Brominated and organophosphorus flame retardants in the air of Barcelona

Abstract

This work presents a method for simultaneous extraction and analysis of brominated and organophosphorus flame retardants in atmospheric particulate matter (PM) phase in an urban area (Barcelona) under contrasting meteorological conditions. PM samples were collected on filters using a digital high volume air sampler. The analytical method was based on Soxhlet extraction with ethyl acetate/cyclohexane 5:2 (v/v), clean-up step with solid phase extraction (SPE) Florisil cartridges, concentration under N2 flow and analysis by gas chromatography-electron impact mass/mass (GC-EI-MS/MS). The method was developed to determine trace concentrations of flame retardants in air. The validation included blank tests in order to see the background levels of these compounds and percentage of recoveries with spiked filters at two different levels. Finally, the presence of these compounds in the air of Barcelona has been determined. Concentrations of organophosphorus flame retardants ranging from a few pg/m3 to 1 ng/m3 were found. Brominated flame retardants were not found in the samples.