Abstract

According to recent directives of the European Union (EU), limits of quantification (LOQ) for the determination of tributyltin (TBT) in surface waters should be ca. 60pg/L (ppq). This put very stringent requirements on analytical methodologies; definitely when they have to be applied in a routine environment. Stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE), followed by thermal desorption (TD) and capillary gas chromatography–triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS) can provide accurate and precise data at the 2ng/L level (ppt). For lower concentrations, matrix and reagent interferences together with contamination may provide too high TBT values. A two-dimensional heart-cut GC method was developed to fractionate TBT from interferences. The GC–GC–MS/MS method shows excellent linearity in the range 50pg/L–4ng/L, good repeatability (RSD<20% at 200pg/L), and a limit of detection of 11pg/L. The method performance is demonstrated with representative samples i.e. harbor water and waste water samples.

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