Re-evaluation of solid-phase adsorption and desorption techniques for isolation of trace organic pollutants from...

Amberlite XAD resin and activated carbon columns were tested for their abilities to concentrate trace organic pollutants in chlorinated water. Both XAD-2 and XAD-7 resin columns (20 ml) were capable of adsorbing about 30% of total organic halogen (TOX) present in 20 l of drinking water (pH 7) containing about 100 micrograms/l of TOX, whereas the carbon column (10 ml) adsorbed over 90% of TOX. The adsorption capacity of XAD-7 resin was found to be strongly dependent on the solution pH, as compared with those of XAD-2 and carbon adsorbents. Soxhlet and sonication extractions were also evaluated for their abilities to recover the adsorbed organics from the adsorbents, by measurements of TOX, chromatographable compounds and mutagenicity in the eluates. Soxhlet extraction gave higher recoveries than sonication, as measured with the above indices, but these differences were generally small (ca. 20%), with exception of the carbon extracts. The XAD-2 and XAD-7 extracts of drinking water also showed about 3-4 times higher mutagenic activity than the carbon extracts.