Determination of endocrine-disrupting compounds in water samples by on-line solid-phase extraction–programmed-temperature vaporisation–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

We developed an automated on-line solid-phase extraction (SPE)–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method to determine a group of endocrine disruptors in water samples. The interface device used for connecting SPE with GC was a programmed-temperature vaporiser (PTV) whose liner was packed with Tenax. We optimized the parameters that affected both SPE and PTV working in solvent vent mode. The performance of the method was tested with several environmental water samples. The limits of detection of the method were between 0.001 and 0.036 μg l−1 under full-scan acquisition mode. We determined phthalates and adipate in all real samples at concentrations between 0.11 and 8.10 μg l−1. Atrazine and p,p′-DDE were also found in an irrigation stream water sample at 0.16 and 0.04 μg l−1, respectively.