Flame Retardants and their Occurrence in the Terrestrial Ecosystem

lecture

English

This study was focused on the analysis of four compounds from a brominated flame retardants group, namely pentabromoethylbenzene, hexabromocyclododecane, hexabromobenzene and tetrabromobisphenol A. Matrices were represented by four soil samples and four seats of fire samples. In addition, bisphenol A was also examined. As a first step, the process of extraction of the analytes from matrices was optimized. Three different extraction techniques were tested (pressurized solvent extraction, microwave-assisted extraction and ultrasound-assisted extraction). The next step was to verify the stability of target compounds in strongly acidic conditions and to optimize the clean-up of an extract by a column chromatography using different types of sorbents and eluting solvents. On the basis of several experiments, the gas chromatography with electron capture detection (GC-ECD) was chosen as an appropriate analytical method for the determination of brominated flame retardants. Bisphenol A was investigated by the gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (GC-MS). Phenolic analytes were derivatized before their final analytical determination. The most abundant analyte was the hexabromocyclododecane which was quantified in all matrices in the range of 7.018-81.88 ng/g dry weight. On the contrary, tetrabromobisphenol A was not proven in any of analyzed samples. The ash from the Brandýs nad Labem restaurant fire contained the highest amount of all target compounds (total 118.2 ng/g dw). The least contaminated place was the forest burnt-out area near Velmovice (hexabromocyclododecane only, 7.843 ng/g dw). As for soil samples, greater concentrations were found in the area near the industrial site in Chropyně, where a store of plastic materials burnt down in 2011. The analysis of the seat of fire samples showed that compounds of interest are more abundant in ash than in a soil part (some of them were mixtures of ash and soil). All measured concentrations fall within a range in which these analytes are present at many other places in the world (tenths to tens ng/g dw).

bisphenol A, brominated flame retardants, gas chromatography, hexabromobenzene, hexabromocyclododecane, pentabromoethylbenzene, seat of fire analysis, soil analysis, tetrabromobisphenol A

CHYTIL, V.; VÁVROVÁ, M.

2. 9. 2015

Brno University of Technology

Brno, Czech Republic

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