Determination of Polybrominated Biphenyls in Biota Samples Using Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry

The present study describes an analytical method for the determination of polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) in biota samples by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). PBBs are extracted twice from 20 g samples with mixture solvent 40mL acetone and 80mL hexane using ultrasonic agitation for 20 min. Lipids in extracts are degraded by concentrated sulfuric acid and then PBBs are purified with Florisil column. The purified extracts are analyzed by GC/MS-selected ion monitoring mode for the quantitation of PBBs in biota sample. The overall recovery yields of PBBs range between 77 and 111% under these experimental conditions.