DETERMINATION OF PHENOLS BY SOLID-PHASE MICROEXTRACTION AND GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a fast and simple analytical technique which uses coated fused silica fibers to extract analytes from aqueous samples. The analytes are desorbed in the injector of a gas chromatograph and subsequently analyzed. A SPME method based on poly(acrylate) coated fibers has been developed for phenols as an alternative to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wastewater methods 604 and 625-acid extractables. Limits of detection are typically at nanograms per liter, and the precision is at 5 % RSD, including nitrophenols. The sensitivity of the method is enhanced at low pH levels and with the addition of salt. The method was applied to the analysis of groundwater, and wastewater samples and SPME data are compared with more traditional techniques. The results indicate the suitability of the SPME approach for rapid screening for phenols at high and low concentration levels.