Rapid magnetic-mediated solid-phase extraction and pre-concentration of selected endocrine disrupting chemicals in natural waters by poly(divinylbenzene-co-methacrylic acid) coated Fe3O4 core-shell magnetite microspheres for their liquid chromatography–ta

A new Fe3O4/poly(divinylbenzene-co-methacrylic acid) core-shell magnetite microspheric material have been successfully developed as magnetic-mediated solid-phase extraction micro-particle sorbent in dispersion mode (MM-SPE-MP) for the determination of selected estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), namely: estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) and bisphenol-A (BPA), in natural water, via quantification by HPLC tandem mass spectrometry. The magnetite Fe3O4 core of this MM-SPE-MP sorbent was fabricated by a solvothermal approach and the thin layer of amphipolar poly(divinylbenzene-co-methacrylic acid) (pDVB-MAA) coating was established via suspension polymerization. The resultant core-shell MM-SPE-MP sorbent material was characterized by electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy. Particle size distribution of the core-shell microspheres was within the range 300–700 nm in diameter and the thickness of the pDVB-MAA coating was ca. 10 nm. This magnetite microspheric material can be easily dispersed in aqueous samples and retrieved by the application of external magnetic field via a small piece of permanent magnet. The MM-SPE-MP process for the selected estrogenic EDCs involved the dispersion of the core-shell microspheric sorbent in water samples with sonication, followed by magnetic aided retrieval of the sorbent and solvent (methanol) desorption of extracted EDCs for LC–MS/MS analysis. Partition equilibrium for all the selected EDCs onto this MM-SPE-MP sorbent was achieved within 15 min. Recoveries of the EDCs were in ranges of 56–111%. Analytes with smaller KOW value showed relatively lower recovery (and relatively longer equilibration time for partitioning). Method detection limits achieved were found to be 1–36 pg ml−1 (n = 3), while the repeatability was 6–34% (p < 0.05, n = 3). This work demonstrates the usefulness of MM-SPE-MP in the rapid and highly sensitive monitoring of trace organic contaminants in natural waters.