Determination of trace organic pollutants in aqueous samples using GC/MS and SPE techniques

Conference · Fri Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:387281

Yoo, L J; Yamamoto, M; Fitzsimmons, S; Shen, Y ^[1]

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1. Orange County Water District, Fountain Valley, CA (United States)

This study evaluates the advantage of using GC/MS (ion trap) and solid phase extraction (SPE) for the determination of semi-volatile organics which cover priority pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, phthalates, and synthetic organic analytes. SPE of trace organic compounds using reverse phase sorbent is attractive compared to the more traditional methods that utilize liquid-liquid extraction or microextraction for the removal of these pollutants from aqueous samples. GC/MS method involving SPE for sample preparation reduces manual labor, speed sample processing,and substantially reduces the volume of solvent required. Also, the application of axial modulation ion trap mass spectrometry improved sensitivity in GC/MS analysis and the method accuracy and precision of semi-volatile organics from GC/MS (ion trap) are very competitive with electron capture detector and photo ionization detector. Systematic studies were done to determine the factors that effect the optimum disk sampling/elution conditions to achieve the quality control requirements for the compliance monitoring. The recoveries of phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH`s) and most of the organic pesticides, which have very hydrophobic nature and high boiling points, are very acceptable. Consequently GC/MS analysis using solid phase extraction (SPE) techniques can be applied as the primary analytical method and final conformation tool for the routine monitoring samples such as ground water, surface water and reclaimed water for the determination of trace organic pollutants with improved sensitivity, reduced extraction time and monitoring expense.

• OSTI ID: 387281
• Report Number(s): CONF-951108--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
DETECTION
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
GROUND WATER
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
SURFACE WATERS