Determination of some banned aromatic amines in waste water using micellar liquid chromatography

Abstract

Aromatic amines are extensively used in industry but they are classified as a potential environment and health hazard. A new high performance liquid chromatography method has been developed and optimized, for the determination of eight banned aromatic amines: benzidine, o-anisidine, o-phenylenediamine, o-nitroaniline, 2-methoxy-5-methylaniline (p-cresidine), o-toluidine, p-toluidine and p-chloroaniline. The chromatographic conditions used were: C18 column, 0.085 M SDS, 3.2% (v/v) pentanol mobile phase buffered at pH 7.0, with detection at 280 nm. Under these conditions, the eight aromatic amines were separated and quantified in industrial waste waters in less than 16 min. Method validation studies were performed according to the ICH Guideline. The possibility of direct injection using micellar liquid chromatography reduces the cost and the total time of analysis, and decreases error sources owing to minimized risks of losses and chemical changes in the analytes. The proposed method is a good candidate for application in the routine analysis in the area of environmental monitoring.