Sensitive Determination of 4-n-Nonylphenol in Domestic Wastewater and Liquid Detergent by Binary Solvent Microextraction (BSME) and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) with Matrix Matching Calibration

Abstract

Binary solvent microextraction (BSME) coupled to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was employed to determine 4-n-nonylphenol in domestic wastewater and detergent. The developed BSME method was applied to obtain lower detection limits by preconcentrating the analyte before determination by GC-MS. Relevant parameters of the extraction method, including the binary solvent volume, dispersive solvent volume, and vortex period, were optimized using Box-Behnken Design. Under the optimum conditions, the limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation, and linear dynamic range were 0.6, 2.0, and 2.0 to 100 ng g⁻¹, respectively. The extraction procedure provided an approximate 470-fold enhancement in the detection power. Recovery experiments were performed for spiked wastewater and detergent by performing matrix matching calibration. The recoveries obtained by BSME-GC-MS for wastewater and detergent were between 94 and 103% and 91 and 109%, respectively.

Keywords:

• 4-n-nonylphenol
• binary solvent microextraction (BSME)
• environmental chemistry
• gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS)
• water quality

Authors’ contribution

Sezin Erarpat: methodology, validation, writing—original draft. Süleyman Bodur: methodology, validation, writing—original draft. Dotse Selali Chormey: methodology, validation, writing—review and editing. Ersoy Öz: methodology, validation, writing—review and editing. Sezgin Bakırdere: supervision, conceptualization, writing—review and editing.

Ethical approval

This study did not involve human participants or animals.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request