Simultaneous determination of tetra-, penta- and hexachlorobutadienes in shellfish by gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

Polychloro-1,3-butadienes (polyCBDs) are attracting increasing concern due to their high toxicity. However, research on multiple polyCBDs in aquatic biota is still extremely limited. In this study, a sensitive method for simultaneous determination of nine polyCBD (Cl4–Cl6) congeners, including six tetrachlorobutadiene (TeCBD) isomers, two pentachlorobutadiene (PeCBD) isomers, and hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD), in shellfish was developed based on accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), solid-phase extraction (SPE) clean-up and gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-QqQ-MS/MS). Low method limits of detection (MDLs) in the range 0.03–0.21 ng/g dry weight for target analytes with satisfactory recoveries (47.7 %–70.6 %) were achieved. The valid method was then applied to analyze nine polyCBDs congeners in 42 shellfish and 11 fish samples collected from markets in eight coastal cities, China. Trace HCBD was detected in 14 samples, while TeCBDs and PeCBDs were under the MDLs in all the samples, indicating little contamination of these pollutants in the marketed shellfish and fish in China. Multiple polyCBDs especially TeCBDs and PeCBDs were firstly involved in the proposed method and investigation here, which lay the groundwork for future research on the environmental behavior and exposure risks of polyCBDs in aquatic biotas.