ANALYSIS OF PULP-MILL EFFLUENT CONTAMINANTS IN WATER, SEDIMENT, AND FISH MUSCLE CHLOROPHENOLS AND RELATED-COMPOUNDS

The need for multimedia environmental studies on pulp mill effluent contaminants was addressed by refining and validating analytical protocols for the analysis of chlorinated phenols, guaiacols, catechols, phenolic aldehydes, and polymethoxybenzenes in water (mu-g/L range), sediment, and fish tissue samples (tenths of mu-g/g range). The methods, with common features for the different media, involved extraction with t-butyl methyl ether/dichloromethane solutions, with ascorbic acid added as an antioxidant. In the case of fish tissue, sample cleanup by size exclusion chromatography was carried out to reduce lipid interference. Derivatization with acetic anhydride / pyridine in organic solution yielded the acetates, which were analyzed by GC-SIM-MS. Excellent precision (SD = 2-15%) and satisfactory recoveries (42-115%) were achieved for most of the 32 contaminants evaluated. Application of these methods to samples from the northern Alberta region yielded satisfactory results (surrogate recoveries = 94-134%).