Determination of new antifouling agents in seacoasts in Korea by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

Antifouling agents including tributyltin (TBT) compound and its derivatives have been used for many years, but the usage of TBT in Korea was legally restricted in 2003, due to its significant environmental impact. Following this, many new alternative antifouling agents have been used. In this experiment, four major antifouling agents were selectively analyzed to study their release in seawater and tidal flats on the Korean Peninsula. These new antifouling agents were extracted from the seawater and tidal flats using a liquid-liquid extraction method and microwave extraction, respectively. The measured concentrations of Irgarol 1051, Sea-Nine 211, Dichlofluanid and Chlorothalonil ranged from N.D.-23.80 ng/L, N.D.-15.30 ng/L, N.D.-61.69 ng/L and N.D.-4.19 ng/L in the seawater samples and from N.D.-159.45 ng/g, N.D.-476.57 ng/g, N.D.-59.79 ng/g and N.D.-21.27 ng/g in the tidal flat samples, respectively. Interestingly, these new antifouling agents were not detected in any area in the tidal flats at Pusan, whereas a certain amount of them was found in the seawater.