title: Determination of fuel ethers in water by membrane extraction ion mobility spectrometry.
abstract: Fuel oxygenates are environmentally detrimental compounds due to their rapid migration to groundwater. Fuel oxygenates have been reported to cause taste and odour problems in drinking water, and they also have long-term health effects. Feasible analytical methods are required to observe the presence of fuel oxygenates in drinking and natural water. The authors studied ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) to determinate isomeric fuel ether oxygenates; ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE), diisopropyl ether (DIPE), and tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME), separated from aqueous matrices with a pervaporation membrane module. Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) was also membrane extracted and detected with IMS. The authors demonstrated that fuel ethers (MTBE, ETBE, DIPE, and TAME) can be quantified at μg/L level with membrane extraction IMS. A membrane extraction module coupled to IMS is a time and cost effective analysis method because sampling can be performed in a single procedure and from different natural water matrices within a few minutes. Consequently, IMS combined with membrane extraction is suitable not only for waterworks and other online applications but also in the field monitoring the quality of drinking and natural water.
authors.affiliation: Lappeenranta University of Technology, Faculty of Technology, Department of Energy and Environmental Technology, Laboratory of Green Chemistry, Sammonkatu 12, 50130 Mikkeli, Finland. sanna.holopainen@lut.fi
authors.forename: Sanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holopainen
authors.forename: Marjaana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nousiainen
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sillanpää
mesh_terms: D005591:Chemical Fractionation; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D004987:Ethers / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005019:Ethyl Ethers / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005579:Fossil Fuels; D006801:Humans; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008738:Methyl Ethers / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D004987:Ethers; D005019:Ethyl Ethers; D005579:Fossil Fuels; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008738:Methyl Ethers; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C043243:methyl tert-butyl ether; C098546:ethyl tert-butyl ether; C096680:tertiary-amyl methyl ether; C011779:diisopropyl ether