Speciation of organotins in environmental samples by SPME-GC: comparison of four specific detectors: FPD, PFPD, MIP-AES and ICP-MS

The performances of four specific detectors used for the speciation of buty l- and phenyltin compounds after solid phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography (GC) separation are evaluated. A flame photometric detector (FPD), a pulsed flame photometric detector (PFPD), a microwave induced pla sma atomic emission spectrometer (MIP-AES) and an inductively coupled plasm a mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) were used. The principle of PFPD, a new genera tion of FPD, is presented. The original transfer line used between GC and I CP-MS is detailed. The high SPME preconcentration allows very low limits of detection (LOD) to be reached (less than 500 g (-1) n for all the detector s). Sensitivity, linearity and selectivity of the different detectors are a lso discussed. As expected, ICP-MS is the most sensitive (LOD ranged from 0 .6 to 20 g (-1) n) but the cheapest PFPD is also of significant interest. T he analytical procedure is applied to the determination of organotins in tw o different reference materials: a sediment (PACS 2) and a fish tissue (NIE S 11). These different examples show that the detection of ultra-trace tin species is now possible in natural samples using a combination of SPME and GC with a specific detector.