Trace Analysis of Tributyltin Chloride in Fish Tissue by Electron Capture Gas Chromatography

Abstract

A method is described for sample preparation by gas chromatography in biological samples. TBT was extracted from samples as chloride under the acidic condition of HCl and was detected by GC-ECD system using an apolar capillary column doped with a dilute HBr-methanolic solution. Derivatization step has been eliminated from sample preparation procedure, but doping of the GC-ECD system with a dilute HBr-methanolic solution has been used to detect the TBT chloride and triphenyltin (TPhT) directly by halogen exchange from chloride to bromide. This combination made it possible to determine TBT as less than the ngg^-1 level in fish tissue.