Industrial Chemistry
Open Access

Abstract

A quantitative method is described for ultrasonic-assisted solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by GC-MS after derivatization for the simultaneous analysis of personal care products and pharmaceuticals (PCPPs); propyl paraben, triclosan, caffeine, carbamazepine and chloramphenicol. Ultrasonic combined with centrifuge were used to extracts sediments samples collected from Mgeni and Msunduzi River. An SPE procedure was used for clean-up and to concentrate selected compounds from diluted aqueous extracts. Final extracts were derivatized with BSTFA and analyzed with GC-MS in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The recoveries of the analytes ranged from 66% to 108%. The method detection limits were 0.08ΓΆΒ?Β? 1.82ngg-1 and quantification limits 0.42ΓΆΒ?Β?5.51ngg-1. The proposed method was applied in the evaluation of two rivers over three month period in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. All targeted compounds were present in the environment at concentration level between not detected to 174ngg-1. To our knowledge, this is a first report on the simultaneous determination these PCPPs by GC-MS in Africa. gumbib@ukzn.ac.za

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