title: An improved polystyrene polymeric XAD-2 resin column extraction of 5beta-cholestan-3beta-ol from polluted water.
abstract: Appropriate methods and criteria for judging the degree of sewage contamination of water and its suitability for drinking or recreational uses are essential to safeguard the public health. 5beta-cholestan-3beta-ol seems to satisfy many, if not all, of the criteria required of a good indicator of fecal pollution. It was shown that this fecal sterol was strongly adsorbed to the polystyrene polymeric XAD-2 adsorbents at low pH, resulting in a 100% retention. The adsorbed sterols could be easily removed from the columns with acetone adjusted to pH 8.5-9 with concentrated NH4OH. It has also been demonstrated that large volumes of both fresh and sea water samples can be extracted by the "closed" column method in a relatively short time. The sensitivity of the column exceeded that of the conventional liquid-liquid partitioning procedure. With some modifications, the column extraction process can be incorporated in a fully- or semi-automated analytical procedure.
mesh_terms: D002777:Cholestanols / Q000032:analysis*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D005243:Feces; D007475:Ion Exchange Resins; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D002777:Cholestanols; D007475:Ion Exchange Resins