PILOT-STUDY ON THE CONTAMINATION OF DRINKING-WATER BY ORGANOTIN COMPOUNDS FROM PVC MATERIALS

Raw and treated water samples and tap water samples from four to six h ouses located on distribution lines where PVC pipe/tubing had been rec ently installed were collected in five Canadian municipalities for the analysis of organotin compounds, After derivatisation with sodium tet raethylborate the ethylated organotin compounds were extracted with he xane and analysed by gas chromatography-microwave induced plasma atomi c emission spectrometry using a wavelength (326.234 nm) specific for t in. Organotin compounds, mainly methyltin and dimethyltin at concentra tions ranging respectively from 0.5 to 257 ng Sn/L and from 0.5 to 6.5 ng Sn/L, were detected in samples from ten of the twenty-two houses. No organotin compounds were detected in raw water or treated water lea ving the treatment plant, indicating that the organotin compounds were leaching into the water from some component of the distribution syste m. Copyright (C) 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd