Validation of a High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Method for the Online Determination of Phthalates in Water at a Trace Level

• Published in: Journal of analytical chemistry (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2024-10, Vol.79 (10), p.1483-1490
• Main Authors: Grigorieva, T. A., Kuzmin, A. V., Gorshkov, A. G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Carbon 12; Carbon isotopes; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chromatography; Coastal zone; Column chromatography; High performance liquid chromatography; Isotope ratios; Phthalates; Qualitative analysis; Surface water
• ISSN: 1061-9348; 1608-3199
• DOI: 10.1134/S1061934824700874

A method for the determination of phthalates in water is validated. It includes the sorption of hydrophobic components of a sample on a liquid chromatography column and the separation of analyte concentrated by online reversed-phase HPLC: for the quantitative determination of priority phthalates ( PPhs ) in surface waters at a trace level; qualitative assessment of the ratio of stable carbon isotopes 13 C/ 12 C in the PPh composition. It is shown that there is no contribution of PPhs from the laboratory background to the measurement results. The limits of determination (0.15−0.22 μg/L) and the accuracy of the determination (±δ = 10−20%) are found using online reversed-phase HPLC and the UV detection of the analytes. The boundary values for the 13 C/ 12 C isotope ratio are substantiated for a qualitative assessment of the results of measuring the Δ 13 C value in the structure of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and its ingress into waters of Lake Baikal from biogenic and abiogenic sources is revealed. A procedure for determining PPhs by reversed-phase HPLC with online UV detection is tested in the field using a portable liquid chromatograph; the concentration ranges for di- n -butyl phthalate (from