Jy. Liu et al., Headspace solid-phase microextraction of butyltin species in sediments andtheir gas chromatographic determination, J SEP SCI, 24(6), 2001, pp. 459-464
A rapid and solvent-free procedure for the simultaneous determination of mo
no-, di-, and tributyltin in sediments by headspace solid-phase microextrac
tion (SPME) is described. The butyltin chlorides present in sediments were
converted into their hydride forms by potassium tetrahydroborate prior to e
xtraction. A quartz fiber coated with 100 mum film of polydimethylsiloxane
(PDMS) is introduced into the headspace over the matrix to extract butyltin
hydrides. After extraction, the fiber is directly inserted into the inject
or of the gas chromatograph (GC) for desorption, separation, and quantifica
tion. A laboratory modified flame photometric detector using quartz surface
-induced tin emission (QSIL-FPD) was used throughout the experiment. The de
tection limits obtained with SPME-GC-QSIL-FPD for mono-, di-, and tributylt
in are 8.8, 0.16, and 0.05 ng/g as Sn, respectively. The proposed method ha
s been validated by analyzing standard reference material CRM-462, and succ
essfully used for the determination of butyltin compounds in sediment colle
cted from coastal areas of Hong Kong.