TITLE:
A Simplified Analytical Procedure for Simultaneous Determination of Alkylphenol Ethoxylates and Brominated Flame Retardants in Fish Tissue Samples from Vaal River, South Africa
AUTHORS:
Tlou B. Chokwe, Jonathan O. Okonkwo, Linda L. Sibali, Elmari Krȕger, Hein du Preez, Reveck Hariram, Esper J. Ncube
KEYWORDS:
Alkylphenol Ethoxylates, Brominated Flame Retardants, Fish Sample, Heptafluorobutyric Anhydride Derivatization, Vaal River, South Africa
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Analytical Chemistry,
Vol.6 No.5,
April
2,
2015
ABSTRACT: In this study, the concentration of alkylphenol
ethoxylates (APEs) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) were determined in
fish samples, Labeo umbratus and Carp, collected from the Vaal River in
South Africa. Ultrasonic-assisted extraction technique
was used to extract the organic contaminants from fish samples, and the resulting
extract was purified by sulphuric acid lipid removal followed by Strata
X-cartridge SPE clean-up. The APEs and BFRs were derivatized using heptafluorobutyric anhydride before analysis with GC-MS.
In both types of fish samples, lower oligomers of APEs were more abundant than
the higher oligomers, while HBCD, BDE99 and PBB101 were the dominant BFRs. The
concentrations of these pollutants ranged from 1.061 ng/g lipids (t-BP) in Labeo umbratus to 11.860 ng/g lipids (HBCD) in Carp.