As a result of its toxic effects on marine organisms such as mollusks, numerous regulatory bodies including the European Union (Directives 2000/60/EC, 2455/2001/EC and updates) have introduced limits on acceptable levels of tributyltin (TBT) in water. In the EU this limits is currently set at 2 ng L-1. However, there is a proposal to lower this level to 20 pg L-1. The analytical challenge is to develop a robust method that meets these requirements and that is easily implemented in high throughput analytical laboratories.
We describe in this work the development of a fully automated GC-ICP-MS method based on the use of a computer controlled GC interface and a real-time data handling software. We will discuss issues related to instrument optimization, chromatographic separation and sample preparation. We will also present analytical data highlighting the ease of use, speed, repeatability, reproducibility and detection limits of the system.
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