title: Membrane inlet mass spectrometry of volatile organohalogen compounds in drinking water.
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.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica 'G. Ciamician', Università degli Studi di Bologna, via F. Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy. bocchini@ciam.unibo.it
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bocchini
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pozzi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Andalò
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Galletti
mesh_terms: D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride / Q000032:analysis; D002725:Chloroform / Q000032:analysis; D006842:Hydrocarbons, Brominated / Q000032:analysis; D006846:Hydrocarbons, Halogenated / Q000032:analysis*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D011786:Quality Control; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013750:Tetrachloroethylene / Q000032:analysis; D014240:Trichloroethanes / Q000032:analysis; D014241:Trichloroethylene / Q000032:analysis; D022882:Trihalomethanes; D014835:Volatilization; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D006842:Hydrocarbons, Brominated; D006846:Hydrocarbons, Halogenated; D014240:Trichloroethanes; D022882:Trihalomethanes; D014873:Water Pollutants; D014867:Water; C024566:1,1,1-trichloroethane; D014241:Trichloroethylene; C032707:chlorodibromomethane; C025191:bromodichloromethane; D002725:Chloroform; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride; D013750:Tetrachloroethylene; C015044:bromoform