Abstract
In this study, the use of bracts as a natural sorbent in solid-phase microextraction was exploited for use in the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water samples with separation/detection performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Fiber-to-fiber reproducibility was evaluated and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was lower than 14%. Optimizations were performed using both the proposed and DVB/Car/PDMS (divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane) fibers. The optimum extraction conditions were 80 min of extraction at 50 oC with 12% (m/v) NaCl for the bract fiber, and 100 min of extraction at 80 oC for the commercial fiber. The limits of detection and quantification for the proposed fiber were, respectively, 0.003 and 0.01 µg L-1 for fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene and pyrene, and 0.03 and 0.1 µg L-1 for acenaphthylene, benzo(a)anthracene and chrysene. The method using bract fiber provided relative recoveries ranging from 68 to 117%, intraday and interday precisions lower than 17 and 19%, respectively, and extraction efficiency similar to that of the DVB/Car/PDMS fiber.
Highlights
Environmental problems caused by anthropogenic activities are continually increasing and gaining attention worldwide
The aim of this study was to increase the applicability of this promising biosorbent coating in solid-phase microextraction, through its use in an environmentallyfriendly technique for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water samples, with separation and quantification by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)
It can be observed that different biosorbent-based fibers prepared according to the same procedure provided similar results for the extraction of the compounds studied
Summary
Environmental problems caused by anthropogenic activities are continually increasing and gaining attention worldwide. The determination of PAHs in surface waters is very important since these are often used as drinking water supplies.[6] For the determination of PAHs in different matrices, a sample preparation procedure is generally carried out. The isolation of the analytes from potential interfering compounds present in the sample matrix and compatibility with the analytical instrumentation can be achieved by using an adequate sample preparation technique.[7,8,9] The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States of America has established liquidliquid extraction (LLE) and solid phase extraction (SPE) as sample preparation techniques to extract and concentrate PAHs in water samples.[10,11] these procedures require large amounts of toxic organic solvents and involve a number of steps, which increases the possibility of errors.[12] Recent trends have emphasized the importance
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