Analysis of nine polybrominated diphenyl ethers in water samples by means of stir bar sorptive extraction-thermal desorption-gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

An optimised method using stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) for the determination of nine bromodiphenil ether (Lake Michigan mix) from water samples was developed. Recoveries near to 100% were found by using 20 mm × 0.5 mm (length × film thickness) PDMS commercial stir bars with 100 mL spiked water samples and 20% methanol addition and an extraction period of 25 h.Method sensitivity, linearity, repeatability and reproducibility have been also studied. Detection limits between 0.4 and 9.4 ng/L were calculated for the combination of SBSE and thermal desorption-GC–MS. The procedure was applied a real sample, a surface water contaminated by the effluents, and the results were compared with a classical liquid–liquid extraction method.