Determination of aromatic sulfonates in coastal water by on-line ion-pair solid-phase extraction/ion-pair liquid chromatography with UV detection

A method for determining aromatic sulfonates in sea water is presented. Ion-pair solid phase extraction is coupled on-line to ion-pair liquid chromatography with UV detection. In the enrichment step, the recoveries from 100 mL of sea water were higher than 65% for most analytes. linearity was good and detection limits were between 0.02 and 1 mug L-1. The repeatability of the method, expressed as % of relative standard deviation (n = 3) was between 1 and 15%. The method was checked in coastal water near the commercial port of Tarragona, where effluents from the petrochemical industry are discharged. All the samples taken were found to contain 2-naphthalenesulfonate.