Gas chromatography-ion trap tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of polybrominated biphenyl ethers in air

A gas chromatography-ion trap tandem mass spectrometric(GC-ITMS) method was developed for the determination of 8 primary polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in air. ITMS/MS parameters were optimized to achieve the best sensitivity and selectivity. A 15-m GC column, tandem mass spectrometry with selected reaction monitoring along with the internal standard method were used to analyze from tri-to hepta-BDEs and deca-BDE, The detection limits of PBDEs were 0. 04-0. 23 pg and 9. 38 pg. The cleaned blank PUF samples were spiked with surrogates before using Soxhlet extraction and silica column chromatographic cleanup. The average recoveries of 6 spiked PUF samples were 79. 1%-101. 2%, relative standard deviation was 4. 3% (14. 3%). The method detection limits ranged from 6. 0-211. 6 pg/m⁹ for the PBDEs in the air. Results show that GC-ITMS/MS method appeared to be suitable for the measurement of PBDEs in air under reliable quality assurance and quality control.