Determination of tetrabromobisphenol A in human serum by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A method for the determination of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) in human serum utilizing solid-phase extractions (SPEs) and liquid chromatography (LC) with electrospray ionization tandem MS (MS/MS) has been developed. After purification and concentration of TBBPA using consecutive SPEs on reversed-phase and normal-phase cartridges, the serum sample was subjected to LC. TBBPA was separated on a C18 reversed-phase column by gradient elution with a mixture of water, methanol, and acetonitrile as the mobile phase, and then detected with electrospray ionization MS/MS in negative ion mode. 13C12-TBBPA was suitable as an internal standard for the reproducible determination of TBBPA in human serum samples (5 g). The method has been validated in TBBPA concentration range of 5-100 pg per g serum, and the recoveries in the concentration range were higher than 83.3%. The repeatabilities of the proposed method of non-spiked control serum (6.3 pg per g serum) and spiked serum (added 5-100 pg per g serum) were within 10.0% as relative standard deviations. The limit of quantification (LOQ) for TBBPA was 4.1 pg per g serum, which was corresponded to 0.63 fmol on column.