Analysis of nine polybrominated diphenyl ethers in water samples by means of stir bar sorptive extraction-thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

An optimised method using stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) for the determination of nine bromodiphenil ether (Lake Michigan mix) from water samples was developed. Recoveries near to 100% were found by using 20 mm x 0.5 rum (length x film thickness) PDMS commercial stir bars with 100 mL spiked water samples and 20% methanol addition and an extraction period of 25 h. Method sensitivity, linearity, repeatability and reproducibility have been also studied. Detection limits between 0.4 and 9.4 ng/L were calculated for the combination of SBSE and thermal desorption-GC-MS. The procedure was applied a real sample, a surface water contaminated by the effluents, and the results were compared with a classical liquid-liquid extraction method. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.