Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry for screening of organohalogenated compounds in cat hair

Martin Brits, Peter Gorst-Allman, Egmont R. Rohwer, Jayne De Vos, Jacob de Boer, Jana M. Weiss

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Abstract

The coupling of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry offers the best separation efficiency combined with accurate mass measurements over a wide mass range. The tremendous power of this screening tool is illustrated by trace qualitative screening analysis of organohalogenated compounds (OHCs) in pet cat hair. Tentative identification was supported by mass spectral database searches and elemental formula prediction from the experimentally determined accurate mass data. This screening approach resulted in the first tentative identification of pentabromoethylbenzene, decabromodiphenyl ethane, hexabromocyclododecane, trisbromoneopentyl alcohol, tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate and tris(2-chloroisopropyl)phosphate in the South African indoor environment. A total of seventy-two OHCs were identified in the samples and include known flame retardants, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and legacy contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine, organophosphorous and pyrethroid pesticides. The results obtained from cat hair indicate that these pets are exposed to complex mixtures of OHCs and the detection of these compounds suggests that non-invasive cat hair samples can be used to model indoor exposure with reference to external deposition of OHCs present in the air and dust surrounding people. Toddlers share the same environment as pet cats and therefore also the same health risks.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)151-162
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Chromatography A
Volume1536
Early online date24 Aug 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 Feb 2018

Funding

This work was based on the research supported in part by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (VU University Amsterdam − NRF Desmond Tutu doctoral scholarship) (Grant number: 94075 ) and by the Swedish research council FORMAS (Project MiSSE number: 210-2012-131). The authors acknowledge that opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication which is generated by the NRF supported research are that of the authors, and the NRF accepts no liability whatsoever in this regard. The authors wish to thank Jack Cochran for insightful discussions and valuable analytical information; and Le York, a pet grooming service in Pretoria (South Africa) for kindly providing the hair samples.

FundersFunder number
National Research Foundation
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas210-2012-131
National Research Foundation of Korea94075

    Keywords

    • High-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry
    • Indoor exposure to pollutants
    • Organohalogenated compounds
    • Pet cat hair
    • Two-dimensional gas chromatography

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