Monitoring of persistent organic pollutants in seawater of the Pearl River Estuary with rapid on-site active SPME sampling technique

• SPME on-site active sampling technique was developed and validated.
• The technique was employed for field tests in the Pearl River Estuary.
• 16 PAHs and 8 OCPs in the seawater of Pearl River Estuary were monitored.
• The potential risk of the PAHs and OCPs in Pearl River Estuary were discussed.

An on-site active solid-phase microextraction (SPME) sampling technique coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) for sampling and monitoring 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and 8 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in seawater was developed. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that the sampling-rate calibration method was practical and could be used for the quantification of on-site sampling. The proposed method was employed for field tests which covered large amounts of water samples in the Pearl River Estuary in rainy and dry seasons. The on-site SPME sampling method can avoid the contamination of sample, the losses of analytes during sample transportation, as well as the usage of solvent and time-consuming sample preparation process. Results indicated that the technique with the designed device can address the requirement of modern environment water analysis. In addition, the sources, bioaccumulation and potential risk to human of the PAHs and OCPs in seawater of the Pearl River Estuary were discussed.

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