HPLC Determination of PBEDs in Air Pollutants

A high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was proposed for determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers(PBDEs) in PM_2.5 samples. The collected samples were extracted by accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) with dichloromethane-hexane (3+1) mixture as the extractant. After purification and filtration, the solution was separated and PBDEs in the solution were determined by HPLC with C₁₈ column as stationary phase and methanol-phosphate buffer solution (93+7) as mobile phase. Linear relationships between values of peak area and mass concentration of PBDEs were found in the range of 10.00-250.00 μg·L^-1, with detection limits (3σ/s) in the range of 1.01-5.34 μg·L^-1. PBDEs in PM_2.5 samples in Pudong New district and Qingpu district of Shanghai city were analyzed by the above method, and content distribution and seasonal distribution of the homologs of PBDEs were briefly described.