Simultaneous Determinations of Methoxylated Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers and Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Dairy Products from China by GC-MS

Abstract

In this paper, the method of simultaneous determinations of methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in dairy products from China was investigated. PBDEs are widely used brominated flame retardant, which are increasingly reported in the environment. MeO-PBDEs are structural analogs to PBDEs, and reported as natural products and novel pollutants present in the environment. A new isotopic dilution GC-MS method was firstly developed to simultaneously determine fourteen PBDEs and eight MeO-PBDEs in dairy products (full cream milk powder, skim milk powder, pure milk and acidophilus milk) in this study. Solvent extraction, gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and silica gel column cleanup were used, some important steps and crucial parameters were modified and intensified compared with other literatures. Besides, the conditions of GC and MS were also optimized. The limits of quantitation values of 1-50, 4-20 μg kg^-1 in full cream milk powders, skim milk powders, pure milks and acidophilus milks were calculated for PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs. In addition, good repeatability and accuracy of the whole method were achieved. Moreover, Eighteen kinds of commercial full cream milk powder samples, sixteen skim milk powder samples, twenty pure milk samples and fifteen acidophilus milk samples were collected from local supermarket in Wuhan, Hubei province. These samples were analyzed to determine whether these samples were contaminated by PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs. The method was successfully applied to determine methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in these dairy products. Using the established methods, PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs were not detected in all samples.