Abstract

A two-phase hollow-fiber (HF) liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) method followed by gas chromatography was developed for quantification of 8 major polybrominated diphenyl ethers at trace level in sewage sludge. In this method the porous polypropylene hollow fibers filled with a few microliters of organic solvent, were immersed in aqueous samples of wet sludge which were spiked with the PBDEs at ng/l level. Parameters such as salt concentration, stirring speed, extraction time and pH were optimized and the optimum extraction conditions were then applied to the determination of PBDEs in sewage sludge from Kallby sewage treatment plant in Lund. The optimized method allowed detection of 5.1 µg kg–1 and 0.43 µg kg–1 of BDE-47 and 183, respectively, in dried sludge. The findings were compatible with the results from recent research on PBDEs level in sewage sludge samples from Sweden. Although BDE-209 was expected to have the highest level, it was not detected. Limit of detection, photodegradation or/and biodegradation of BDE-209 during treatment or experiment are major reasons. Low organic solvent consumption, low sample volume requirement, high preconcentration factor, simplicity without using expensive instrument for extraction and excellent sample clean-up are some important factors that make this sample preparation technique very useful for determination of PBDEs in sludge.

Highlights

  • Of all the pollutants released into the environment every year, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are among the most dangerous chemical pollutants

  • A two-phase hollow-fiber (HF) liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) method followed by gas chromatography was developed for quantification of 8 major polybrominated diphenyl ethers at trace level in sewage sludge

  • Hollow fiber microporous membrane liquid-liquid extraction (HF-MMLLE) [15] known as Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers at Trace Levels in Sewage Sludge with Gas Chromatography-Electron Capture Detection liquid phase micro-extraction (LPME) is an alternative technique that can be used for extraction of contamination from different types of matrices

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Summary

Introduction

Of all the pollutants released into the environment every year, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are among the most dangerous chemical pollutants These are used as pesticides, used by industry, or generated unintentionally as by-products of industrial processes. They accumulate through the food chain in environmental and biota samples [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9] and pose a risk of causing adverse effect to human health and environment. Exponential increase of PBDEs in human [4] and biota samples as well as their adverse health effects on animals have raised concerns over potential health effects of PBDEs in humans and many studies have been conducted to determine these persistent pollutants in environmental samples such as sewage sludge and treatment plant effluents, which are major sources of contamination by PBDEs

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