Abstract
Currently, water quality assessment has become a necessity in order to maintain healthy living. Point and non-point sources of water pollutants are either organic or inorganic in nature. Non-volatile organic compounds (nVOCs) mostly exist as solids at room temperature and are used on a large scale in most chemical industries. Since these nVOCs are toxic to both animals and humans and some of these non-volatile organic compounds are carcinogenic, it is important to analyze the water in order to ascertain its quality by identifying which types of compounds are present in these systems and quantifying them. This work reports on the use of a new and alternative method for qualitative analysis of nVOCs in water systems. Analysis was done for 13 sampling sites (seven from wastewater and six from surface water found in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, respectively). Vacuum evaporation followed by methanol extraction of the residues was performed. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) was conducted using NaCl disc and KBr pellets and their results compared. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was chosen as a technique for comparison and to prove that the simple infrared (IR) can be used instead. In addition, HPLC is an ideal analytical technique for non-volatile substances.
Highlights
In South Africa, water systems present in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces continue to be polluted daily due to heavy industrial and mining activities
Chlorinated organic compounds (COCs) represent an important class of compounds and many of them have been produced in large quantities
Polyglycols, surfactants, rubber additives, pesticides, dyes and pharmaceuticals are chemical families containing a large number of non-volatile compounds.[4]
Summary
In South Africa, water systems present in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces continue to be polluted daily due to heavy industrial and mining activities. The pollutants in most surface water are organic compounds and are either volatile or non-volatile in nature. The presence of non-volatile organics in water systems originate from humans activities, such as the petroleum industry, agrochemicals and many other chemical industries. Chlorinated organic compounds (COCs) represent an important class of compounds and many of them have been produced in large quantities. Spills and accidental release contaminate the environment unintentionally, Polyglycols, surfactants, rubber additives, pesticides, dyes and pharmaceuticals are chemical families containing a large number of non-volatile compounds.[4] Crathrome et al.[5] provides a description for the determination of four particular non-volatile chlorinated compounds (Fig. 1) namely: 5-chlorouracil used in pharmaceuticals, 4-chlororesorcinol used in the formulation of hair dyes, colours and tints, 5-chlorouridine used as a biomarker and 5-chlorosalicylic acid used as an intermediate of pesticide.[6]
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