Gas chromatographic determination of phenol in fish tissues as a phenyl acetate derivative following solvent extraction of acidified samples

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a chromatographic method to quantitatively determine phenol in fish tissues. This method involves solvent extraction of acidified samples, followed by derivatization to phenyl acetate and analysis with gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Phenol in a representative tissue sample (belly, gill, or renal tubules), which was homogenized with 2 N sulfuric acid, was extracted with ethyl acetate and derivatized to phenyl acetate using acetic anhydride and K2CO3 in water. An n-butyl acetate extract was injected into the GC–MS. The linearity (r2) of the calibration curve was greater than 0.996. The analytical repeatability, which is expressed as the relative standard deviation, was less than 6.14%, and the recovery was greater than 96.3%. The method detection limit and the limit of quantitation were 8.0 μg/kg and 26 μg/kg, respectively. The proposed method is also applicable to the analysis of other biological tissues for phenol and its analogs, such as pentachlorophenol.