M3 PM Wastewater Treatment: Analysis, Fate and Removal of Emerging Contaminants
Monday, 14 November 2005: 1:50 PM - 5:30 PM in Ballroom 3

(LAC-1117-698646) Validation of a magnetic particle immunoassay with GC-MS for monitoring polybrominated diphenyl ethers in wastewater.

Lacorte, S. ¹, Rubio, F.², Parrotta, C. ², Martinez, E. ¹, Barceló, D. ¹, ¹ Deptartment of Environmental Chemistry, IIQAB-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain² Abraxis LLC, Warminster, PA, USA

ABSTRACT- Recently, the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) within Sewage Treatment Plants has become a matter of concern due to the marked increase in the levels of PBDEs in sludge and the use of such material as dung. To estimate the loads of PBDEs in influent waters, effluents and sludge of several Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) and downstream sediments, a magnetic particle-based ELISA was optimised and validated using pressurized liquid extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with negative chemical ionisation (GC-NCI-MS). Compounds analysed were BDEs 47, 99, 28, 100, 153, 154, 183 and 209, all of them detected with different affinities with the ELISA test. Particulate matter, sludge and sediment spiked at concentrations from 0.1 to 500 ng/g gave excellent correlation among both techniques. PBDEs were recovered quantitatively using both techniques (60-110%), proving the efficiency of the extraction and clean up procedures. The ELISA test did not show any cross reactivity with coextracted compounds and no false negatives were detected. In all cases the reproducibility was below 12% and limits of detection at the low ppb level. Influent and effluent waters from several STP and sediments were analysed using both techniques to determine the transport and fate of PBDEs in the water-sediment system. The study area was the Ebro river situated in the north east of Spain, which receives waters from large urban areas as well as from car, textile and metal industries. Several patterns were observed, with BDE 209 and hepta to hexa BDEs being the most ubiquitous compounds in sewage sludge and tri to penta BDEs detected at lower levels in particulate matter and sediment. Again, a good agreement was obtained using both techniques, which reveals the advantages of a rapid immunoassay as a screening technique for the determination of PBDEs in complex environmental matrices.

Key words: ELISA, GC-NCI-MS, PBDEs, wastewater