Abstract: A method for the determination of eight polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in indoor dust was developed. A vacuum cleaner was used for gathering the house dust, and n-hexane was added and the extraction was performed in an ultrasonic bath. The supernatant was concentrated and then n-hexane was added to 0.1 mL. Gas chromatography-negative chemical ionization mass spectrometry (GC-NCI/MS) has been investigated for the determination of the eight PBDE congeners in indoor dust. The eight PBDEs were separated within 20 min. The absolute recoveries were 53.2%~107.6%. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of intra-day were between 2.8% and 16.5%, while the RSDs of inter-day were between 6.4% and 22.6%. The limits of detection (LOD, S/N=3) were in the range of 0.003~0.015 ng/g except the LOD of BDE-209 was 0.15 ng/g. The results indicated that the proposed method is sensitive, accurate, fast, simple, low solvent consumption and suitable for the determination of tri- to deca-BDEs in indoor dust.

Key words: gas chromatography-negative chemical ionization mass spectrometry (GC-NCI/MS), indoor dust, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), ultrasonic-assisted extraction