An innovative approach for the simultaneous quantitative screening of organic plastic additives in complex matrices in marine coastal areas

Abstract

Aiming the simultaneous determination of widely used organic plastic additives in complex marine matrices, this work proposes a fast and "green" analytical protocol based on quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) technology. The validation of this innovative method on real matrices (i.e., sediments, mussel, fish, and Posidonia oceanica) indicated a general good performance in all of them for phthalate esters (PAEs), with low blank levels and average method recoveries varying from 54 ± 11 to 71 ± 12%. The best method performance for organophosphate ester (OPE) flame retardants and plasticizers was in biotic matrices (recoveries 52 ± 31 to 86 ± 38%). This application represents an innovative QuEChERS sequence of two dispersive solid-phase extraction (SPE) steps enabling this approach for the determination of important families of organic plastic additives in the marine environment. Indeed, our method allowed the fast screening and simultaneous determination of OPE and PAEs in various sites and matrices subject to different anthropogenic pressure in coastal NW Mediterranean Sea for the first time. ∑ 7 PAE and ∑ 9 OPE concentrations of 19-83 and 27-116 ng g −1 dw (fish), of 80-714 and 42-71 ng g −1 dw (mussels), of 192-908 and 47-151 ng g −1 dw (Posidonia oceanica), and of 11-328 and 4-10 ng g −1 dw (sediment) were measured, respectively. Our approach was sensible enough as to detect differences in the (bio)accumulation patterns of the target compounds in various species and/or sites. This application opens new perspectives for environmentally friendly marine environment monitoring and screening campaigns for organic plastic additives.

High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry Screening of Emerging Organophosphate Esters (OPEs) in Wild Fish: Occurrence, Species-Specific Difference, and Tissue-Specific Distribution

“…Nontarget screening aims to obtain as much information as possible from environmental samples; thus, an efficient, manageable, and powerful sample pretreatment method is a key step in the process of sample analysis. Recently, a simple and popular sample preparation methodology, i.e., QuEchERS technique, has been widely used in the extraction of many toxic and harmful pollutants including OPEs in various media . In the process, ACN is a preferential extractant due to the good protein precipitation effect, excellent compatibility, and low solubility .…”

“…Recently, a simple and popular sample preparation methodology, i.e., QuEchERS technique, has been widely used in the extraction of many toxic and harmful pollutants including OPEs in various media. 37 In the process, ACN is a preferential extractant due to the good protein precipitation effect, excellent compatibility, and low solubility. 38 Although the QuEChERS method with ACN as the extraction solvent has been reported to be successfully used for OPE analysis in the environmental matrices (e.g., sediment) and food (e.g., dairy products) and fish samples using LC-MS or GC-MS, analysis of trace OPEs as well as unknown OPEs in biotic samples (e.g., fish) remains a challenge using HRMS in terms of accuracy and precision.…”

“…38 Although the QuEChERS method with ACN as the extraction solvent has been reported to be successfully used for OPE analysis in the environmental matrices (e.g., sediment) and food (e.g., dairy products) and fish samples using LC-MS or GC-MS, analysis of trace OPEs as well as unknown OPEs in biotic samples (e.g., fish) remains a challenge using HRMS in terms of accuracy and precision. 37,39,40 In the context, we initially chose ACN as the extraction solvent for OPE analysis in fish samples. However, it is found that the ME problem is substantial and serious for some OPEs via assessing OPE recovery efficiencies and retention efficiency of any interference (Table S3 and Figure S2).…”

Biomonitoring of Phthalates, Bisphenols and Parabens in Children: Exposure, Predictors and Risk Assessment

“…Sánchez-Ávila et al, [65] detected levels of DEHP in mussels from three out of five coastal and estuarine sites studied in the Cantabrian Sea (Spain). Furthermore, Castro-Jiménez & Ratola [66] detected levels of DEHP in both wild and commercial mussels, levels of BzBP in wild mussels and levels of DEP in fish from the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, boys showed higher urinary levels of MEHP (DEHP metabolite) than girls from the present study, however, we have not found an explanation for this association.…”

Determination of Organophosphate Ester Metabolites in Seafood Species by QuEChERS-SPE Followed by LC-HRMS

“…However, there is little information on determining these compounds or the occurrence of OP diesters in living organisms. This information should therefore be extended to seafood as it is a very common dietary exposure route to these contaminants for humans [ 23 ].…”