Summary: | Thesis (DTech (Environmental Health))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011. === This study was aimed to provide baseline information about the environmental levels of selected PBDEs
(BDE 28, 47, 100, 99, 154, 153, 183 & 209) and BB 153 in different matrices, including wastewater
treatment plants' effluent, sludge, landfill leachate, river water and bottom sediment samples from
different locations within the City of Cape Town. The monitoring of these contaminants was carried out
bi-monthly over an extended period of 12 months beginning from April 2010 to March 2011. In this
study, a total of 63, 168, 312, 93 and 108 samples for leachate, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP)
sludge, effluent, river water and bottom sediment, respectively were collected from three landfill sites,
four WWTPs and two rivers within the City of Cape Town.
The aqueous matrices were extracted using a liquid-liquid extraction technique. The extraction of both
sediment and sludge samples were performed using mechanical shaking and soxhlet extraction techniques,
respectively. Extract obtained were further purified using multi-layer silica gel column chromatographic
technique. The routine analysis of these target compounds was carried out using a gas chromatograph
equipped with an electron capture detector (GC-µECD). However, the structural elucidation of these
compounds was performed with a gas chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS)
instrument.
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