Steroid hormone determination in water using an environmentally friendly membrane based extraction technique

Area of Science:

• Environmental Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Water Quality Analysis

Background:

• Steroid hormones are emerging contaminants in water bodies.
• Accurate determination of steroid hormones is crucial for environmental monitoring.
• Existing methods may lack sensitivity or require complex sample preparation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and optimize a sensitive method for determining specific steroid hormones in tap and sewage water.
• To evaluate the efficiency of hollow-fibre microporous membrane liquid-liquid extraction (HF-MMLLE) for steroid hormone analysis.
• To establish method performance characteristics, including limits of detection and repeatability.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a hollow-fibre microporous membrane liquid-liquid extraction (HF-MMLLE) technique.
• Coupled HF-MMLLE with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for analysis.
• Investigated parameters such as organic solvent, pH, salt, and humic acid content.

Main Results:

• Achieved low nanogram per liter (ng/L) level determination of steroid hormones in water samples.
• Obtained high correlation coefficients (>0.995) for linear calibration plots.
• Demonstrated method limits of detection as low as 1.6 ng/L for 17beta-estradiol in sewage water.
• Reported enrichment factors exceeding 1400 after derivatization.
• Showcased good repeatability, with values better than 10% and 6% at different concentrations.

Conclusions:

• The developed HF-MMLLE-GC-MS method is highly effective for the sensitive determination of steroid hormones in environmental water samples.
• The method offers a significant improvement in sensitivity and efficiency for water quality monitoring.
• This technique provides a reliable tool for assessing steroid hormone contamination in tap and sewage water.