Fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs) used in laundry
detergents were determined in aqueous samples
from sewage treatment plants and rivers using solid-phase extraction (SPE) and high-performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC) with post-column UV irradiation
and fluorescence detection. FWAs were extracted
from 10−200-mL water samples with C18
bonded-
phase silica extraction disks and eluted with methanol-containing tetrabutylammonium ion-pairing reagent.
No further sample cleanup steps were necessary
due to the sensitive and selective fluorescence detection.
Recovery of FWAs from raw sewage, primary effluent,
secondary effluent, and river water ranged from 76
to 96%. The overall precision of the method,
indicated by the relative standard deviation, ranged
from 1 to 11%. The limit of quantification was less
than 30 ng/L. The concentrations of the two most
frequently used FWAs ranged from 7 to 21 μg/L in
primary effluent, from 2.6 to 8.9 μg/L in secondary
effluent,
and from 0.04 to 0.57 μg/L in river water. FWA mass
flows calculated from river water concentrations
ranged from 0.45 to 1.2 mg day-1
person-1. If calculated
on the basis of the consumed amount of FWAs, 1.4−5.6% was found in surface water. Light-induced
isomerization and liquid−solid partitioning of FWA
isomers were studied in samples of raw sewage and
primary and secondary effluent. Isomers formed
during the exposure to sunlight were found to have
lower affinity for the suspended solids in sewage
than the parent FWAs.