Determination of organotin compounds in waters by headspace solid phase microextraction gas chromatography triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry under the European Water Framework Directive

• New, reliable, sensitive method for the analysis of organotin compounds in water.
• The very restrictive limits fixed by the EU Directive 2013/39/EU are achieved.
• This method fulfills the principles of green analytical chemistry.
• Allows implementation in control laboratories for monitoring studies.

The European Union Water Framework Directive (2013/39/EU) sets very restrictive environmental quality standards for 45 priority substances and other pollutants, including organotin compounds (OTCs). Therefore, it is necessary to develop analytical methods in compliance with the environmental quality standard (EQSs) proposed to protect the aquatic environment and humans. The proposed method (HS-SPME-GC–QqQ-MS/MS) allows the determination of OTCs, i.e. monobutyltin (MBT), dibutyltin (DBT) and TBT in water in the range of few ng L−1. The method is nearly full automated, sensitive and simple; it involves less reagents, reduces waste, and is less-time consuming than traditional methods for OTCs. As such, the procedure connects with the principles of green analytical chemistry. Additionally, good precision (RSD < 20%), a very low method quantification limit (MQL) (0.76 ng L−1 for TBT by using only 10 mL of sample) and excellent linearity (range MQL–20 ng L−1) are achieved. Under these conditions, the very restrictive limits for the environmental quality standards (EQS) fixed by the 2013/39/EU Directive are achieved.