Determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in soil from e-waste recycling site

Soil samples collected from an electronic waste recycling site were prepared by using Soxhlet extraction and multiple-step column chromatographic clean-up. Gas chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry method was developed to determine polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the sample extracts. The method performance was evaluated by the recovery of 13C-labeled internal standards and by analyzing quality assurance and quality control samples. Relative error and relative standard deviation obtained from the analysis of duplicated samples and spiked matrix were better than 10%. PBDEs were detected in the field soil samples collected from an e-wastes disposal site at levels from low parts-per-billions to 600 parts-per-billions.