Combined solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry used for determination of chloropropanols in water

A sensitive and rapid derivatization method for the simultaneous determination of 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol (1,3-DCP) and 3-chloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) in water samples has been developed. The aim was to research the optimal conditions of the derivatization process for two selected reagents. A central composite design was used to determine the influence of derivatization time, derivatization temperature and reagent volume. A global desirability function was applied for multi-response optimization. The analysis was performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. During the optimization of the extraction procedure, four different types of solid-phase extraction (SPE) columns were tested. It was demonstrated that the Oasis HLB cartridge produced the best recoveries of the target analytes. The pH value and the salinity were investigated using a Doehlert design. The best results for the SPE of both analytes were obtained with 1.5 g of NaCl and pH 6. The proposed method provides high sensitivity, good linearity (R(2)≥0.999) and repeatability (relative standard deviations % between 2.9 and 3.4%). Limits of detection and quantification were in the range of 1.4-11.2 ng/mL and 4.8-34.5 ng/mL, respectively. Recoveries obtained for water samples were ca. 100% for 1,3-DCP and 3-MCPD. The method has been successfully applied to the analysis of different samples including commercially bottled water, an influent and effluent sewage.