Comparative study of on-line solid phase extraction followed by UV and electrochemical detection in liquid chromatography for the determination of priority phenols in river water samples

A comparative study between UV and electrochemical (EC) detectors was carried out for the determination of 16 priority phenols in water samples. Polystyrene was used as a sorbent in on-line solid phase extraction followed by liquid chromatography with UV and electrochemical detection (LC-UV and LC-EC, respectively). Detection limits down to 1 ng/1 were obtained for all chlorinated phenolics with 100 ml sample volume. By reducing the sample volume to 10 ml it was possible to detect phenol at 0.02 μg/1. Values below the concentration levels required by current legislation were obtained for all target compounds in LC-EC except for nitrophenols because the selected working potential was not optimal for these compounds.