Determination of alkyl-phenols in textiles by in-tube capillary solid-phase extraction-gas chromatography

Abstract

An in-tube capillary solid-phase extraction (SPE) -gas chromatography (GC) method was developed for confirmation and quantitative determination of octylphenol (OP) and nonylphenol (NP) in textiles. To make the in-tube capillary SPE column, the best SPE cartridge was chosen from four kinds of SPE cartridges. The adsorbent in the cartridge was used as the filling material to make the in-tube capillary SPE column. The nature, volume used, flow rate and adsorption capacity of the eluent were compared. Finally, the in-tube capillary solid-phase extraction was combined with gas chromatography to detect the alkyl phenols (APs). Abselut NEXUS extraction cartridge was chosen as the best solid phase extractant. The optimal in-tube capillary SPE extraction conditions were as follows: 1.2 μL methanol and 1.2 μL ultra-pure water for activating the extraction column, 1.2 μL methanol for eluting, 0.4 μL/min for solution loading. The method showed a good linear relationship in the low concentration range, and the enrichment ratios for the APs were about 100 times. The detection limits of octylphenol and nonylphenol were 3.7 μg/L and 4.5 μg/L, respectively. The recoveries of octylphenol were 85.6%-98.2%, and those of nonylphenol were 83.8%-95.7%. The experimental results demonstrated that the method is simple, rapid, and useful for detecting APs in textiles.