A gas chromatography/mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous analysis of 50 phenols in wastewater using deconvolution technology

Abstract

Phenolic compounds exist widely in the influents and effluents of sewage treatment plants (STPs) and most are un-regulated. In this study, a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for the simultaneous analysis of 50 phenolic compounds in wastewater was developed. Deconvolution technology was used to identify contaminants that are covered by co-extracted materials. A mass spectral library containing all 50 silylated phenolic compounds was first established and used for deconvolution. Twelve typical phenolic compounds were selected to optimize the sample preparation procedures. Solid-phase extraction using a C18 cartridge coupled with an HLB cartridge was used for pre-concentration and dichloromethane was used for elution. The solutes were derivatized and analyzed by GC-MS. The blank and matrix spike recoveries ranged from 57.46% to 136.4% and 47.87% to 114.8%, respectively. Method detection limits ranged from 3.64 to 97.64 ng L -1 . The relative standard deviations of all the recovery experiments were lower than 13.6%. The instrument limits of quantification ranged from 0.7 to 87.7 pg. The method has been applied to analyze the influents and effluents of 5 Chinese STPs. Except for regulated phenolic compounds (phenol and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol), three un-regulated phenolic compounds, including 2-chlorophenol, 2,5-dichlorophenol and 2,4-dichloro-3-ethyl-6-nitrophenol were identified in the effluent wastewater. The detected concentrations of un-regulated phenolic compounds could possibly cause environmental effects, indicating that immediate attention is required to prevent complications. identify, quantify, phenolic compounds, deconvolution, wastewater Citation:Zhong W J, Wang D H, Xu X W, et al. A gas chromatography/mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous analysis of 50 phenols in wastewater using deconvolution technology.

Quick and easy method for determination of priority phenolic compounds in water and wastewater

“…16,41 However, the observed recoveries for other phenolic compounds were in agreement with other studies. 14,25,28,29,40 The standard deviations of all the recovery experiments were lower than 17%. Variation in recoveries may be better explained with their physical-chemical properties (Table 1).…”

“…4 As a result, relatively large amount of phenolic compounds has the potential to reach aquatic environments and frequently found in aquatic environments. 2,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to phenolic compounds, due to increasing concerns about their toxicity potential and negative impacts on the environment. 11,[15][16][17][18] Therefore, some phenols mainly chlorophenols and nitrophenols, have been classified as priority pollutants by world health organization (WHO), 19 United States environmental protection agency (USEPA) 20 and the European Community 21 (Table 1).…”

“…23,24 For quantitative detection, most frequently used chromatographic methods are gas chromatography (GC) combined with flame ionization detection or gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) detection. 1,7,13,14,16,25,26 However, in GC analysis derivatization step is needed for nonvolatile compounds which results most of the time GC columns degradation. 27 Moreover, derivatization increases the sample preparation time and represent another source of errors.…”

Data on contents of fifty phenolic compounds in three rivers in Tianjin, China

“…The detailed information of 50 phenolic compounds are displayed in our previously papers [2] , [3] , [4] . The concentration ranges, standard deviations, average concentrations, and median values for each of identified phenolic compound in three rivers are listed in the Table 1 , Table 2 , Table 3 , Table 4 , respectively.…”

Pentachlorophenol affected both reproductive and interrenal systems: In silico and in vivo evidence

“…The concentrations of PCP in the flow-through chambers were measured once a week during the exposure period, following method of Zhong et al (2011) with minor modifications. Briefly, water samples (500 mL) from the PCP treatments were filtered by 0.45 mm glass fiber filters (Millipore Corp., Bedford, MA, USA) and then enriched by solid-phase extraction cartridges.…”