Medium-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (CPs) Dominate in Australian Sewage Sludge.

Sicco H Brandsma, Louise van Mourik, Jake W O'Brien, Geoff Eaglesham, Pim E G Leonards, Jacob de Boer, Christie Gallen, Jochen Mueller, Caroline Gaus, Christian Bogdal

Environmental science & technology 2017 Mar 21

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To simultaneously quantify and profile the complex mixture of short-, median-, and long-chain CPs (SCCPs, MCCPs, and LCCPs) in Australian sewage sludge, we applied and further validated a recently developed novel instrumental technique, using quadrupole time-of-flight high resolution mass spectrometry running in the negative atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mode (APCI-qTOF-HRMS). Without using an analytical column the cleaned extracts were directly injected into the qTOF-HRMS followed by quantification of the CPs by a mathematical algorithm. The recoveries of the four SCCP, MCCP and LCCP-spiked sewage sludge samples ranged from 86 to 123%. This APCI-qTOF-HRMS method is a fast and promising technique for routinely measuring SCCPs, MCCPs, and LCCPs in sewage sludge. Australian sewage sludge was dominated by MCCPs with concentrations ranging from 542 to 3645 ng/g dry weight (dw). Lower SCCPs concentrations (<57-1421 ng/g dw) were detected in the Australian sewage sludge, which were comparable with the LCCPs concentrations (116-960 ng/g dw). This is the first time that CPs were reported in Australian sewage sludge. The results of this study gives a first impression on the distribution of the SCCPs, MCCPs, and LCCPs in Australia wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs).

Citation

Sicco H Brandsma, Louise van Mourik, Jake W O'Brien, Geoff Eaglesham, Pim E G Leonards, Jacob de Boer, Christie Gallen, Jochen Mueller, Caroline Gaus, Christian Bogdal. Medium-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (CPs) Dominate in Australian Sewage Sludge. Environmental science & technology. 2017 Mar 21;51(6):3364-3372