Membrane inlet mass spectrometry of volatile organohalogen compounds in drinking water. |
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Authors: | P Bocchini R Pozzi C Andalò G C Galletti |
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Institution: | Dipartimento di Chimica 'G. Ciamician', Università degli Studi di Bologna, via F. Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy. bocchini@ciam.unibo.it |
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Abstract: | The analysis of organic pollutants in drinking water is a topic of wide interest, reflecting on public health and life quality. Many different methodologies have been developed and are currently employed in this context, but they often require a time-consuming sample pre-treatment. This step affects the recovery of the highly volatile compounds. Trace analysis of volatile organic pollutants in water can be performed 'on-line' by membrane inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS). In MIMS, the sample is separated from the vacuum of the mass spectrometer by a thin polymeric hollow-fibre membrane. Gases and organic volatile compounds diffuse and concentrate from the sample into the hollow-fibre membrane, and from there into the mass spectrometer. The main advantages of the technique are that no pre-treatment of samples before analysis is needed and that it has fast response times and on-line monitoring capabilities. This paper reports the set-up of the analytical conditions for the analysis of volatile organohalogen compounds (chloroform, bromoform, bromodichloromethane, chlorodibromomethane, tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and carbon tetrachloride). Linearity of response, repeatability, detection limits, and spectra quality are evaluated. |
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