Abstract
A sensitive, selective and rapid analytical method was developed for the determination of 4, 6-dinitro-o-cresol (DNOC) and 2, 6-dinitro-p-cresol (DNPC) in environmental water samples by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). Trace amounts of DNOC and DNPC in water samples adjusted to pH3 were collected on an Autoprep PS-Liq@ cartridge (PS-Liq cartridge) at flow rate of a 50ml · min-1 and then eluted with 5ml of acetonitrile. The targets were separated with a reversed-phase column (ODS-3, 2.1 mm x 150mm, and 5μm) and measured by mass spectrometry operated in the electrospray ionization (ESI)-negative mode. The method detection limit (MDL) was 0.24ng · l-1 for DNOC and 0.49ng · l-1 for DNPC. The method was then applied to the environmental water samples from Osaka Prefecture. The concentrations of DNOC were 2.1∼74ng · l-1 and those of DNPC were n.d.∼43ng · l-1.
