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(18-12) Occurrence of Surfactants and Metabolites in Austrian Environmental Compartments. Hohenblum, Philipp*,1, Gans, Oliver1, Scharf, Sigrid1, 1 Spittelauer Laende 5, Vienna, Austria ABSTRACT- A chromatographic method was established to measure among other endocrine disrupting chemicals Nonylphenolethoxylates (NP1EO, NP2EO) and Nonylphenol (NP) in aqueous and solid samples by means of liquid chromatography and MS detection. Water samples were concentrated by solid phase extraction. Solid samples were extracted and concentrated prior to analysis. Technical mixtures of isomers like Nonylphenol appear as single peak in the chromatograms in contrast to several peaks in gas chromatography. Tandem mass spectroscopy generates molecular ions which are forced to produce specific fragment ions. Therefore, highly selective detection of these compounds enable low limits of quantification and low matrix interference can be achieved. Surface water samples (SW), influents (STP-I) and effluents (STP-E) of sewage treatment plants (STP) and sewage sludges (SL) were analysed. NP1EO and NP2EO were found in 34 river water samples between n.d. and 710 ng/L and between n.d. and 106 ng/L, respectively. NP ranged from n.d. to 571 ng/L. STP-I samples yielded median values of 2980 ng/L and 3320 ng/L for NP1EO and NP2EO, respectively. The median concentration of NP was 1550 ng/L. STP-E samples were found about one order of magnitude lower than those of STP-I. Median dry matter concentrations of 17 sewage sludges were 3,7 and 1,0 mg/kg for NP1EO and NP2EO and 25 mg/kg for NP. A clear decrease of NP in aerobically composted sludges was observed. Recent studies on Nonylphenoxyacetic acid (NP1EC) and Nonylphenoxyethoxyacetic acid (NP2EC) reveal that both compounds tend to occur in higher concentrations than the ethoxylates. Median concentration of 10 river samples were 47 ng/L for NP1EC and 16 ng/L for NP2EC, whereas the median concentration of NP1EO was 15 ng/L. The median of NP2EO could not be determined. Key words: endocrine disruption, environmental analysis, surfactants |
