Conexiant
Login
  • The Analytical Scientist
  • The Cannabis Scientist
  • The Medicine Maker
  • The Ophthalmologist
  • The Pathologist
  • The Traditional Scientist
The Analytical Scientist
  • Explore

    Explore

    • Latest
    • News & Research
    • Trends & Challenges
    • Keynote Interviews
    • Opinion & Personal Narratives
    • Product Profiles
    • App Notes

    Featured Topics

    • Mass Spectrometry
    • Chromatography
    • Spectroscopy

    Issues

    • Latest Issue
    • Archive
  • Topics

    Techniques & Tools

    • Mass Spectrometry
    • Chromatography
    • Spectroscopy
    • Microscopy
    • Sensors
    • Data and AI

    • View All Topics

    Applications & Fields

    • Clinical
    • Environmental
    • Food, Beverage & Agriculture
    • Pharma and Biopharma
    • Omics
    • Forensics
  • People & Profiles

    People & Profiles

    • Power List
    • Voices in the Community
    • Sitting Down With
    • Authors & Contributors
  • Business & Education

    Business & Education

    • Innovation
    • Business & Entrepreneurship
    • Career Pathways
  • Events
    • Live Events
    • Webinars
  • Multimedia
    • Video
Subscribe
Subscribe

False

The Analytical Scientist / App Notes / 2014 / Fast, Accurate Analysis of Polybrominated Diphenyl Esters (PBDEs) In A Single Run, Including BDE-209

Fast, Accurate Analysis of Polybrominated Diphenyl Esters (PBDEs) In A Single Run, Including BDE-209

02/25/2014

Share

Featured Image
Introduction

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) are aromatic, non-polar compounds formerly used as flame retardants. These compounds were determined to be toxic and are now included on the Stockholm Convention’s list of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Though their use has been restricted or banned in many areas, low levels of remaining PBDEs in biological, environmental, or food sources are subject to bioaccumulation and can still result in detrimental reproductive and other health effects.

phenomenex logo

This work utilizes a new method and technology that provides fast quantitation of toxic PBDE congeners with short run times and includes the quantitation of BDE-209 in a single analytical run. This improved procedure allows significant time and cost savings by eliminating the need for additional columns and instrumentation traditionally required to achieve sufficient separation of all PBDE congeners. Comparison of existing methods and the single-test method are included, highlighting improved sensitivity and shortened run times.PBDEs consist of 209 individual conformations called congeners, which vary in toxicity. Analytical testing of these congeners is performed by high resolution gas chromatography with high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS) to achieve the lowest levels of detection and highest degrees of confidence possible. Even using this advanced instrumentation, achieving accurate, well-resolved separation of all congeners proves difficult. PBDE analysis is historically problematic for two main reasons: the sheer number of compounds and analyte stability. In addition, some congeners are thermally labile, sensitive to column activity, or both. The most notorious of these reactive congeners is BDE-209, decabromodiphenyl ether. Complete testing of BDE-209 is especially important because it can break down in the body or environment to even more toxic congeners. To obtain resolution of the all 209 congeners, many labs analyze a single list of PBDEs by two separate tests. The first uses a detailed method that resolves most congeners and traditionally employs a low polarity column of 60 m x 0.25 mm ID dimensions. However, this configuration results in nearly hour-long run times. As a result, the latest eluting congener BDE-209 frequently displays dramatically reduced peak response due to extended exposure to thermal degradation and column activity.Labs are, therefore, often forced to analyze this compound with a second method, typically using a separate instrument and a much shorter, thinner phase column that will provide less retention. This allows a lower elution temperature and helps address thermal stability issues for BDE-209. However, thinner phase columns are more susceptible to activity, leading to peak tailing and more difficult quantitation. This work addresses the contribution of thermal stability and column activity to BDE-209 breakdown and also provides an optimized method that resolves important congeners as well as BDE-209 in one short run.

>> Download the full Application Note as PDF

Newsletters

Receive the latest analytical scientist news, personalities, education, and career development – weekly to your inbox.

Newsletter Signup Image

Explore More in Analytical Science

Dive deeper into the analytical science. Explore the latest articles, case studies, expert insights, and groundbreaking research.

False

Advertisement

Recommended

False

Related Content

Comprehensive Analysis of Drug Residues from a Confiscated Pipe
Comprehensive Analysis of Drug Residues from a Confiscated Pipe

May 1, 2014

This application note shows the utility of high resolution mass spectrometry with soft ionization to facilitate identification of unknown compounds which were present in extracted residues from a confiscated pipe...

Extraction and Analysis of Neonicotinoid Pesticides from Flower Blossoms
Extraction and Analysis of Neonicotinoid Pesticides from Flower Blossoms

May 6, 2014

In this application, the Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, Safe (QuEChERS) approach was used to develop an extraction and cleanup method for the analysis of seven neonicotinoid pesticides in flower blossoms...

Ultrapure water: LC-MS suitability tests
Ultrapure water: LC-MS suitability tests

May 7, 2014

Fresh ultrapure water used in all the experiments was produced from a Milli-Q® water purification system fed by an Elix system...

GC/MS analysis of a complex sample in DCM using hydrogen carrier gas
GC/MS analysis of a complex sample in DCM using hydrogen carrier gas

May 8, 2014

This application note aims to demonstrate the injection of a complex, 76-component sample diluted in Dichloromethane (DCM) using hydrogen carrier gas...

False

The Analytical Scientist
Subscribe

About

  • About Us
  • Work at Conexiant Europe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2025 Texere Publishing Limited (trading as Conexiant), with registered number 08113419 whose registered office is at Booths No. 1, Booths Park, Chelford Road, Knutsford, England, WA16 8GS.