Determination of white phosphorus residues in ducks: An atomic emission detection/compound-independent calibration-based method of generating residuedata for risk assessment and environmental monitoring

Analysis of phosphorus concentrations in the gizzards of ducks harvested fr om munitions sites is necessary to ascertain if acute phosphorus toxicity w as the cause of death and to estimate potential secondary hazards to predat ors and scavengers, such as eagles that readily consume the dead ducks. Gas chromatography/atomic emission detection analysis permitted compound-indep endent quantification of white phosphorus standards following analysis of t he stable phosphorus-containing compound triethyl phosphate. The white phos phorus standards were then used to quantify white phosphorus residues in du ck gizzard extracts by gas chromatography/flame photometric detection analy sis. For gizzards containing less than 0.01 mu g of phosphorus, quantificat ion was based on a three-point calibration curve. For gizzards containing 0 .01 mu g or more of white phosphorus, single-point calibration was used. Me an recoveries for phosphorus-fortified (0.03-3000 mu g) gizzards ranged fro m 73 to 91%. The method limit of detection was 0.013 mu g of phosphorus. Th is method was successfully applied to the quantification of white phosphoru s in ducks collected from Eagle River Flats, AK. Potential applications to risk assessment and environmental monitoring are also discussed.