Development of an analytical protocol for the determination of polybrominated biphenyls in water by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

A novel immunoassay has been developed for the quantitative determination of polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) using indirect competitive format. A new method was developed to synthesize PBBs congener (PCB15) hapten and its artificial immunogen, then the polyclonal antibodies. The assay was optimized concerning the coating conjugate and antibody concentration, incubation time and temperature, the tolerance to organic solvents and so on. Under optimized conditions, PBB15 can be determined in the concentration range of 0.01-100 mu g L-1 with a detection limit of 0.02 mu g L-1. The cross-reactivities of the assays were below 8%. While water samples could be analyzed directly.