Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7608312 | Journal of Chromatography A | 2018 | 9 Pages |
Abstract
Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes, more commonly named BTEX, represent one of the most ubiquitous and hazardous groups of atmospheric pollutants. The goal of our research was the trace quantification of BTEX in water by using a new simple, low-cost, and accurate method, based on headspace (HS) extraction and gas chromatography (GC) coupled to barrier ionization discharge detector (BID). This water application dealt with simple matrices without protein, fat, or humic material that adsorb target analytes, thus the external standard calibration was suitable to quantify each compound. The validation steps included the study of linearity, detection and quantification limits, and accuracy. LODs and LOQs varied from 0.159 to 1.845â¯Î¼g/L and from 0.202 to 2.452â¯Î¼g/L, respectively. The recovery was between 0.74â¯Â±â¯0.13 and 1.15â¯Â±â¯0.09; relative standard deviations (% RDSs) were less than 12.81% (nâ¯=â¯5) and 14.84% (nâ¯=â¯10). Also, GC performance was evaluated in term of efficiency, peak tailing and resolution. Preliminary results from practical applications to analyses of real samples are presented. The results indicate that static HS coupled to GC-BID is a successful method for BTEX analysis in water samples at the μg/L levels, provided that hydrocarbons interference occur at similar concentration levels. GC-BID may become a routine reference method alongside the official analytical techniques for quality control purposes of contaminated waters. Moreover, the new method is amenable to automation by using commercial HS units.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemistry
Analytical Chemistry
Authors
Raffaella Pascale, Giuliana Bianco, Stefania Calace, Salvatore Masi, Ignazio M. Mancini, Giuseppina Mazzone, Donatella Caniani,