Identification of nonpolar toxicants in effluents using toxicity-based fractionation with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

A toxicity-based method to identify nonpolar organic toxicants in effluents has been developed. This method has low artifactual toxicity and excellent detection limits, allows multiple toxicant situations to be easily handled, and features the use of cladocerans and fishes as test organisms and gas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Analytical chemistry (Washington) 1991-02, Vol.63 (3), p.277-283
Main Authors: Burkhard, Lawrence P, Durhan, Elizabeth J, Lukasewycz, Marta T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis methods
Applied sciences
Atmospheric pollution
Exact sciences and technology
Pollution
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Summary:A toxicity-based method to identify nonpolar organic toxicants in effluents has been developed. This method has low artifactual toxicity and excellent detection limits, allows multiple toxicant situations to be easily handled, and features the use of cladocerans and fishes as test organisms and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to identify the toxicants. This method uses reverse-phase chromatography techniques to extract and fractionate the nonpolar organic toxicants from the effluent. GC/MS analyses are performed on the toxic fractions, and lists of tentative compound identifications are made by interpretation of the mass spectra and elution information from the chromatographic separations. These initial lists are refined by assembling and then comparing toxicity data of the identified chemicals to the toxicity of the fraction. The refined lists of suspect chemicals are further evaluated by pure chemical toxicity testing, and this process ultimately leads to toxicant identification.
ISSN:0003-2700
1520-6882
DOI:10.1021/ac00003a017