Analytical method development for the determination of emerging contaminants in water using supercritical-fluid chromatography coupled with diode-array detection

An analytical method using supercritical-fluid chromatography coupled with diode-array detection for the determination of seven emerging contaminants-two pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine and glyburide), three endocrine disruptors (17 alpha-ethinyl estradiol, bisphenol A, and 17 beta-estradiol), one bactericide (triclosan), and one pesticide (diuron)-was developed and validated. These contaminants were chosen because of their frequency of use and their toxic effects on both humans and the environment. The optimized chromatographic separation on a Viridis BEH 2-EP column achieved baseline resolution for all compounds in less than 10 min. This separation was applied to environmental water samples after sample preparation. The optimized sample treatment involved a preconcentration step by means of solid-phase extraction using C18-OH cartridges. The proposed method was validated, finding recoveries higher than 94 % and limits of detection and limits of quantification in the range of 0.10-1.59 mu g L-1 and 0.31-4.83 mu g L-1, respectively. Method validation established the proposed method to be selective, linear, accurate, and precise. Finally, the method was successfully applied to environmental water samples.