Simultaneous determination of four trace level endocrine disrupting compounds in environmental samples by solid-phase...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) pose risks to aquatic ecosystems and human health.
• Accurate detection of EDCs like bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol F (BPF), bisphenol AF (BPAF), and bisphenol AP (BPAP) in water is crucial.
• Existing methods may lack sensitivity or efficiency for trace-level EDC analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simple, rapid, sensitive, and effective method for simultaneous EDC determination in environmental water.
• To utilize multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as adsorbents for enhanced extraction of target EDCs.
• To validate the method's performance for trace analysis in real water samples.

Main Methods:

• Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) utilizing multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as adsorbents.
• High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for simultaneous separation and quantification of EDCs.
• Optimization of experimental parameters affecting extraction efficiency.

Main Results:

• Rapid extraction of target EDCs (BPA, BPF, BPAF, BPAP) within 10 minutes.
• High enrichment factors of 500 achieved under optimal conditions.
• Method detection limits ranging from 0.10-0.30 ng mL⁻¹, with recoveries of 85.3%-102.5% in real samples.

Conclusions:

• The developed SPME-HPLC method with MWCNTs is highly effective for simultaneous trace EDC analysis in environmental water.
• The method offers excellent sensitivity, precision, and accuracy, suitable for large-volume sample analysis.
• This technique provides a valuable tool for monitoring water contamination by EDCs.