Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a group of persistent organic pollutants, are ubiquitous in the environment. The concentrations of PCBs and their metabolites are crucial to understand their impact on the environment. Here, a simultaneous method is reported to determine PCB101 and its hydroxylated, methoxylated and methyl sulfonated metabolites in aquatic organisms by gas chromatography–microelectron capture detection (GC-μECD). Several operational parameters, including the extraction solvent, volume of concentrated sulfuric acid for lipid removal, elution procedure, and solid-phase extraction (SPE) eluent volume, were optimized for the analytes in the muscle tissue of carp (Carassius auratus). Under the optimum conditions, the linearity of the method was from 2.5 to 100 ng/mL with correlation coefficients (R²) > 0.9961. The limit of detection was 2.00 μg/kg, and the limit of quantitation was equal to 5.00 μg/kg. The spiked recoveries of the targets in carp muscles were from 84.4% to 104%, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was from 4.02% to 8.75%. The developed method was successfully applied to different aquatic samples. The precursor and metabolites were simultaneously detected in aquatic products. The metabolites of PCBs were present in marine samples collected from the East China Sea. For the first time, the methoxylated metabolite of PCB101 was identified in aquatic organisms. The results provide support for further study on the environmental properties and biological transmission of PCBs.

摘要

多氯联苯 (PCBs) 是一组持久性有机污染物，在环境中无处不在。多氯联苯及其代谢物的浓度对于了解它们对环境的影响至关重要。本文报道了一种通过气相色谱-微电子捕获检测 (GC-μECD) 同时测定水生生物中 PCB101 及其羟基化、甲氧基化和甲基磺化代谢物的方法。针对鲤鱼 ( Carassius auratus )肌肉组织中的分析物，优化了几个操作参数，包括提取溶剂、用于去除脂质的浓硫酸体积、洗脱程序和固相萃取 (SPE) 洗脱液体积。在最佳条件下，该方法的线性范围为 2.5 至 100 ng/mL，相关系数为 (R ² ) > 0.9961。检出限为2.00 μg/kg，定量限为5.00 μg/kg。鲤鱼肌肉中目标的加标回收率为84.4%至104%，相对标准偏差（RSD）为4.02%至8.75%。所开发的方法成功地应用于不同的水生样品。同时检测水产品中的前体和代谢物。多氯联苯的代谢物存在于从东海采集的海洋样本中。首次在水生生物中鉴定出 PCB101 的甲氧基化代谢物。研究结果为进一步研究多氯联苯的环境特性和生物传输提供了支持。