title: Detection of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole in chlorinated water at nanogram per litre levels by SPME-GC-ECD.
abstract: A method involving solid-phase micro extraction (SPME) and gas chromatography with electron capture detection (SPME-GC-ECD) has been optimised for identification and quantification of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) at ng L(-1) concentrations in disinfected (chlorinated) water samples. A central composite design was used for factorial analysis of four factors, three factors related to the SPME (PDMS fibre) procedure (adsorption time, temperature of the sample during headspace sampling, and desorption time) and one related to the GC operation (the rate of increase of the temperature of the GC oven). Good linearity (linear correlation coefficient greater than 0.999) was observed for TCA concentrations up to 50 ng L(-1), limits of detection and quantification of 0.7 and 2.3 ng L(-1), respectively, and good precision (relative standard deviation 2.8% and 3.4% for 5 and 30 ng L(-1) of TCA, respectively). Besides TCA, this system also enables the detection and quantification of the four trihalomethanes in the microg L(-1) concentration range with limits of detection and quantification of approximately 0.3 microg L(-1) and 1 microg L(-1), respectively.
authors.affiliation: LAQUIPAI, Chemistry Department, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, R. Campo Alegre 687, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Paula B M
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.forename: Joaquim C G
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Esteves da Silva
mesh_terms: D000840:Anisoles / Q000032:analysis*; D002713:Chlorine / Q000737:chemistry*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000840:Anisoles; C110228:2,4,6-trichloroanisole; D002713:Chlorine