxhlet extractor and then silica and florisil solid phase extraction (SPE) methods as purification of extract were compared. After clean-up, the extractions were analyzed by GC/MS with SIM mode. Quantitation was performed isotope dilution method using four isotopically labeled PBDEs as internal standards. This developed method was validated for eight congeners of PBDEs in the concentration range 0.04~4 ng/g in soil and the average recovery of the analytes ranged 30.8~110.8% for florisil and 44.4~110.7% for silica, respectively. The method detection limits of PBDEs were 0.04~0.3 ng/g.