Akiko Tanabe

Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric determination of hydrophilic compounds in environmental water by solid-phase extraction with activated carbon fiber felt.

Simple gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric determination of hydrophilic organic compounds in environmental water was developed. A cartridge containing activated carbon fiber felt was made by way of trial and was evaluated for solid-phase extraction of the compounds in water. The hydrophilic compounds investigated were acrylamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide, N,N-dimethylformamide, 1,4-dioxane, furfural, furfuryl alcohol, N-nitrosodiethylamine and N-nitrosodimethylamine. Overall recoveries were good (80-100%) from groundwater and river water. The relative standard deviations ranged from 4.5 to 16% for the target compounds. The minimum detectable concentrations were 0.02 to 0.03 microg/l. This method was successfully applied to several river water samples.

Monitoring of herbicides in river water by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and solid-phase extraction

Abstract A gas chromatography-mass spectrometric method was developed to determine concentrations of herbicides in both the dissolved phases and the suspended phase of river water. The target herbicides were 2-amino-3-chloro-1,4-naphthoquinone, alachlor, benfluralin, bifenox, bromobutide, the debromo form of bromobutide, butachlor, butamifos, chlomethoxyfen, chlornitrofen, chlorpropham, dimepiperate, dimethametryn, dithiopyr, esprocarb, MCPA-ethyl, MCPA-thioethyl, mefenacet, molinate, naproanilide, oxadiazon, pendimethalin, piperophos, pretilachlor, prometryn, simetryn, thiobencard and trifluralin. The herbicides in filtered river water were extracted with styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer and were eluted with acetone. The herbicides on suspended substances were extracted ultrasonically with acetone. Recoveries of the herbicides on the overall performance of this method were 81.6% to 128% from filtered river water and 80.0% to 110% from suspended substances. The minimum detectable concentrations in water and suspended substances ranged from 0.01 μg l −1 to 0.02 μ g l −1 and 0.05 μ g −1 to 0.1 μg g −1 , respectively. This method was successfully applied to monitoring herbicides in river water.

High performance liquid chromatographic determination of pesticides in soluble phase and suspended phase in river water

A high performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed to determine pesticides in river water as both dissolved phase and suspended phase. The target pesticides were eight herbicides, asulam, diuron, flazasulfuron, linuron, MCPB, mecoprop, pyrazosulfuron‐ethyl and siduron, and two fungicides, oxine‐copper and thiram. The pesticides in filtered river water were extracted with styrene‐divinylbenzene copolymer and were eluted with acetonitrile. The pesticides on suspended solids were extracted ultrasonically with acetonitrile. Each eluate was concentrated and analyzed by HPLC with multiwavelength detector. Recoveries of the pesticides in the overall procedure of this method were 78–114% for filtered river water and 75–107% for suspended solids. The limits of detection in water and suspended solids ranged from 0.1 to 0.9 μg/L and 1 to 7 μg/g, respectively. Pesticide distribution between soluble phase and suspended phase in river water was measured by this method.

Distribution of perylene and five‐ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediment and airborne particulate matter

Characteristic distribution of perylene (PER) in river sediment was compared with those of three anthropogenically derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with five‐rings, benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), benzo[b]fluoranthene (B[b]F) and benzo[k]fluoranthene (B[k]F) as well as the four PAHs in airborne paniculate matter (APM). Concentrations of the four PAHs in APM were strongly correlated with each other, and the PAH ratios to B[a]P in APM showed no statistically significant difference in the investigated sites. Concentrations of B[a]P, B[b]F and B[k]F in sediment were strongly correlated with each other, whereas PER in sediment showed relatively lower correlations. The relative PER ratio to B[a]P in sediment decreased significantly with increase of B[a]P concentration. PER in sediment seems to be originated both from the anthropogenic and natural sources; mean of anthropogenic PER ratio in sediment was estimated as 20% in arithmetic or 7.8% in geometric.

Development of simultaneous analytical methods for hazardous chemicals and their applications to environmental monitoring

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometric (GC/MS) method has bean developed for the simultaneous determination of hazardous chemicals. First, a monitoring system of 90 pesticides and 10 transformation products in river water was established; the pesticides in the dissolved phase were extracted with the solid phase and those in the suspended phase were extracted ultrasonically. Second, an optimum analytical conditions of headspace method were examined to the determination of 53 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in river water and sediment. Last, an ultrasonic extraction method using ethanol-cyclohexane (1 : 3) was evaluated for the determination of seven polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and eight n-alkans in airborne particulate matter.These methods were applied to monitoring the target compounds in Niigata Prefecture. First, in monitoring pesticides in Shinano River, 53 compounds were detected, and the distribution ratios of the pesticides from dissolved phases to the suspended phase seem to depend on the concentrations and properties of the compounds. Second, VOCs were determined for 29 compounds from 16 rivers, and the number of detected VOCs was larger in the winter than in the summer. Last, the concentration levels of PAHs and n-alkanes in airborne particulate matter were evaluated, and anthropogenic sources, including traffic, were the major contributions to the particulates.The results of this study will be available for the monitoring and control of hazardous chemicals suspected to damage human health and ecosystems.