QuEChERS-based extraction and two-dimensional liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry for the determination of long chain chlorinated paraffins in sediments

Yang Wu; Shutao Gao; Juntao Cui; Biao Zhang; Zhanjun Zhu; Qian Song; Xiangying Zeng; Yi Liang; Zhiqiang Yu

doi:10.1016/j.chroma.2022.463585

QuEChERS-based extraction and two-dimensional liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry for the determination of long chain chlorinated paraffins in sediments

J Chromatogr A. 2022 Nov 22:1684:463585. doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2022.463585. Epub 2022 Oct 19.

Authors

Yang Wu¹, Shutao Gao², Juntao Cui¹, Biao Zhang³, Zhanjun Zhu³, Qian Song³, Xiangying Zeng¹, Yi Liang¹, Zhiqiang Yu¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China. Electronic address: gaost@gig.ac.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.

PMID: 36288624
DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2022.463585

Abstract

In this study, a method was established for the analysis of long-chain chlorinated paraffins (LCCPs) in sediment based on quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) extraction and two-dimensional liquid chromatography-Orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry (2DLCOrbitrap HRMS). Compared with other reported methods, this method greatly reduces sample preparation time (2 h) and solvent consumption. The QuEChERS extraction method presented satisfactory recoveries, 90.5-95.2, 84.7-86.6, and 81.4-83.4% of 5, 50, and 200 ng/g LCCPs with 49% Cl spiked into sediments. Meanwhile, no matrix effects were found in the LCCPs analysis after online purification by the 2DLC system. With the current commercial LCCP standards and a mixture of three chlorinated paraffins (CPs) industrial products, a suspect screening strategy was established and accurate identification of LCCPs (including vLCCPs, which carbon chain length greater than 20) under the plight that the reference standards for vLCCPs are currently unavailable. A total of 21 C_18-20-LCCP and 22 vLCCP congeners were identified in sediment samples collected from Dongting Lake, China. The total concentrations of LCCPs in six sediment samples ranged from 1.69 to 18.0 ng/g (median 6.66 ng/g) and was dominated by C₁₈ groups (mean, 28.8%), C₁₉ groups (mean, 19.1%) and C₂₁ groups (mean, 16.9%). Taken together, the successful application of this method to analyze sediment samples shows great potential for the analysis of LCCPs in environmental samples in future studies.

Keywords: 2DLC-Orbitrap HRMS; Long chain chlorinated paraffins; QuEChERS; Sediment.

MeSH terms

China
Chromatography, Liquid
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated* / analysis
Mass Spectrometry
Paraffin* / analysis

Substances

Paraffin
Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated