Determination of selenomethionine and seleno-methyl-selenocysteine in biota by ultrasonic-assisted enzymatic digestion and multi-shot stir bar sorptive extraction-thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

A method based on stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) and thermal desorption (TD)-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has been optimized for the determination of seleno-methyl-selenocysteine (SeMetSeCys) and selenomethionine (SeMet) in biota samples. Aliquots of freeze-dried tissue, a mixture of protease XIV-lipase and water were sonicated for 2min. After extraction, the extract was separated by centrifugation and subjected to derivatization and SBSE-TD-GC-MS. The parameters affecting derivatization, absorption and desorption steps were investigated. The optimized conditions consist of a derivatization with 40µL of ethyl chloroformate (ECF) in 400µL of a water:ethanol:pyridine (60:32:8) mixture, followed by dilution to 1.5mL of 70g NaClL(-1) in water at neutral pH and an extraction step using 10mm×1mm PDMS stir bar, stirring at 800rpm for 20min at room temperature (23±1°C). Three stir bars were used for the extraction of three different aliquots of the same sample and then placed in a single glass desorption liner and simultaneously desorbed for GC-MS analysis. The desorption step required the following conditions: 300°C (desorption temperature), 6min (desorption time), 50mLmin(-1) (vent flow) and -5°C (cryotrapping temperature). The method provided precise (8.1%) and accurate results in the mgSekg(-1) range (using the selected-ion monitoring-SIM mode) against certified reference material SELM-1 yeast, with recoveries higher than 80% for spiked algae and clams samples.

Determination of five booster biocides in seawater by stir bar sorptive extraction-thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) and thermal desorption (TD)-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) have been optimized for the determination of five organic booster biocides (Chlorothalonil, Dichlofluanid, Sea-Nine 211, Irgarol 1051 and TCMTB) in seawater samples. The parameters affecting the desorption and absorption steps were investigated using 10 mL seawater samples. The optimised conditions consisted of an addition of 0.2 g mL(-1) KCl to the sample, which was extracted with 10mm length, 0.5mm film thickness stir bars coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and stirred at 900 rpm for 90 min at room temperature (25 °C) in a vial. Desorption was carried out at 280 °C for 5 min under 50 mL min(-1) of helium flow in the splitless mode while maintaining a cryotrapping temperature of 20 °C in the programmed-temperature vaporization (PTV) injector of the GC-MS system. Finally, the PTV injector was ramped to a temperature of 280 °C and the analytes were separated in the GC and detected by MS using the selected-ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The detection limits of booster biocides were found to be in the range of 0.005-0.9 µg L(-1). The regression coefficients were higher than 0.999 for all analytes. The average recovery was higher than 72% (R.S.D.: 7-15%). All these figures of merit were established running samples in triplicate. This simple, accurate, sensitive and selective analytical method may be used for the determination of trace amounts of booster biocides in water samples from marinas.

Determination of polychlorinated biphenyls in biota samples using simultaneous pressurized liquid extraction and purification.

In order to reduce time and cost of analysis, a new pressurised liquid extraction method that automatically and rapidly achieves quantitative and selective (i.e., lipid-free) extraction of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in biota tissues was optimized. It consists of on-line clean-up by inclusion of sorbents in the extraction cell. The freeze-dried sample is dispersed with Florisil and loaded in the extraction cell containing an extra amount of Florisil. The extraction is performed under mild conditions using 55 ml of a dichloromethane-pentane (15:85) mixture, a temperature of 40 degrees C, a static extraction time of 10 min and two extraction cycles. The Florisil retains coextracted lipids from the matrix, and the extract, after pre-concentration, is clean enough for direct injection into GC-MS and GC-electron-capture detection (ECD). Quantitative recoveries (from 90 to 106%) are obtained for both native and spiked PCB congeners in samples with a high lipidic content (up to 42% dry mass, in spoonbill eggs). The reproducibility of replicate extractions was better than 11% relative standard deviation. Method detection limits were in the ranges of 0.001-0.004 and 0.002-0.07 ng g(-1) dry mass for GC-ECD and GC-MS-MS, respectively. The method was validated using the standard reference material SRM 2974 (a mussel tissue) from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, compared to Soxhlet and matrix solid-phase dispersion extraction methods, and used to evaluate the contamination by PCBs in bivalves from South of Spain.