Determination of nitrophenols in rain and snow

Abstract

Nitrophenols have been determined in rain collected in Hannover (F. R. Germany) over a period of 9 months in 1988 and in snow collected in Northrhine-Westphalia (F. R. Germany) in February and March 1988. The precipitation samples were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) using an electron capture detector (ECD), a nitrogen sensitive detector (NPD) and a chemiluminescence detector (thermal energy analyzer, TEA) and by combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) using both electron impact (EI) and negative ion chemical ionization (NICI) and in addition by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a photodiode array detector. 2-Nitrophenol, 4-nitrophenol, 3-methyl-4-nitrophenol, 2,6-dimethyl-4-nitrophenol, 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP), 2,4-dinitro-6-methylphenol (DNOC), 2,4-dinitro-6-sec-butylphenol (Dinoseb), one additional methylnitrophenol and two additional dimethylnitrophenols have been identified, several other compounds have been identified tentatively. In most instances 4-nitrophenol is the predominant component observed in concentrations ranging from 0.5–17.1 μg/l in rain and from <0.5–16.1 μg/l in snow.