Stir bar sorptive extraction and thermal desorption–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry for trace analysis of triclosan in water sample

A simple and highly sensitive method called stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) and thermal desorption (TD)-gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), which is used for the determination of trace amounts of 5-chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)phenol (triclosan) in river water samples, is described. A stir bar coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is added to a 10 mL water sample and stirring is carried out for 120 min at room temperature (25 °C) in a vial. Then, the PDMS stir bar is subjected to TD–GC–MS. The detection limit of triclosan is 5 ng L−1 (ppt). The method shows linearity over the calibration range (0.02–20 μg L−1) and the correlation coefficient is higher than 0.997 for triclosan standard solution. The recovery of triclosan in river water samples ranges from 91.9 to 108.3% (RSD: 4.0–7.0%). This simple, accurate, sensitive, and selective analytical method may be used in the determination of trace amounts of triclosan in river water samples.