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 contain ing activated carbon fiber felt was made by way of trial and was evaluated for solid-phase extraction of the compounds in water. The hydrophilic compo unds investigated were acrylamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide, N,N-dimethylforma mide, 1,4-dioxane, furfural, furfuryl alcohol, N-nitrosodiethylamine and N- nitrosodimethylamine. Overall recoveries were good (80-100%) from groundwat er 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 mug/l. This method was successfully applied to several river water samples. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.