Issue 1, 2003

Identification and quantification of bisphenol A by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry in a lab-scale dual membrane system

Abstract

Endocrine disruptor contamination is an emerging issue of concern in the field of water quality engineering. In this study, a lab-scale microfiltration (MF) and reverse osmosis (RO) based water reclamation system was set up to monitor and evaluate the removal of bisphenol A (BPA), which is a known oestrogenic compound. The identification and quantification of BPA were performed by using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. It was noted that the detection method used in this study was able to achieve an average recovery ranging from 88.2 to 94.1% of BPA with standard deviations of less than 10% in different spiked samples. The detection limit of the analytical protocol was determined at 20 ng L−1. Based on the analytical protocol, it was noted that a low level of BPA (1.18–3.04 µg L−1) could be detected in feed water (effluent of an activated sludge treatment system) to the dual membrane water reclamation system. The results obtained suggested that BPA could be easily chlorinated by sodium hypochlorite with a dosage of 4 to 5 mg L−1 and a contact time of 1 to 2 min. In this lab-scale study, a satisfactory removal of BPA was readily obtained by RO and BPA was abated to an undetectable level in the product water. It was noted that the RO rejection characteristic of BPA was not sensitive to the variations in raw feed water characteristics experienced in this study. In addition, it was noted that BPA concentration present in raw feed water did not exert any significant impact on RO performance in terms of BPA rejection. The results of this study demonstrated that membrane technology could be effectively used for BPA removal.

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Jul 2002
Accepted
20 Dec 2002
First published
13 Jan 2003

J. Environ. Monit., 2003,5, 141-144

Identification and quantification of bisphenol A by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry in a lab-scale dual membrane system

J. Y. Hu, T. Yuan, S. L. Ong, L. F. Song and W. J. Ng, J. Environ. Monit., 2003, 5, 141 DOI: 10.1039/B207201G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Spotlight

Advertisements