Survey of butyltin compounds in 12 types of foods collected in China.

Twelve representative food types including beans, fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, potatoes, sugar, beverages, alcohol, eggs, milk and corn were collected from four districts in China for the analysis of butyltin compounds. The hyphenated system of capillary gas chromatography-flame photometric detector using quartz surface-induced tin emission was used to measure proyylated butyltins in various samples. Low levels (ng g(-1)) of butyltin compounds were found in some samples and possible sources of contamination and their significance are discussed.