Analytical Methodology for the Determination of Freely Available Bleached Kraft Mill Effluent-Derived Organic Constituents in Recipient Sediments

Abstract

Methodology for the extraction, identification, and quantification of the freely available bleached kraft mill effluent constituents present in sediments is reported. A single Soxhlet Dean-Stark (SDS) extraction is followed by extract fractionation and quantification of the chlorophenolic constituents, resin acids, and base neutral resin-sourced cyclic hydrocarbons by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The extractable organic halide (EDX) content is also determined. The methodology was evaluated for the recovery and reproducibility of selected target compounds, surrogate standards, and some isotopically carbon-13 and deuterium labeled compounds. The recoveries of resin acids, resin-sourced hydrocarbons, chlorophenols and chloroguaiacols were typically of the order 80-95%, while replicate analyses resulted in relative standard deviations of the order 5-15%. Application of the methodology to some recipient sediments adjacent to a NewZealand bleached kraft mill resulted in the detection of elevated concentrations of abietan-18-oic acid, retene, and dehydroabietin