Potential of silicone passive sampler for Tributyltin (TBT) detection in tropical aquatic systems

Tributyltin (TBT) is a potent toxic chemical deliberately introduced to marine environments for combating biofoulings in marine structures. Several methods have been developed and used for TBT analysis in marine ecosystems. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of the silicone sheet passive sampler (SSPS) for organotin species tributyltin (TBT), dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MBT) from tropical waters. The study was conducted under laboratory based experiments and then applied to field trials for natural tropical coastal waters. The sampler showed good recovery for TBT (106%) compared to DBT (55%) and MBT (11%) under laboratory conditions. The maximum level of TBT 0.9 ng (Sn)/L was detected at the Zanzibar port using SSPS. The results of this study demonstrate that SSPS is more effective and promising for TBT detection in the tropical water column in comparison to its metabolites i.e DBT and MBT. This study suggests that the silicone sheet is a robust diagnostic tool for monitoring for TBT in tropical aquatic systems. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.