Single sample preparation for brominated flame retardants in fish and shellfish with dual detection: GC-MS/MS (PBDEs) and LC-MS/MS (HBCDs)

Risk Characterization and Benefit–Risk Assessment of Brominated Flame Retardant in Commercially Exploited Freshwater Fishes and Crayfish of Lake Trasimeno, Italy

“…The method applied for brominated flame retardant has already been described by Tavoloni et al [3], and it is an isotopic dilution analysis. Briefly, 20 g of sample was weighed in a polypropylene centrifuge tube, spiked at 1 ng/g with labelled internal standards and submitted to QuEChERS extraction.…”

“…Since the early 1970s, the most widely used BFRs have been polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a class of 209 congeners which differ in the number and position of the bromine atoms in the two phenyl rings and are commercialized as three technical mixtures characterized by different bromination degrees: penta-BDE, octa-BDE and deca-BDE [2,3]. As they are mixed into polymers and not chemically bound, they might separate or leach from the products into the environment, and they have already been demonstrated to 2 of 16 be environmental contaminants several years after their technological application [2].…”

“…As they are mixed into polymers and not chemically bound, they might separate or leach from the products into the environment, and they have already been demonstrated to 2 of 16 be environmental contaminants several years after their technological application [2]. Due to their potential adverse health effects and other factors such as their resistance to degradation, their persistence in the environment, their widespread global distribution and their ability to bioaccumulate and biomagnify in the food chain, international agreements on the regulation and use of some PBDEs have been introduced since 2003 [3,4]. Pentaand octa-mixtures were banned in the European Union (EU) in 2003, while, since 2008, deca-BDE can no longer be used in electronics and electrical applications [5,6].…”

“…Despite the advances in the prevention of fire incidents reached by using FRs, the prolonged, extensive and frequently unrestricted use of these compounds in the past has resulted in their ubiquitous diffusion in various environmental matrices [16,17]. As a consequence, humans can be exposed to both PBDEs and HBCDs through numerous routes such as inhalation, dust ingestion and food and water consumption [3]. Although the precise contribution of these sources is significantly influenced by specific characteristics of compounds, populations and even individuals, there is a common consensus in the scientific community that food consumption appears to be the major source of exposure to such chemicals for the general population [2,11,15,18,19].…”

Determination of Hexabromocyclododecanes in Fish Using Modified QuEChERS Method with Efficient Extract Clean-Up Prior to Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

“…In the proposed method, unlike other methods, only common cheap chemicals were used. The most complicated purification procedure was employed in the method by Tavoloni et al [15], in which special SPE cartridges and GPC were used. By this method, a high extract clean-up efficiency was achieved, but it was also associated with high consumption of toxic solvents (hexane, dichloromethane).…”