Micropollutants, also termed as emerging contaminants, include a broad spectrum of compounds belonging to different chemical classes and used for a large number of applications including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, plasticizers, surfactants, herbicides and their degradation products. Even if they have been detected in the environment, they are currently not included in routine monitoring programmes at EU level and whose fate, behavior and toxicological effects are not well understood. Micropollutants are commonly present in agricultural irrigation waters at trace concentrations, ranging from a few ng/L to several µg/L and the human exposure through fruit and vegetable consumption was estimated to be in the order of some g per person a week. The health implications of some of these contaminants are well known, as example phthalate esters, the most common industrial chemicals, are estrogenic compounds. In this context is of great interest the determination of emerging contaminants in fruits and vegetables even if their low concentration and diversity require efficient analytical procedures. Here, a headspace solid phase microextraction coupled with the high resolution capillary gas chromatography (HS-SPME-GC-MS) method has been developed for the extraction, identification and quantification of emerging volatile contaminants in fruits. Different samples of melon fruits from an area close to the petrochemical district of Priolo (Sicily, Italy), supplied by local producers, were analyzed. The following pollutants were identified and quantified: 1-methoxy-2-propanol, carbitol, BHT, BHA, toluene, o-xylene, m-xylene, ethylbenzene and styrene. The optimized method was validated in terms of linearity, precision, detection, and quantification limits.

HS-SPME-GC-MS method for the determination of emerging volatile contaminants in fruits

G. Tripodi
2016-01-01

Abstract

Micropollutants, also termed as emerging contaminants, include a broad spectrum of compounds belonging to different chemical classes and used for a large number of applications including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, plasticizers, surfactants, herbicides and their degradation products. Even if they have been detected in the environment, they are currently not included in routine monitoring programmes at EU level and whose fate, behavior and toxicological effects are not well understood. Micropollutants are commonly present in agricultural irrigation waters at trace concentrations, ranging from a few ng/L to several µg/L and the human exposure through fruit and vegetable consumption was estimated to be in the order of some g per person a week. The health implications of some of these contaminants are well known, as example phthalate esters, the most common industrial chemicals, are estrogenic compounds. In this context is of great interest the determination of emerging contaminants in fruits and vegetables even if their low concentration and diversity require efficient analytical procedures. Here, a headspace solid phase microextraction coupled with the high resolution capillary gas chromatography (HS-SPME-GC-MS) method has been developed for the extraction, identification and quantification of emerging volatile contaminants in fruits. Different samples of melon fruits from an area close to the petrochemical district of Priolo (Sicily, Italy), supplied by local producers, were analyzed. The following pollutants were identified and quantified: 1-methoxy-2-propanol, carbitol, BHT, BHA, toluene, o-xylene, m-xylene, ethylbenzene and styrene. The optimized method was validated in terms of linearity, precision, detection, and quantification limits.
2016
978-88-941816-0-9
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12078/7152
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