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Compound‐specific bromine isotope ratio analysis using gas chromatography/quadrupole mass spectrometry
Author(s) -
Zakon Yevgeni,
Halicz Ludwik,
Lev Ovadia,
Gelman Faina
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.7672
Subject(s) - chemistry , bromine , mass spectrometry , isotope , gas chromatography , chromatography , analytical chemistry (journal) , gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , analyte , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
Rationale Brominated organic compounds (BOCs) are common persistent toxic pollutants. Compound‐specific stable bromine isotope ratio analysis is one of the potential approaches for investigating BOC transformations in the environment. In the present study, we demonstrate that precise bromine isotope analysis of BOCs can be successfully performed by gas chromatography/quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC/qMS) systems that are widely available in analytical laboratories. Methods Optimization and validation of the GC/qMS method were performed by analysis of bromoform, 3‐bromophenol and 4‐bromotoluene. In addition, comparison of the results obtained by GC/qMS and GC/multi‐collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC‐ICPMS) for 1,2‐dibromoethane and 3‐bromophenol samples with different bromine isotope composition was carried out to evaluate the analytical performance of the developed method. Results Precisions in the range 0.2–0.3‰ were attained for sample amounts in the range of tens to thousands pmol. Good correlation between the results obtained by GC/qMS and GC/MC‐ICPMS for laboratory standard materials (1,2‐dibromoethane and 3‐bromophenol) (regression coefficient R 2 > 0.98) was achieved. Conclusions The GC/qMS method for bromine isotope analysis shows a good performance and can be applied routinely for studying transformations of BOCs. Due to the observed dependence of the measured isotope ratios on the amount of the analyte and the calculation scheme applied, normalization of the results versus appropriate standards is required for source attribution applications. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.