Determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in house dust using standard addition method and gas chromatography with electron capture and mass spectrometric detection

Monitoring of the environmental fate of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) involves determination of their concentration in air, airborne particles and settled dust. This requires the implementation of appropriate analytical tools like measuring instruments, reference materials and analytical procedures. In this study an analytical procedure was developed for determining PBDEs in samples with a complex matrix composition. The efficiencies of three different extraction techniques – Soxhlet extraction (SE), Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) and Ultrasound Assisted Extraction (UAE) – were compared. The study investigated the possibility of using the standard addition method for estimating PBDEs levels. The GC-μECD system was successfully applied as an alternative to low resolution mass spectrometry (LRMS) for determining BDE-209 in dust samples. The developed analytical procedure was then used to analyze dust samples, collected from houses and computer suites in the Tri-city area (Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot), in order to detect and quantify the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the indoor environment. Concentrations of studied congeners (from triBDE to heptaBDE), obtained by chromatographic analysis of dust samples extracts, performed applying two measurement systems (GC-EIMS and GC-μECD) ranged between 331 and 3102 ng g−1 for house dust and between <LOD and 870 ng g−1 for electronic dust. The highest concentrations were obtained for congeners with four, five and six bromine atoms (BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-100 and BDE-153). Concentrations of BDE-209 ranged from 384 ng g−1 (house dust) to 12,553 ng g−1 (electronic dust).