Abstract: A method was developed for the quantitative determination of decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The sample was separated on a Zorbax C18 column (5 μm, 150 mm×4.6 mm) at the temperature of 40 ℃ with the elution of methanol-tetrahydrofuran (70∶30, v/v) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. The detection wavelength was 230 nm. The assay exhibited a good linearity in decabromodiphenyl ethane concentration range from 0.001 to 0.100 g/L with a correlation coefficient of 0.9991. The limit of detection was 0.2 mg/L. The recovery was more than 96%(n=4), and the relative standard deviation was 4.0%(n=6). This method can be applied in the industrialized production for replacing the thermal analysis.

Key words: decabromodiphenyl ethane, flame retardant , high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)