Determination of hydrophilic alcohols from aquatic environment by solid-phase microextraction and GC/MS

Abstract

The authors have developed an analytical method for hydrophilic alcohols, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, 1-butanol, 2-butanol and tert-butanol, in water and sediment samples by solid-phase microextraction coupled with GC/MS. Extraction efficiencies of the alcohols from water were dramatically improved by adding potassium carbonate as a salting-out reagent.The mean recovery of the alcohols from water at concentrations of 15 to 1.0 μg/l was 94%, and the mean relative standard deviation was 12%. The detection limits of the alcohols ranged from 0.63 to 4.3 μg/l.In order to analyze sediment samples, the alcohols were first extracted with water and the following procedures were carried out in the same manner as for water samples. The mean recovery of the alcohols from sediment samples at 20 μg/kg was 94%, and the mean relative standard deviation was 21%. The detection limits of the alcohols ranged from 6.9 to 84μg/kg(wet). Analysis of real environmental samples from a sea sediment detected 1-propanol and 2-propanol at 140 and 500 μg/kg(dry), respectively.