Purge-and-trap capillary gas chromatography with atomic emission detection for volatile halogenated organic compounds determination in waters and beverages

A method for the simultaneous determination of 10 volatile halogenated organic compounds (VHOCs), including four trihalomethanes (THMs), in waters and beverages was developed. The analytes were stripped from the aqueous sample by a flow of helium, preconcentrated in a capillary trap and thermally desorbed using a purge-and-trap (PT) system. This was followed by capillary gas chromatography with microwave-induced plasma atomic emission spectrometry (GC–AED). For element-specific detection, three wavelengths were monitored, corresponding to chlorine (479 nm), bromine (478 nm) and iodine (193 nm). Each chromatographic run took 21 min, including the purge time. After careful choice of the experimental conditions, the performance of the system was evaluated. Calibration curves were obtained by plotting peak area versus concentration and the correlation coefficients for linear calibration were at least 0.9987. Detection limits, calculated for 5 ml sample volume, ranged from 0.05 μg l−1 for chloroform to 0.5 μg l−1 for tetrachloromethane. The method was successfully applied to the quantitative analysis of water samples of different origin and also of several beer and juice samples. The tap water samples analyzed contain variable concentrations of the four trihalomethanes, ranging from 1.0 to 66.5 μg l−1, depending of the compound. Whereas chloroform, bromodichloromethane and bromoform were found in some of the juice samples, only chloroform was detected in the beer samples. The method is reliable and can be used for routine monitoring in water and beverages.