Simultaneous Analysis of Five Selected Phenolic Xenoestrogens in Water Sample Using Solid Phase Extraction-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

This paper presents a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method for simultaneous detection of five selected phenolic xenoestrogens. These include 4,4′-biphenyldiol (4,4′-dihydroxybiphenyl), 3-hydroxybiphenyl (m-phenylphenol), and 6-bromo-2-naphthol. In each analysis, one liter of water sample was extracted by using solid phase extraction (SPE) method. A simple and yet reliable derivatization reagent (i.e. trimethylphenylammonium hydroxide solution) was used in this study to enhance detection sensitivity. The method detection limits of the proposed method for the selected phenolic xenoestrogens were found to fall within the range of 2.3 to 12.4 ng L-1. Results of recovery tests showed that recoveries of the selected phenolic xenoestrogens in deionized water were within the range of 64% to 88% with relative standard deviations of 4% to 17% (n = 10), when spiked with 100 and 500 ng L -1 of standards. The corresponding results for the fortified treated wastewater samples were 69% to 87% and 5% to 12% (n = 7), respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for detecting the selected xenoestrogens in tap water, treated wastewater and fortified deionized water. It was noted that the target compounds, at low ng L-1 levels, could be detected in treated wastewater samples.