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Determination of 19 volatile organic compounds in wastewater effluents from different treatments by purge and trap followed by gas-chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

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Abstract

A rapid and simple methodology based on purge and trap with gas-chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry has been developed for the analysis of 19 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in wastewater (WW) effluents from four different treatments. The determination was carried out in the raw WW effluents, which were not submitted to any pre-treatment (e.g., filtration). A matrix effect study was also performed, concluding that solvent calibration was adequate to quantify VOCs in WW effluent samples containing a variety of suspended particulate matter. Adequate validation parameters were obtained with recovery values in the range 73–124% and precision values lower than 24%. Limits of quantification were established at 0.1 μg L-1 for all VOCs. The proposed method was applied to the analysis of WW samples, detecting chloroform and toluene at concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 4.80 μg L-1.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Andalusian Regional Government (Regional Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Enterprise-FEDER) for financial support (Project Ref. P08-RNM-03892). NBB is grateful for her pre-doctoral grant from the aforementioned project. PPB acknowledges for personal funding through Juan de la Cierva Program (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation-European Social Fund). RRG is also grateful for personal funding through Ramón y Cajal Program (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation-European Social Fund). CENTA WWTP is gratefully acknowledged for providing WW samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Almeria, 04071, Almeria, Spain

    Nieves Barco-Bonilla, Patricia Plaza-Bolaños, Roberto Romero-González, Antonia Garrido Frenich & José Luis Martínez Vidal

  2. Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain

    Patricia Plaza-Bolaños

  3. Laboratorio Analítico Bioclínico LAB, Almeria Science and Technology Park (PITA), 04120, Almeria, Spain

    José Luis Fernández-Moreno

Authors
  1. Nieves Barco-Bonilla
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  2. Patricia Plaza-Bolaños
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  3. José Luis Fernández-Moreno
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  4. Roberto Romero-González
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  5. Antonia Garrido Frenich
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  6. José Luis Martínez Vidal
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Correspondence to Antonia Garrido Frenich.

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Barco-Bonilla, N., Plaza-Bolaños, P., Fernández-Moreno, J.L. et al. Determination of 19 volatile organic compounds in wastewater effluents from different treatments by purge and trap followed by gas-chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 400, 3537–3546 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-011-5014-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-011-5014-3

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