Analytical methods for the determination of alkylphenolic surfactants and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in wastewaters and sewage sludges. I - A review of methodologies

Alkylphenolic surfactants (alkylphenol polyethoxylates) and the polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants are important environmental contaminants and have been implicated as endocrine disrupters. Both groups of compounds have come under increasing scrutiny from legislators and there are proposals to curb their use. However, these compounds continue to enter the environment and there is a need to determine their occurrence, fate and behaviour throughout the hydrosphere and in wastewater treatment processes to determine mass fluxes and sources. This paper reviews analytical methods for their determination in the aqueous and solid (sediment / sludge) phase. Extraction, cleanup and quantification by gas and liquid chromatographic (GC and LC) techniques linked to mass spectrometric (MS) detectors are considered. The literature indicates that for the alkylphenols research papers favour the use of LC/MS which is more amenable to determination of more highly ethoxylated oligomers, however, standard methods focus on GC/MS and the less ethoxylated oligomers and parent alkylphenols. The use of GC with negative chemical ionisation MS techniques predominates for the analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers.