Development of methods based on low-temperature partitioning (LTP) for monitoring cresols and chlorophenols in sewage sludge, soil, and water in column leaching

Abstract

Cresols and chlorophenols are chemical contaminants that are potentially toxic to humans and can be found in sewage sludge. These chemical contaminants can migrate into the sludge-soil-water system when sludge is used as a conditioner for agricultural soils. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop methodologies based on extraction with low-temperature partitioning (LTP) to determine cresols and chlorophenols in sewage sludge, soil, and water. The analysis was performed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The validated methods were applied to monitor cresols and chlorophenols in a column-leaching study of a sludge-soil-water system. Satisfactory results were achieved for selectivity, limit of quantification (LOQ), linearity, accuracy, and precision. In the column leaching study, only 2,4,6-trichlorophenol was quantified in sludge samples after 20 days of the experiment. None of the studied compounds were quantified in soil and leached water samples, due to the degradation promoted by the microorganisms present in the sewage sludge. Finally, validated methods were suitable for monitoring cresols and chlorophenols in the sludge-soil-water system.

Keywords:

• Cresols
• chlorophenols
• leaching study
• low-temperature partitioning extraction
• sludge-soil-water system

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Pro-Reitoria de Pesquisa of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) and the Laboratório de Química Instrumental (LQI-UFMG) for the infrastructure provided.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (306551/2022-5), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) (grant numbers APQ-02736-21 and APQ-00472-22).