Analysis of ultratrace triorganotin compounds in aquatic organisms by using capillary electrophoresis–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A microwave-assisted extraction used to extract trace triorganotin from aquatic organisms and a sensitive analytical method for the determination of ultratrace triorganotin (namely trimethyltin, triethyltin, tripropyltin and tributyltin) with capillary electrophoresis–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry were firstly described in this study. The extraction method is simple, effective and can be used to extract trace triorganotin in aquatic organisms within several min. The analytical method has a much lower detection limit of 0.2–0.7 ng Sn/mL for triorganotin compounds, and can be used to determine trace triorganotin in aquatic organisms directly without any derivatization and preconcentration. Using above methods, we have successfully determined trimethyltin, triethyltin, tripropyltin and tributyltin in dried Mya arenaria Linnaeus and Corbicula fluminea within 17 min with a recovery of 93–104% and a RSD (relative standard deviation, n = 6) of 2–5%. Our results showed that dried M. arenaria Linnaeus contained an extremely high tributyltin of 5.1 μg Sn/g dried weight, indicating that it may be a good biomarker for the organotin pollution in ocean.