Determination of Tributylin in Estuarine Water Using Bonded C-18 Silica Solid Phase Extraction, Hydride Derivization and GC-FPD

An analytical method for the determination of butyltin compounds in natural and simulated estuarine water using bonded octadecyl silica as a solid phase adsorbent, followed by hydride derivitization and gas chromatography coupled with tin selective flame photometric detection is described. The method is amenable to automation and has detection limits of about 5 ng/L for each of the four butyltin species. Relative standard deviations for eight replicate analyses of samples spiked a 100 ng/L range from 4-20% depending on the butyltin species.