Determination of organotin compounds by liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with a direct injection nebulizer

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) coupled with direct i njection nebulization was used as a liquid chromatographic detection method for the determination of butyltin compounds. Mono-, di- and tributyltin we re separated by reversed phase liquid chromatography with 5 mM sodium 1-pen tanesulfonate and 0.1% tropolone as the ion pairing reagent and 80% methano l and 2% acetic acid as the organic modifier. The separation was complete i n less than 4 min. Detection limits were in the range 1.8-2.5 pg Sn for var ious tin compounds. The relative standard deviation of the peak areas for f ive injections of 10 ng ml(-1) organotin mixture was in the range 5-8%. Thi s method was applied to the determination of various butyltin compounds in harbour sediment reference sample PACS-2 and a sediment sample collected fr om the Taiwan Strait. A simple and rapid microwave-assisted extraction meth od was used for the extraction of organotin compounds from marine sediments . The analyte species were leached quantitatively with acetic acid and sodi um 1-pentanesulfonate in a focused microwave held during a period of 3 min.