Development of a Thermal Desorption Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Analysis Method for Airborne Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
Abstract
Mosquito behavior assays have been used to evaluate vector control interventions to include the efficacy of spatial repellents (SR). Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is the only pesticide with SR activity approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) to control mosquitoes capable of disease transmission. Determining airborne DDT concentrations within assay systems is critical to understanding mosquito behavior following exposure to DDT. Current analytical methods are not optimized to determine short duration concentrations of airborne DDT during entomological evaluations. The goals of this project were to develop and validate a thermal desorption (TD) gaschromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method to determine the concentration of airborne DDT in mosquito behavior assay systems. Precision (relative standard deviation for each calibration point (0.8-9.0), linearity (R2 = 0.99), and apparent recovery (R = 96.5%) were determined from TD GC-MS analyses of sampling tubes spiked with 1 to 250 ng DDT. Sample recovery with and without air sampling was 97.3% and 90.3%, respectively. During evaluation of a laboratory mosquito behavior assay system, 1 L airsamples were collected over 10 min intervals. Significantly higher levels of airborneDDT were measured in the chamber containing DDT-treated textiles compared tochambers free of DDT. In the field, 57 samples were collected from experimental huts with and without DDT for onsite analysis. The concentrations of airborne DDT in the two huts containing DDT over a four day period with variable ambient temperature were 0.74 g/m3 (n = 17; SD = 0.45) and 1.42 g/m3 (n = 30; SD = 0.96). The results demonstrate that the TD GC-MS method was precise, reproducible, and linear over the span of 1-250 ng DDT.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 28, 2013
- Accession Number
- AD1013006
Entities
People
- Nicholas J. Martin
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences