Development and optimisation of a GC-MS method for the evaluation of oestrogens and persistent pollutants in river and seawater samples

This paper describes the development and validation of a GC-MS method which allows the simultaneous quantification of 11 endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in surface water samples from both estuary and sea. The analysed EDCs are oestrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2), 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2), 4-tert-octylphenol, 4-n-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol, bisphenol A and finally, mono and diethoxylates of 4-nonylphenol and 4-octylphenol. The method includes the pre-concentration of water samples, 1000-fold factor, in OASIS HLB cartridges by solid phase extraction, the derivatisation of all EDCs by N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide added with 1% trimethylchlorosilane and pyridine (at 65°C for 30?min) and, finally the stabilisation of the EDCs-silylated derivatives, in hexane, for 72?h. The validation parameters revealed that this method was highly specific for all target compounds using real samples. The linearity of the calibration curves (r ²) showed correlation factors higher than 0.990. The detection limits ranged from 0.10 to 1.45?ng?L^?1, depending on each analysed compound, and recoveries were satisfactory for most of the assayed EDCs (>60%). Analysis of samples from four polluted areas of Douro River estuary and from two points of the Atlantic Ocean (Portugal) showed high amounts of E1 (up to 1.96?ng?L^?1), E2 (up to 14.36?ng?L^?1) and EE2 (up to 2.76?ng?L^?1).     

1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ionic liquid-based liquid–liquid microextraction for the determination of 4-nonylphenol and 4- tert -octylphenol in environmental waters

In the present study, room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate was used as extraction solvent in a liquid–liquid microextraction (LLME) procedure followed by liquid chromatography for determining 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) and 4-tert-octylphenol (4-t-OP) in environmental water samples. RTIL-based LLME was a simple, inexpensive, and fast sample preparation method, and its parameters such as extraction time, addition of salt, selection of phase ratio, and pH value were optimized. The optimized method had acceptable limits of detection (LOD) and a precision of 2?µg?L^?1 and 8.1% for 4-NP and 0.6?µg?L^?1 and 3.7% for 4-t-OP, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied in river water and effluent from a sewage-treatment plant, and the recoveries spiked at 6?µg?L^?1 and 25?µg?L^?1 levels were in the range of 82–113%.     

Graphene oxide coated capillary for the analysis of endocrine‐disrupting chemicals by open‐tubular capillary electrochromatography with amperometric detection

A graphene oxide‐coated capillary was fabricated by using 3‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane as the cross‐linking agent. It was used for the separation and detection of three endocrine‐disrupting chemicals, including bisphenol A, 4‐nonylphenol, and 4‐octylphenol by capillary electrochromatography. Due to the hydrophobicity, hydrogen bonding, and π–π interaction between graphene oxide and the analytes, the three analytes could be well separated in pH = 11.0, 20 mmol/L Na₂B₄O₇‐NaOH/methanol mobile phase (50:50, v/v) within 950 s. After preconcentration, the detection limits were 6.7 × 10^?10, 3.3 × 10^?9, and 6.7 × 10^?10 mol/L (S/N = 3) for bisphenol A, nonylphenol, and octylphenol, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of the above analytes in water samples. The satisfactory result demonstrated that the graphene oxide coated capillary used in capillary electrochromatography with amperometric detection was convenient to prepare, highly stable, and had good reproducibility.     

Application of SPME to the determination of alkylphenols and bisphenol A in cyanobacteria culture media

In order to survey the influence of estrogenic compounds on cyanobacteria, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) with a carbowax-divinylbenzene fibre was used for the determination of tert-octylphenol (tert-OP), n-nonylphenol (n-NP), technical nonylphenol (tech-NP) and bisphenol A (BPA) in cyanobacteria culture media by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. Determinations were carried out without derivatization in deionized water and filtered culture media. A comparison between f2 and Fraquil culture media was performed, which showed that only f2 allowed quantitative recoveries. Headspace SPME with salting out, requiring only 10 mL of sample, was suitable for tert-OP, n-NP, and tech-NP determination with limits of detection (LOD) of <0.05 μg L⁻¹. For BPA, direct immersion SPME could provide a LOD of 1 μg L⁻¹. Automated sampling allowed reproducible extraction. No exudate substances overlapped with the studied compounds during the chromatographic separation and no matrix effects were observed. Ecotoxicity tests can be performed by single spiking of tert-OP and tech-NP and multiple spiking of n-NP due to its lower stability.     

Detection of Bisphenol A on a Screen-Printed Carbon Electrode in CTAB Micellar Medium

This work illustrates the effect of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as an antifouling and pre-concentrating agent for electroanalytical measurement of bisphenol A (BPA) on a screen-printed carbon electrode. The calibration graphs are obtained for BPA from 1.0 × 10^?6 to 1.0 × 10^?5 mol L^?1 in B-R buffer pH 8.0 with addition of CTAB in a ratio of [CTAB]/[BPA] 2:1 and the limit of detection was 5.1 × 10^?8 mol L^?1. Nonylphenol can be also monitored by SWV at a potential 170 mV more positive than bisphenol A in B-R buffer pH 11.0 in the presence of CTAB. The method was successfully applied for BPA determination in river water and sewage without any pretreatment of the samples.     

Fluorometric determination of nonylphenol in water samples enriched with zirconium doped titanium dioxide nanotubes solid phase extraction

This paper developed a fluorometric method for the sensitive determination of nonylphenol in water samples by preconcentration with zirconium doped titanium dioxide nanotubes solid phase extraction.The parameters on extraction that would influence the enrichment performance such as the kind and volume of eluent,sample pH,sample flow rate,and sample volume were optimized in detail.Under the optimal conditions,the proposed method provided an excellent linear range of 1-150 mg/L and good LOD of 0.076 mg/L.The relative standard deviation(RSD,n = 6) was 2.8%.Proposed method was also used for the analysis of real water samples and the spiked recoveries were satisfied in the range of 98.7-103%.     

高效液相色谱-串联质谱法测定环境水体中双酚A、辛基酚、壬基酚

建立了高效液相色谱-串联质谱测量水环境中的双酚A(BPA)、辛基酚(OP)、壬基酚(NP)的方法。提取方法基于液-液萃取,流动相为V(甲醇)∶V(水)=90∶10,流速200μL/min,运行时间为5min。质谱用来定量的碎片离子分别为:BPA,212.3;BPA-d16,223.4;OP,106.3;NP,106.3,定量采用内标法。仪器的检出限均为0.7pg,方法检出限均为0.07ng/L。对同一环境样品进行3个不同浓度(10、100、500 ng/L)的加标来测得回收率:BPA 79.4%~84.3%,RSD 2.7%~3.4%;NP 78.9%~112.5%,RSD 1.9%~5.0%;OP69.4%~122.7%,RSD3.4%~11.3%。基于该方法,对大连旅顺地区主要河流和排污口水体中的BPA、NP和OP进行了检测,浓度范围为35.67~753.92ng/L,与国内其他调查区域比酚类物质污染处于中等水平,而低于国外类似调查区域。