engleski

The determination of phenols in water matrixes by high-performance liquid chromatography

The phenol and substituted phenols are among the most important contaminants present in the aquatic environment. The phenolic compounds are used in many industrial processes, including the production of drugs, textiles, dyes, pesticides or paper ; as a consequence, they are released in many industrial effluents and waste waters. Natural sources, like the degradation of humic substances, tannins or lignins, can contribute to the presence of phenolic compounds into the environment. The environmental concern posed by phenols pollution results from their high toxicity and persistence. Some of these compounds are either known or suspected endocrine disruptors or carcinogens. Due to their toxicity, persistence in the environment and their unpleasant organoleptic properties, some phenols, mainly chloro- and nitrophenols, have been included in the European Community Directive 76/464/EEC concerning dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment and in the US-EPA list of priority pollutants. The European legislation in drinking waters is very strict and the directive 80/778/EEC states that maximum admissible concentration of phenols should not exceed 0.5 µg/L for total phenols and 0.1 µg/L for any individual phenol. Several methods, such as spectrophotometry, electrochemical methods, capillary electrophoresis, gas chromatography or liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, have been used for detection of phenols in water. Usually, these techniques require a preliminary step for the isolation and preconcentration of phenols from aquatic matrix, using solid-phase extraction or liquid–liquid extraction. In the present study a simple and sensitive method for the determination of a number of nitro- and chloro- substituted phenolic compounds from water matrixes is proposed, some of them being included in the priority pollutants list. The phenolic compounds were previously isolated and preconcentrated by solid-phase extraction (SPE), and afterwards were analyzed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The optimum conditions for the determination of phenols were established by testing different sorbents and eluents. The practical applicability of the method was demonstrated by analyzing the phenolic compounds in different natural water samples.

substituted phenols; SPE; RP-HPLC

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