QUANTITATIVE-DETERMINATION OF MACROMOLECULAR CHLOROLIGNOSULFONIC ACIDS IN WATER BY PYROLYSIS-GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY WITH SINGLE-ION MONITORING

A specific, highly sensitive and quantitative pyrolysis-gas chromatogr aphy/mass spectrometry-single ion monitoring (Py-GC/MS-SIM) procedure has been developed for dissolved high molecular weight (MW > 1000) chl orolignosulfonic acids in sulfite pulp mill effluents, river water, an d drinking water. Satisfying reproducibility (average RSD 5%) was obta ined using polystyrene as an internal standard. Maximum accuracy was o btained using a standard addition quantification procedure. The detect ion limit is 16-32 mug/L chlorolignosulfonic acids, corresponding to 0 .1-0.2 mug/L adsorbable organic halogen (AOX) and to 10-20 ng/L chloro guaiacyl substructures. The distribution of the chloroguaiacyl isomeri c substructures in pure chlorolignosulfonic acids could be determined accurately by Py-GC/MS-SIM. In this paper, macromolecular chlorolignos ulfonic acids have been identified and quantified in river water and i n drinking water for the first time. The amounts of detected chlorolig nosulfonic acids are 180-310 mug/L in the Rhine and 60 mug/L in derive d drinking water, corresponding to 1-2 and 0.4 mug of AOX/L, respectiv ely.