Simultaneous Determination of 12 Disinfection By-Products in Fish Muscles by Solvent Extraction Coupled With Gas Chromatography Equipped With an Electron Capture Detector

Disinfection by-products (DBPs) have received considerable focus due to potential teratogenic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic effects; however, there is an evident gap in the availability of analytical methodologies for the simultaneous determination of DBPs in fish, especially iodinated DBPs. This paper developed an innovative analytical method for the simultaneous determination of 12 DBPs, including four trihalomethanes (THMs), three haloacetonitriles, and five iodinated THMs (I-THMs), in fish muscle, utilizing solvent extraction followed by gas chromatography with electron capture detection. The method incorporates tert-butyl methyl ether as an extraction solvent, performing efficient vortex mixing, extraction, and centrifugation under reduced temperature conditions to facilitate the processing of physically disrupted fish tissues. It demonstrates sensitivity with detection limits from 0.21 to 4.02 ng/g, with recoveries from 58.7% to 129.7%. Applied to real fish samples, including bass (n = 7) and carp (n = 7), all contained detectable DBPs, with concentrations between 8.2 and 275.25 ng/g. Significantly, bass from aquaculture facility exhibited the highest contamination, particularly with chlorodiiodomethane at 194.57 ng/g. I-THMs present in all fish samples. Notably, this is the first paper about the analytical protocol of I-THMs in biological matrices. This developed method will facilitate further research on human exposure assessment of DBPs through consumption of fish.