[Determination of nonylphenol in wastewater by solid phase extraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry and...

Nonylphenol (NP) having endocrine disrupter activity is an ultra trace component in sewage and reuse wastewater. There are many NP isomers in the wastewater because nonyl structure is different. The background impurity of the samples is very complex with many other components. So it is difficulty for quantitative analysis of NP in the samples. About seventy sewages and recycled wastewater samples were measured for the content of NP isomer mixtures by solid-phase extraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and multi-selected ions monitoring (shortened as SPE-GC-MS-SIM). The results show that hydrophilic-lipophilic-equilibrium solid-phase extraction pole has selective adsorption for NP, so that the samples can be concentrated from 50 to 200 times. The five kinds of mass spectrum ions, i. e. 107, 121, 135, 149, 163, have higher abundance and distinct character. The sum of five selected ion monitoring (sigmaSIM) is from 54.4 to 73 percent of the total ion current for NP, which can accurately represent different NP isomers. Quantitative analysis base on the spectral integralof the sigmaSIM chromatograph can eliminate interference with background signal and ensure selectivity, accuracy and precision ofthe method.