Determination of alkyl, chloro and mononitrophenols in water by sample-acetylation and automatic on-line solid phase extraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry

On-line solid phase extraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has been used for trace analysis of phenols in water samples at the low ng L-1 level. Phenols have been derivatized by in-sample acetylation prior to an automatic SPE-GC-MS procedure. The method was validated with 26 alkyl, chloro and mononitrophenols including 4-nonylphenol and 17-ethinyl-estradiol. Target analysis was performed by time-scheduled, selected ion monitoring. The on-line SPE-GC approach resulted in low sample volume (typically 10 mL), good reproducibility, sensitivity and considerable saving of reagents, material and manual work.