Extraction–Chromatographic Determination of the Total Concentration of Monocyclic Arenes С6–С9in Wastewater

• Published in: Journal of analytical chemistry (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 76; no. 3; pp. 339 - 346
• Main Authors: Vershinin, V. I., Usova, S. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Aqueous solutions; Aromatic compounds; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chromatography; Hexanes; Hydrocarbons; Ions; Petroleum products; Toxicity; Wastewater; Water pollution; monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (arenes); wastewater analysis; extraction; technogenic pollution of water bodies; total concentration of arenes; gas–liquid chromatography
• ISSN: 1061-9348; 1608-3199
• DOI: 10.1134/S1061934821010159

To control the technogenic pollution of water bodies, we proposed to determine the total concentration monocyclic arenes C
6
–C
9
(
c
Ar
, mg/L), which are the most toxic and readily water-soluble hydrocarbons. In contrast to the widely used indicator “petroleum products,” the value of
с
Ar
directly characterizes the toxicity of the water under study. We developed a procedure for the extraction–chromatographic determination of
c
Ar
in wastewater, which does not require the evaporation of the extract or the preparative separation of arenes from other hydrocarbons. The
c
Ar
values were calculated from the total areas of arene peaks identified in the chromatogram of a purified hexane extract. To take into account the loss of arenes during sample preparation, the calibration dependence was constructed using multicomponent aqueous solutions with known
c
Ar
values (simulating solutions), by passing them through the same operations as the samples of the test water. The lower limit of the determined values of
c
Ar
is 0.1 mg/L; the errors in determining
c
Ar
do not exceed 15 rel %; the duration of analysis of a single sample is 2 h. The procedure was tested in the analysis of various types of wastewater, verified, and patented.